The videogame nomination finalists for this year’s 14th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, an event that will take place during this year’s Game Developers Conference on March 19 in San Francisco, have been announced in a press release that was published today, praising games from 2013 that received general critical acclaim and various other accolades.
The process of finding the finalists kicks off with industry professionals partaking in open nominations by appraising any and all videogames that initially came out during the 2013 calendar year, regardless of how a title was delivered to the masses, or what medium it was presented through, or what platform it released on. Titles that hit the mark are nominated for categories like Game of the Year. Titles that don’t quite hit the mark, but that are still worthy of nomination, are given an Honorable Mention in whichever category best fits them.
The two leading nominees, with five nominations each, are Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us and Media Molecule’s Tearaway . The Last of Us has received nominations for Game of the Year, Best Design, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative and Best Technology , as well as an Honorable Mention for the Innovation title. Tearaway has received praise throughout the year of 2013 for its charming art style and intuitive use of the PlayStation Vita’s inputs and sensors. The title has been nominated for Innovation, Best Visual Art, Best Audio, Best Technology and Best Handheld/Mobile Game, and has also been given an Honorable Mention for Game of the Year.
Other triple-A titles with multiple nominations include Crystal Dynamics’s Tomb Raider and Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V . Tomb Raider has been nominated for Game of the Year, Best Design, Best Narrative, and an Honorable Mention in Best Technology. GTA V has been nominated for Game of the Year (no surprises there), Best Design, Best Audio and Best Technology.
Smaller titles have also had their fair share of both recognition and nominations as well. Games such as Fullbri ght Company’s Gone Home , a lauded first-person interactive storytelling experience, have been nominated for Game of the Year, the Innovation Award, Best Debut, Best Narrative and Best Downloadable Game titles, with an Honorable Mention for Best Audio. Several other games of a similar ilk have been given multiple nominations too, including Galactic Café’s The Stanley Parable; Lucas Pope’s Papers, Please, Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Simogo’s surreal thriller DEVICE 6 .
A couple of Nintendo’s first-party games have been thrown into the mix as well, with Super Mario 3D World being nominated for the Game of the Year and Best Design titles, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds being nominated for the Best Design, Best Handheld/Mobile Game titles. A Link Between Worlds was also recognised as an Honorable Mention for Game of the Year.
A comprehensive list of the nominees for this year’s 1 4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards is available for viewing below.
Game of the Year
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
Honorable Mentions: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe), Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony).
Innovation Award
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Honorable Mentions: Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games), Candy Box (Aniwey), Kerbal Space Program (Squad), The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony), Proteus (Ed Key/David Kanaga).
Best Debut
Blue Manchu ( Card Hunter )
The Fullbright Company ( Gone Home )
Galactic Cafe ( The Stanley Parable )
Squad ( Kerbal Space Program )
Undead Labs ( State Of Decay )
Honorable Mentions: Facepalm Games ( The Swapper ), Frogmind Games ( Badland ), Grinding Gear Games ( Path Of Exile ), Suspicious Developments ( Gunpoint ), Warner Bros. Games Montreal ( Batman: Arkham Origins ).
Best Design
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
Honorable Mentions: DOTA 2 (Valve) Pokemon X & Y (Game Freak/Nintendo), Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form), TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka).
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo),
868-HACK (Michael Brough), Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (Next Level Games/Nintendo), Plants Vs. Zombies 2 (PopCap/Electronic Arts), The Room Two (Fireproof Games), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form).
Best Visual Art
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games)
DmC (Ninja Theory/Capcom)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
Honorable Mentions: Don’t Starve (Klei Entertaintment), Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), Puppeteer (SCE Japan/Sony), Ryse: Son Of Rome (Crytek/Microsoft), Wonderful 101 (Platinum Games/Nintendo).
Best Narrative
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Honorable Mentions: Attack Of The Friday Monsters (Millennium Kitchen/Level 5), BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games), The Cave (DoubleFine Games), Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai), Shadowrun Returns (Harebrained Schemes).
Best Audio
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games),
Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Saints Row IV (Volition/Deep Silver)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts) , Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), Gone Home (The Fullbright Company), Metro: Last Light (4A Games/Deep Silver).
Best Downloadable Game
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Resogun (Housemarque/Sony)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Honorable Mentions: Guacamelee (DrinkBox Studios), Gunpoint (Suspicious Developments), State Of Decay (Undead Labs), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form), TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka), The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games).
Best Technology
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games/Sony)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts), DOTA 2 (Valve), Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games), Metro: Last Light (4A Games/Deep Silver), Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix).
Source : Press release.