Second most important E3 awards announces best of show nominees

Our very ownGamesRadar E3 awardshave already delivered the definitive final word on this year's show. But stay alert gamers - there's more E3 awards to come! And these are kind of a big deal. Why? Because theGame Critics Awards: Best of E3 2010are voted for by 31 'professional' sites and publications that dabble in the business of critical video game reportage. And, yes, that includes GamesRadar, along with GiantBomb, Destructoid, Kotaku, Joystiq, GameSpot, IGN and a bunch of others.

So, knowing that these games have been deemed worthy by actual critics armed with professional diligence and laser-targeted expertise, you should be interested to see which games of E3 were 'best' enough to make the list of nominations.

There are 16 categories in total . There are a lot of games. I inexplicably went to the bother of counting and found that there are 47 different games nominated in total. Rage gets five nominations. Epic Mickey, Portal 2 and Dance Central all get four nominations each. EA is the best faring publisher with 15 nominations. In terms of platform nominations, Xbox 360 snags the most with 46.

Anyway, here's the whole dang lot:

Best of Show
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Original Game
- Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3, Xbox 360)
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Console Game
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- InFamous 2 (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel/Nintendo for Wii)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)


Above: Rage. Game critics like the look of it

Best Handheld Game
- Ghost Trick (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
- God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready at Dawn/Sony Santa Monica for PSP)
- Okamiden (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
- SuperScribblenauts (5TH Cell/WBIE for Nintendo DS)
- Valkyria Chronicles 2 (Sega for PSP)

Best PC Game
- Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games)
- Crysis 2 (CryTek/Electronic Arts)
- Portal 2 (Valve)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA)

Best Hardware
- Kinect (Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Move (Sony for PlayStation 3)
- Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
- Rock Band 3 Pro Guitars (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)
- Rock Band 3 Keyboard (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)

Best Action Game
- Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (TreyArch/Activision for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Gears of War 3 (Epic Game/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Halo: Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)


Above: Gears of War 3 will have action

Best Action/Adventure Game
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
- Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)

Best Role Playing Game
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal/Square-Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
- Fable III (Lionhead/Microsoft Game Studios for PC and Xbox 360)
- Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt RED STUDIO/Atari for PC)

Best Racing Game
- Gran Turismo 5 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- MotorStorm: Apolcalypse (Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Eden Games/Atari for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)

Best Fighting Game
- Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm/WBIE for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- WWE All Stars (THQ San Diego/THQ for PS3 and Xbox 360)


Above: Marvel vs Capcom 3 has already won GamesRadar's 'Most Graphics' award

Best Sports Game
- EA Sports MMA (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- Madden NFL 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- NBA Jam (EA Canada/EA Sports for Wii)
- NCAA Football 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
- NHL 11 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game
- Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games for PC)
- Company of Heroes Online (Relic/THQ for PC)
- End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC)
- Shogun 2: Total War (The Creative Assembly/Sega for PC)

Best Social/Casual Game
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- DJ Hero 2 (FreeStyle Games/Activision for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
- Kinect Adventures (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Rock Band 3 (Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Motion Simulation Game
- Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3 and Xbox 360)
- Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
- Socom 4 (Zipper/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer Game
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
- Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360 )
- Halo Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
- Medal of Honor (EALA/DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)

The actual winners of winners will be revealed next Tuesday. We'll probably tell you about it when it happens.

June 30, 2010

Matt Cundy
I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.