BioShock throws D.I.C.E. award nominations
2K's submerged shooter soaks up 12 Interactive Achievement Award nods; Rock Band, Call of Duty 4, Orange Box also honored; trophies to be handed out February 7.
With next month's D.I.C.E. Summit less than three weeks away, its organizers have revealed the finalists for the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Today, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the honors, which will be handed out in a ceremony at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. The proceedings will be broadcast live on GameSpot, and will be hosted for the third year running by actor-comedian Jay Mohr (Last Comic Standing, Go, the Action TV series.)
Two games loomed large over this year's IAA nominations. The first is BioShock, the art-deco-meets-Lost-meets-System Shock actioner from 2K Games' Boston and Australian studios, previously known as Irrational Games. The second is Call of Duty 4, the wildly popular first-person shooter from Activision-owned Infinity Ward, which follows British commandos' and US Marines' attempts to stop World War III from breaking out. Both games were critical and commercial successes, and GameSpot 2007 Game of the Year finalists.
Other games up for the IAA's Game of the Year include Harmonix's Rock Band, Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy, and Valve Software's The Orange Box. A full list of nominees is below, and more information is available on the official D.I.C.E. Summit and AIAS sites.
Overall Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Console Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
Computer Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Vivendi Games, Blizzard Entertainment)
Handheld Game of the Year
Drawn to Life (THQ, 5th Cell)
Jeanne d'Arc (SCEA, Level 5)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions)
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters (SCEA, High Impact Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo, Nintendo)
Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
EVE Online: Trinity (CCP, CCP)
Guild Wars: Eye of the North (NCsoft, AreaNet)
Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (NCsoft, Destination Games)
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Midway, Turbine)
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Vivendi Games, Blizzard Entertainment)
Action Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie Studios)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Namco Bandai Games America, Namco Bandai Games)
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Electronic Arts, EA LA)
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (THQ, Relic)
Supreme Commander (THQ, Gas Powered Games)
World in Conflict (Vivendi Games, Massive Entertainment)
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 08 (Electronic Arts (Electronic Arts)
MLB 07: The Show (SCEA, SCE San Diego)
NBA 2K8 (2K Sports, Visual Concepts)
NHL 08 (Electronic Arts, EA Canada)
skate. (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
God of War II (SCEA, Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve, Valve)
Racing Game of the Year
DiRT (Codemasters, Codemasters)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft Game Studios, Turn 10 Studios)
Motorstorm (SCEA, Evolution Studios)
Need For Speed Pro Street (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bizarre Creations)
Role-Playing Game of the Year
Eternal Sonata (Namco Bandai Games America, Tri-Crescendo)
Jeanne d'Arc (SCEA, Level 5)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
Rogue Galaxy (SCEA, Level 5)
The Witcher (Atari, CDProjekt Red)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Paris, Red Storm)
skate. (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Need for Speed ProStreet (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Guitar Hero III (Activision, Neversoft)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Singstar POP (SCEA, SCEE London Studio)
skate. (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
BioShock (2K Games (2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
God of War II (SCEA, SCE Santa Monica)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
Lair (SCEA, Factor 5)
Downloadable Game of the Year
Azada (Big Fish Games, Big Fish Games)
Build-a-Lot (HipSoft, HipSoft)
flOw (SCEA, That Game Company)
Peggle (PopCap, PopCap)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions)
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft Game Studios, Turn 10 Studios)
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie Studios)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
World in Conflict (Vivendi Games, Massive Entertainment)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Outstanding Achievement in Story Development
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Drawn to Life (THQ, 5th Cell)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
The Darkness (2K Games, Starbreeze Studios)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Character Performance
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
The Orange Box: Team Fortress 2 (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
The Orange Box: Team Fortress 2 (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Family Game of the Year
Guitar Hero III (Activision, Neversoft)
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montpellier)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action (Microsoft Games Studios, Screenlife)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo, Nintendo)
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Join the conversation