Half-Life 2 tops GDC Choice Awards

Last night, Gabe Newell came to the rescue. The founder of Valve Software, developer of the Best Game category winner at this year's Game Developers Choice Awards, delivered just the right anecdote to a long, but properly enjoyed, awards ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of Moscone West.

Upon winning the top award, a slimmed-down Newell said, "So awards like these are sort of a double-edged sword. On the one hand I think it's recognition for all the work that went into it. And I also think they're a little bit of a message that you guys better not f*** up your next one because we're all going to be watching."

The crowd of more than 1,000 attendees were then relieved of their duties of sitting through two hours of looped music, lackluster video montages, and a couple of long-winded (albeit appreciated) acceptance speeches. "Who says we're not like the Oscars," IGDA's Jason Della Rocca quipped after one prolonged ramble.

Still, the awards were the thing. Winners are in bold face below:

Best Game
Burnout 3: Takedown (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

New Studio
Cryptic Studios (City of Heroes)
Crytek (Far Cry)
InXile Entertainment (The Bard's Tale)
Obsidian Entertainment (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords)
The Behemoth (Alien Hominid)

Audio
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (Spark Unlimited/Activision)
Doom 3 (id Software/Activision)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Halo 2 (Bungie Software/Microsoft Game Studios)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)

Character Design
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment)
Sly 2: Band of Thieves (Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

Game Design
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)
Pikmin 2 (Nintendo)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

Technology
Burnout 3: Takedown (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
Doom 3 (id Software/Activision)
EyeToy: AntiGrav (Harmonix Music Systems/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
Far Cry (Crytek/Ubisoft Entertainment)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)

Visual Arts
Doom 3 (id Software/Activision)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

Writing
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Half-Life 2 (Valve Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (High Voltage Software/Vivendi Universal Games)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian Entertainment/LucasArts Entertainment)

Innovation (all winners)
Donky Konga (Namco/Nintendo)
I Love Bees (4orty2wo Entertainment/Microsoft Game Studios)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)