LittleBigPlanet Leads with an Impressive 10 Interactive Achievement Award Nominations

Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet and Metal Gear Solid 4 Fight It Out for ‘Overall Game of the Year’ Honors

CALABASAS, Calif., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ — The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences(R) (AIAS) today announced the nominees for the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards(R). The nominations for the peer-based awards have been dominated by blockbuster game, LittleBigPlanet (Sony Computer Entertainment America) with an astounding 10 nominations from industry leaders and members of the interactive entertainment software business. In addition, finalists with multiple nominations include: Gears of War 2 (Microsoft Game Studios), Left 4 Dead (Valve Software), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.), Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks), and Fable II (Microsoft Game Studios).

The awards ceremony will take place during the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit(R) 2009, on February 19th at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, with comedian, actor and proud game enthusiast, Jay Mohr, returning for his fourth year to host the award ceremony.

These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

“This was an exciting year for games,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “The depth of talent and creativity in this industry continues to amaze me and we are honored to highlight some of the most impressive games of the year at the Interactive Achievement Awards. The 2009 nominees indeed reflect a stronghold of talent embodying the best and brightest in this field.”

Following is a partial list of finalists; the complete list of finalists is available at www.interactive.org:

    Overall Game of the Year:               Console Game of the Year:
    -------------------------               -------------------------

    Fallout 3                               Fallout 3
    Publisher: Bethesda Softworks           Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
    Developer: Bethesda Game Studios        Developer: Bethesda Game Studios

    Grand Theft Auto IV                     Gears of War 2
    Publisher: Rockstar Games               Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
    Developer: Rockstar North               Developer: Epic Games, Inc.

    Left 4 Dead                             Grand Theft Auto IV
    Publisher: Valve Software               Publisher: Rockstar Games
    Developer: Valve Software               Developer: Rockstar North

    LittleBigPlanet                         LittleBigPlanet
    Publisher: Sony Computer                Publisher: Sony Computer
    Entertainment America                   Entertainment America
    Developer: Media Molecule               Developer: Media Molecule

    Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of             Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of
    the Patriots                            the Patriots
    Publisher: Konami Digital               Publisher: Konami Digital
    Entertainment, Inc.                     Entertainment, Inc.
    Developer: Kojima Productions           Developer: Kojima Productions

    Computer Game of the Year:              Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
    --------------------------              ---------------------------------

    Fallout 3                               Braid
    Publisher: Bethesda Softworks           Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
    Developer: Bethesda Game Studios        Developer: Number None

    Left 4 Dead                             Left 4 Dead
    Publisher: Valve Software               Publisher: Valve Software
    Developer: Valve Software               Developer: Valve Software

    Mass Effect                             LittleBigPlanet
    Publisher: Electronic Arts              Publisher: Sony Computer
    Developer: Bioware                      Entertainment America
                                            Developer: Media Molecule

    Spore                                   Spore
    Publisher: Electronic Arts              Publisher: Electronic Arts
    Developer: Maxis                        Developer: Maxis

    World of Warcraft: Wrath                Wii Fit
    of the Lich King                        Publisher: Nintendo
    Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment       Developer: Nintendo
    Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

    Handheld Game of the Year
    -------------------------

    Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
    Publisher: Nintendo
    Developer: Intelligent Systems

    Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
    Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
    Developer: Konami

    God of War: Chains of Olympus
    Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Developer: Ready at Dawn

    Patapon
    Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment International

    Professor Layton and the Curious Village
    Publisher: Nintendo
    Developer: Level 5, Inc.

Since 1996, the Interactive Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. More than 100 titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy’s Peer Panels. These panels, one for each award category, are comprised of the game industry’s most experienced and talented men and women who are experts in their chosen fields. Interactive Achievement Award recipients are then determined by a vote of qualified Academy members, which is secret, conducted online, and supervised and certified by Votenet(TM) Solutions, Inc. The integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the Interactive Achievement Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software industry.

SOURCE Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences