Game Critics Awards nominees revealed

News - Halo 2 going strong...

The nominations for this year's Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2004 have just been revealed, with Halo 2 topping a list of triple-A behemoths. Halo 2 received four nominations, with Splinter Cell 3, God of War, Half-Life 2, and Jade Empire all garnering three apiece. Nintendo and EA were the most tipped publishers with games totalling eleven each listed.

The Game Critics Awards are voted for by some of the industry's most high profile reporters (not us, hmph), from publications like Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, CNN Money and USA Today. The final winners will be revealed on June the 8th, here are the nominations in full:

Best of Show

Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
Nintendo DS (Mobile Gaming System - Nintendo Co. Ltd)
Sony PSP (Mobile Gaming System - Sony Computer Entertainment)
Splinter Cell 3 (UbiSoft Montreal/UbiSoft for PC)

Best Original Game

Destroy All Humans! (Pandemic/THQ for PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo for GameCube)
God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft for Xbox)
Yoot Saito's Odama (Vivarium/Nintendo for GameCube)

Best PC Game

Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth (EALA/Electronic Arts for PC)
Rome: Total War (Creative Assembly/Activision for PC)
Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Splinter Cell 3 (UbiSoft Montreal/UbiSoft for PC)

Best Console Game

God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft for Xbox)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Retro Studios/Nintendo for GameCube)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom for GameCube)

Best Peripheral / Hardware

Alienware Video Array Technology (Alienware for PC)
Donkey Konga Bongo Drums (Nintendo for GameCube)
Nintendo DS (Mobile Gaming System - Nintendo Co. Ltd)
Phantom Gaming Service (Infinium Labs, Inc.)
Sony PSP (Mobile Gaming System - Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Action Game

Doom 3 (Vicarious Visions/id/Activision for Xbox)
F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Retro Studios/Nintendo for GameCube)

Best Action/Adventure Game

God of War (SCEA Santa Monica/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
Prince of Persia 2 (UbiSoft Montreal/UbiSoft for All Systems)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom for GameCube)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Insomniac Games/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
Splinter Cell 3 (UbiSoft Montreal/UbiSoft for PC)

Best Fighting Game

Def Jam: Fight for New York (EA Canada/EA for All Console Systems)
Guilty Gear Isuka (Arc System Works/Sammy Studios for PlayStation 2)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (Midway Games for PlayStation 2/Xbox)
Rumble Roses (KCET/Konami for PlayStation 2)
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (Capcom for PlayStation 2/Xbox)

Best Role Playing Game

Fable (Big Blue Box/Microsoft for Xbox)
Final Fantasy XII (Square-Enix for PlayStation 2)
Jade Empire (Bioware/Microsoft for Xbox)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian/LucasArts for PC/Xbox)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (Troika Games/Activision for PC)

Best Racing Game

Burnout 3 (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2/Xbox)
Enthusia Professional Racing (Konami for PlayStation 2)
Forza Motorsport (Microsoft for Xbox)
Gran Turismo 4 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)
Street Racing Syndicate (Eutechnyx/Namco for All Console Systems)

Best Simulation Game

Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ for PC/Xbox)
Pacific Fighters (1C/UbiSoft for PC)
Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision for All Platforms)
The Urbz: Sims in the City (Maxis/Electronic Arts for All Console Systems)

Best Sports Game

ESPN NFL 2005 (Visual Concepts/ESPN Videogames for PS2/Xbox)
FIFA Soccer 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
Madden NFL 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Neversoft/Activision for All Platforms)

Best Strategy Game

Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth (EALA/Electronic Arts for PC)
Pikmin 2 (Nintendo for GameCube)
Rome: Total War (Creative Assembly/Activision for PC)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (Relic/THQ for PC)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game

Donkey Konga (Nintendo for GameCube)
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo for GameCube)
EyeToy: AntiGrav (Harmonix Music Systems/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 (Harmonix Music Systems/Konami for PlayStation 2)
WarioWare, Inc. DS (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)

Best Online Multiplayer Game

Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/EA Games for PC)
EverQuest II (Sony Online Entertainment for PC)
Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
Star Wars Battlefront (Pandemic Studios/LucasArts for PC, PS2, Xbox)
World of Warcraft (Blizzard/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)