"Gears of War," "Okami" and "Wii Sports" Lead the RECIPIENTSOF THE 7th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

SAN FRANCISCO - March 7, 2007 - Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios' Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War was the recipient of three honors including Best Game at the 7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards. The blockbuster hit game also received the awards for Technology and Visual Arts. Following close behind with two awards each were Clover Studios and Capcom Entertainment's Okami and Nintendo's Wii Sports. The ceremony, produced and hosted by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and presented by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), is the only peer-based, open nomination awards program in the industry where honors are bestowed to developers by developers. Recipients were announced tonight at the 2007 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.

"A Game Developers Choice Award is like no other award presented in our industry, as it is the only prize that gives the community the chance to appreciate and honor individual developers," said Jamil Moledina, Executive Director of the Game Developers Conference. "By celebrating our visionaries by name, we give the audience and the public at large a chance to give credit where credit is due."

Nominations were free of charge and open to all IGDA members, ensuring that the nominees reflect the international development community's opinions. The IGDA membership voted on the finalists.

The recipients for the 7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards are:

Best Game

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)

- Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson

Audio

Guitar Hero II (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)

- Jeff Allen, Eric Brosius, Izzy Maxwell

Character Design

Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

- Mari Shimazaki, Sawaki Takeyasu, Kenichirou Yoshimura

Game Design

Wii Sports (Nintendo)

- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Technology

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)

- Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel

Visual Arts

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)

- Jerry O'Flaherty, Chris Perna

Writing

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

- Kyogoku Aya, Nate Bihldorff, Mitsuhiro Takano

New Studio

Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan Quest)

- Paul Chieffo, Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan

Innovation

Line Rider

- Botjan Cadež

Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

- Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya

Wii Sports (Nintendo)

- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Recipients for the evening's special awards were:

Lifetime Achievement

Shigeru Miyamoto

First Penguin

Alexey Pajitnov

Maverick

Greg Costikyan

Community Contribution

George "The Fat Man" Sanger

"Once again, the Game Developers Choice Awards have shown that gaming greatness can be found within every type of game-from the most hardcore of experiences, to those that have brought all new audiences into our industry's fan base," said Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director, IGDA. "Each year, I am humbled by what our members can do with this great art form."

For more information about the awards and all the recipients, please visit: http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/

About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)

The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. For more information on the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org.

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