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E3 game critics: Wii won
Short of having Satoru Iwata hurl bricks into the crowd at the Nintendo press conference, it seems that there was very little the Japanese giant could have done to disappoint the myriad E3 attendees, especially the overly critical ones. The Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists from 37 different media outlets, have deemed Nintendo's Wii Best of Show, praising its unique controller and "different" approach to gaming. Nintendo also grabbed the Best Hardware and Best Sports Game gongs, the latter one being awarded for the very energetic Wii Sports collection. Other big winners were Will Wright's Spore, Microsoft's Gears of War, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. The shockingly innovative PS3 controller was mysteriously overlooked.With the Wii receiving this sort of vindication, both as a concept and as a console, we hope that critics and gamers alike don't forget that, like any other system, the games are what will make or break it. The Wii was a success at E3 due to games like Super Mario Galaxy. Games like Final Furlong, on the other hand, remind us that the hardware alone, weird controller and all, can't guarantee an enjoyable experience.[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]
Best of E3 2006 from TeamXbox
The guys over at TeamXbox.com have whipped up their "Best of E3" feature to give gamers the heads-up on what shined through at the convention. You can probably deduce from their name that they didn't nominate certain companies or their products (we're looking at you Sony and Nintendo). So with that said, here are a few noteworthy awards for everything Xbox.Best Graphics: Gears of War / Runner up: BioShockBest Action Game: Lost Planet / Runner up: Too HumanBest Racing Game: MotoGP '06 / Runner up: Test Drive UnlimitedBest Sports Game: Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis / Runner up: NCAA Football 07Sleeper Hit: Just Cause / Runner up: Dead RisingBest Xbox 360 Game: Mass Effect / Runner up: Gears of WarSo what do you think? Of course, don't forget to check out the full feature for write-ups and other nominations.
Apple Design Awards 2006 now accepting entries
"Show off your latest feat of programming genius," says the Apple Developer Connection email announcing the call for entries to their 11th annual Design Awards. Recognizing "technical excellence and outstanding achievement in developing Mac OS X software," there are eight award categories into which developers can submit their apps: Best Mac OS X Developer Tool, Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics, Best Widget, Automator Workflow, User Experience, Game, Scientific Computing Solution and Student Product.As far as what winning developers receive for all their hard work, Apple's going all out this year. Each category winner receives two 15-inch MacBook Pros, two 23-inch Cinema Displays, an ADC Premiere Membership, a WWDC 2006 E-ticket, and an exhibitor space at Macworld 2007. The Student category winner will receive one 15-inch MacBook Pro, one 23-inch Cinema Display, one 60GB iPod, an ADC Student Membership, and a WWDC 2006 Student E-ticket. Does anyone else find it odd the non-student members don't receive an iPod? And how about the lack of PowerMac prizes?The entry deadline is June 16th, and the winners will be honored at WWDC in August.
GDC: Dar-win-ia a success at IGF
The results of the 2006 Independent Games Festival are in, and it's hats off to Darwinia. Scooping the Seumas McNally Grand Prize as well as the awards for Innovation in Visual Art and Technical Excellence, this leaves British-based Introversion's next game with a tough act to follow.Other winners at the festival were:Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (Innovation in Audio)Braid (Innovation in Game Design)Dad 'n Me (Best Web Browser Game)Dodge That Anvil! (Adult Swim Award)Dofus (Audience Award)The IGF also featured a modding competition for the first time, with four winners: Dystopia for Half-Life 2; Last Man Standing Co-op for Doom 3; Rose of Eternity - Chapter 1 - The Coming for Neverwinter Nights and Path of Vengeance for UT2004.
BAFTA awards recognise games as art
The BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards are the UK's answer to the Oscars. While the awards have featured a video games section since 1997, the British Academy Video Games Awards are to be moved up a gear, with games now considered equal to film and television in BAFTA's eyes. Calling games "one of the principal contemporary art forms" is likely to contribute to the "games as art" debate, but it's a move which will hopefully give gaming a more serious face. The awards will be held in October as the climax of London Games Week.
DTV Pioneer awards
Is it me or do the same people win this thing every year? Some of the previous year's winners are obviously the true Pioneers in Digital TV.The biggest missing player in this year's nominees is DISH Network; I mean how many channels do you have to add to get nominated? I think they have done more in the last year than the 3 companies that were nominated, well maybe not three times as much as DIRECTV. My favorite is Lost, a nominee for the "People's choice" award. I think this is the best show on TV right now and it's one of the only shows that I watch 15 minutes after it starts, the rest of the shows get better with age on my HDTivo. I am a bit disappointed that none of my Representatives were nominated for "Best DTV Leadership", I guess I will have to email them to tell them they are slacking!
TiVoToGo for Mac named in Wired's 2005 Vaporware Awards
Remember those TiVoToGo OS X screenshots we came across in early January? Wired's readers do, and they nominated it as the #10 vaporware (a much-hyped product that never appears) of 2005 in Wired's annual Vaporware Awards. TiVo has apparently been promising the software for months, amidst Apple TiVo partnership rumors and rampant speculation about a Mac mini TiVo (or TiVo-like) media center.Another mentionable 2005 vaporware item, though not necessarily Apple-related, is the perpetually forthcoming Windows Vista, clocking in at number 4. I just have to tip my hat to one reader's comment that Wired printed: "It's been put off so many times, it's been called 'Hasta la Vista.'"My favorite Apple-related piece of vaporware? The Apple Pippin.
Apple products in the Engadget awards
Engadget has compiled their list of tech awards for 2005, as selected by the readers and Engadget editors. Categories ranged from "Gadget of the Year" to "Disappointment of the Year." Apple received six readers' choice awards (but no editors' picks, oddly enough). So, here's how Apple fared, as selected by Engadget readers: Gadget of the Year: Apple iPod 5G (Editors' pick: Xbox 360) Desktop of the Year: Apple Power Mac G5 Quad (Editors' pick: Sony RC series) Laptop of the Year: Apple Powerbook 15" (Editors' pick: IBM Thinkpad Z) Media PC of the Year: Apple iMac G5 with FrontRow (Editors' pick: Niveus Media K2) Portable Audio Device of the Year: iPod nano (Editors' pick: iRiver U10) Portable Video Device of the Year: Apple iPod 5G (Editors' pick: Cowon A2) While not really an Apple product, Disappointment of the Year went to the Motorola ROKR E1. I whole-heartedly agree.
