nullnullnull (1463) on 3/23/2006 8:53 PM · Permalink · Report

GDC is back in San Jose this year and so is the Independent Game Festival and the Game Developers Choice Awards. There are a ton of video game awards from the obscure and a little weird National Academy of Video Game Testers & Reviewers Awards to the Spike TV Video Games Awards. The IGF and GDC awards is both enjoyable and probably the most legitimate award of excellence among all the various honors lavished on video games and game developers this time of year.

Darwinia nearly swept the IGF awards, taking away awards for Technical Excellence, Innovation in Visual Arts and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Shadow of the Colossus dominated the GDC Awards getting an awards for Innovation, Visual Arts, Game Design and Best Game. My favorite Guitar Hero picked up an award for Innovation and Best Audio. Guitar Heros developers, Harmonix were honored with the Maverick Award.

The GDC awards is once again an enjoyable event. David Perry and MobyGames friend and fan Tommy Tallarico MC'd the event and Mega64 provided entertainment. David and Tommy did a wonderful job. Not only are these two guys well spoken and articulate, but the rapport they have together and the affection and love they have for games is obvious. So much better than last years nasty undertones and awful entertainment. The venue was also much better than last years ad hoc lay out. Well done to everyone involved and congrats to all the winners.