G-Phoria nominees announced

Ready the red carpet. The nominees for the third annual G-Phoria Awards, a G4-sponsored gaming awards show taking place July 27, have been announced. The event will be broadcast on G4, a cable network devoted to gaming, August 9, and is cosponsored by Jeep and Mountain Dew.

This year's winners are being chosen differently. The nominees have been chosen by industry experts as they have been in the past, but the victors will be chosen by gamers themselves. Qualifying games were released between March 31, 2004, and April 30, 2005.

Among the most nominated games are Microsoft's Halo 2, Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Blizzard's World of Warcraft, and Capcom's Resident Evil 4. All four games, along with Valve's Half-Life 2 and Sony's God of War, are up for Game of the Year.

To cast your vote, head over to the G-Phoria Web site.

The full list of nominees are as follows:

Best Traditional Sports Game
• EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 2 (Electronic Arts)
• Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)
• ESPN NFL 2K5 (SEGA)
• Winning Eleven 8 (Konami)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (Electronic Arts)

Best Alternative Sports Game
• Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix (Activision)
• NBA Street V3 (Electronic Arts)
• NFL Street 2 (Electronic Arts)
• Def Jam Fight for NY (Electronic Arts)
• WWE: Day of Reckoning (THQ)

Best Racing Game
• Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Burnout 3: Takedown (Electronic Arts)
• RalliSport Challenge 2 (Microsoft)
• Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Ridge Racer (Namco)

Best Action Game
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)

Best Shooter
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (Ubisoft)
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (VU Games)
• Metroid Prime 2 Echoes (Nintendo)

Best RPG
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo)
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (LucasArts)
• Jade Empire (BioWare/Microsoft)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Atlus)
• Tales of Symphonia (Namco)

EB Gamers Choice
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

Best Cinematic
• Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Oddworld Inhabitants/Electronic Arts)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Graphics
• DOOM 3 (id Software/Activision)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)

Best Handheld Game
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Nintendo)
• Lumines (Ubisoft)
• Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Wario Ware Touched! (Nintendo)
• Astro Boy: Omega Factor (SEGA)

Best Innovation
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo)
• Feel the Magic: XY/XX (SEGA)
• Katamari Damacy (Namco)
• Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)
• Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Midway)

Best Multiplayer Game
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• City of Heroes (NCsoft)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (Nintendo)

Best Adaptation
• Spider-Man 2 (Activision)
• X-Men Legends (Activision)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (Electronic Arts)
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (VU Games)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (GIANT)

Best Licensed Soundtrack
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
• Def Jam Fight for NY (Electronic Arts)
• Lumines (Ubisoft)
• Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision)

Best Original Soundtrack
• Katamari Damacy (Namco)
• Fable (Microsoft)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Best Voice Performance – Female
• God of War – Linda Hunt (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Half-Life 2 – Merle Dandridge (Valve/VU Games)
• Def Jam Fight for NY -- Carmen Electra (Electronic Arts)
• EverQuest 2 – Heather Graham (Sony Online Entertainment)
• Need for Speed Underground 2 – Brooke Burke (Electronic Arts)

Best Voice Performance – Male
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Samuel L. Jackson (Rockstar Games)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Young Maylay (Rockstar Games)
• Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay – Vin Diesel (VU Games)
• Halo 2 – David Cross (Bungie/Microsoft)
• Def Jam Fight for NY – Snoop Dogg (Electronic Arts)

Best Original Game
• Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Midway)
• Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Katamari Damacy (Namco)
• Psychonauts (Majesco)

Best Sound Design
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• DOOM 3 (id Software/Activision)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Favorite Character
• Katamari – King of the Cosmos (Namco)
• God of War – Kratos (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – CJ (Rockstar Games)
• Oddworld Stranger's Wrath – Stranger (Electronic Arts)
• Half-Life 2 – Alyx Vance (Valve/VU Games)

Best Boss
• God of War – Hydra (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – The End (Konami)
• Resident Evil 4 – Del Lago (Capcom)
• Halo 2 – Scarab Battle (Bungie/Microsoft)
• DOOM 3 – Cyber Demon (id Software/Activision)

Game of the Year
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
• God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)
• Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)