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Little Big Planet, Braid lead GDC Award noms

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Feb 9, 2009 11:58 am PT

PS3 platformer leads Game Developers Choice Awards finalists with seven nods; puzzler takes five; Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, MGS4 also nominated.

Harmonix cofounders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozyare, along with Video Games Live maestro Tommy Tallarico, are already known winners at this year's Game Developers Conference. What remains to be seen, however, is which title from 2008 will rise above the rest to receive the conference's coveted Game of the Year award.

Much GDC love for Sackboy.

Today, GDC show runners Think Services narrowed down the prospects, announcing the finalists for the ninth annual Game Developers Choice Awards. As with the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' awards, Media Molecule's PlayStation 3-exclusive Little Big Planet received the most recognition of 2008's offerings. Of the 10 total categories, the customizable platformer placed in seven of them, including Best Game Design, Best Debut, Innovation, and Game of the Year.

A number of other award-season stalwarts joined Little Big Planet as Game of the Year finalists. Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3 and Valve's Left 4 Dead each received nominations in four categories, including Game of the Year. Along with the top category, Rockstar's money-minting Grand Theft Auto IV received two other nods. Lionhead Studios' Xbox 360-exclusive Fable II is also in the running for the Game Developers Choice Awards' top honor.

Though it was not party to the Game of the Year proceedings, Jonathan Blow's Braid placed second only to Little Big Planet in total award nominations. The puzzle-heavy platformer, which received substantial critical praise upon its release in August, garnered nominations in the Best Game Design, Best Writing, Best Debut, Innovation, and Best Downloadable Game categories.

The full roster of Game Developers Choice Awards finalists is listed below.

Game of the Year
Fable II (Lionhead Studios)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Left 4 Dead (Valve Software)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North)

Best Game Design
Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
Braid (Number None)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Left 4 Dead (Valve Software)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)

Best Visual Art
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima Productions)
Prince of Persia (Ubisoft Montreal)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)
Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)

Best Technology
Spore (Maxis)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North)
Left 4 Dead (Valve Software)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)
Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)

Best Writing
Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
Braid (Number None)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima Productions)

Best Audio
Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima Productions)
Left 4 Dead (Valve Software)
Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)

Best Debut
Braid (Number None)
Sins of a Solar Empire (Ironclad Games)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)
World of Goo (2D Boy)
Soul Bubbles (Mekensleep)

Innovation
Spore (Maxis)
World of Goo (2D Boy)
Boom Blox (EA Los Angeles)
Braid (Number None)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule)

Best Handheld
Patapon (Pyramid/SCE Japan)
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (Intelligent Systems)
God of War: Chains of Olympus (Ready At Dawn Studios)
Echochrome (SCE Japan)
The World Ends With You (Jupiter/Square Enix)

Best Downloadable Game
Castle Crashers (The Behemoth)
Braid (Number None)
World of Goo (2D Boy)
N+ (Metanet/Slick Entertainment)
Pixeljunk Eden (Q-Games)

133 Comments

  • ShockerX01

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 2:18 pm PT

    I am quite shocked and insulted that MGS4 is not as the GOTY finalist. I love L4D,its nice to see it as a finalist, but it just does not compare to MGS4

  • Wesleyp_6

    Posted Mar 24, 2009 12:24 pm PT

    this was probably before killzone 2 was released

  • Stabby

    Posted Mar 24, 2009 12:22 pm PT

    LBP will win... not that I think its the better game, haven't played it. Its just these awards seem to go for this more, look at Portal last year.

    This isn't a bad thing or a complaint, just an observation.

  • iBuSHiDo

    Posted Mar 24, 2009 4:29 am PT

    Left 4 Dead is on the list for GoTY over MGS4? I have L4D and I really like it, but it's basically just a really fun shoot-em-up. It doesn't have the story, the graphics, the characters, the depth of gameplay, etc. I know it has an awesome way to play co-op and a cool system for enemy spawning, but that shouldn't carry it up to the top when it doesn't compare in all other aspects.

  • tonyhawksP8

    Posted Mar 24, 2009 4:03 am PT

    What!? No MGS4 for GoTY.

  • SchumiF1

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 10:45 pm PT

    Man they dropped the ball not putting MGS4 for GoTY. Fable II, c'mon.....

  • ThatDeeJayGuy

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 7:31 pm PT

    these are the finalists not the order...

  • Kenshin100

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 4:17 pm PT

    How the hell does Fable 2 Outshine MGS4 for game of the year? What the hell is GDC doing?

  • Kenshin100

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 4:15 pm PT

    Thats pure bull at its finest. MGS4 = Game of the year. Dont understand why it's not up there. Game of the year should be a game that shines all around, not in one area. MGS4 outshines the whole list. Not taking GDC very seriously this year.

  • el_rika

    Posted Mar 23, 2009 6:47 am PT

    MGS4 - best writing, best visual art & best sound.
    Gears 2 - best tehnology.
    GOTY - LBP.

  • MaverickSY

    Posted Mar 22, 2009 11:52 am PT

    most of the finalists i agree with but MGS4 definitely deserves to WIN game of the year hands down no contest

  • ryano23277

    Posted Mar 22, 2009 1:07 am PT

    MGS4 definately deserved to be on the list and I would have put it in front of GTAIV and I think GTAIV is also a good consideration.
    Little Big Planet although I haven't gotten into yet, it certainly is interesting.
    After saying that, Fallout 3 gets my nod

  • sasha08

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 6:35 pm PT

    It's good to see that most of the games that are up are all decent!

  • CyberAltair5

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 2:24 am PT

    World of Goo deserves to get at least one award.

  • jerryschust

    Posted Mar 19, 2009 9:28 pm PT

    Wow, really not understanding how Metal Gear Solid 4 wasn't nominated for Game of the Year. If this is how today's developers view greatness...

  • killa4lyfe

    Posted Mar 19, 2009 7:38 pm PT

    @murano

    DUDE!!! i have played Fallout 3 and

    *SPOILER*

    after i found the father dude, the story only went downhill and I just kind of didn't feel like finishing the game afterwards, it was a really great game, especially the awesome part where you go into the machine and stuff! LOVED THAT PART

    *SPOILER-END* BUT mgs4 is much more fun than fallout 3 (for me at least) so i do not know where you are coming from

  • killa4lyfe

    Posted Mar 19, 2009 7:35 pm PT

    i still can't get over the fact that mgs4 did not get nominated for GOTY. It didn't many of those and i thought that the game totally deserved it too. jus saying that there weren't many GOTY awards handed to one of the best games of this gen, maybe even THE BEST (for me of course)

  • linyoa

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 5:48 pm PT

    @batmanknights
    littlebigplanets joy is kinda unexplainable, but its still awsome (not as awsome as fallout 3 or GTA4 mind you, but still awesome) you look at the game and all you see is a plattformer... but... well never mind. I agree with you about system wars though

  • batmanknights

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 11:23 am PT

    why do you twirps constantly argue about which system is better.....pick your system,play, have fun and zip it.Pc, wii, xbox, ps3 are all alot of fun.

    In my opinion, I enjoyed fallout 3 the best, so its gets my vote.Why people enjoy big planet is beyond me, but thats just me.

  • lthall posted Feb 13, 2009 5:43 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    lthall

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 5:43 pm PT (hide)

    What the hell is wrong with you people?! I forked out for a @#*#@#* PS3 and the thing sucks. The graphics are grainy, and anyone who thinks Little Big Planet constitutes a good game is either a moron or has never played anything else in their entire life. I couldn't sell the PS3 so I bought an XBOX 360 and the thing rips. If the game of the year doesn't go to a 360 game it proves the panel is taking bribes.

    PS. Castle crashers for best downloadable game .

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