GAMES INDUSTRY PREPARES FOR NIGHT OF ITS LIFE

Thursday 18th October/... The countdown to the Awards continues, with 52 individual games spanning 15 categories. Of those games vying for a coveted BAFTA mask, Nintendo's Wii Sports looks to be the strongest contender with seven nominations, including Best Game, Casual, Gameplay, Innovation and Multiplayer.

The other titles with the highest number of individual nominations are Crackdown, Gears of War, God of War 2 and Okami, with each title notching up five individual BAFTA nominations. Gears of War has also been nominated in the separate PC World Gamers' Award - the only award to be voted for by the public - which will be given out on the night.

Crackdown (Xbox 360) (Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios)

Dundee-based Realtime Worlds allowed gamers to leap tall buildings and pull off impossible vehicle stunts, all in a bid to bring order back to crime-ridden Pacific City.

Gears of War (Xbox 360) (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Epic Games' sci-fi shooter successfully wowed critics and consumers alike with its intense cinematic action that pitched humanity against the Locust Horde.

God of War 2 (PS2) (SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

An exhilarating action adventure set deep within Greek mythology, depicting the visceral return of the ex-Spartan warrior Kratos, the God of War.

Okami (PS2) (Clover/Capcom)

This stunning fantasy adventure features an innovative visual style that effectively blends 3D game level design with Japanese watercolour calligraphy.

Wii Sports (Wii) (Nintendo/Nintendo)

This benchmark launch title for the Wii opened gaming to a wider casual market by dragging players off the sofa to compete with a new level of interactivity.

With a dedicated annual awards event from BAFTA, the video games industry is now elevated to the same cultural level as film and television. In recognition of this, Will Wright, the creator of The Sims, will become the first recipient from the video games industry of the coveted Fellowship award. He will also be delivering the Academy's first Annual Lecture within the Games sector on "Interactive Entertainment - the Oldest Art Form" on 24 October.

This year also sees the introduction of the inaugural BAFTA's Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital. This award has been introduced by BAFTA as a showcase for new development talent. The three titles shortlisted this year are Ragnarawk from Voodoo Boogy, ClimbActic from Carebox and Bear Go Home from Phoenix Seed. In addition to receiving the award, each of the winning team members will receive a state of the art Packard Bell gaming PC.

Here is the full alphabetical list of the games nominated for a BAFTA in the 2007 British Academy Video Games Awards in association with PC World:

Battlefield 2142 (PC)

Big Brain Academy for Wii (Wii)

BioShock (Xbox 360)

Cake Mania (DS)

Colin McRae: DiRT (Xbox 360)

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360)

Crackdown (Xbox 360)

Crysis (PC)

Elite Beat Agents (DS)

FIFA 08 (PS3)

Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

flOw (PSN)

Football Manager 2008 (PC)

Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)

Gears of War (Xbox 360)

God of War 2 (PS2)

Guitar Hero II (PS2)

Heavenly Sword (PS3)

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)

Lair (PS3)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Medieval II: Total Kingdoms (PC)

More Brain Training (DS)

MotorStorm (PS3)

Okami (PS2)

The Orange Box (PS3)

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)

Sega Rally (PS3)

SingStar (PS3)

Skate (PS3)

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

The Darkness (Xbox 360)

The Eye of Judgement (PS3)

The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360)

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360)

Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360)

Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)

Warhawk (PS3)

Wii Sports (Wii)

World in Conflict (PC)

World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)

BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital

Bear Go Home (Phoenix Seed)

ClimbActic (Carebox)

Ragnarawk (Voodoo Boogy)

The PC World Gamers' Award

(The only award to be voted for by the public)

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)

FIFA 07 (PS2)

Football Manager 2007 (PC)

Gears of War (Xbox 360)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)

Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

Wii Play (Wii)

This year's Awards during London Games Festival, will be hosted by comedian Vic Reeves. They will feature live music from Athlete and Remi Nicole, a spectacular spherical display from Pufferfish and will be held at London's Battersea Evolution on 23 October. The show will be broadcast on E4 on November 4 at 11pm and repeated the following weekend on Channel 4.

About BAFTA:

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK's leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

For more information, please contact:

Tom Sargent or Stu Taylor at Barrington Harvey: Tel: 01462 456780 tom.sargent@bhpr.co.uk stuart.taylor@bhpr.co.uk