Game Developers Choice Awards - nominees announced

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the industry selected nominees for the 6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, with God of War and Shadow of the Colossus leading the way.

Billed as the only peer-based awards ceremony where developers bestow awards upon other developers, the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony is produced and hosted by the Game Developers Conference and the winners are to be announced during the 2006 event, scheduled to run from March 20th-24th in San Jose.

Award nominees are voted on by IGDA members to ensure that the opinions of the international development community are accurately reflected, and the IGDA membership will also vote to decide this year's winners.

Jason Della Rocca, IGDA executive director, commented: "Every year, thousands of nominations are submitted by developers from around the world. Voting on the final recipients will be extremely competitive, and who can spot excellence and creative achievement better than the creators themselves?"

Sony's God of War, which recently scooped seven Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) awards, and secured nominations in nine separate categories for the forthcoming Game Audio Network Guild awards, is once again leading the pack with six separate award nominations - including Best Game and Best Game Design.

Shadow of the Colossus is also nominated for six awards, closely followed by Harmonix' innovative rhythm-action based game, Guitar Hero, which has received four award nominations and also enjoyed significant success at the AIAS awards, scooping five awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.

The 2006 Game Developers Choice Awards will be presented on Wednesday March 22nd, at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. More information on the awards categories and this year's nominees can be found by visiting the official awards website.