Last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards were very posh. Sitting right next to Rare’s table, it was a hoot earing them cheer each time Viva Pinata was nominated, even if it didn’t win anything. Okami and Wii Sports were big winners for the night, as was the ever popular Gears of War, which took home the award for Game of the Year.
Other event highlights include some hilarious commentary from event MC Tim Schaefer (Psychonauts), and a thought provoking speech by tabletop icon and Manifesto Games co-founder Greg Costikyan, who took home the Maverick award. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto even took the stage a few times, including for the Lifetime Achievement award, which was presented to him by none other than last year’s winner, Richard Garriott.
Guitar Hero II walked away with the award for Audio, Titan Quest’s Iron Lore Entertainment took the nod for Best New Studio, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was recognized with the award for Best Writing.
Music composer George “The Fat Man” Sanger was awarded the Community Contribution for his efforts in the field of audio, and the year’s First Penguin award, given to those individuals who pioneer unproven territories, was given to Tetris originator Alexey Pajitnov.
