Rage, Dance Central, Microsoft and EA lead the E3 2010 Game Critic Award Nominations

June 29, 2010 9:15 AM

This morning the collective Game Critic Award nominations for the best showings at E3 2010 were revealed. Leading with five nominations in multiple categories is the id Software developed, Bethesda Softworks published shooter Rage, followed by Dance Central, Disney Epic Mickey and Portal 2, each of which received four nominations a piece.

Collectively, Electronic Arts had the strongest publisher showing, nabbing fifteen nominations followed by Microsoft who received eleven nominations for its E3 lineup; mostly coming from the Harmonix-exclusive Dance Central.

In the Best Hardware category, Nintendo's 3DS was given a nod alongside both motion-control peripherals being introduced by Sony and Microsoft later this year.

The entire E3 2010 Game Critic Award nominations can be found after the break.

Best of Show

Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Original Game

Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3, Xbox 360)
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Console Game

Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
InFamous 2 (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel/Nintendo for Wii)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Handheld Game

Ghost Trick (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready at Dawn/Sony Santa Monica for PSP)
Okamiden (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
SuperScribblenauts (5TH Cell/WBIE for Nintendo DS)
Valkyria Chronicles 2 (Sega for PSP)

Best PC Game

Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games)
Crysis 2 (CryTek/Electronic Arts)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA)

Best Hardware

Kinect (Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Move (Sony for PlayStation 3)
Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
Rock Band 3 Pro Guitars (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)
Rock Band 3 Keyboard (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)

Best Action Game

Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (TreyArch/Activision for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Game/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Halo: Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)

Best Role Playing Game

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal/Square-Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Fable III (Lionhead/Microsoft Game Studios for PC and Xbox 360)
Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt RED STUDIO/Atari for PC)

Best Racing Game

Gran Turismo 5 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
MotorStorm: Apolcalypse (Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Eden Games/Atari for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)

Best Fighting Game

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom for PS3 and Xbox 360)
Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm/WBIE for PS3 and Xbox 360)
WWE All Stars (THQ San Diego/THQ for PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game

EA Sports MMA (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
Madden NFL 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NBA Jam (EA Canada/EA Sports for Wii)
NCAA Football 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NHL 11 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game

Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games for PC)
Company of Heroes Online (Relic/THQ for PC)
End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC)
Shogun 2: Total War (The Creative Assembly/Sega for PC)

Best Social/Casual Game

Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
DJ Hero 2 (FreeStyle Games/Activision for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
Kinect Adventures (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Rock Band 3 (Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Motion Simulation Game

Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3 and Xbox 360)
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Socom 4 (Zipper/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer Game

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360 )
Halo Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Medal of Honor (EALA/DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)

Xav de Matos

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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Masem

 reply
June 29, 2010 9:31 AM

Is it just me, or did Rage just seem to be blessed to be id's next title and thus worthy of praise? I'm interested in the game for sure, but I'm not seeing anything that if you look hard enough you can't find elsewhere presently beyond pretty graphics.

I also find it odd that Dance Central got as much as it did. It's a good use of Kinect (and likely Move), and is HMX backed, but I dunno if it has the same replay as Rock Band or the like. Unless it will teach white guys how to finally dance.
- vx2o
  
   reply
  June 29, 2010 9:54 AM
  
  It's not just you...
- SabinRaijin
  
   reply
  June 29, 2010 11:21 AM
  
  Most of the games that got top honors by the GCA seem to be in the "nothing new/spectacular" category (particularly Epic Mickey and Dance Central), like the GCA was paid off specifically to ignore Nintendo's entire E3 showing besides "giving a nod" to the 3DS hardware alongside the two motion peripherals, compared to which the 3DS is in a whole different league of its own.