Epic Games third-person shooter Gears of War killed the competition at the Hard Rock Casino last night as they nabbed eight Interactive Achievement Award statues. The event was hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, who delighted audiences with a hilarious retelling of an LSD-induced Madden all-nighter and some topical side-splitting Anna Nicole Smith jokes.

He, and the night's other presenters including Doug Lowenstein, Chris Taylor, and Phil Harrison welcomed Epic's Mark Rein and Cliff Bleszinski to the stage over and over again as the two warmly accepted their awards. The night's other big winner was Wii Sports, winning three awards for Oustanding Innovation In Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Game Engineering and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design.

Nintendo was well represented by attendees Reggie Fils-Aime and Lifetime Achievement Award honorees Howard Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa. We're still trying to recover from the copious amounts of free booze, milkshakes, sushi, lobster ravioli and banana splits provided by the sponsors, but think we had a pretty good time. Hangover curing full list of winners after the jump. Michael McWhertor

GEARS OF WAR INVADES SIN CITY CAPTURING EIGHT STATUES AT THE 10TH ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Honors Nintendo Duo with Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award

Dan Bunten Inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame

CALABASAS, CA - February 9, 2007 - Epic Games' "Gears of War" emerged as the evening's big winner last night at the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards hosted by The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), taking eight coveted Interactive Achievement Award statues, including Game of the Year honors. Nintendo's "Wii Sports" pulled in the second most awards with three wins at the star-studded event hosted by comedian Jay Mohr at "The Joint" in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

For the first time, the AIAS honored former president of Nintendo of America, Minoru Arakawa, and chairman emeritus of Nintendo of America, Howard Lincoln with Lifetime Achievement Awards. The AIAS also inducted video game pioneer Dan Bunten (known later in life as Danielle Bunten Berry) as the tenth member of its Hall of Fame. The Interactive Achievement Awards is a peer-based award that recognizes the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the
advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

"Last night, we recognized the brightest and most innovative in video games in what can be considered one of the best years the video game industry has seen," said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS.

The winners in each category are as follows:
I. Game of the Year:
a. Overall
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

b. Computer
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (P: 2K Games, D: Bethesda Softworks, Executive Producer: Todd Howard)

c. Console
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

d. Handheld Game of the Year
Nintendo Brain Age (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shinya Takahashi, Game Director: Kouichi Kawamoto, Creative Directors: Kouichi Kawamoto, Noriko Kitamura, Masamichi Sakaino, Shinji Kitahara, Yoshinori Katsuki, Tadashi Matsushita, Masura Nishida)

II. Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors: Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu Yamashita)

III. Outstanding Achievement:
a. Animation
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

b. Art Direction
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

c. Soundtrack
Guitar Hero 2 (P: Activision/Red Octane, D: Harmonix, Producer: John Tam, Game Director: Daniel Sussman, Creative Director: Josh Randall)

d. Original Music Composition
LocoRoco (P: Sony Computer Entertainment, D: Sony Computer Entertainment, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Tsutomo Kouno)

e. Sound Design
Call of Duty 3 (P: Activision, D: Treyarch, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Treyarch)

f. Story and Character Development
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Game Director: Eiji Aonuma, Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata)

g. Game Play Engineering
Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors: Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu Yamashita)

h. Online Game Play
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

i. Visual Engineering
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

j. Game Design
Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors: Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu Yamashita)

IV. Outstanding Character Performance:
a. Male
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

b. Female
Viva Pin ata (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Rare, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Greg Mayles)

V. Genre Awards:
a. Sports Game of the Year
Tony Hawk Project 8 (P: Activision, D: Neversoft Entertainment, Producer; Chris Parise, Game Director/Creative Director: Brian Bright)

b. First-Person Action Game of the Year
Rainbow Six: Vegas (P: Activision, D: Neversoft Entertainment, Producer; Chris Parise, Game Director/Creative Director: Brian Bright)

c. Role-Playing Game of the Year
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (P: 2K Games, D: Bethesda Softworks, Executive Producer: Todd Howard)

d. Fighting Game of the Year
Fight Night Round 3 (P/D: Electronic Arts, Producer: Kudo Tsunoda, Game Director: Keith Morton, Creative Director: Darren Bennett)

e. Action/ Adventure Game of the Year
Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps, Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)

f. Racing Game of the Year
Burnout Revenge (P: Electronic Arts, D: Criterion Games, Creative Director: Alex Ward, Criterion Games)

g. Children's Game of the Year
LocoRoco (P: Sony Computer Entertainment, D: Sony Computer Entertainment, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Tsutomo Kouno)

h. Downloadable Game of the Year
Bookworm Adventures (P/D: PopCap, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Tysen Henderson)

i. Family Game of the Year
Guitar Hero 2 (P: Activision/Red Octane, D: Harmonix, Producer: John Tam, Game Director: Daniel Sussman, Creative Director: Josh Randall)

j. Simulation Game of the Year
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (P/D: Microsoft Game Studios, Producer: Shawn Firminger, Game Director: John Licata, Creative Director: Patt Cook, Jason Waskey)

k. Strategy Game of the Year
Company of Heroes (P: THQ, D: Relic, Producer/Game Director: John Johnson, Creative Director: Sean Dunn)

l. Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year
Guild Wars Nightfall (P: NCsoft, D: ArenaNet, Producer: Jay Adams, Game)

m. Mobile Game of the Year
Orcs and Elves (P: Electronic Arts Mobile, D: Fountainhead Entertainment, Producer/ Game Director/ Creative Director: John Carmack, Katherine A. Kang)

A peer panel of eight to 12 AIAS members played and evaluated all nominated titles in their assigned category. Interactive Achievement Award recipients were determined by a vote of qualified Academy members. AIAS voting was secret, conducted online and supervised and certified by eBallot. The integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the Interactive Achievement Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software.

Nintendo of America's Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln will be the first recipients of the newly-created Lifetime Achievement Award honoring those who have devoted their lives to the advancement of the interactive entertainment industry and have made significant contributions that have guided the business to the prominent position it is in today as a booming entertainment industry with global revenues topping $25 billion.

AIAS Hall of Fame Honoree Dan Bunten is the tenth member to be inducted and joins an already impressive collection of gaming icons, including Trip Hawkins, Peter Molyneux, Yu Suzuki, Will Wright, John Carmack, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Sid Meier, Shigeru Miyamoto and Richard Garriott.

About the D.I.C.E. Summit:
The D.I.C.E. Summit is a high-level interactive entertainment industry conference that brings together the top video game designers and developers from around the world and business leaders from all the major publishers to discuss the state of the industry, its trends and the future. More information on the 2006 D.I.C.E. Summit can be found http://www.dicesummit.org.

About the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences:
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of the interactive arts.

The Academy's mission is to promote and advance common interests in the worldwide interactive entertainment community; recognize outstanding achievements in the interactive arts and sciences; and conduct an annual awards show (Interactive Achievement Awards) to enhance awareness of the interactive art form. The Academy also strives to provide a voice for individuals in the interactive entertainment community. More information about the AIAS can be found at http://www.interactive.org.

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