Wait! Before you flip your desk over in a fit of disgust, give us just one minute to talk you down, okay? First, that's a really nice desk (is that mahagony?) and we wouldn't want you to pull something flipping it over. Second, these aren't just any Game of the Year awards. Yes, fine, we did say the same exact thing yesterday about the Game Critics Awards but these are different. These awards are determined by designers themselves so, if you want an inside peek into the cheek-slapping that goes on in the virtual locker room we call "the game industry," then you'll want to read this post.There, you're still with us? To be honest, we really wanted to share the nominations with you because they reminded us of something ... what was it again? Oh, that's right, Joystiq's own totally definitive Game of the Year awards. You know why? Not simply because game developers – the people that actually hand carve every game you enjoy so much – had the audacity, the temerity even, to include Portal (note: not The Orange Box) as the most nominated game (a distinction it shares with BioShock) but because they also gave Peggle an impressive three nominations. Yeah, the same Peggle some people thought we were crazy for including in our list.
Did we really just ask you to read this entire post so we could feel vindicated, our selections having been affirmed by the craftspeople we so admire? ... well, yeah, but we included all of the nominees after the break so you don't feel totally ripped off. We'll be liveblogging the GDCA slash IGF ceremony from GDC so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Best Game Design
- BioShock
- Call of Duty 4
- Mass Effect
- Portal
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Assassin's Creed
- Team Fortress 2
- Crysis
- BioShock
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
- Halo 3
- Crysis
- Call of Duty 4
- Portal
- Assassin's Creed
- Portal
- God of War II
- Mass Effect
- Half-Life 2: Episode 2
- BioShock
- Call of Duty 4
- Everyday Shooter
- BioShock
- God of War II
- Mass Effect
- Crackdown (Realtime Worlds)
- flOw (ThatGameCompany)
- The Witcher (CD Projekt)
- Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)
- Aquaria (Bit Blot)
- Rock Band
- Portal
- flOw
- Peggle
- Mass Effect
Best Handheld Game
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Phase
- Contra 4
- Peggle (for iPod)
- Pac-Man Championship Edition
- Everyday Shooter
- Peggle
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords (XBLA version)
- Flow
- BioShock
- Call of Duty 4
- Portal
- Rock Band
- Super Mario Galaxy
