The second annual BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) took place in London this week hosted by Jonathan Ross, no less, swelling his games-related to earnings to an estimated £100,000. Nice work if you can get it.
Anyway, some of the awards raised the collective eyebrows of attendees, not least the Best GameCube game award. Seeing off Mario Kart: Double Dash, Donkey Konga and Metroid Prime 2, the tepid Prince of Persia: Warior Within won. And as
Greg Howson’s Guardian column points out, the Persian Prince, a ported multi-format title, failed to be nominated for Xbox and PlayStation 2.
The other shock of the night was Colin McRae Rally for Nokia’s flagging N-Gage receiving best handheld game, in the face of Pokemon and the cracking Fire Emblem amongst others.
As one table sponsor told SPOnG, “BAFTA make it pretty clear from the start that everyone will win something. It makes you wonder what the point is really…”
Indeed it does.