Sony wins top prize at Develop Awards

Publisher walks away with the top honor of the evening, the Grand Prix prize; Traveller's Tales also takes home accolades.

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BRIGHTON, UK--The European arm of software giant and PlayStation 3 maker Sony has picked up the main award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, which took place this evening at the Hilton Metropole hotel on the UK's south coast before a crowd of 500 games industry executives. SCEE picked up the Grand Prix award for "capping 12 months which have seen the firm deliver a new hardware format that has inspired developers around the world to make cutting-edge next generation games."

Other notable winners of the evening included Sega (crowned the industry's Publishing Hero), Ubisoft France (In-House Developer), and Traveller's Tales, which won the Independent Developer honor and Best Use of a License for Lego Star Wars II. Evolution Studios/SCEE title MotorStorm won New Console IP accolades, whereas recently rebranded Zoë Mode and its PlayStation Portable game Crush were recognized for New Handheld IP.

Other winners were Realtime Worlds with the Innovation Award for the "thrillingly original" Crackdown, Eden Studios for Best Use of Online for Test Drive Unlimited, and Rare's Viva Pinata taking top of the class in Visual Arts. Realtime Worlds was also awarded the UK Studio accolade.

Freestyle's B-Boy mopped up in the Audio Accomplishment category, Havok was singled out in the Tools Provider category, Rockstar Leeds got the nod for Handheld Studio, and Blitz picked up the trophy for Business Development.

Ian Hetherington was named as a Development Legend. The industry veteran was the cofounder of the '80s publisher Psygnosis and is currently chairman of Evolution Studios and Realtime Worlds. The Guest of Honour was NCsoft's Richard Garriott, who also gave a talk this morning about the current state of the online gaming industry and his upcoming title Tabula Rasa.

The Develop Awards are focused on UK and European companies and are judged by close to 100 industry experts. This year marked the fifth such show, and was held in conjunction with the currently underway Develop Conference.

382 Comments

  • alextc08

    Posted Sep 2, 2008 5:54 pm PT

    ps3 deserved the award.. the wii is like..meh. ps3 rocks with its next gen graphics and its upcoming games like kingdom hearts the next final fantasy and many more . All the wii has is super smash bros brawl :/

  • JimBurber

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 10:53 am PT

    Did they forget the wii existed? Did they forget the DS existed? I've never even seen anyone playing crush before! Crackdown wasn't even all that original when you think about it... and viva pinata was great but it couldn't even handle very many sprites in your garden at one time, so therefore you had a lot of blank space and not much to look at! And any award given to the ps3 whatsoever is just out of pity, motorstorm played like a clunky oldsmobile driven by an 85 year old midget grandma.

  • Carashnak

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 7:48 am PT

    I too agree with Iceman, although i think you're all negative because his points go the other way to what you want to hear. And, to expand, so what if the PS3 has more processors, that one reason why it costs more, but the 3 processors in the 360 is more efficient then the 9 in a PS3. So far, there's next to no difference in visual performance.

    Anyways, I'm glad for Sony, for whatever reasons they won.

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Aug 6, 2007 7:47 am PT

    congrats sony!

  • overgrowntroll

    Posted Aug 5, 2007 3:58 pm PT

    Ive got a ps3 and a 360, and am playing both on a 1080p panasonic 55" Viera HDTV. £3k! The PS3 is way better, no lag ever, 40 players online simultaneously. And heres something for all u 360 fanboys....you dont run next gen media! you're still on the 4.7gb dvds, thats what your games come on NOW and will come on in the future! ok you can buy a hddvd add on but thats just for movies not for games...While my ps3 blu-ray media holds 50gb, so developers will be writing games upto that capacity, while you xbox boys are gonna have to cope with 4.7gb....go figure its a no brainer, in 2 years the 360 is gonna be blown out the water, and you dont even have hdmi output....there is no comparison let me spell it out.....360 IS NOT NEXT GEN COS ALL ITS GAMES COME ON LAST GEN MEDIA. PS3 IS NEXT GEN AND IT RUNS NEXT GEN MEDIA....i HAVE BOTH BUT I WAY PREFER MY PS3....HAHAHA

  • chaoscontrol489

    Posted Jul 31, 2007 11:24 pm PT

    I agree with Iceman. PS3 is completely lackluster. Glad I didn't waste my money. Sorry if you did

  • Iceman8012 posted Jul 30, 2007 10:57 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    Iceman8012

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 10:57 pm PT (hide)

    This "First Prize" was not given to the true winners of E3

    PS3 should not have won the first prize this year at E3

    Xbox 360 or Wii should have won the Grand Prize at E3 07. PS3 never showed anything revolutionary in any sense this year or any year since they have been released.

    There games are not impressive and from what I have seen they still won't be impressive in the future.

    But some of you morons out there might be saying "Oh He's just a Wii60 fan boy"...Wrong

    I have a PS2, Xbox, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, and I have tried a PS3 out at one of my friends house So don't lecture me on variety in my systems and how I am a fanboy because I am not I treat every system as if it were the first I have bought and I have no qualms with one side or the other.

    I was not impressed the slightest bit by the PS3's capabilities or its future potential.

    The PS3 has the same specs as a Xbox 360 just with more processors apparently... but one question... How come the PS3's games that have come out for the PS3 and 360 the PS3 games always seem to not look as good or look just as good and actually have SLO-W--E-----R F---R---A---M-----R-----A---------T--E-S That skip as much as those words. Some help those Processors did.

    With there controller they copied every bit of it from another system I wonder if anyone noticed that. The have the "Six Axis" Controls which is just short for "MOTION CONTROLS" Hmmmm wonder what system has already done that. They redid there triggers to be exactly like the 360's and even add the signature Center Button that the 360 had...Nothing unique about that.

    I haven't seen anything on the PS3 so far that has been unique other than the supposed 9 Processors that if they are there certainly don't work and there TWO count them TWO PS3 exclusive titles out right now

    They only have two unique titles to the PS3 if you notice Resistance and Lair every other title out there you can get for the Xbox 360, Xbox, Wii, or Gamecube

    Honestly they shouldn't have won that high of a title.

    I used to love the PS2.

    What ever happened to Sony for them to sink this low in there career that they had to bribe E3 to win... in my opinion that is the only way they could have won.

  • stevenhiggster

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 12:19 pm PT

    Is it just me or is everyone just completely against Sony?
    Maybe its just the Xbox fanboys, cause I dont hear any badmouthing from the Nintendo ppl, the Wii fans and the PS3 fans seem to live in harmony with all these Xbox fans spitting venom in every direction? Grow up M$ fanboys, no body cares what you have to say, get a life and instead of raining on other peoples parades go and get one of your own! I mean really, is anything about the Xbox groundbreaking? No!
    The Wii has its fancy controller and the PS3 has blu ray and bags of power, the Xbox on the other hand has more games, big deal, its been out for about a year longer, thats like saying the PS2 has more games, no DUH!!!!!!!! Go away M$ fanboys, until you have something decent to bring to the table, all you can do is knock other ppl's stuff, as you cant exactly boast about your own!

  • murphydee

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 10:09 am PT

    erm have they even heard of nintendo, i'm sure it mentioned "cutting edge" and "inspired"

  • scottiescott238

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 6:28 am PT

    is this awrd is for games on the ps3 sony have made,this is a joke

  • bihboy69

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 1:22 am PT

    yay go ps3

  • KAL_MAN

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 11:29 pm PT

    "capping 12 months which have seen the firm deliver a new hardware format that has inspired developers around the world to make cutting-edge next generation games."

    ...and we have yet to see the fruits of their oh-so-special-inspirational-cuttin-edge-next-gen games. give me a break...
    i wonder how much money SCEE had to slip the producers of that award show to gain that award. The wii and the 360 have more credibility than the ps3 so far... they deserve that award way more than the ps3.
    on the other hand, it could be an award for how complicated the technology inside the ps3 is and are giving it to them as a sign of how arragent they were to expect every one to fork over 6 benjamins for it just becasue it had the sony logo printed of the side. give me another break...
    they are going the way of so many other system creators did. they expect the gaming public to be devoted enough to pay a effing-high price to play a game. and, so far, a bunch of crappy games.

  • Dr_Yassam

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 10:55 pm PT

    @kTvTv3

    You wrote: "Plus, the ps3 is one generation of games behind the 360"

    Actually, that's irrelevent. The PS3 was a delayed console (6-9 months), therefore it's only a so-called generation behind in terms of when the console was launched, it's not a generation behind in terms of game developement. Hence the PS3's first gen games had at least 5-6 months MORE developement on final hardware than 360 first gen games, and so a comparison between the two consoles in terms of game generation is rather meaningless.

    Games being released now for both consoles have been in developement for about the same time, and given both consoles are similar in terms of power, then it is to be expected that the results will be similar.

    That said, I fail to see why some here have a problem with Sony receiving these awards and therefore are looking for reasons to discredit the awards. This is the same reasoning I see on forums where someone will discredit every report/article from a website like Gamespot on the basis that they are biased towards the 360, or another site is biased towads the PS3, just because of a few reviews they disagree with.

    In my opinion, Sony deserved the awards they received here, and I have yet to read a comment here which offers a valid reason why Sony didn't deserve them. Instead all I'm seeing are complaints from those who fail to recognise that excellence deserves to be rewarded, even if it goes against your own personal opinions.

  • kTvTv3

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 4:50 pm PT

    And another thing, if you so called "xbox fanboys" think these awards are a waste of time because there corrupt, then why even waste your time reading this news article..... let alone post here?

  • kTvTv3

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 4:48 pm PT

    For all you people here posting things you only assume, let me assure you that your first thought of post "xbox has the best games" isn't part of the development award...Plus, the ps3 is one generation of games behind the 360, and it's already catching up with games that I can't even being to list, tisk tisk to that...

  • elmecca

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 1:40 pm PT

    Xbox360 fanboys going apesh*t .....f*cking hilarious , go SONY!

  • Trogeton

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 12:43 pm PT

    But either way..... SONY STILL WON..... MUAH HAHAHAHA

  • keyboarder20

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 10:52 am PT

    Hey getsetgo:

    I have a Xbox 360 since day one. I also have a PS3, Wii, xbox, PS2, PS1,Ds lite and PSP. I agree with you. I can not understand these awards. The 360 is the best console of them all.

  • AlonShen

    Posted Jul 29, 2007 4:21 am PT

    Hey getsetgo:
    Who has the most crappy and unreliable hardware ever, with at least 33% defective devices? that's right fan boy, Microsoft, or should I say Microsoft (360) lol!

  • Hailogon

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 4:37 pm PT

    This is hilarious. Every time Son even get a glimpse of something good, the Xbox fanboys come down on them and assume that they must have paid for the award. Unfortunately you don't seem to get the simple notion that some people have different opinions to you. As for Motorstorm...many people don't think it was a good game, but most of them blame this on a lack of features but the actual racing in my personal opinion was pretty solid. It also can't be argued that there were some awesome graphical touches in that game and so I can se the logic with Motorstorm getting the award at a DEVELOP Industry awards show.

  • supersized

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 2:53 pm PT

    xbox 360 fanboys on the prowl. its not the end of the world. xD

  • getsetgo posted Jul 28, 2007 1:24 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    getsetgo

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 1:24 pm PT (hide)

    This is a joke. Sony wins . Why ? Who has the best games out ? Microsoft ( 360) . Who has more games ? Microsoft ( 360) . Who has more top rated games ? Microsoft (360). Who has the best online service ? Microsoft (360). When games are released on both platforms at the same time, who has better graphics ? Microsoft 360. The fact Sony won, means these awards are a waste of time. The judges are trying to give the kiss of life to the PS3. Why ? I think we all know the answer to that. I am not saying anything else because i do not want to be sued by Sony. However, my award for the best console, goes to Microsoft 360.

  • godhatch

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 1:14 pm PT

    "-Squirrel- a very evidently bogus award for hardware"

    how can you say that about the ps3 having a bogus award for hardware? even you must know that the ps3 is most powerful console available so why wouldn't it get the award for hardware?

  • Trogeton

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 9:42 am PT

    See, and Sony wins..... now what sony bashing fanboys... yall should see the point now that sony win NEVER go down, hell sony is kicking some butt

  • alfie1980

    Posted Jul 28, 2007 5:22 am PT

    gmayronne....look at the back of your gears of war box......its not 1080p compatible. I know , I've got it. And a hdtv

  • gmayronne

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 4:57 pm PT

    we will see dr. yassam

  • -Squirrel-

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 10:52 am PT

    dragkill, that may be true, but giving awards to Sony exclusives does help make the PS3 look more appealing. Seeing as how it looks like Sony bought and paid for most of the award show and received a very evidently bogus award for hardware, then the Motorstorm award may have been a package deal. Of course they couldn't have had Sony win every award because that would look way to suspicious. I really don't know much about the roots of this award show, but I do know it has lost all of it's credibility to me. But again, this is just some little unheard of UK only award show that doesn't even really matter in the grand scheme.

  • dragkill

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 9:44 am PT

    "So the New IP award to Motorstorm wasn't for software then?"

    Not by Sony. Motorstorm is done by Evolution Studios, not directly by Sony. Sony is an electronics company, not necessarily a gaming company, same thing with Microsoft. They are a PC company, not necessarily a gaming company. Sony does the hardware, the developers make the games.

  • Jebril

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 9:09 am PT

    I'm Confused......Why is this important to gaming news?

    Awards mean nothing we all know that.

  • GoodkupoBan

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 5:04 am PT

    I just reread it. I guess i didn't see that. Sorry.
    But i guess the awards dont matter too much. Most/all of the games that did win an award are considered average games by the common consumer. There are better games to be considered out there but they are left unappreciated.

  • TTDog

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 4:48 am PT

    "GoodkupoBan:
    Sony got the award for the PS3 hardware and had no awards for the PS3's software."

    So the New IP award to Motorstorm wasn't for software then?

  • GoodkupoBan

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 4:34 am PT

    Sony got the award for the PS3 hardware and had no awards for the PS3's software. Microsoft have two games which won awards and the only pure Sony tittle that won an award was for the PSP. Don't get me wrong. A game doesn't need an award to be great.

  • harbin2uk

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 3:01 am PT

    To all those people saying that sony only won this award because microsoft and nintendo did not enter/attend the event are wrong! This link to the official website shows that microsoft and nintendo were both there (under the list of attending companies)

    http://www.develop-conference.com/developconference/sponsorship.shtml

  • Dr_Yassam

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 1:38 am PT

    @gmayronne

    "i know there are things the ps3 can do that the 360 simply can not produce, most developers know its capable but are just too lazy to really dissect whats in front of them"

    To be honest, that's faith rather than fact. Both consoles are very similar in power, and as a result, there will be things each console can do BETTER than the other, but nothing either console can do that cannot be done on the other, even if by different means.

    As for GeOW and Killzone. Looking at Killzone's gameplay footage didn't really strike me as offering anything beyond what I'd seen for COD4 for the 360 and PS3, which I found more impressive than Killzone btw. Sure we can compare both games to GEoW, but they're not really the same type of game. Besides, GEoW is a 2006 game, COD4 will come 1 year after GeOW, and Killzone 2 about 2 years after.

    Also, the claim that devs who fail to really push the PS3 are simply lazy is...well...just being lazy as a poster. Both the 360 and PS3 are very difficult machines to program, but the 360 is easier than the PS3 (note: easier - not easy), therefore it's going to take longer for devs to get up to speed on the PS3. Simply calling them lazy for not getting more out of the PS3 is unjustified.

  • The_Third_Place

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 1:17 am PT

    Haha the 360 sucks!

  • Kcube posted Jul 27, 2007 12:21 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    Kcube

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 12:21 am PT (hide)

    SO SOny is giving itself awards?
    That is just sad

  • thewwwyzzerdd posted Jul 26, 2007 9:58 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    thewwwyzzerdd

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 9:58 pm PT (hide)

    go sony its great that even though the ps3 is a complete disaster they can still afford to buy awards.... exactly what games on the ps3 are "cutting edge"? and even if they are its not like anyone is playing them...

  • gmayronne

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 9:22 pm PT

    the ps3 is a more than capable machine, YES it Killzone 2 looks better than Gears of War, i know because im playing GoW in 1080p on my 42" Sharp Aquos, looks reeeeaaal good but watching the E3 trailer on my ps3 in crystal clear 1080p looks gorgeous and really blows GoW out of the water IMO. i know there are things the ps3 can do that the 360 simply can not produce, most developers know its capable but are just too lazy to really dissect whats in front of them, take time and create original looking and playing games to what the ps3s unique standards are. dont get me wrong, i looooove my 360 but am still psyched at the same time about my ps3 and what to expect in the future (lots of good games coming and you know it). unfortunately it suuucks to wait for these awesome games that are deeeeep in development right now but games like heavenly sword, lair will keep me busy until fall when the games will start flowing.

  • playstation_wii posted Jul 26, 2007 9:09 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    playstation_wii

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 9:09 pm PT (hide)

    Sony wins again!

  • dragkill

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 8:11 pm PT

    "Sure, the GC had a nice library, but it does not compare to the combined PS1/PS2 library or the XBox library. There is really no point trying to make the comparison"

    In terms of number of games and so, I will have you agree with you there. What you were saying is that people wouldn't love the library as much as a person loving the PS1/PS2/Xbox library. I was making the comparison that people can love the GC library just as much. I've experienced that, and vice versa.

  • Bug420

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 7:48 pm PT

    "A bunch of parents/kids would disagree with you on that. There's target audiences, and so far many people are going towards the Wii, and have been buying GC games recently." No they would not disagree with me. They're just buying titles that they previously did not have access to. This does not mean that the GC library is equal to the other two libraries, it just means that the Wii is more successful than the 360 or PS3. Sure, the GC had a nice library, but it does not compare to the combined PS1/PS2 library or the XBox library. There is really no point trying to make the comparison. Please stop.

  • dragkill

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 6:55 pm PT

    "PenguinKommando, dragkill, JoeSmith34, jcmarkel _how long do your posts have to be to make your point."

    When people stop bickering and nitpicking at each other calling each other a "fanboy" or acting as if they have a bet on these companies.

  • kuda001

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 5:16 pm PT

    PenguinKommando, dragkill, JoeSmith34, jcmarkel _how long do your posts have to be to make your point.

    these awards are pointless.........

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 5:08 pm PT

    "capping 12 months which have seen the firm deliver a new hardware format that has inspired developers around the world to make cutting-edge next generation games." --For the 360 =D

  • swyg

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 4:34 pm PT

    Awesome. ^_^

  • charley_mcd

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 3:50 pm PT

    lol ocdog45 look how many thumbs down you got from xbox fanboys just for saying 'sony is the best'!

  • doctorteeth

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 3:03 pm PT

    It's a common misconception that GC games were only for kids just because of their coat of paint. There really were some amazing titles that Nintendo put out; it's just that they were suffocated by the shear weight of the PS2 library. I love my GC collection.

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