Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire lead with eight BAFTA nominations
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and LittleBigPlanet 2 each garner six nominations
Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim follow with five and
Deus Ex: Human Revolution with four
The Academy today announced the nominations for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 48 different games have been recognised and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.
Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire are both nominated for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Design, Original Music, Performer and Story. In addition, Batman: Arkham City is nominated for Action and Audio Achievement. L.A. Noire also got the nod for Debut Game and Game Innovation. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and LittleBigPlanet2 both received nominations for Artistic Achievement and Performer. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was also nominated for Action, Audio Achievement, Original Music, and Story. LittleBigPlanet 2 received additional nods for Design, Family, Game Innovation, and Online-Multiplayer.
Portal 2 is nominated for Action and Performer. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim received nominations for Artistic Achievement and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game, Design, and Story. Deus Ex: Human Revolution received nods for Action, Original Music, Story and Strategy. Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both have three nominations. Bastion, Battlefield 3, Dance Central 2, Dark Souls, FIFA 12, From Dust, Kinect Sports 2, Monstermind, The Nightjar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, and Total War: SHOGUN 2 all received two.
This year’s new categories garnered nominations for the following games:
Debut Game: Bastion, Eufloria, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, L.A. Noire, Monstermind, and Rift.
Online-Browser: Gardens of Time, I Am Playr, Monstermind, Resistance 3, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, and The Sims Social.
Online-Multiplayer: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Dark Souls, Gears of War 3, and LittleBigPlanet 2.
Performer: Aaron Stanton (Cole Phelps) – L.A. Noire, Mark Hamill (The Joker) – Batman: Arkham City, Nolan North (Nathan Drake) – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Stephen Fry(Narrator) – LittleBigPlanet 2, Stephen Merchant (Wheatley) – Portal 2, and Togo Igawa (Diplomat, Advisor and Military General) – Total War: SHOGUN 2.
Other nominated games include: Child of Eden, Dead Space iOS, Dead Space 2, DiRT 3,F1 2011, Football Manager 2012, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, LEGO Pirates of The Caribbean, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint, Mario Kart 7, Peggle, Quarrel, Raymans Origins, and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012.
This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2011. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 2012, L.A. Noire, Minecraft, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.
While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Dreamweaver, Joust! and Tick Tock Toys.
The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Friday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane and, for the fourth year running, will be hosted by comedian and gamer Dara O’Briain.
