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Eiji Aonuma is a winner
Level Up's N'Gai Croal interviewed some of the winners of the Game Critics Awards, because, you know, he can. As the producer of the Best Handheld Game, Contra 4 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Eiji Aonuma was one of the developers tapped by Croal to give his reactions to the win.Aonuma said that he was "very grateful" to win the award, explaining: "As we were challenged to create something very different this time, I am particularly happy because the award appears to have meant that our challenge was worthwhile." He then went on to speak about the positive Japanese reaction to the game, which he ascribes almost entirely to the fact that everyone in Japan loves the DS.
LittleBigPlanet and Killzone win Game Critics Awards
Was there any doubt that LittleBigPlanet is the most original game of E3? The Game Critics Awards have named Media Molecule's 2D wonder the "Best Original Game" of E3 this year (a week after we named it the best PS3 game; and Joystiq also named it the "Best Original Game"). In addition, Killzone earned special honors in graphics -- it didn't match the visual fidelity of the original trailer, but boy did it get close. Finally, the Game of the Show was Rock Band ... a multiplatform release that'll find its way on PS3. Not a bad line-up of awards for the PS3, no? [Via PlayStation.blog]
Parsing the Xbox 360 NPD and post-E3 data [update]
Microsoft has posted its commentary on the latest NPD numbers and some post-E3 facts. For those that missed the latest NPD numbers on Joystiq, the Xbox 360 managed to sell 198,400 units in June, handily beating the PS3's 98,500. Of course, the 360 itself was trumped by the Wii (381.8K), DS (561.9)K, PS2 (270.7K), and the PSP (290.1K). Still, in the world of only two consoles -- the world in which both Sony and Microsoft purportedly live -- the 360 is tops. Much more legitimately impressive is the Xbox 360's incredible attach rate. Currently the average number of games sold per console is 6.1, with the number of accessories sitting at 3.2. Microsoft also notes that the Xbox 360 has sold 20.1 million games since the Wii and PS3 launch. Games are where the money is, so in this respect the 360 is doing well.
Contra 4 may actually win (part of) E3
We were joking before (since there wasn't a real competition at the time), but now the Game Critics Awards have come along to validate our enthusiasm. Contra 4 has been nominated for a 2007 Game Critics Best of E3 Award for Best Handheld Game. It's in the running with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and, on the PSP, Dead Head Fred, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Silent Hill Origins. Here's the weird part. Handheld games don't appear in any of the other categories. Best Action Game? All consoles. Best Original Game? All consoles. Best of Show? Multiplatform console games! Were the console offerings really qualitatively better than everything on the DS (and Silent Hill), or were handheld games excluded from consideration for some reason?
Wii takes "Best of Show" from E3 awards
An elite band of ninja game critics were chosen for their uncanny (and often deadly) speculative accuracy to determine the winners of the Game Critic Award's Best of E3 2006. Their choice for top honors, "Best of Show"? Nintendo's newest console: the Wii. Other big winners included Spore, nabbing three awards, and Gears of War with two.While the desire to see a victor emerge from the rubble-strewn LA Convention Center is great, the distinction hasn't always been accurate. Take for example, 2001's E3 champion: the Gamecube. 2002's best of show: Doom III. We could keep going, but you get the point. Regardless, Gamespot's Greg Kasavin wrote of the Wii, "It's a good thing Nintendo got the name change of its next console out of the way before E3. With the shock of that announcement mostly over, the company proceeded to become the talk of the show ... by inviting audiences to get their hands on an impressive lineup of fun and interesting software for the Wii...not to mention that wild controller." Insert insightful sprint versus marathon metaphor here and reflect. Check out some fun stats on the all the winners.
