Arkham City, L.A. Noire lead BAFTA nominations

Following on from last week's announcement of the nominees for the ceremony's one publicly voted award, BAFTA today revealed the games up for the rest of this year's British Academy Video Games Awards. Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire lead the way with eight nominations each, while Little Big Planet 2 and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception are nipping at their heels with six nominations.

The teams behind Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will also be donning tuxedos with high hopes after both games secured five nominations each, as will those responsible for Deus Ex: Human revolution, after seeing their game nominated in four categories. Other multiple nominees were Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which both received three nods, Bastion, Battlefield 3, Dance Central 2, Dark Souls, FIFA 12, From Dust, Kinect Sports: Season Two, Monstermind, The Nightjar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, and Total War: Shogun 2, which each received two.

Arkham City, FIFA 12, L.A. Noire, Portal 2, Skyrim, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will do battle for the big award of the night, the Best Game prize. 2012 will also be the first year that the best performer category will be included, with a number of well-known stars in contention. Aaron Staton, nominated for his portrayal of Cole Phelps in L.A. Noire, is up against Mark Hamill (the Joker in Arkham City), Stephen Fry (the narrator in Little Big Planet 2), Stephen Merchant (Wheatley in Portal 2), and gaming stalwarts Nolan North (Nathan Drake in Uncharted 3) and Togo Igawa (diplomat, advisor, and military general in Shogun 2: Total War).

One existing category that often causes confusion is Best Strategy, this year being contested by Shogun 2, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, Football Manager 2012, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dark Souls, and From Dust. BAFTA defines the strategy category as honouring games "centred around the use of strategic gameplay," rather than simply those that fall into the strategy genre.

The full list of nominations can be found on BAFTA's website.