Although GameSpot has already doled out its Editors' Choice Awards for E3 2005, the nominees for another batch of post-expo awards have just been announced.

Today, 55 games and products on display at the mid-May event were nominated for the Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2005 honors. The Game Critics Awards are doled out by journalists representing more than 30 leading US and Canadian sources of game news, ranging from mainstream publications, like Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly, to games press outlets, such as Game Informer and GameSpot.

Editors from each outlet form a panel that nominates the titles featured in Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2005, which were first revealed today. A second round of voting will go on this week to determine which of the nominated games will take home the prize in each category, as well as the overall "Best of Show" honor. The winners will be announced next Tuesday, June 7.

This year, the game that garnered the most nominations was Spore, the new combination life-simulation/civilization-building "god game" from The Sims creator Will Wright. Though it won't hit store shelves until 2006, Spore picked up four nominations, helping publisher Electronic Arts pick up a whopping 16 nominations overall.

Besides EA, the publisher with the most nominations was Nintendo, with 14, followed by Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment, which each received eight nominations. As for the games, a full listing of the categories and nominees is below:

Best of Show
- F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games--PC)
- Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studio--Xbox 360)
- Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts--PC)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo--GameCube)
- Xbox 360 (Microsoft)

Best Original Game
- Indigo Prophecy (Quantic Dream/Atari--PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
- Nintendogs (Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom--PlayStation 2)
- Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA--PlayStation 2)
- Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts--PC)

Best PC Game
- Age of Empires III (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft Games Studios--PC)
- Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts--PC)
- F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games--PC)
- Prey (Human Head Studios/3D Realms/2K Games--PC)
- Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts--PC)

Best Console Game
- Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts--PlayStation 2, Xbox)
- Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios--Xbox 360)
- Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom--PlayStation 2)
- Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA--PlayStation 2)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo--GameCube)

Best Handheld Game
- Burnout Legends (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts--PSP)
- Infected (Planet Moon Studios/Majesco Games--PSP)
- Mario Kart DS (Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- Nintendogs (Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo (Zipper/SCEA--PSP)

Best Hardware/Peripheral
- Game Boy Micro (Nintendo)
- Gizmondo (Tiger Telematics)
- PlayStation 3 (Sony Computer Entertainment/Nvidia/IBM)
- Xbox 360 (Microsoft)

Best Action Game
- Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts--PC)
- Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts--PS2, Xbox)
- Call of Duty 2 (Infinity Ward/Activision--PC, Xbox 360)
- F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games--PC)
- Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft--Xbox 360)

Best Action Adventure Game
- Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom--PlayStation 2)
- Peter Jackson's King Kong (UbiSoft--All Platforms)
- Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA--PlayStation 2)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo--GameCube)
- Ultimate Spider-Man (Treyarch/Activision--GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)

Best Fighting Game
- Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (Nihilistic/EA--GC/PS2/Xbox/PSP)
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Paradox/Midway Games--PlayStation 2/Xbox)
- Soul Calibur III (Namco--PlayStation 2)
- The Con (Think and Feel/Sony--PSP)

Best Role-Playing Game
- City of Villains (Cryptic Studios/NC Soft--PC)
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Level 5/Square Enix--PS2)
- Hellgate: London (Flagship Studios/Namco--PC)
- Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix--PS2)
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Software--PC / Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game
- Burnout Legends (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts--PSP)
- Burnout Revenge (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts--PlayStation 2/Xbox)
- Full Auto (Pseudo Interactive/Sega--Xbox 360)
- Mario Kart DS (Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- Need for Speed Most Wanted (Electronic Arts--All Platforms)

Best Simulation Game
- Nintendogs (Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts--All Consoles)
- Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts--PC)
- The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision--PC)
- Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Atlus Co.--Nintendo DS)

Best Sports Game
- Blitz: The League (Midway--PS2/Xbox)
- Madden NFL 06 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts--All Platforms)
- Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Neversoft/Activision--All Platforms)
- Top Spin 2 (2K Sports--Xbox 360)
- Virtua Tennis: World Tour (Sega--PSP)

Best Strategy Game
- Age of Empires III (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft--PC)
- Civilization IV (Firaxis Games/2K Games--PC)
- Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ--PC)
- Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (Big Huge Games/Microsoft--PC)
- Star Wars: Empire At War (Petroglyph Games/LucasArts--PC)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
- EyeToy: Kinetic (SCEE London Studio/SCEA--PS2)
- Mario Party 7 (Hudson/Nintendo--GameCube)
- Meteos (Q Entertainment/Nintendo--Nintendo DS)
- We Love Katamari (Namco--PS2)
- Yoot Saito's Odama (Vivarium/Nintendo--GameCube)

Best Online Multiplayer Game
- Auto Assault (NetDevil/NCSoft--PC)
- Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts--PC)
- City of Villains (Cryptic Studios/NCSoft--PC)
- SOCOM 3: U.S. NAVY SEALs (Zipper Interactive/SCEA--PS2)
- Star Wars Battlefront II (Pandemic Studios/LucasArts--PC, PS2, Xbox)