Videogame BAFTAs: Full Preview Inside

SPOnG’s currently rooting through its wardrobe to select our favourite top hat and tails and is polishing its posh shoes in preparation for tomorrow night's Videogame BAFTA’s at the smartly refurbished Roundhouse (in London’s not-so-smart Camden Town, the spiritual home of teenage goths, Eurokids with big backpacks, and overpriced, rubbish street-corner drug outlets).

On Friday morning, we will be bringing you the full news on the BAFTA winners and nearly-rans along with all the industry gossip we can extract from the drunken punters at the end of the night.

With any luck, we’ll run into one of the many minor celebrities from the exciting worlds of television, music and media who are attending the event and presenting awards, including Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, John Culshaw, Andy Serkis, Dylan Jones, Paul Gambaccini, Colin Salmon, Krishnan Guru-Murphy, Alexander Armstrong, Dave Berry, Sarah Hendy, TV's Iain Lee and Angelica Bell.

Sadly, from the above list, we suspect that TV's Iain Lee will be perhaps the only minor celebrity who might have any interesting opinions on videogames, as SPOnG’s met him on a couple of previous occasions and the boy knows his stuff. We won't mention that he nicked our PSP and pretended he would do some 'celebrity reviews' for us, as we are not that petty.

More interestingly, we will of course be trying to get photographs of the tasty young lady dressed up as the real life Lara Croft, and the poor promotional mooks decked out as Mario, Sonic and so on. We might even try to persuade them to get into a ‘compromising situation’ with a minor royal or celebrity and then shamelessly try to sell the pictures to The Sun or The Daily Sport to make a quick buck.

NOMINATIONS IN FULL:

INNOVATION

Dr Kawashima’s BRAIN TRAINING: How Old Is Your Brain? Nintendo
Electroplankton Nintendo
Guitar Hero Red Octane/ Harmonix Music
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
Shadow of the Colossus SCEE/ SCEI
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Black EA Games/ Criterion Games
Hitman: Blood Money Eidos Interactive/ Io Interactive
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
Shadow of the Colossus SCEE/ SCEI
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games/ Bethesda Softworks
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

CHARACTER
Agent 47 in Hitman: Blood Money Eidos Interactive/ Io Interactive
Han Solo in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy LucasArts/ Traveller’s Tales
Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Legend Eidos Interactive/ Crystal Dynamics
LocoRoco in LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
Rogue in Rogue Trooper Eidos Interactive/ Rebellion

STRATEGY
Age of Empires: The Age Of Kings Nintendo/ Majesco Entertainment
Football Manager 2006 Sega Europe/ Sports Interactive
Medieval II Total War Sega Europe/ The Creative Assembly
Rise And Fall: Civilizations At War Midway/ Stainless Steel
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV Warlords 2K Games/ Firaxis Games
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment

CASUAL & SOCIAL
Buzz!: The BIG Quiz SCEE/ Relentless Software
Dr Kawashima’s BRAIN TRAINING: How Old Is Your Brain? Nintendo
Electroplankton Nintendo
Guitar Hero Red Octane/ Harmonix Music
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
SingStar Rocks! SCEE/ SCEE

SCREENPLAY
24: The Game SCEE/ SCEE
Psychonauts THQ Double Fine Productions & Majesco Entertainment
Rogue Trooper Eidos Interactive/ Rebellion
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games/ Bethesda Softworks
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment
Tomb Raider: Legend Eidos Interactive/ Crystal Dynamics

CHILDREN’S
Daxter SCEE Ready At Dawn
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown VU Games
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy LucasArt/ Traveller’s Tales
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

GAMEPLAY
Guitar Hero Red Octane/ Harmonix Music
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy LucasArts/ Traveller’s Tales
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games/ Bethesda Softworks
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

SIMULATION
C-130 Hercules Just Flight/ Captain Sim
Championship Manager 2006 Eidos Interactive/ Beautiful Game
Football Manager 2006 Sega Europe/ Sports Interactive
Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis Rockstar San Diego
The Movies Feral Interactive/ Lionhead Studios/Feral Interactive
Trauma Center: Under The Knife Nintendo

MULTIPLAYER
2006 FIFA World Cup Electronic Arts/ EA Canada
Animal Crossing: Wild World Nintendo
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat EA Games/ Digital Illusions
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Codemasters/ Turbine Inc.
Guild Wars Factions NCsoft /ArenaNet
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment

ACTION & ADVENTURE
Metroid Prime: Hunters Nintendo
Shadow of the Colossus SCEE/ SCEI
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games/ Bethesda Softworks
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment
Tomb Raider: Legend Eidos Interactive/ Crystal Dynamics
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat EA Games/ Digital Illusions
Black EA Games/ Criterion Games
Burnout Revenge Electronic Arts/ Criterion Games
Just Cause Eidos Interactive/ Avalanche Studios
Shadow of the Colossus SCEE/ SCEI
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment

SPORTS
2006 FIFA World Cup EA Canada
Fight Night Round 3 EA Chicago
Football Manager 2006 Sega Europe/Sports Interactive
MotoGP ’06 THQ/ Climax
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 Konami
Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis Rockstar San Diego

ORIGINAL SCORE
Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King Square Enix/ Level 5
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
Shadow of the Colossus SCEE/ SCEI
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2K Games/ Bethesda Softworks
The Movies Feral Interactive Lionhead Studios/ Feral Interactive
Tomb Raider: Legend Eidos Interactive/ Crystal Dynamics

SOUNDTRACK
B-Boy SCEE/ FreeStyleGames
Guitar Hero Red Octane/ Harmonix Music
Reservoir Dogs Eidos Interactive/ Volatile Games
SingStar Rocks! SCEE/ SCEE

AUDIO
Black EA Games/ Criterion Games
Electroplankton Nintendo
LocoRoco SCEE/ SCEJ
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment
Tomb Raider: Legend Eidos Interactive/ Crystal Dynamics
We Love Katamari Electronic Arts/ Namco

GAME
Black EA Games/ Criterion Games
Dr Kawashima’s BRAIN TRAINING: How Old Is Your Brain? Nintendo
Guitar Hero Red Octane/ Harmonix Music
Hitman: Blood Money Eidos Interactive/ Io Interactive
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy LucasArts/ Traveller’s Tales
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Ubisoft/ Red Storm Entertainment