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BioShock Lead Major Finalists for the 8th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Rock Band, Call of Duty 4 and Super Mario Galaxy Round Out the Nominees for Game of the Year; Crash Bandicoot Creator Jason Rubin to Host Ceremony for Industry's Only Open Peer-Based Awards

Valve's Portal and 2K Boston/Australia's BioShock lead the nominees for the eighth annual Game Developers Choice Awards with five nominations each, including the coveted Game of the Year title, organizers have announced. The Game of the Year category also includes Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, which follows with four nominations and, with both games receiving two nominations each, Harmonix's Rock Band and Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy.

Produced and hosted by CMP's Game Developers Conference (GDC) and presented by Gamasutra.com and Game Developer Magazine, the Game Developers Choice Awards honors the developers of the best video games released during the previous calendar year, as well as awarding key figures from the video game community. Other multiple nominees for this year's event include such diverse and notable titles as BioWare's Mass Effect, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, Infinite Interactive's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, Sony Santa Monica's God of War II, and PopCap's Peggle.

In addition, special recipients already confirmed for this year's Choice Awards, to be honored in person during the ceremony, include 'father of video games' Ralph Baer (Pioneer), IGDA executive director Jason Della Rocca (Ambassador) and Civilization creator Sid Meier (Lifetime Achievement).

Winners in all major categories will be honored at an awards show taking place Wednesday, February 20 in the Esplanade Ballroom of the Moscone Center's South Hall, during the 2008 Game Developers Conference. The Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival (IGF), will be hosted by legendary game developer Jason Rubin, mastermind behind the smash-hit Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises.

In addition, it's been revealed that specially made video entertainment for the Choice Awards will be produced by The Escapist's popular animated show Zero Punctuation, while long-time contributors Mega64 will produce exclusive video skits to accompany the Independent Games Festival Awards.

"Behind every great game is a great team, and it's a core principle of ours to honor and recognize that talent on stage," said Jamil Moledina, Executive Director of the Game Developers Conference. "Given the open peer-based structure, the Game Developers Choice Awards have earned the utmost respect within the developer community and we're looking forward to the award ceremony next month to see who the 2008 recipients are. Good luck everyone!"

For more information about the Game Developers Choice Awards, check out http://www.gamechoiceawards.com.

    The complete list of nominees is:


    Best Game Design

    BioShock

    Call of Duty 4

    Mass Effect

    Portal

    Super Mario Galaxy

    Best Visual Art

    Assassin's Creed

    Team Fortress 2

    Crysis

    BioShock

    Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

    Best Technology

    Halo 3

    Crysis

    Call of Duty 4

    Portal

    Assassin's Creed

    Best Writing

    Portal

    God of War II

    Mass Effect

    Half-Life 2: Episode 2

    BioShock

    Best Audio

    Call of Duty 4

    Everyday Shooter

    BioShock

    God of War II

    Mass Effect

    Best Debut

    Crackdown (Realtime Worlds)

    flOw (ThatGameCompany)

    The Witcher (CD Projekt)

    Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)

    Aquaria (Bit Blot)

    Innovation

    Rock Band

    Portal

    flOw

    Peggle

    Mass Effect

    Best Handheld Game

    Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

    The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

    Phase

    Contra 4

    Peggle (for iPod)

    Best Downloadable Game

    Pac-Man Championship Edition

    Everyday Shooter

    Peggle

    Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (XBLA version)

    Flow

    Game of the Year

    BioShock

    Call of Duty 4

    Portal

    Rock Band

    Super Mario Galaxy

SOURCE CMP Game Group