Wednesday, December 21, 2005
It's already the end of 2005. It's again the time when this year's best console titles see a boost in sales for the holidays. It's the time when the Fourth Annual Gamer's Voice Award nominations are announced for console games.
Ten independent reviewers from across the nation vote much like the college basketball coaches poll for their favorite video games in each category. Points are tabulated in a similar fashion which determines the winner. The top three to five point-getters in each category receive the official "nomination" depending on a mathematical formula. Winners will be announced Tuesday, December 27.
Resident Evil 4 and Shadow of the Colossus lead the way with five nominations each followed by Call of Duty 2, God of War, Mario Kart DS and Project Gotham Racing 3 with with four.
Without further ado, here are your Lawrence.com 2005 Gamer's Voice Award nominees in alphabetical order:
Best Graphics
Call of Duty 2 360
Project Gotham Racing 3 360
Resident Evil 4 PS2, Gamecube
Shadow of the Colossus PS2
Best Sound (Effects, Ambience, Voice Acting)
Call of Duty 2 360
Condemned: Criminal Origins 360
God of War PS2
Project Gotham Racing 3 360
Resident Evil 4 PS2, Gamecube
Resident Evil 4 (PS2, Gamecube) first debuted back in January on the Gamecube with rave reviews. It leads the way with five total nominations for Game of the Year, Best Graphics, Best Sound, Best Action/Adventure and Best Presentation.
Best Music
Advent Rising PS2, Xbox
Dragon Quest VIII PS2
God of War PS2
Jade Empire Xbox
Shadow of the Colossus PS2
Best Shooter
Call of Duty 2 360
Darkwatch PS2, Xbox
Half Life 2 Xbox
Timesplitters: Future Perfect PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
Best Sports
Fight Night Round 2 PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
Madden NFL 2006 PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
NBA Street Vol. 3 PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
Winning Eleven 8 PS2
Best Action/Adventure
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow DS
God of War PS2
Psychonauts PS2, Xbox
Resident Evil 4 PS2, Gamecube
Shadow of the Colossus PS2
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) also garnered five nominations. These include Most Original, Best Graphics, Best Music, Best Action/Adventure and Best Presentation.
Best RPG
Dragon Quest VIII PS2
Jade Empire - Xbox
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - DS
Best Strategy
Advance Wars: Dual Strike DS
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones - GBA
Best Racing
Burnout Revenge PS2, Xbox
Forza Motorsport Xbox
Gran Turismo 4 PS2
Mario Kart DS DS
Project Gotham Racing 3 - 360
Best Fighting
Soul Calibur III PS2
Tekken 5 PS2
Most Original
Killer 7 Gamecube
Kirby Canvas Curse DS
Nintendogs DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney DS
Shadow of the Colossus PS2
Trauma Center: Life in the E.R. - DS
Best Replay (Offline)
Animal Crossing: Wild World DS
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow DS
Jade Empire - Xbox
Mario Kart DS DS
Tekken 5 PS2
Best Online
Animal Crossing: Wild World DS
Call of Duty 2 360
Mario Kart DS DS
Project Gotham Racing 3 -360
SOCOM 3 PS2
Best Presentation
Condemned: Criminal Origins 360
Killer 7 Gamecube
Resident Evil 4 PS2, Gamecube
Shadow of the Colossus PS2
We (heart) Katamari PS2
Best System
DS
PS2
Xbox 360
Best Repertoire
Capcom
Nintendo
Sony (SCEA)
Ubisoft
Game of the Year
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow DS
God of War PS2
Mario Kart DS DS
Resident Evil 4 Gamecube, PS2
Interesting GVA 2005 facts:
There were no PSP game votes. Not even for system of the year.
We allowed six nominations for Most Original, since the votes were all over the map.
Of the 63 game nominations, 15 are DS-only games and 19 are PS2-only games. Will the Best System award follow suit?
We didn't list the PS2 version of Killer 7 in its nominations due to its inferior nature to the Gamecube version.
Comments
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BobDarkAvenger (anonymous) says…
Shadow of the Colussus is great, but I don't see how it would be nominated for best music, considering the scarcity of music in the game.
Supercat1 (Andrew Monshizadeh) says…
not a bad list. lots of stuff on there i didn't get a chance to play, but now i desire to even more.
gamer (Matt Cox) says…
Yeah, I didn't vote for Shadow for music, but I think it's still a great choice for those who did. Yes, it's scarce, but the score itself is pretty breathtaking. I guess the scarcity did come into play in my final votes then... :)
gamer (Matt Cox) says…
FYI - I voted for God of War, Perfect Dark Zero and Advent Rising for music. Only two of those got a nomination.
deskiedennis (anonymous) says…
I think Shadow of the Colossus had really good music. I don't really understand its nomination for best graphics though, it never looked particularly stunning, other than the complete vastness of the world. And Psychonauts is an incredible game, I'm glad to see it up there for something.