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    Orange Box, COD4, BioShock Dominate AIAS Awards

    aiasaward.jpgThe 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards were held last night at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, with twenty-six awards handed out honoring the best gaming of 2007. Sixteen of those awards were split evening between BioShock, The Orange Box, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, with COD 4 walking away with the coveted Overall Game of the Year award. Rock Band took home three awards including Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack and Family Game of the Year. Nintendo saw two awards - Adventure Game of the Year for Super Mario Galaxy and Handheld Game of the Year for The Phantom Hourglass. Puzzle Quest took home Downloadable Game of the Year, justifying all of those long hours I spent playing the damn game on the DS, PSP, and finally via Xbox Live Arcade. Along with the game awards, the night saw former Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi given the Lifetime Achievement Award and Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime entered into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all of the winners - we were so very surprised. No really! Hit the jump for the full list of winners.

    ACADEMY AWARDS TOP HONORS TO CALL OF DUTY 4, BIOSHOCK, THE ORANGE BOX AT 11TH ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

    The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Inducts Mike Morhaime Into Hall of Fame and Bestows Lifetime Achievement Award Upon Ken Kutaragi

    LAS VEGAS - February 8, 2008 - And the winners are ... Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), BioShock (2K Games) and The Orange Box (Electronic Arts and Valve Software); each picked up four statues at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards® last night. The award ceremony was hosted by comedian and avid video game player Jay Mohr at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

    The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences also honored two industry icons for their tremendous contributions. Mike Morhaime, president, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment®, was inducted as the 11th member of the prestigious AIAS Hall of Fame and Ken Kutaragi, former president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., received the highly coveted Lifetime Achievement Award.

    "The Interactive Achievement Awards is the forum for the industry's best game makers to evaluate the merits of more than 160 titles submitted for consideration and honor the best in technical innovation and gameplay experience," said Joseph Olin, president of the AIAS. "This year's winners truly represent the best cross section of interactive entertainment, demonstrating the power of next-generation platforms that have come of age."

    These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

    The winners in each category are as follows:

    Overall Game of the Year:
    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

    * Publisher: Activision
    * Developer: Infinity Ward
    * Producer: Mark Rubin
    * Game Director: Jason West
    * Creative Director: Vince Zampella


    Console Game of the Year:
    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

    * Publisher: Activision
    * Developer: Infinity Ward
    * Producer: Mark Rubin
    * Game Director: Jason West
    * Creative Director: Vince Zampella


    Computer Game of the Year:
    The Orange Box

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software
    * Developer: Valve Software
    * Producer: Gabe Newell


    Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
    Rock Band

    * Publisher: MTV Games
    * Developer: Harmonix
    * Producer: Robert Jerauld
    * Game Director: Bob Settles
    * Creative Director: Jonas Norberg


    Handheld Game of the Year:
    The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

    * Publisher: Nintendo of America
    * Developer: Nintendo
    * Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto
    * Director: Eiji Aonuma Massively


    Multiplayer Game of the Year:
    World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

    * Publisher: Vivendi Games
    * Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
    * Producer: Frank Pearce
    * Game Director: Rob Pardo
    * Creative Director: Chris Metzen


    Cellular Game of the Year:
    skate.
    Publisher: Electronic Arts

    * Developer: EA Mobile
    * Producer: David Manriquez
    * Game Director: David Manriquez
    * Creative Director: Derek Zakaib


    Role-Playing Game of the Year:
    Mass Effect

    * Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
    * Developer: BioWare
    * Producer: Casey Hudson
    * Lead Designer: Preston Watamaniuk
    * Art Director: Derek Watts


    Racing Game of the Year:
    Motorstorm

    * Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
    * Developer: Evolution Studios
    * Producer: Simon Benson
    * Creative Director: Paul Hollywood


    Outstanding Achievement in Game Design:
    The Orange Box: Portal

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software
    * Developer: Valve Software
    * Lead Game Designer: Robin Walker
    * Game Director: Kim Swift
    * Creative Director: David Speyrer


    Adventure Game of the Year:
    Super Mario Galaxy

    * Publisher: Nintendo of America
    * Developer: Nintendo
    * Producer: Takao Shimizu
    * Game Director: Yoshiaki Koizumi
    * Creative Director: Shigeru Miyamoto


    Sports Game of the Year:
    skate.

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts
    * Developer: EA Black Box
    * Executive Producer: Scott Blackwood


    Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year:
    Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts
    * Developer: EA Los Angeles
    * Producer: Mike Verdu
    * Creative Director: Matt Britton


    Action Game of the Year:
    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

    * Publisher: Activision
    * Developer: Infinity Ward
    * Producer: Mark Rubin
    * Game Director: Jason West
    * Creative Director: Vince Zampella


    Family Game of the Year:
    Rock Band

    * Publisher: MTV Games
    * Developer: Harmonix
    * Producer: Tracy Rosenthal-Newson
    * Game Director: Greg LoPiccolo
    * Creative Director: Josh Randall


    Outstanding Achievement in Animation:
    Assassin's Creed

    * Publisher: Ubisoft
    * Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
    * Animation Director: Alex Drouin
    * Lead Animators: Elspeth Tory, Sylvain Bernard


    Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:
    BioShock

    * Publisher: 2K Games
    * Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia
    * Visual Art Director: Scott Sinclair
    * Technical Art Directors: Hogarth De La Plante, Andrew James, Jay Kyburz, Nate Wells


    Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering:
    Crysis

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts
    * Developer: Crytek
    * Director of R&D: Douglas Binks


    Outstanding Character Performance:
    The Orange Box: Portal

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software
    * Developer: Valve Software
    * Writer: Erik Wolpaw
    * Voice Actor: Ellen McLaw
    * Character Name: GLADos


    Outstanding Achievement in Story Development:
    BioShock

    * Publisher: 2K Games
    * Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia
    * Writer: Ken Levine
    * Character Designer: Rob Waters


    Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering:
    The Orange Box: Portal

    * Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software
    * Developer: Valve Software
    * Lead Game Designer: Robin Walker
    * UI Designer: Alden Kroll
    * AI Designer: Tom Leonard


    Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play:
    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

    * Publisher: Activision
    * Developer: Infinity Ward
    * Lead Online Designer: Todd Alerman
    * Lead Online Programmer: Richard Baker


    Downloadable Game of the Year:
    Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

    * Publisher: D3 Publisher or America
    * Developer: Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions
    * Producers: Arthur Kawamoto, Steve Baldoni
    * Game Directors: Steve Fawkner, Janeen Fawkner


    Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition:
    BioShock

    * Publisher: 2K Games
    * Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia
    * Composer: Garry Schyman


    Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack:
    Rock Band

    * Publisher: MTV Games
    * Developer: Harmonix
    * Music Supervisors: Paul DeGooyer, Eric Brosius


    Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design:
    BioShock

    * Publisher: 2K Games
    * Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia
    * Sound Designers: Emily Ridgway, Patrick Balthrop, Justin Mullins
    * Audio Lead: Eric Brosius


    Since 1996, the Interactive Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. More than 160 titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy's Peer Panels. The panels are comprised of the game industry's most experienced and talented men and women. Each panel is responsible for evaluating one award category. Interactive Achievement Award recipients are determined by a vote of qualified Academy members. Award voting is confidential, conducted online and supervised and certified by VoteNet Solutions, Inc. 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.


    Send an email to Michael Fahey, the author of this post, at fahey@kotaku.com.