Buzzin Games

I’ve got to hand it to the gaming BAFTA people – they really have some excellent taste, judging by the nominees and winners of last night’s awards. Call of Duty 4 cleaned up, grabbing three of the awards, and there were also nods for Super Mario Galaxy, Fable 2, Boom Blox, Little Big Planet, Professor Layton and Spore.

There were a couple of surprises – perhaps the biggest one being the complete absence of Grand Theft Auto amongst the winners, and that the only first party Nintendo winner was a game that’s over a year old. There were also a few big hitters amongst the nominees who left empty handed: Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.

It’s a shame there’s no room for downloadable games in the list, because there’s an area where arguably the greatest innovation has been occurring lately with the likes of World of Goo, Braid, Lost Winds and Nobi Nobi Boy showing that a game doesn’t need to weigh several gigabytes to provide a first rate experience.

Anyway, here’s the list of nominees and winners. I’ve underlined my personal pick from each category.

Action & Adventure: Fable II
Nominated: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Dead Space, Grand Theft Auto IV, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider: Underworld

Artistic Achievement: LittleBigPlanet
Nominated: Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Dead Space, Gears of War 2 (Eh? – ed.), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Best Game: Super Mario Galaxy
Nominated: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Fable II, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Rock Band

Casual: Boom Blox
Nominated: Guitar Hero World Tour, Buzz! Quiz TV, LittleBigPlanet, SingStar Vol. 2, Wii Fit

Gameplay: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Nominated: Grand Theft Auto IV, Left 4 Dead, Mario Kart Wii, Rock Band, Super Mario Galaxy

Handheld: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Nominated: Geometry Wars: Galaxies, God of War: Chains of Olympus, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Patapon, Soul Bubbles

Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead
Nominated: Buzz! Quiz TV, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Gears of War 2, Mario Kart Wii, Rock Band

Original Score: Dead Space
Nominated: Assassin’s Creed, Fable II, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Sports: Race Driver: GRID
Nominated: FIFA 09, Football Manager 2009, MotorStorm Pacific Rift, Pure, Wii Fit

Strategy: Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Nominated: Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Ninjatown, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Tactical Strike, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise

Story and Character: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Nominated: Assassin’s Creed, Fable II, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Mass Effect

Technical Achievement: Spore
Nominated: Assassin’s Creed, Fable II, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, LittleBigPlanet

Use of Audio: Dead Space
Nominated: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Gears of War 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, LittleBigPlanet, Super Mario Galaxy

GAME Award of 2008 (public voting): Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Nominated: Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Wii Fit, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

What do you think of the list of nominees and winners? Was GTA 4 (ironically) robbed? Let us know with a well placed comment or two.