Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Leads with An Unprecedented 15 Interactive Achievement Award Nominations

The nominations for this year’s peer-based awards are dominated by the blockbuster game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment America) with an astounding fifteen nominations from industry leaders and members of the interactive entertainment software creative community.

Reflecting the overall quality of great games in 2009, there were a number of titles with multiple nods, following closely are: Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft), ten nominations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2(Activision), nine nominations, Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment), eight nominations and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Sony Computer Entertainment America) and Brutal Legend (Electronic Arts), both with four nominations.

Mirroring the continued evolution of how games are played, the Academy created three new awards: Portable Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Social Networking Game of the Year, with FarmVille (Zynga) receiving three nominations.

The awards ceremony will take place during the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit 2010, on February 18th at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, with comedian, actor and proud game enthusiast, Jay Mohr, returning for his fifth year as host.

These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

“The experiences that today’s games offer certainly explains why consumers of all ages are spending greater amounts of time in these fantastic worlds,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “This year’s crop of finalists demonstrates the craft and talent of the Academy’s members and their continued quest to create new worlds to explore.”

Following is a partial list of finalists; the complete list of Awards categories, finalists and game maker credits is available here.

Overall Game of the Year:

Assassin’s Creed II
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Publisher: Eidos/Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Rocksteady Studios

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward

Dragon Age: Origins
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America

Developer: Naughty Dog Casual Game of The Year:

Drawn: The Painted Tower
Publisher: Big Fish Games
Developer: Big Fish Games

Flower
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany

Flight Control
Publisher: Firemint
Developer: Firemint

Plants Vs. Zombies
Publisher: PopCap Games
Developer: PopCap Games

Scribblenauts
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
Developer: 5th Cell Media

Action Game of the Year:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward

Left 4 Dead 2
Publisher: Valve Software
Developer: Valve Software

Prototype
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Radical Entertainment

Red Faction: Guerrilla
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Volition

Shadow Complex
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Chair Entertainment

Role Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year:

Borderlands
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software

Champions Online
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Cryptic Studios

Demon’s Souls
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: From Software

Dragon Age: Origins
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Bioware

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Alphadream

Social Networking Game of the Year:

Bejeweled Blitz
Publisher: PopCapGames
Developer: PopCap Games

Farmtown
Publisher: Codebell
Developer: Codebell

FarmVille
Publisher: Zynga
Developer: Zynga

Restaurant City
Publisher: Electronic Arts/Playfish
Developer: Playfish

Adventure Game of The Year:

Assassin’s Creed II
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Publisher: Eidos/Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Rocksteady Studios

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Insomniac Games

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Naughty Dog

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:

Demon’s Soul’s
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: From Software

Farmville
Publisher: Zynga
Developer: Zynga

Flower
Publisher:Sony Computer Entertaiment America
Developer: thatgamecompany

Scribblenauts
Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
Developer: 5th Cell Media

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Chair Entertainment

About the Interactive Achievement Awards
Since 1996, the Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) have recognized games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. The IAA are the most credible, respected and recognized awards for the interactive entertainment community with voting cast by members of the Academy’s Peer Panels and select professional game makers from the International Game Developers Association, a talented group of men and women who are experts in their chosen fields. The voting process is supervised and certified by Votenet Solutions, Inc. For more information on the Interactive Achievement Awards, please visit:http://www.dicesummit.org

Contact

Wendy Zaas/Debby Chen
Rogers & Cowan
310-854-8148 / 310-854-8168
wzaas@rogersandcowan.com / dchen@rogersandcowan.com

Geri Gordon Miller
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
818-876-0826 x202
geri@interactive.org