MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2008

Friday 11th April/...00:01, Friday 11th April 2008, London

The sixth annual MCV Industry Excellence Awards were unveiled last night, as over 600 industry executives gathered at the Brewery, London, to celebrate the best gaming achievements of the past 12 months.

Hosted by industry news bibles MCV and MCVUK.com and presented by Simon Amstell, the BAFTA nominated comedian, the MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2008 saw Nintendo grab three honours (Games Publisher, PR Team and the prestigious Grand Prix Award). Other big winners included Assassins Creed as new Games Brand, GAME as Specialist Retailer, Play.com as Online Retailer and Cooking Mama as Sales Triumph.

The MCV Industry Excellence Awards are voted for by a panel of over 100 of the industry’s most influential executives. The judges are spread across all areas of the business, offering an unprecedented pool of knowledge and influence.

If Nintendo’s trio of awards wasn’t success enough, this is also the third time the publisher has bagged the ridiculously-prestigious Grand Prix Award: awarded by the magazine’s editorial team to the firm or individual they feel has contributed the most to the business in the previous 12 months.

“The last 12 months has been an amazing – and often unpredictable – ride for the games industry,” says Stuart Dinsey, managing director of Intent Media, publisher of MCV and MCUK.com. “From the departure of Ken Kutaragi in April 2007, to this month’s launch of Wii Fit, it’s been an incredible year – and it’s been an honour for MCV to be right at the heart of the business yet again. The winners of a 2008 Industry Excellence Award can quite rightly claim to have been at the very top of their game – during gaming’s biggest ever year.”

The MCV Industry Excellence Awards Winners in full:

INDEPENDENT RETAILER

Winner: Grainger Games

Finalists: Playtime Video Games, Console Connections, Powerplay, Ninja Games

SPECIALIST RETAILER

Winner: GAME

Finalists: Gamestation, CHIPS, Gameseek, Gamestop

ENTERTAINMENT RETAILER

Winner: HMV

Finalists: Zavvi, Woolworths, Blockbuster, Asda

ONLINE RETAILER

Winner: PLAY.COM

Finalists: Amazon, Gameseek, Shopto.com, Tgrav.com

STAR STORE

Winner: ZAVVI, OXFORD STREET

Finalists: Gamestation (Hull), Playtime Video Games (Doncaster), Gamestation (Birmingham), HMV (Trocadero)

PR TEAM

Winner: NINTENDO/RED

Finalists: Microsoft/JCPR, EA/Shine, SCE/Shine, Vivendi/Indigo Pearl

GAME CAMPAIGN

Winner: HALO 3 (MICROSOFT)

Finalists: Touch! Generations range (Nintendo), FIFA ’08 (Electronic Arts),

Mario & Sonic (Sega), Call of Duty 4 (Activision)

NEW GAME BRAND

Winner: ASSASSINS CREED (UBISOFT)

Finalists: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCE), Mario & Sonic (Sega), Bioshock (2K Games), Mass Effect (Microsoft)

TRADE MARKETING TEAM

Winner: ELECTRONIC ARTS

Finalists: Sony Computer Entertainment, Activision, THQ, Microsoft

MARKETING TEAM

Winner: NINTENDO

Finalists: Microsoft, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment

UK DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Winner: CODEMASTERS

Finalists: Bizarre Creations, Sports Interactive, Criterion, Rebellion

DISTRIBUTION TEAM

Winner: CENTRESOFT

Finalists: Koch Media, Gem, Advantage, Trilogy

SALES TRIUMPH

Winner: COOKING MAMA (505 GAMES)

Finalists: HSM: Sing It! – Disney Interactive Studios, Mario & Sonic – Sega,

Assassin’s Creed – Ubisoft, Devil May Cry 4 - Capcom

SALES TEAM

Winner: UBISOFT

Finalists: Activision, THQ, Electronic Arts, Nintendo

GAMES PUBLISHER

Winner: NINTENDO

Finalists: Ubisoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft

RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD: SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Winner: PAUL DONNELLY (GEM)

Finalists: Rob Gross, Dave Gould (Vivendi Games), Jonathan Grimes (Microsoft),

Penny Humphrey (Electronic Arts), Rosemary Buahin (Sony Computer Entertainment)

GRAND PRIX

Winner: NINTENDO

Ends

For more information about the MCV Awards please contact Neil Long at Intent Media

01992 535646 / neil.long@intentmedia.co.uk

About MCV

MCV is the leading publication in its field because it has changed what the industry expects from a trade title. It does not believe in an elitist circulation reaching only the select few, MCV has always been committed to having as broad a circulation as possible. That is why it currently publishes over 11,000 copies every week. MCV covers all sectors of the market equally, from retail to publishing, from international markets to product reviews and software development. MCV always publishes a minimum of 40 pages, with major emphasis on exclusive breaking news and informed analysis.

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