AIAS Award winners announced: Halo scoops Game of the Year

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced the winners of its fifth annual Interactive Achievement Awards, dished out at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

"The Interactive Achievement Awards and the D.I.C.E. Summit help promote artistic aspects of our industry through the recognition of creative accomplishment and exploration of new creative possibilities," said Academy President Paul Provenzano. "We congratulate all of the finalists and winners, who continue to advance this exciting industry. The sold out inaugural launch of the D.I.C.E. Summit as the new home of the Interactive Achievement Awards allows the Academy to create an intimate environment where the games industry can celebrate creative accomplishments in the interactive art form and exchange information and ideas about the process of creating great games.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

I. CRAFT AWARDS

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
ICO (Play Station 2)
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./Sony Computer Entertainment America

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Xbox)
Oddworld Inhabitants/Microsoft

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Metal Gear Solid 2 (PlayStation 2)
Konami/Konami

Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition
Tropico (PC)
Pop Top Software/God Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Grand Theft Auto III (PlayStation 2)
DMA Design/Rockstar Games

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
Bungie/Microsoft

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Grand Theft Auto III (PlayStation 2)
DMA Design/Rockstar Games

Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development
ICO (PlayStation 2)
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./Sony Computer Entertainment America

II. CONSOLE

Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
Bungie/Microsoft

Children's Title of the Year
Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64)
Hudson Soft Co. Ltd./Nintendo of America

Fighting Game of the Year
Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox)
Tecmo/Tecmo

Hand-Held Game of the Year
Advance Wars (Game Boy Advance)
Nintendo Co. Ltd./ Nintendo of America

Role Playing Game of the Year
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PlayStation 2)
Snow Blind Studios/ Black Isle Studios

Racing Game of the Year
Gran Turismo 3 (PlayStation 2)
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./ Sony Computer Entertainment America

Sports Game of the Year
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PlayStation 2)
Neversoft Entertainment/Activision

Innovation in Console Gaming
Pikmin (GameCube)
Nintendo Co. Ltd./Nintendo of America

Console Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
Bungie/Microsoft

III. ONLINE

Online Gameplay of the Year
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
id Software/Activision

Massive Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year
Dark Age of Camelot
Mythic Entertainment/ Mythic Entertainment

IV. PERSONAL COMPUTER

Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
id Software/Activision

Children's Title of the Year
Backyard Basketball
Humongous Entertainment/Infogrames

Educational Title of the Year
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Treasures of Knowledge
Learning Company/Learning Company

Role Playing Game of the Year
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
BioWare Corp./Interplay

Simulation Game of the Year
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002
Microsoft/ Microsoft

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 2002
EA Canada/Electronic Arts

Strategy Game of the Year
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Firaxis Games/Infogrames

Innovation in Computer Gaming
Black & White
Lionhead Studios/Electronic Arts

Computer Game of the Year
Black & White
Lionhead Studios/Electronic Arts

V. GAME OF THE YEAR

Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX)
Bungie/Microsoft