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© 1995-2000
GamesFirst! Magazine

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
Interactive Achievement Awards Nominees
March 12, 2001

 

It's time again for the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards. Think of these as "the big ones." Sure, lots of us magazines take it upon ourselves to pronounce the greatest titles out there, but the award with the most prestige is always going to be the one from the "Academy." Just like every other major form of art or expression, video games have spawned an official awards program. Someday it might even be televised.

The big shindig happens next week, on March 22, during the Game Developer's Conference. We won't be there to cover it live, but we will keep you up to date about who won. Just like we did last year. The big news this year is that John Carmack will be inducted into the hall of fame. Read about that here. The list of nominees and categories is huge, so I've trimmed it down to a smaller selection of nominees. If you want to see the whole list of nominees, click around on the AIAS website: www.interactive.org.

And the nominees are...

Console Game of the Year
Banjo Tooie (N64)
Chrono Cross (PSX)
Final Fantasy IX (PSX)
Jet Grind Radio (DC)
Madden NFL 2001 (PS2)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape (DC)
Shenmue (DC)
Skies of Arcadia (DC)
Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PSX)
SSX (PS2)
Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PSX)
Virtua Tennis (DC)
WWF No Mercy (N64)
Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)

Okay, so what about Perfect Dark? And what's up with Virtua Tennis being on the list? Isn't that just Pong? I know, I love it, too, especially with four players, but come on! And the omission of Perfect Dark seems to be criminal.

PC Game of the Year
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
Asheron's Call
Baldur's Gate II
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Deus Ex
Diablo II
Disney's Magic Artist 3D
EverQuest: Ruins of Kunark
Fifa 2001
Links 2001
MechWarrior 4
No One Lives Forever
RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes
Sacrifice

It looks like the PC side has everything covered (then again, I'm the Consoles Editor), although I seriously wonder if anybody ever actually played Disney's Magic Artist 3D.

The categories break down along the lines you'd expect. Perfect Dark is suspiciously missing from the list at all, nominated for nothing. I nominate it for most overlooked game by the AIAS this year. The Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year will go to either Banjo Tooie, Rayman 2, Spyro 2, Vagrant Story, or Zelda: Majora's Mask. Those are great games, but at least throw old Joanna a bone and let her sit on the list. Fantavision is the only non-Dreamcast game nominated for "Innovation in Console Gaming." The others include JGR, Samba de Amigo, Seaman, Shenmue, and Space Channel 5. Kudos to Sega for bringing us the coolest new titles we've seen this year, and "boo" to the AIAS for forcing Fantavision into the list. What were you thinking?

Console Racing Game of the Year will go to either F355 Challenge, Ridge Racer V, San Francisco Rush 2049, or SSX. I hope, for the sake of all race fans out there, that SSX doesn't get it. Come on, we know what we mean by racing -- cars. SSX sticks out like a sore thumb. Console RPG of the Year will be either Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX, Legend of Dragoon, or Skies of Arcadia. Who is putting money on FFIX? That's where my money is. Console Fighting Game of the Year will go to Dead or Alive 2, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2, Tekken Tag Tournament, Ultimate Fighting Championship, or WWF No Mercy. What? No Marvel vs. Capcom 2? Console Sports Game of the Year belongs to either Madden NFL 2001, SSX, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, or Virtua Tennis. Of course, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 deserves this award, but even last year, when THPS1 was nominated and the only competition was Knockout Kings, the AIAS ganked the Birdman. Maybe this year we'll get a little justice, but the force of SSX and Madden will probably overcome. Finally, we come to everybody's fave, Console Family Title of the Year (or maybe we should call it, "The Nintendo Award"). Donkey Kong Country (GBC), Hey You, Pikachu!, Mario Tennis, and Pokemon Stadium are apparently the only good family titles this year. That's not true, but that's how the nominees break down. Is it the fact that only Nintendo can create family games? What about Wacky Races or Rayman 2? Aren't those family games?

In the PC arena, the Academy seems to do a little better. For PC Action/Adventure Game of the Year, the nominees are: Crimson Skies, Deus Ex, Escape from Monkey Island, No One Lives Forever, and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Forces. We definitely don't see the same kind of anti-FPS bias that we see in the console nominations. I'm hoping for Deus Ex to take it, but if polls on the old GF! are any indication, NOLF is going to clean up. From there, we journey to PC Family Title of the Year, which is thoroughly uninteresting. Disney's Magic Artist 3D, Ernie's Adventures in Space, Return of the Incredible Machine: Contraptions, and Tonka Dig 'n Rig are nominated. Once again, these don't really sound like "family" titles as much as they sound like "kids" titles.

PC RPG of the Year will go to either Baldur's Gate II, Deus Ex, Diablo II, or Icewind Dale. That's some stiff competition, and I think it would be sad if Deus Ex won everything. Besides, it's not really an RPG. The PC Sim of the Year category includes Enemy Engaged, Links 2001, MechWarrior 4, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, Roller Coaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes. I'm going with the Coaster. People love that stuff. For PC Sports Game of the Year, the nominees are Championship Manager 00-01, FIFA 2001, Links 2001, and Motocross Madness 2. What about High Heat Baseball? Or Madden? Very interesting...

PC Strategy Game of the Year will go to either AOE2, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Sacrifice, or Zeus: Master of Olympus. The Innovation in Computer Gaming will be awarded to Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord, Crimson Skies, Deus Ex, Sacrifice, or Shogun: Total War. Once again, I'm rooting for Deus Ex, although Sacrifice is a close contender. The Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year will go to either Allegiance, Asheron's Call, EverQuest: Ruins of Kunark, or Ultima Online: Renaissance. And that pretty much covers the major MMOGs.

The various odds and ends include art direction and sound design. Jet Grind Radio picks up a couple extra nominations for the art direction, sound design, visual engineering, musical composition, and game design. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 gets  nods for game design and game play. In the general craft categories, it seems console titles greatly outnumber PC titles. It will be interesting to see how it shakes down, and who will walk away with Game of the Year. Nominees for PC and Console Game of the Year are all considered for the general Game of the Year award. Good luck Tony Hawk.

 

Shawn Rider

 

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