Interactive Achievement Awards nominees announced, Gears in the lead

Pfft. They suck.

No Okami in Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, OR Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction?

They don't have any taste whatsoever.

I mean seriously. Their choices suck some major sack.

What the heck is VF4 doing in the console GOTY noms? That came out years ago.

Oh Ludwig, how you amuse us. I knew it was you as soon as I saw you actually call it Ahyeehuss. Funtimes.

Im sure Wii Sports will win , Fun and Exercise at the same time.

I'm glad to see Wii Sports get some critical reception. In this I tell Gamespot, which I usually rely on for most everything, to screw off.

Three things looking through the nominations:

Why are the categories for voice acting named differently for each gender: "Outstanding Character Performance - Male" and "Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female?" Does this mean the Academy thinks it more difficult to have find good women voice actors?

Zelda's lack of full orchestra hinders it, and it shows here. Though nominated for several categories, it's best-midi-ever score was NOT nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition.

They really liked Guitar Hero II: nominated for Console GOY and Overall GOY.

What the hell? Gears of War in the lead? Seriously, what the hell?

The game looks good, and it plays good, but Game of the Year? That's just wrong, on all levels. Why is it that a game that puts an emphasis on blood and gore and the very act of destruction gets more publicity than a game that builds its gameplay concepts on beauty and creation and regeneration? (If you still can't figure it out, I'm talking about Okami!)

At the end of the day, Gears of War is, and always will be, a shooter. I have played it for a few hours, and the experience I felt playing that game is nothing like how I felt playing Okami. It was pure gaming pleasure. I almost cried, for I had never seen anything so beautiful on-screen before. The music was heavenly, almost ethereal and the attention to detail is nothing short of amazing.

Yet, when I see the list of nominees, all I see are the same games again and again. Gears of War. Zelda. Gears of War. Zelda. Oh look, Gears of War. Oh, look. Zelda.

These games are good, no doubt about it. But are they that good that they dwarf out other games that are as good, if not better, than them? And if so, on what grounds are these games better?

Fatass of Kickassness, save your breath, man. Even in gaming (where innovation is supposedly a gamer's best friend), the majority still rules.

The list of nominees speaks for itself: a list made out from popularity, not from actual innovation.

Stupid.

By the Way, Viva Pinata also had 6 nominations.