AIAS Achievement Award Finalists For 2005 Announced

Officials from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) have announced the organization’s list of finalists for the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Although there are a wide range of categories, some of the most hotly contested include the following: Overall Game of the Year: God of War (Publisher: SCEA, Developer: SCEA-Santa Monica) Guitar Hero (Publisher: Red Octane, Developer: Harmonix) Shadow of the Colossus (Publisher: SCEA/Developer: SCE) Call of Duty 2 (Publisher: Activision, Developer: Infinity Ward) Nintendogs (Publisher: Nintendo, Developer: Nintendo EAD) PC Game of the Year: F.E.A.R. (Publisher: Vivendi, Developer: Monolith) Civilization IV (Publisher: 2K Games, Developer: Firaxis Games) Battlefield 2 (Publisher: Electronic Arts, Developer: Digital Illusions) Age of Empires III (Publisher: Microsoft, Developer: Ensemble Studios) The Movies (Publisher: Activision, Developer: Lionhead Studios) Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Nintendogs (Publisher: Nintendo, Developer: Nintendo EAD) Guitar Hero (Publisher: Red Octane, Developer: Harmonix) Shadow of the Colossus (Publisher: SCEA/Developer: SCE) God of War (Publisher: SCEA, Developer: SCEA-Santa Monica) The Movies (Publisher: Activision, Developer: Lionhead Studios) Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: F.E.A.R. (Publisher: Vivendi, Developer: Monolith) Shadow of the Colossus (Publisher: SCEA/Developer: SCE) Kameo: Elements of Power (Publisher: Microsoft, Developer: Rare) Call of Duty 2 (Publisher: Activision, Developer: Infinity Ward) God of War (Publisher: SCEA, Developer: SCEA-Santa Monica) Other categories, including a large number of specific genre awards, have also been announced but have not been posted on the official AIAS website at time of press, though they are available on some consumer websites such as IGN's VE3D. Already noted by a number of online commentators is the absence of a number of favorably reviewed 2005 titles, such as Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 and Majesco’s Psychonauts, which both garnered a large number of mentions in Gamasutra's recent Question Of The Week on 2005's best games. However, it appears that these titles have not been included as part of the nominations, as the publishers in question are not AIAS members and/or have not paid the $1,000 submission fee for separate nominations to the awards. Finalists for each genre and craft category are selected by a peer panel of eight to twelve AIAS members. Award recipients are then determined by a vote of qualified academy members. AIAS voting is secret, conducted online and supervised and certified by eBallot. The final winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on February 9th in “The Joint” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas during the D.I.C.E Summit.