Skyrim, Bastion, Arkham City lead GDCA nominations

Be they mainstream or enthusiast, most media outlets have proclaimed their Best of 2011 winners. With the 2012 Game Developers Conference coming in March, some of the top names on the development side of the industry will weigh in with their picks, and today event organizers announced the finalists for the 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

GDCA finalists in the Game of the Year category do not stray from some of the top picks of 2011. They include Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dark Souls, and GameSpot's Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Portal 2, Skyrim, and Supergiant Games' downloadable action role-playing game Bastion led nominations, with each game receiving five nods in various categories. Other top nominees include Naughty Dog's Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Team Bondi's L.A. Noire, and EA's Battlefield 3.

Category winners will be selected by an invite-only committee comprising 500 game developers from across the industry. The GDCA ceremony will take place Wednesday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m. as part of the 2012 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. GameSpot will be on hand to provide coverage of the event as it happens.

A full list of nominees can be found below.

Game of the Year
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal)
Dark Souls (FromSoftware)

Best Game Design
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Dark Souls (FromSoftware)

Innovation
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Toys For Bob)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)

Best Technology
Battlefield 3 (DICE)
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
Crysis 2 (Crytek Frankfurt/UK)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Tiny Tower (NimbleBit)
Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)
Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick)
Infinity Blade II (Chair Entertainment)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capy Games/Superbrothers)

Best Audio
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games)
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Downloadable Game
Stacking (Double Fine)
From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Outland (Housemarque)
Frozen Synapse (Mode 7)

Best Narrative
Portal 2 (Valve)
The Witcher 2 (CD Projekt RED)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)
Saints Row: The Third (Volition)

Best Debut
Supergiant Games (Bastion)
Team Bondi (L.A. Noire)
Re-Logic (Terraria)
BioWare Austin (Star Wars: The Old Republic)
Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

Best Visual Arts
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)
Rayman Origins (Ubisoft Montpellier)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Ignition Japan)
Battlefield 3 (DICE)