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Ratchet & Clank, SingStar and Uncharted pick up BAFTA nods
Even before they've reached store shelves, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts have nominated a number of PS3 exclusives for its annual Video Game Awards. Notably, Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction is picking up a nomination for best Action & Adventure game. Heavenly Sword is competing for best Artistic Achievement. SingStar is going for best Casual game. Warhawk is getting a nod for its Gameplay, while both fl0w and The Eye of Judgment are getting nominations for Innovation.Yes, even Lair picked up a nomination on something that's hard to deny -- the soundtrack. For the complete list of nominations, click here.[Thanks, LJKelley!]
Nominations open for British gaming awards
Nominations are open for this year's BAFTA game awards -- or perhaps we should call them the BAVGAs these days. And despite the fact that nominations close in July, games are eligible so long as they're going to be released in the UK sometime before December 31, 2007. So it's quite possible that games from the future could pick up awards. This year's categories seem to have some room for Wii: Action and Adventure, Strategy and Simulation, Sports, Multiplayer, Casual, Use of Audio, Original Score, Technical Achievement, Artistic Achievement, Gameplay, Innovation, Story and Character, and Best Game. Casual? Sports? Gameplay? Innovation? Hell, we haven't even started thinking past Wii Sports yet, either. We'll keep an eye out for the full list of nominations and let you know when they're up. Have any Wii predictions? Let us know!
Some BAFTA winners baffle; GRAW is game of the year
Last week the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (that's BAFTA) awarded the British Academy Video Games Awards in seventeen categories. While we're all about mainstream acknowledgment of our favorite entertainment medium, from a respectable organization like BAFTA no less, you know we're never ones to leave well enough alone. Reading through the list of winners is difficult to reconcile with the industry we read and write about everyday. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter was a pretty good game, but game of the year? At least it beat out game of the year competitor Black!While there are plenty of dubious winners, and even more dubious nominees, there are still plenty of welcome winners on the list, like Electroplankton, Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus, and Psychonauts.While the US has separate academies for movies (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), television (The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences), and video games (The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences), BAFTA treats video games comparably with film and television. This is vastly different from many of the other video games awards ceremonies handed out by organizations tasked solely with judging the merits of interactive entertainment ... like, say, the Spike VGA awards. Sure, mainstream awards ceremonies may go a long way towards encouraging mainstream acceptance of video games, but we're pretty sure Joystiq readers aren't looking to awards shows to let them know what the best game of the year was. So 'stiq, was it GRAW?
UK government: There is more to life than video games
Shaun Woodward, the UK's Creative Industries and Tourism minister, wants the game industry to help curtail the amount of time kids spend playing games. Which is more than a bit ironic considering he took no such umbrage last month, telling a crowd assembled for the announcement of the BAFTA video game awards, "Video games are a huge part of the creative industries in the UK and deserve full recognition for their vital role in our economy. The huge diversity of games, from entertainment to education, put them at the centre of culture in Britain."He's being a bit equivocal, last month heaping loads of praise on the same industry he's wagging his finger at this week, but he's far better than opportunistic American politicians who would rather play the parental role for you. Woodward goes on to say, "We want to help parents have the facts to help them in their parenting, and we want games to be a responsible part of this mix." So, first he doesn't want children to play games, now he wants games to help people be better parents? Make up your mind, man!Woodward advocates that parents should be the ones raising their kids, not the government, which is a stance we can fully support. If your kid is locked in his room playing World of Warcraft for twelve hours a day, you need to be a better parent instead of waiting for men in black suits to show up and take his paladin away. Don't let a television or a joystick raise your kid, either hire an au pair or roll up your sleeves and get involved.
Nintendo DS brings home the BAFTAs
Though they were both nominated in multiple categories, Brain Age (aka Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?) and Electroplankton each picked up a single award in yesterday's British Academy of Film and Television Awards. Electroplankton was acknowledged for audio achievement (color us unsuprised at that one) and Brain Age was named the most innovative of the year's titles by the British organization. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for the Xbox 360 picked up the nod for game of the year, beating out Brain Age. Trauma Center and New Super Mario Bros. were both nominated as well, but picked up no awards. We're pretty sure that's probably a crime against humanity, but just this once, we'll let it slide.[Thanks, elbono!]
Loco Roco wins two awards at BAFTA
Loco Roco was the most-nominated game for this year's British Academy of Film and Television Arts' annual video game awards. The award winners were revealed tonight, and Loco Roco was able to score two victories from its eight nominations. The game won for both Best New Character, and Best Children's Game, an award usually reserved exclusively for Nintendo titles. Congrats to the brilliant Loco Roco team: you guys deserve all the praise. Read on to see the winners of other categories.
Loco Roco leads BAFTA nominations
BAFTA's British Academy Video Games Awards, to be held on October 5th, has announced their nominations. There were two games with the most nominations: Loco Roco for the PSP and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter for Xbox 360, both earning eight nominations each. The only other PSP-exclusive title to be nominated was Daxter. Read after the cut to see the categories these two games are competing in.
DS gets some love from BAFTA
It's the first time the U.K.'s gaming awards have been in their own spotlight (instead of relaxing in the shadow of the film and television awards), and the Nintendo DS has snared some of the attention. We would expect nothing less. Electroplankton and Brain Age both picked up nominations in multiple categories, and they'll be butting heads (brains?) when it comes to which game is Britain's choice for the most innovative of the year. Trauma Center got a nod as well in the simulation category. We're not sure the other nominees are even worth mentioning next to that one. Too bad there isn't a category for games that make you sweat, 'cause they're just that damned hard at times. Trauma Center has always made us idly wish for a third hand, but we love it like ice cream. Can't say we agree with everything they're doing across the pond, though -- they've got New Super Mario Bros. tagged as a children's game. Oh well. I guess we should all put it down and step away slowly. The winners will be announced on October 5. Check back for confetti and poppers when the DS snags some awards.
Video game BAFTA nominees announced
Part of the London Games Festival, the BAFTA awards for video games will help provide some recognition to gaming that's on a par with film and TV -- at least, in the UK. The nominees, announced today, cover a wide range of games -- from popular favourites such as Tomb Raider: Legend and Oblivion to the more off-beat in Guitar Hero and Katamari.Given the way the UK charts have been looking this summer, the mainstream games may well come out top in most categories, though we'd like to see more recognition for other titles. Fingers crossed; the awards are on October 5th.
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.
