The video game awards season is rolling around the corner once again and it has another slew of nominees in tow.
Canadian games journalist and former G4 TV host Geoff Keighley will be presenting a brand new game awards show, simply titled The Game Awards 2014 in place of Spike TV’s Video Game Awards – defunct as of last year’s controversial showing which Keighley hosted with Community star Joel McHale.
For the very first time, the show will be conducted with the exclusive backing of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and a wealth of other game publishers including that of Rockstar Games, all of whose games have landed one prestigious spot or another on the nominee list.
The nominations for the first ever edition of The Game Awards include the standard set of genre-based categories, a fan category for most anticipated title of 2015 (which mostly includes delayed games) as well as some attention to famous YouTube celebs and eSports teams in light of its newfound appreciation of the “hardcore” game crowd.
The awards show debuts live on its very own channel Dec. 5th – the same day as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, so you’ll have something to watch that night in between gaming sessions.
• Best Shooter
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Sledgehammer/Activision
Destiny – Bungie/Activision
Far Cry 4 – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
Titanfall – Respawn/EA
Wolfenstein: The New Order – MachineGames/Bethesda
• Best Action/Adventure
Alien: Isolation – Creative Assembly/Sega
Assassin’s Creed: Unity – Ubisoft
Bayonetta 2 – Platinum Games/Nintendo
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Monolith/Warner Bros.
Sunset Overdrive – Insomniac/Microsoft
• Best Role Playing Game
Bravely Default – Square Enix
Dark Souls II – From Software/Bandai Namco
Divinity: Original Sin – Larian Studios
Dragon Age: Inquisition – Bioware/EA
South Park: The Stick of Truth – Obsidian/Ubisoft
• Best Fighting Game
Killer Instinct: Season Two – Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax – Arc System Works/Atlus
Super Smash Bros. 3DS – Nintendo
Super Smash Bros. Wii U – Nintendo
Ultimate Street Fighter IV – Capcom
• Best Family Game
Disney Infinity 2.0 – Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive Studios
Fantasia: Music Evolved – Harmonix/Disney Interactive Studios
Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
Skylanders: Trap Team – Toys for Bob/Activision
Tomodachi Life – Nintendo
• Best Sports/Racing Game
FIFA 15 – EA Canada/EA Sports
Forza Horizon 2 – Playground Games/Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft
Mario Kart 8 – Nintendo
NBA 2K15 – Visual Concepts/2K Sports
Trials Fusion – RedLynx/Ubisoft
• Best Online Experience
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Sledgehammer Games/Activision
Dark Souls II – From Software/Bandai Namco
Destiny – Bungie/Activision
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – Blizzard
Titanfall – Respawn/EA
• Best Mobile/Handheld
Bravely Default – Square Enix
Monument Valley – Ustwo
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – Blizzard
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS – Nintendo
Threes – Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend, and composer Jimmy Hinson
• Best Remaster
Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar Games
Halo: The Master Chief Collection – 343 Industries/Microsoft
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire – Game Freak/Nintendo
The Last of Us – Naughty Dog/Sony
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition – Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix
• Best Narrative
South Park: The Stick of Truth – Obsidian/Ubisoft
The Walking Dead Season 2 – Telltale Games
The Wolf Among Us – Telltale Games
Valiant Hearts – Ubisoft
Wolfenstein: The New Order – Machine Games/Bethesda
• Best Score/Soundtrack
Alien: Isolation – Christian Henson, Joe Henson, and Alexis Smith, The Creative Assembly/Sega
Child of Light – Coeur de pirate, Ubisoft Montreal
Destiny – Marty O’Donnell, Bungie/Activision
Sunset Overdrive – Boris Salchow, Insomniac Games/Microsoft
Transistor – Darren Korb, Supergiant Games
• Best Independent Game
Broken Age Part 1 – Double Fine
Monument Valley – Ustwo
Shovel Knight – Cellar Door
Transistor – Supergiant Games
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter – The Astronauts
• Games for Change
Mountain – David O’Reilly/Double Fine Presents
Never Alone – Upper One Games
The Last of Us: Left Behind – Naughty Dog/Sony
This War of Mine – 11bit Studios
Valiant Hearts: The Great War – Ubisoft
• eSports Player of the Year – (To be voted on by fans)
Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson – League of Legends
Xu “Fy” Linsen – Dota 2
James “Firebat” Kostesich – Hearthstone
Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund – Counter-Strike: GO
Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag – Call of Duty
• eSports Team of the Year – (To be voted on by fans)
Samsung White – League of Legends
Evil Geniuses – Dota 2
Edward Gaming – League of Legends
Newbee – Dota 2
Ninjas in Pajamas – Counter-Strike: GO
• Trending Gamer – (To be voted on by fans)
Evan “Vanoss” Fong
Jeff Gerstmann
PewDiePie
StampyLongHead
TotalBiscuit
• Best Fan Creation – (To be voted on by fans)
BEST Zelda Rap EVER!! By Egoraptor
Luigi Death Stare by CZBwoi and Rizupicorr
Mine the Diamond (Minecraft Song) by Tobuscus
Minecraft – TITAN City by Colonial Puppet
Twitch Plays Pokemon by Anonymous
• Developer of the Year
Blizzard
Monolith
Nintendo
Telltale Games
Ubisoft Montreal
• Best Performance
Adam Harrington as Bigby Wolf, The Wolf Among Us – Telltale Games
Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Sledgehammer Games/Activision
Melissa Hutchison as Clementine, The Walking Dead: Season Two – Telltale Games
Trey Parker as Various Voices, South Park: The Stick of Truth – Obsidian/Ubisoft
Troy Baker as Talion, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Monolith/Warner Bros.
• Most Anticipated Game – (To be voted on by fans)
Batman: Arkham Knight – Rocksteady/Warner Bros.
Bloodborne – FROM Software/Sony
Evolve – Turtle Rock/2K Games
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – CD Projekt
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Naughty Dog/Sony
• Game of the Year
Bayonetta 2 – Platinum Games/Nintendo
Dark Souls 2 – FROM Software/Bandai Namco
Dragon Age: Inquisition – BioWare/EA
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – Blizzard
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Monolith/Warner Bros.
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Tell us: What video games captured your eye this year? Agree or disagree with the nominees listed here?