BAFTA Games Awards Nominees Announced (It's Mario Galaxy vs Grand Theft Auto IV)

Remember the 2008 BAFTA gaming awards? Liar. There weren't any, because the organisers realised holding the awards in October - before many of the year's biggest games are out - was silly.

So they postponed them, with an eye towards holding the awards in early 2009. Now, it's early 2009, and good to their word, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts have released the list of nominees for the next awards, which will be held on March 10.

What makes this year's BAFTAs interesting - as opposed to previous editions - is that thanks to the one-year hiatus, games from as far back as November 2007 are eligible for an award. So Assassin's Creed is up against Fable II, and Grand Theft Auto IV can go up against Call of Duty 4.

The full list of nominees follows.

ACTION & ADVENTURE

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity War/Activision

Dead Space
Glen Schofield, Chuck Beaver, Bret Robbins
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Prince of Persia
Ben Mattes, Jean-Christophe Guyot
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Tomb Raider: Underworld
Noah Hughes, Pat Sirk, Toby Gard
Crystial Dynamics/Eidos

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space
Ian Milham
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

LittleBigPlanet
Kareem Ettouney, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Yoji Shinkawa
Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

BEST GAME

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studio

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, Istvan Pely
Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy, Mike Dornbrook
Harmonix Music Systems/MTV Games

Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

CASUAL

Boom Blox
Development Team
Electronic Arts LA/Electronic Arts

Buzz! Quiz TV
David Amor, Andrew Eades, Lee Clare
Relentless Software & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer
Entertainment

Guitar Hero: World Tour
Development Team
Neversoft/Activision

LittleBigPlanet
Mark Healey, Dave Smith, Pete Smith
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

SingStar Vol. 2
Vera So, Gillian Connole, Kevin Mason
SCE London Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Wii Fit
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

GAMEPLAY

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Left 4 Dead
Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek
Valve/Valve

Mario Kart Wii
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Dan Teasdale, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom
Harmonix Music System/MTV Games

Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

HANDHELD

Geometry Wars: Galaxies
James Brooksby, Jim Mummery
Doublesix/Sierra

God of War: Chains of the Olympus
Development Team
Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer
Entertainment

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Patapon
Development Team
Pyramid & SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Soul Bubbles
Olivier Lejade, Omar Cornut, Frederick Raynal
McKensleep/Eidos

MULTIPLAYER

Buzz! Quiz TV
David Amor, Andrew Eades
Relentless Software& SCE XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

Left 4 Dead
Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek
Valve/Valve

Mario Kart Wii
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Kasson Crooker
Harmonix Music System/MTV Games

ORIGINAL SCORE

Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Dead Space
Development Team
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, Istvan Pely
Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

LittleBigPlanet
Kenneth Young, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Harry Gregson-Williams
Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

SPORTS

FIFA 09
Andrew Wilson, David Rutter, Gary Paterson
EA Canada/Electronic Arts

Football Manager 2009
Development Team
Sports Interactive/SEGA

Motorstorm Pacific Rift
Development Team
Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment

Pure
Jason Avent, Jim Callin, Craig Gabell
Black Rock Studios/Disney Interactive Studios

Race Driver: GRID
Development Team
Codemasters Studios/Codemasters

Wii Fit
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

STRATEGY

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3
Development Team
EA Los Angeles/Electronic Arts

Ninjatown
Shawn Smith, Brandon Curiel, Jeremy Pope
Venan in conjunction with Casmere Productions &
Shalinamals/Southpeak Games

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
Development Team
Firaxis Games/2K Games

SOCOM: US Navy Seals Tactical Strike
Development Team
Slant Six Games & SCE Foster City Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
Gary Richards, Paul Machacek, Joe Humfrey
Rare/THQ

STORY AND CHARACTER

Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo
Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Mass Effect
Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn, Derek Watts
Bioware/Electronic Arts

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Guy Carver
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet
Alex Evans, Dave Smith, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Europe

Spore
Development Team
Electronic Arts Montreal/Electronic Arts

USE OF AUDIO

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space
Don Veca
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet
Kenneth Young, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

BAFTA ONE'S TO WATCH AWARD

Boro-Toro
Adam Westwood, Graham Ranson, Yves Wheeler, Matthew Booton, Owen Schwehr (DarkMatter Designs)
Origamee
Richard Barlow, Alberto Fustinoni, Jonathon Holmes, Kevin Dunlop, Jade Law
(Blue Skies)
VegeMe
Guo Lin, Gao Ting, Zhang Jun, Laing Wei, Alexander Syminton (Ctrl_D)

GAME Award of 2008

The only award to be voted for by the public

* Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
* Fallout 3
* Gears of War 2
* Grand Theft Auto IV
* Guitar Hero World Tour
* Left 4 Dead
* LittleBigPlanet
* Professor Layton and the Curious Village
* Wii Fit
* World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King