Nintendo Cleans Up At Industry Awards

News from the fifth annual MCV Industry Excellence Awards in London last night is that Nintendo, unsurprisingly, wiped the floor, winning a bunch of awards as well as the overall 'Grand Prix' award.

The awards, which are hosted by UK industry magazine, MCV, are voted for by a panel of 90 industry judges, so they are a pretty accurate reflection of what the UK's videogame business regards as the finest example of its work.

Nintendo was the clear overall winner last night, scooping an impressive five awards - for best publisher, PR team, marketing, distribution, plus the overall 'Grand Prix' award - "in recognition of its trailblazing 12 months." Fair play and nice one Nintendo!

Elsewhere, Activision’s Guitar Hero scooped Best New Games Brand; GAME was honoured as best Specialist Retailer and Blizzard Entertainment, somewhat strangely, was hailed as 'Unsung Hero' (umm, eight million World of Warcraft subscribers and counting anybody??)

Star Wars Lego creator, Travellers Tales, was crowned best UK Development Team, while Microsoft/Epic's glorious Gears of War scooped best marketing campaign.

Impressively, and unlike many recent awards ceremonies (*cough* BAFTA *cough*), the organisers ensured that the ceremony was hosted by somebody who actually knows about his games - TV's very own Iain Lee! (btw - Mr Lee, can SPOnG have that PSP back now if you've finished with it?) plus Al Murray's always hilariously pissed Pub Landlord (pictured) - somewhat ironically pretending to be drunk in front of 600 plus sozzled videogame execs.

“The MCV Industry Excellence Awards continue to go from strength to strength, cementing their position as the business’s most valued accolades,” says Stuart Dinsey, managing director of Intent Media, publisher of MCV.

“It was a hotly-contested year, with the industry continuing to grow, prosper and innovate – so this year’s winners should be thrilled to triumph in such a competitive year. Our congratulations go out to those that picked up MCV Industry Excellence Awards, along with all the finalists who contributed so much to the business over the past 12 months.”