Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple of days, you’re probably aware that the 18th annual D.I.C.E awards were last night. The award show, which was hosted by comedian and podcaster Pete Holmes, handed out a whopping 25 awards– eight of which went to Monolith Productions’ Middle of Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Mr. Tolkien would be proud.
While Shadow of Mordor scored 8 of the 9 awards it was up for, it was Dragon Age: Inquisition that shocked the crowd and took home “Game of the Year,” beating the likes of Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, Destiny, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Bioware also took home the “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year” honor as well.
Little Big Planet 3 (which we absolutely loved) ended up taking home the “Family Game of the Year” award, which was a delightful surprise considering it received mediocre reviews from other publications around the web. The charming title was up against Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Project Spark and Skylanders Trap Team.
Bungie’s first-person shooter Destiny managed to win a grand total of four awards. Though the music was definitely impressive in the game, it was a bit surprising to see the title snag the “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition” award, especially when you consider the fact that it was up against Darren Korb’s superb Transistor soundtrack. In fact, Destiny didn’t even make it into our list of Best Video Game Soundtracks of 2014. Aside from that, the title was definitely deserving of the “Outstanding Achievement in Online” award. Although Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was also nominated, it was hard to beat the experience of getting your fireteam together to take on and complete the raid a couple of times a week.
Unfortunately, inFAMOUS Second Son came away empty-handed, which is interesting as it received two nominations in the “Outstanding Achievement in Character” category. The award ended up going to Talion (who was voiced by Troy Baker) of Shadow of Mordor. If you’re in the know, you’re probably aware that Baker also played two of the four nominees he was up against, including Delsin Rowe from Second Son. I wonder if it was difficult for the academy to pick which Troy Baker they liked best. I think Holmes’ quip during the intro to the awards said it best, ” the video game industry creates hundreds of jobs a year…for Troy Baker.”
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences–which consists of publishers, developers and members of the Independent Game Developer’s Association– also honored “The Father of Video Games” Ralph Baer and Pong creator Allan Alcorn, and handed the inaugural “Technical Impact” award to Apple.
Check out the full list of winners below:
Adventure Game of the Year—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Family Game of the Year—LittleBigPlanet 3
Mobile Game of the Year—Hearthstone
Handheld Game of the Year—Super Smash Bros. 3DS
Outstanding Achievement in Animation—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Outstanding Achievement in Art—Monument Valley
Outstanding Technical Achievement—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Outstanding Achievement in Online—Destiny
RPG/MMO Game of the Year —Dragon Age: Inquisition
Strategy Game of the Year—Hearthstone
Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition—Destiny
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design—Destiny
Outstanding Achievement in Narrative—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Outstanding Achievement in Character—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming —Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sports Game of the Year—FIFA 15
Racing Game of the Year—Mario Kart 8
Fighting Game of the Year—Super Smash Bros. WiiU
Action Game of the Year—Destiny
Sprite Award—Transistor
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction—Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Game of the Year—Dragon Age: Inquisition
For a full list of the nominees, click here.
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So what did you think of the awards? Did you agree with the winners? Let us know in the comments below.
