2010 came and went in a blur, but those 365 days left us with some really great games. If there was only a way to judge them all against each other… Wait, there is! The finalists for the Game Developers Choice Awards came out today, and most of your favorites should be on the list.
The Game Developers Choice Awards is a “peer based game industry event,” where people who actually know some things about video games get to do the selecting. It has been going strong for just over a decade, celebrating its 11th year this year.
But you don’t care about any of that. What you want to know is what games are on the list, and I am happy to oblige.
Best Game Design
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Limbo (Playdead)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)Innovation
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Limbo (Playdead)
Dance Central (Harmonix)Best Technology
Starcraft II (Blizzard)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)Best Handheld Game
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready At Dawn/SCE Santa Monica)
Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Kojima Productions)
Game Dev Story (Kairosoft)
Dragon Quest IX (Level 5)Best Audio
Limbo (Playdead)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Halo: Reach (Bungie)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DICE)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)Best Downloadable Game
Costume Quest (Double Fine)
Limbo (Playdead)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)Best Writing
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Costume Quest (Double Fine)
Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian)Best Debut Game
Limbo (Playdead)
Darksiders (Vigil Games)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)Best Visual Arts
God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Limbo (Playdead)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Game of the Year
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)
Limbo (Playdead)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
I always like these awards because any game can be selected for an award, and there are generally some interesting games that pop up that might not on other awards lists. For example, Game Dev Story and Minecraft are on this list, and shows like the one Spike enjoys putting on would never even have these on their radar. Minecraft may not be the best example because it’s totally awesome and everyone really enjoys it, but you know what I mean.
Personally, I am looking forward to seeing Mass Effect 2 grab some awards, as it was my personal Game of the Year, but if Limbo pulls away with all of the seven(!) awards it’s nominated for, I wouldn’t be unhappy.
What games on this list do you hope win something?
The awards themselves will be held on March 2nd, 2011. There’s even more info in the official press release.