Last night, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences held its 16th annual awards show, the DICE Awards. The AIAS was formed to celebrate and foster the art and creativity in the game development community, and from the amazing opening mashup intro video from Noodlehaus that featured the likes of Master Chief and Borderlands 2‘s Maya to Chris Hardwick managing an enthusiastic (and mildly intoxicated) award winner, the night was full of fun and surprises. The DICE Awards are the closest thing to the Oscars the gaming world has, and with the titles that were up for awards, you can tell the Academy takes its responsibility seriously.
Proving that it’s not how you get the game, but the game itself that matters, Journey and The Walking Dead stole the show. Journey, from thatgamecompany, nabbed eight awards including Game of the Year, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction. The Walking Dead, from Telltale, shuffled off with four awards, including Adventure Game of the Year and Downloadable Game of the Year.
Stay tuned to Nerdist.com for more coverage of the DICE summit and subscribe to the Nerdist Channel to get the first glimpse at our interviews with many of the nominees and winners.
The complete list of winners, as decided by a peer-based voting system within the AIAS:
Action Game of the Year
Borderlands 2
Publisher:Â 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
Mobile Game of the Year
Hero Academy
Publisher: Robot Entertainment
Developer: Robot Entertainment
Handheld Game of the Year
Paper Mario Sticker Star
Publisher: Nintendo of America, Inc.
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Outstanding Achievement in Story
The Walking Dead
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Outstanding Character Performance
The Walking Dead: Lee Everett
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Downloadable Game of the Year
The Walking Dead
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Casual Game of the Year
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Web Based Game of the Year
SimCity Social
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Maxis, Playfish
Family Game of the Year
Skylanders Giants
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Toys for Bob
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Mass Effect 3
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Bioware
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 13
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada
Racing Game of the Year
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion Games
Fighting Game of the Year
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: SuperBot Entertainment, Inc.
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity
Halo 4
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: 343 Industries
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin’s Creed III
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Halo 4
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: 343 Industries
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games
Adventure Game of the Year
The Walking Dead
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
Game of the Year
Journey
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: thatgamecompany
The Publishers are the money (more often than not), and sometimes the ones that came up with the idea that got passed on to the third party developer to get fleshed out.. so the credit IMO is just as much theirs as the Developers.
Do we really need to see the Publisher’s Name?
I’m tired of seeing publishers take credit from the developers hard work and then fuck them over if their game doesn’t do as well as they wanted. Give credit to where it’s due, leave the publishers name out of it!