interactive-achievement-awards
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Skyrim snags another best of show gong at 15th annual AIAS awards
Like the sun rising in the East or our daily tribute to the almighty caffeine deity, we've come to expect writing a post at least once a week announcing yet another award for Skyrim. This week is no different, with Skyrim taking top honors at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas last evening.The studio took home five awards in total for the dragon-infested, open-world RPG, alongside fellow multiple award winners Uncharted 3 and Portal 2. We've dropped a full list of winners after the break, but before you head there allow us to be outraged for you that Skyward Sword didn't win any awards. Outrage! How could they? Etc.
Epic's Tim Sweeney being inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the 16th inductee to its Hall of Fame, a catalog which already contains literal game-changers like Peter Molyneux, Sid Meier and Will Wright. To be added to that list during the Interactive Achievement Awards at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit in February: Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney. You've almost certainly heard of him -- if not, you've definitely heard of the Unreal Engine, which he helped create. If you haven't heard of that, what is wrong with you? The Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be presented February 9, will see Epic VP Mark Rein bestowing the honor upon Sweeney. We anticipate that his speech will include humorous jabs at one or more of Sweeney's lesser-known idiosyncrasies, as well as a heart-touching stanza about how he's not just a good boss, but a great friend. We're getting a little choked up just thinking about it.
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' annual Pioneer Award going to Bill Budge
We're not sure why, but every year, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) feels compelled to award one prominent contributor to the gaming industry with recognition for their proficiency with wild frontier survival. We're talking about raccoon cap-wearing, log cabin-living souls who, with little provocation, will load up their family's small Conestoga wagon and ship out for parts west, which -- wait, you mean the AIAS Pioneer Award has nothing to do with literal pioneering? We're a little disappointed, if we're being honest. This year's pioneer award (which will be handed out during the DICE 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards on February 10) will go to Bill Budge, an illustrious creator of engines for other people to create their own games and experiences, such as the 3-D Game Tool and Pinball Construction Set -- one of EA's earliest titles. He's also done stints with Sony Computer Entertainment and EA, and he currently works at Google, helping to improve the world of browser-based gaming. Also, he knows the proper way to open and neutralize a rattlesnake bite. We think. Probably.
DICE award nominees announced, Red Dead leads the pack
The nominees for the 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards -- the annual awards ceremony held during the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (DICE) Summit -- have been announced. The list includes a number of surprises (including a Game of the Year nod for Angry Birds HD), but, somewhat less surprisingly, Red Dead Redemption leads the pack with nine nominations across the show's various categories. Check out all the nominees after the jump for even more familiar and unfamiliar titles. (Alan ... Wake? That's a game? Never heard of it, bub.)
Video: Borderlands' ClapTrap at the AIAS Awards
One could argue that ClapTrap is the most charismatic entity in Borderlands ... and that person would be correct. The penchant for dancing and demeanor of the robotic denizens of Pandora are a highlight of the title, without a doubt. And like all talent, ClapTrap can get a bit temperamental -- especially when said talent didn't win in its respective category of the Interactive Achievement Awards. The Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance ended up going to Mark Hamill for his portrayal of The Joker in Batman: Arkham Aslyum, and ClapTrap has been simmering for the past month. If you ever doubted a robot's capacity to feel, you need only watch the video above.
DICE awards now on IFC.com, check out the Jay Mohr monologue here
If you missed the live stream of the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (i.e., the DICE awards), and don't want to wait for the "broadcast premiere" this Friday, the whole thing is available now in chunks on IFC.com. The first two clips cover Jay Mohr's (Gary Unmarried, Action, Go, Mr. Nikki Cox) 40-minute monologue, while the rest is the awards ceremony -- and, well, the "Indiana Jones sequel" Mohr wanted swept those. The reason we decided to drop the Mohr monologue after the break was because we're guessing there will be "edits" for TV, including some inside jokes about Richard Garriott and Bobby Kotick (in particular, the 6:45 mark during the second clip). We're not sure if the general television audience will "get it," but we trust that you all will.
Interview: Joseph Olin discusses DICE awards
Joseph Olin, president of the The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, is a busy, busy man this week. Hosting DICE and getting ready for the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards tonight, which will be streamed on IFC.com (and shown on IFC's cable TV network the following week). We were curious to know a little more about what the academy has planned for its public image and who Olin is rooting for tonight. Joystiq: Do we call it the Interactive Achievement Awards ... or do we say I.A. awards? Joseph Olin: Interactive Achievement Awards. I think most people just give them the moniker "The DICE Awards." Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain certainly sums up why people make games. I'm comfortable with that. Is this the first year the show will be streamed live? Actually, this will be the third year it'll be streamed live. But, last year our good friends at IGN had a problem with their uplink relay on their end. So we were streaming and nothing went. So they captured and were about 30 minutes behind. As we all know, the internet is a flawless piece of technology and as reliable as the mail. So, yes, we're excited about IFC streaming it this year because they have a much better track record of streaming their content. So, we should say this is the first year IFC is streaming it? This is the first year IFC is streaming it live. Then the highlights show will be on the following Friday, the 26th.
Nathan Drake hoping to take home more shiny trinkets at AIAS awards
We're in the thick of awards season, and video games are no exception. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced its finalists for the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ("The 'Racties" -- we're kidding but that's what they should be called), and, as you might have guessed, award hog Uncharted 2: Among Thieves leads the pack with 15 nominations. The rest of the nominees include more of the usual suspects from 2009: Assassin's Creed II with 10 noms, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with nine and Batman: Arkham Asylum with eight. This year's awards also features three new categories, including Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Portable and Social Networking Games of the Year. You can find a list of selected categories and their nominees after the break, or check out the Academy's full list in PDF form. The awards will be given out at the DICE Summit on February 18 in Las Vegas, where Activision's Bobby Kotick is scheduled to keynote. We can only guess that he'll go all Kanye on the podium if Modern Warfare 2 doesn't win.
Call of Duty 4 dubbed game of the year at Interactive Achievement Awards
Despite nabbing 12 nominations for the (deep breath) Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, BioShock was bested in the Overall Game of the Year category by cinematic tour de force, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Both games were awarded four, err, awards at this year's event, held alongside D.I.C.E. at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Orange Box's Portal made off with some shiny statuettes, as did fake instrument extravaganza, Rock Band. Super Mario Galaxy was deemed the best "adventure" game in absence of a "platformer" category (a sad commentary in itself), while Assassin's Creed got a hearty stab pat on the back for its fancy animation. The complete list of winners can be found after the break -- a list of whiners is sure to follow shortly.Read [PDF link]
Joystiq interviews Joseph Olin, president of the AIAS
When he isn't busy plotting the demise of numerous rival and lesser-known academies (like the Academy of Interactive Baguettes and Pumpernickels, of which BioWare is a member), the well-spoken Joseph Olin is orchestrating the annual Interactive Achievement awards. Each year, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences turns to its member panel of game developers and highlights what it believes to be the best games of the year. With the AIAS awards show taking place on 8 February at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, we decided it was about time to quiz Mr. Olin about all things award-winning. In the second part of the post, you'll find a lengthy interview touching on the recently announced award nominees, the selection process, non-human academy members, Capcom's objections and of course, the act of mowing Joseph Olin down with a machine gun.
