Nominees Announced For 2013 Game Developers Choice Awards

The Game Developers Choice Awards will happen during GDC 2013 later in March, but the official nominations have finally been listed.  Among those who received multiple nominations include Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3 and The Walking Dead.  If these peer-based awards are any indication, it seems developers liked the best games of this past year as much as we did; because a lot of these names won’t surprise you.

More information about the 13^th annual Game Developers Choice Awards can be found here, but here is the complete list of nominations:

Best Technology

Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

PlanetSide 2 (Sony Online Entertainment)

Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Treyarch/Activision)

Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Narrative

Spec Ops: The Line (Yager Entertainment/2K Games)

Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/Electronic Arts)

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)

Virtue’s Last Reward (Chunsoft/Aksys Games)

Best Game Design

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Mark Of The Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)

Spelunky (Derek Yu/Andy Hull)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games)

Best Visual Arts

Borderlands 2 (Gearbox Software/2K Games)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)

Best Downloadable Game

The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)

Spelunky (Derek Yu/Andy Hull)

Trials: Evolution (RedLynx/Microsoft Studios)

Mark Of The Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Gravity Rush (SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Hero Academy (Robot Entertainment)

Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)

The Room (Fireproof Games)

Kid Icarus: Uprising (Sora/Nintendo)

Best Audio

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Hotline Miami (Dennaton Games/Devolver Digital)

Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)

Innovation Award

Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft Studios)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)

The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow/Sony Computer Entertainment)

ZombiU (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)

Best Debut

Humble Hearts (Dust: An Elysian Tail)

Polytron Corporation (Fez)

Giant Sparrow (The Unfinished Swan)

Subset Games (FTL: Faster Than Light)

Fireproof Games (The Room )

And of course, the nominees for Game of the Year:

Dishonored (Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)

Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/Electronic Arts)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment)

So what do you all think?  Do you like the selection of nominations?  I’m especially glad that a lot of Arcade and Indie game were shown the proper respect they deserve.  Dust: An Elysian Tale, The Walking Dead and Journey were truly some of the best experiences this year, if not this generation, so it’s nice to see credit given where it’s due.  I’d say the Game of the Year section was fairly predictable, although I’ll admit to being surprised seeing XCOM: Enemy Unknown make it onto the top five.  Not because it was bad or anything, I’m just not sure about top five.  My favorite category is Best Debut, if only because, as most of you know, I absolutely love seeing new IPs come out each year.  I hate the idea of a gaming industry that survives solely on Call of Duty and Madden, and it’s extremely important to show the big publishers that keeping ideas fresh and innovative is what matters most.