GDC Awards Versus DICE Awards

So, awards ceremonies then? Do they mean anything? Is the video games industry a confused mess? Or is it of once voice? Are they all about giving Gold to cash-making franchises? Or do they reward on imagination? This year we've seen two 'most prestigious' awards ceremonies:

The Game Developers Choice Awards, which were handed out last evening at GDC in San Francisco.

The the Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs), which were doled out earlier this month in Vegas at D.I.C.E. (the Design Innovate Communicate Entertain) Summit.

We thought we'd do a bit of a comparison. This was mainly because everybody in the industry has short memories - but also to answer some of the questions posed above.

Before the detail as far as we can see, BioShock and Portal are the joint most awarded games so far this year. Electronic Arts is the most awarded publisher. But last year's best-selling game (Call of Duty 4) was also close to having more medals than might be seen to be honorable (sic) by purists.

Starting with the big one: Game of the Year. The IAA for Game of the Year went to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the Choice Award went to Portal. Now COD4 was also the best-selling game of last year, whereas Portal (as part of The Orange Box) came as a hugely enjoyable minor hit.

Now, innovation, like the children of the world it is our future. The IAA went to MTV's Rockband. We assume it got it because, well, it uses more instruments than Activision's Guitar Hero franchise, and that this presents an innovation.

The Choice Award, however, went to... Portal from Valve. Yes, the same one. Now, we assume that this is because Portal looked at the notion of 'reality' in games playing, then looked at 'games playing' then twisted them both together and came up with an innovative game.

So, what about the awards for Game Design? This time we have agreement between both of the 'most prestigious awards' in gaming. Both D.I.C.E. and Choice opted for... Portal from Valve. Both awards also agree on Best Writing - although IAA calls it 'Story Development' - with Bioshock. In fact, 2K Games game also gets the Choice Award for Art and the IAA for Art Direction.

But now things get a little confusing. See, the Choice people have an award for 'Best Technology' whereas the nearest we could get to that with the IAA is 'Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering'. Because it's our comparison, we're sticking with that. So, the Choice trophy goes to Crysis from Electronic Arts on the PC. While the IAA was handed over to (no way!) Portal out of The Orange Box.

We were going finish off with the music medals (the full list of GDC Choice nominees and winners is below, by the way) but we can't because Choice doesn't have one. Instead it has Best Audio, which went over to Call of Duty 4. The IAAs, for their part, have Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design, which went to BioShock.

In conclusion, and the make life easier, here are the medal counts from this year's first two major awards ceremonies. Bear in mind that while 10 awards were handed out at GDC (Choice), 25 were awarded at D.I.C.E. (IAA). We've put the Choice total in round brackets and the IAA awards in curly ones.

BioShock = 6 (2) {4}
Portal = 6 (3) {3}
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare = 5 (1) {4}
Rock Band = 3 (0) {3}
Crysis = 2 (1) {1}
skate. = 2 (0) {2}
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass = 2 (1) {1}
Assassin's Creed = 1 (0) {1}
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars = 1 (0) {1}
Crackdown = 1 (1) {0}
flOw = 1 (1) {0}
Mass Effect = 1 (0) {1}
Motorstorm = 1 (0) {1}
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords = 1 (0) {1}
Super Mario Galaxy = 1 (0) {1}
The Orange Box = 1 (0) {1}
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade = 1 (0) {1}

Full List of GDC Choice Awards

SPECIAL AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sid Meier

Pioneer Award
Ralph Baer

Ambassador Award
Jason Della Rocca

GAMES AWARDS

Game of the Year
Portal
BioShock
Call of Duty 4
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

Best Game Design
Portal
BioShock
Call of Duty 4
Mass Effect
Super Mario Galaxy

Best Visual Art
BioShock
Assassin's Creed
Crysis
Team Fortress 2
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Best Technology
Crysis
Assassin's Creed
Call of Duty 4
Halo 3
Portal

Best Writing
BioShock
Portal
God of War II
Mass Effect
Half-Life 2: Episode 2

Best Audio
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Everyday Shooter
God of War II
Mass Effect

Best Debut
Crackdown (Realtime Worlds)
Aquaria (Bit Blot)
Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)
flOw (ThatGameCompany)
The Witcher (CD Projekt)

Innovation
Portal
flOw
Mass Effect
Peggle
Rock Band

Best Handheld Game
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Contra 4
Peggle (for iPod)
Phase
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords

Best Downloadable Game
flOw
Everyday Shooter
Pac-Man Championship Edition
Peggle
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords (XBLA version)