Nominees announced for the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2004

Xbox News | Halo 2, Nintendo and EA have reasons to cheer as the post-E3 awards start to roll in.

Each year, the Game Critics Awards are voted on by a group of 35 game journalists from major publications. Among the outlets represented are Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, CNN/Money, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Business 2.0, and The Los Angeles Times. PALGN has yet to be approached, though we'll be waiting by the phone as usual next year.

This year meanwhile, it was Halo 2 which led the way in the nominations. Bungie's sci-fi shooter has racked up four nominations, including Best of Show, Best Console Game, Best Action Game, and Best Online Multiplayer Game. Just behind it with three nominations are Splinter Cell 3, God of War, Half-Life 2, and Jade Empire tallying three nods each. Nintendo and Electronic Arts received more nominations than any other publisher, with 11 nods.

The winners of the Game Critics Awards will be revealed on June 8, so expect a PALGN rundown then. The complete list of nominees is as follows:

Best of Show
Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games - PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft - Xbox)
Nintendo DS (Mobile Gaming System - Nintendo Co. Ltd)
Sony PSP (Mobile Gaming System
Sony Computer Entertainment)
Splinter Cell 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft - PC)

Best Original Game
Destroy All Humans! (Pandemic/THQ - PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo - GameCube)
God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA - PlayStation 2)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft - Xbox)
Odama (Vivarium/Nintendo - GameCube)

Best PC Game
Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games - PC)
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth (EALA/Electronic Arts - PC)
Rome: Total War (Creative Assembly/Activision - PC)
Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts - PC)
Splinter Cell 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft - PC)

Best Console Game
God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA - PlayStation 2)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft - Xbox)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft - Xbox)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Retro Studios/Nintendo - GameCube)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom - GameCube)

Best Peripheral/Hardware
Alienware Video Array Technology (Alienware - PC)
onkey Konga Bongo Drums (Nintendo - GameCube)
Nintendo DS (Mobile Gaming System - Nintendo Co. Ltd)
Phantom Gaming Service (Infinium Labs, Inc.)
Sony PSP (Mobile Gaming System - Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Action Game
Doom 3 (Vicarious Visions/id/Activision - Xbox)
F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games - PC)
Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games - PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft - Xbox)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Retro Studios/Nintendo - GameCube)

Best Action/Adventure Game
God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA - PlayStation 2)
Prince of Persia 2 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft - All Systems)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom - GameCube)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Insomniac Games/SCEA - PlayStation 2)
Splinter Cell 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/UbiSoft - PC)

Best Fighting Game
Def Jam: Fight for NY (EA Canada/EA - All Console Systems)
Guilty Gear Isuka (Arc System Works/Sammy Studios - PlayStation 2)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (Midway Games - PlayStation 2/Xbox)
Rumble Roses (KCET/Konami - PlayStation 2)
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (Capcom - PlayStation 2/Xbox)

Best Role-Playing Game
Fable (Big Blue Box/Microsoft - Xbox)
Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix - PlayStation 2)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft - Xbox)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian/LucasArts - PC/Xbox)
Vampire: The Masquerade
Bloodlines (Troika Games/Activision - PC)

Best Racing Game
Burnout 3 (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts - PlayStation 2/Xbox)
Enthusia Professional Racing (Konami - PlayStation 2)
Forza Motorsport (Microsoft - Xbox)
Gran Turismo 4 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment - PlayStation 2)
Street Racing Syndicate (Eutechnyx/Namco - All Console Systems)

Best Simulation Game
Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ - PC/Xbox)
Pacific Fighters (1C/Ubisoft - PC)
Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts - PC)
The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision - All Platforms)
The Urbz: Sims in the City (Maxis/Electronic Arts - All Console Systems)

Best Sports Game
ESPN NFL 2005 (Visual Concepts/ESPN Videogames - PS2/Xbox)
FIFA Soccer 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts - All Platforms)
Madden NFL 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts - All Platforms)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts - All Platforms)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Neversoft/Activision - All Platforms)

Best Strategy Game
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth (EALA/Electronic Arts - PC)
Pikmin 2 (Nintendo - GameCube)
Rome: Total War (Creative Assembly/Activision - PC)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (Relic/THQ - PC)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
Donkey Konga (Nintendo - GameCube)
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo - GameCube)
EyeToy: AntiGrav (Harmonix Music Systems/SCEA - PlayStation 2)
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 (Harmonix Music Systems/Konami - PlayStation 2)
WarioWare, Inc. DS (Nintendo - Nintendo DS)

Best Online Multiplayer Game
Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/EA Games - PC)
EverQuest II (Sony Online Entertainment - PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft - Xbox)
Star Wars Battlefront (Pandemic Studios/LucasArts - PC, PS2, Xbox)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard/Vivendi Universal Games - PC)

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7 Comments

Big Pete

7 years ago

Where's Zelda.

Quin

7 years ago

I don't think Zelda is that far through the production stage where it is allowed to be considered "Best of Show" and whatnot, I think Nintendo would have shown more if they were going for any of the E3 awards.

Gtpod

7 years ago

And it just sucks.

I expect Half-Life 2, Halo 2, DS, SC3, Guilty Gear, FF, GT4/Burnout 3, Sims 2, THUG2, Pikmin 2, Eye Toy (*shudder..*) and WoW to pick up the awards. Not sure what of the first few HL2/Halo 2 will get..

Big Pete

7 years ago

Oh ok thanks for clearing that up for me Quis.

GT2=X Box Fanboy so his oppinions become invalid to me.

Gtpod

7 years ago

Big Pete wrote

GT2=X Box Fanboy so his oppinions become invalide to me.

Big Pete can't spell so his opinions are invalid to me.

I'm not really an Xbox fanboy, I'm just very particular with what games I like, and I'm not liking these new Nintendo ones.

ObsoletE

7 years ago

i like the pick up on invalid but not opinions....

meh, pre-release prizes are pretty pointless IMO... just because a game (or peripheral) looks pretty now doesn't mean they'll be any good later

Big Pete

7 years ago

I was typing fast sue me.

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