AIAS Award Finalists Revealed

February 13, 2004, 11:57 am EST
Total comments: 17

Nintendo has fifteen nominations, eight for Wind Waker, all five in handhelds, and one up for Game of the Year.

ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES (AIAS) ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR THE 7th ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Videogame Industry's Most Prestigious Award Show to Take Place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on March 4

CULVER CITY, CA – (February 13, 2004) – The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional organization of the interactive entertainment industry, today announced the finalists for the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be held at Rain in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, March 4, 2004.

The Academy will present awards in 36 craft, console, computer, and online categories. Award highlights include an overall "Game of the Year" and Game of the Year in different genres, as well as the prestigious Hall of Fame Award. Electronic Arts led the finalist count with 29, followed closely by Ubisoft and Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) with 23 and 21 finalists respectively.

"We are looking forward to recognizing truly outstanding achievement in videogames at our 7th Annual Awards event," said Gordon Bellamy, Executive Director of the AIAS. "The developers and publishers who will be honored at this event have helped to establish the videogame industry as the fastest growing form of entertainment throughout the world."

Including the five nominations for handheld game of the year, Nintendo has fifteen in total, eight of which are for Zelda: The Wind Waker. This pales in comparison to Prince of Persia's thirteen, which bagged the most nominations, by far.

Here is an abbreviated list of the categories in which a Nintendo-developed game is nominated for. For the full list of all the catagories and nominees, visit the AIAS awards page.

Overall Game of the Year

Command & ConquerTM: Generals, published by Electronic Arts, developed by Electronic Arts
Call of DutyTM, published by Activision, developed by Infinity Ward
Max PayneTM 2: The Fall of Max Payne, published by Rockstar Games, developed by Remedy Entertainment
Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games
Rise of NationsTM, published by Microsoft, developed by Big Huge Games
SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Console Game of the Year

Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games
SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Outstanding Innovation in Console Gaming

Eye ToyTM, published by SCEA, developed by SCEA
Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Jak IITM , published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games
Final Fantasy® X-2, published by Square Enix, developed by Square Enix

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog
SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Character and Story Development

Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games
Beyond Good & EvilTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft

Console Platform Action Adventure Game of the Year

Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog
Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal
Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games
The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Viewtiful JoeTM, published by Capcom, developed by Capcom Production Studio 4

Console Children's Title of the Year

Mario Party® 5, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, published by THQ, developed by Heavy Iron
Backyard Basketball, published by Atari, developed by Humongous
Tak and the Power of Juju, published by THQ, developed by Avalanche

Console Racing Game of the Year

Burnout 2: Point of Impact, published by Acclaim, developed by Criterion Games
F-Zero® GX, published by Nintendo, developed by Amusement Vision
Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!TM, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Need for Speed Underground, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada
Project Gotham Racing® 2, published by Microsoft, developed by Bizarre Creations

Handheld Game of the Year

Mario & LuigiTM Superstar Saga, published by Nintendo, developed by Alpha Dreams
Advance Wars 2, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Fire EmblemTM, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo
Final Fantasy® Tactics Advance, published by Nintendo, developed by Square Enix
Pokémon Ruby, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Talkback

Ian SaneFebruary 13, 2004

I'm betting on Knights of the Old Rebublic taking home the console crown. Why? Because two years in a row the big hyped Xbox game of the year has won that prize over arguably better deserving games (Halo over GTA3; Splinter Cell over Metroid Prime).

I have to question the nominees for the innovative category. Aside from the Eye Toy how are ANY of those other titles that innovative? They're good games but they fail to really break any new ground. I mean SSX3?! How different is this from SSX Tricky? And as much as I love Wind Waker from a gameplay perspective it's Ocarina of Time with cartoon graphics. Where the hell is Warioware which is virtually entirely unique?

I got to say that either this was the year of generic "me too" game design or these awards are total horsesh!t.

And why do people always lump Zelda with platformers? There's NO JUMP BUTTON! It's NOT a platformer.

Bill AurionFebruary 13, 2004

Wind Waker wasn't that innovative in terms of gameplay, but the design is fully deserving of the award...

Ian SaneFebruary 13, 2004

True but it is nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering which is what I would put the toon shading under. And even if you consider that innovative enough why is SSX3 in that group? I'm not trying to bash that game or anything I seriously don't know what innovation that title has.

NinGurl69 *hugglesFebruary 13, 2004

AIAS have become as screwey as the Oscars. They don't make sense anymore.

I prefer the GDC, where they gave Metroid Prime and Retro lots of due recognition.

Evil_LepricanFebruary 13, 2004

I cant believe poeple liked Prince of Persia so much. Sure it was fun, but 9 hours long?!? The original hardly added any gamplay to it. Wind Waker desrvese to win this so much, it is a game that anyone can pick up and play. If they look past the wierd graphics and realize gameply makes a game good or bad any age of person will love it.

Lately only games with lots of violence and sex related themes seem to be selling well. I would really like to see a change in this because I grew up on games that any one would like but now kids are forced to play games like Grand Theft auto :Vice City. Yeah its a fun game but developers shouldnt have to make games based on themes like this just to sell there game.

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker ROCkS!

Bill AurionFebruary 13, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
True but it is nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering which is what I would put the toon shading under. And even if you consider that innovative enough why is SSX3 in that group? I'm not trying to bash that game or anything I seriously don't know what innovation that title has.

Yeah, they were really stooping... :\

(Oh, and Evil, your avatar is way too big...64x64 is the max here)

DjunknownFebruary 13, 2004

One could say that Halo and Splinter Cell were a bit over-hyped, but if you have people saying KOTOR is the best thing since the original trilogy, c'mon, you have to give it some credit. Besides its on PC anyway.

Just as I predicted last year, this Zelda will take home some hardware despite its 'negative' image, leaving rival fanboys dumbfounded. And it will win at least 1 category.

Viewtiful Joe and F-Zero made on the list too, so the Academy isn't completely off its rocker. If an N-Gage game made it on that list, yeah, then its time to completely discredit the Academy.

nolimit19February 13, 2004

i like how mario party 5 got a childrens game of hte year nomination. lol why didnt they give it to windwaker and mario kart?

Bill AurionFebruary 13, 2004

Hurhurhur, Wind Woker is t3h kidie cause it hass c3l-shad!ng!

WesDawgFebruary 14, 2004

Why didn't FZero of Viewtiful Joe get highlighted in the article? Are you picking winners?

These do seem screwy though. Not that KOTOR and Max Payne 2 aren't great, but including them and GOTY ignoring things like FZero or snubbing or any GBA game, or Viewtiful Joe for craps sake, seems wierd. More hype driven than really meaningful. Having finally played Splinter Cell I feel confident that last year was a pretty big rip off too. AIAS is loosing credibility quickly. Then again, I really hate PoP too (it's just to damn repetitive), so maybe my tastes are just to old for these new fangled games that are coming out.

Tuxedo.BondFebruary 15, 2004

I think they only highlighted games that were developed by Nintendo.

DeguelloJeff Shirley, Staff AlumnusFebruary 15, 2004

"I have to question the nominees for the innovative category. Aside from the Eye Toy how are ANY of those other titles that innovative?"

I'd even contest the EyeToy. The Gameboy Camera has existed for years.... Oh Wait CONSOLE Gaming. Right. The Innovations of both handhelds and consoles are considered totally separate from each other. Seems a rather convenient classification, no? And if the Eyetoy is considered innovative, Where's Pacman Vs.? You may not care for connectivity, but it certianly is more innovative than Star Wars: Knights of the Old Re-used BioWare Engine.

But, my opinions aside, Go Zelda, Go Viewtiful Joe and more importanly, go F-Zero!

mouse_clickerFebruary 15, 2004

But wait, Deguello! Bioware zoomed in on Knights of the Old Republic! =O You're telling me that's not innovative?!?!

If you ask me it seems like the AIAS just picked a few big name games, like KOTOR, Wind Waker, and Prince of Persia, and nominated them for just about everything, regardless of whether or not they deserved it.

thecubedcanuckFebruary 16, 2004

"and even if you consider that innovative enough why is SSX3 in that group?"

I am guessing for the way it streams image from the disk. Playing the whole mountain in one shot, it takes almost an hour. I am guessing some innovation was in use here. Then again I dont know and dont really care, as video game awards mean zippo to me.

KDR_11kFebruary 16, 2004

Isn't that more a "technical archievement", though?

mouse_clickerFebruary 16, 2004

Quote
I am guessing for the way it streams image from the disk. Playing the whole mountain in one shot, it takes almost an hour. I am guessing some innovation was in use here.

Metroid Prime used the same technique 2 years ago, and True Crime used it better than SSX 3 last year, yet neither of those were nominated for innovation (at least not True Crime).

thecubedcanuckFebruary 16, 2004

"Metroid Prime used the same technique 2 years ago, and True Crime used it better than SSX 3 last year, yet neither of those were nominated for innovation (at least not True Crime)."

This is why I said I didnt really know, or care.

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