The GDC has done what the AIAS couldn’t (or refused) to do–it gave Capcom a little respect and allowed for both Okami and Dead Rising to be included in the nominations for its annual game awards. The gala event was held in San Francisco and righted what many in the industry believed to be the wrongs done by the AIAS.
The Choice Awards nomination committee selects contestants based purely on merit, regardless of connection to the Game Developers Conference. GDC Executive Director Jamil Moledina said in February, "The GDC derives its authenticity from the developers themselves, who teach and share at the show–the Game Developers Choice Awards is then the natural validation of their collective artistic effort, voted on and awarded to individual game creators. Since the Choice Awards have an open nomination process and reflect the judgment of peers, the awards have earned the highest respect of the community."
The nominations list included Dead Rising and Okami, two critically acclaimed games which were absent from the AIAS nominations.
Here are the results:
Best Game
*Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
Wii Sports (Nintendo)
Audio
*Guitar Hero II (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
DEFCON: Everybody Dies (Introversion Software)
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend (Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Interactive)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Character Design
*Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft Montpellier Studio / Ubisoft Entertainment)
Viva Pi
