Red Dead Redemption, Enslaved, God of War lead IAA nominees

[jkipp82]

Rockstar Western leads the pack with nine nods for Interactive Achievement Awards, Namco Bandai action game and Sony's mythological trilogy capper secure six nominations each.

If it's an honor just to be nominated, no game has been honored more by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences this year than Red Dead Redemption. The AIAS announced the finalists for its 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, giving Rockstar San Diego's open-world Western shooter nominations in nine different categories--including Game of the Year--more than any other title.

Red Dead Redemption could be adding to its trophy case.

Red Dead Redemption has already been named GameSpot's 2010 Game of the Year, and was among the nominees for the Game Developers Choice Awards' top prize. It also garnered IAA nominations for a swath of categories including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, as well as Oustanding Achievement nods for animation, game direction, sound design, and more.

Rockstar San Diego's latest isn't the only game with a chance to take home a posse of IAA awards. Namco Bandai's action game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and God of War III also scored a half-dozen nominations each, with the latter title staking its own claim to the Game of the Year honor. Other nominees for the AIAS Game of the Year include Treyarch's best-selling Call of Duty: Black Ops, Bioware's sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect 2, and the breakout iPad gaming hit Angry Birds HD. (The standard version of Angry Birds for the iPhone was actually released in December 2009.)

The Interactive Achievement Awards will be presented Thursday, February 10, during a ceremony at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. A complete list of categories and nominees follows below.

Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD--Chillingo--Rovio
Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--Treyarch
God of War III--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2--Electronic Arts--Bioware
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
Limbo--Playdead--Playdead
Mass Effect 2--Electronic Arts--Bioware
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2--Electronic Arts--Digital Illusions CE
Limbo--Playdead--Playdead
Medal of Honor--Electronic Arts--Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Social Networking Game of the Year
CityVille--Zynga--Zynga
Family Feud--iWin/Backstage Technologies--iWin/Backstage Technologies
FrontierVille--Zynga--Zynga
Nightclub City--Booyah--Booyah
Ravenwood Fair--Lolapps--Lolapps

Adventure Game of the Year
Alan Wake--Microsoft Game Studios--Remedy Entertainment
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain--SCEA--Quantic Dream
Limbo--Playdead--Playdead

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 11--Electronic Arts--EA Canada
MLB 10: The Show--SCEA--SCE San Diego
NBA 2K11--2K Sports--Visual Concepts
NHL 11--Electronic Arts--EA Canada

Racing Game of the Year
Gran Turismo 5--SCEA--Polyphony Digital
ModNation Racers--SCEA--United Front Games/SCE San Diego
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit--Electronic Arts--Criterion
Split/Second--Disney Interactive Studios--Black Rock Studio

Fighting Game of the Year
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift--Aksys Games--Arc System Works
EA Sports MMA--Electronic Arts--EA Tiburon
Super Street Fighter IV--Capcom--Capcom/Dimps
UFC 2010 Undisputed--THQ--Yuke's Co.

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2--Electronic Arts--Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--Treyarch
Halo: Reach--Microsoft Game Studios--Bungie
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment

Action Game of the Year
Battlefield: Bad Company 2--Electronic Arts--Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--Treyarch
God of War III--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Halo: Reach=--Microsoft Game Studios--Bungie
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Portable Game of the Year
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies--Nintendo--Square Enix
God of War: Ghost of Sparta--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio/Ready at Dawn
Infinity Blade--Epic Games--Chair Entertainment
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future--Nintendo--Level-5
Valkyria Chronicles II--Sega--Sega

Casual Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD--Chillingo--Rovio
Bejeweled 3--PopCap Games--PopCap Games
Kinect Sports--Microsoft Game Studios--Rare
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX--Namco Bandai--Namco Bandai
Plants vs. Zombies--PopCap Games--PopCap Games

Family Game of the Year
Dance Central--Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games--Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn--Nintendo--Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4--Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment--Traveller's Tales
Rock Band 3 MTV Games Harmonix Music Systems
SingStar Dance--SCEA--SCE London Studio

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising--THQ--Relic Entertainment
Sid Meier's Civilization V--2K Games--Firaxis
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment
Supreme Commander 2--Square Enix--Gas Powered Games
Toy Soldiers--Microsoft Game Studios--Signal Studios

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--Treyarch
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
God of War III--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Alan Wake--Microsoft Game Studios--Remedy Entertainment
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
God of War III--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Kirby's Epic Yarn--Nintendo--Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Call of Duty: Black Ops--Activision--Treyarch
God of War III--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Heavy Rain--SCEA--Quantic Dream
Medal of Honor--Electronic Arts--Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Metro 2033--THQ--4A Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Dance Central--Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games--Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn--Nintendo--Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego
Super Mario Galaxy 2--Nintendo--Nintendo
Super Scribblenauts--Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment--5th Cell

Outstanding Character Performance
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Monkey--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
God of War III - Kratos--SCEA--SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2 - Male Shepard--Electronic Arts--Bioware
Red Dead Redemption - John Marston--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Tychus Findlay--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Alan Wake--Microsoft Game Studios--Remedy Entertainment
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West--Namco Bandai--Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain--SCEA--Quantic Dream
Mass Effect 2--Electronic Arts--Bioware
Metro 2033--THQ--4A Games

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies--Nintendo--Square Enix
Fable III--Microsoft Game Studios--Lionhead Studios
Fallout: New Vegas--Bethesda Softworks--Obsidian Entertainment
Mass Effect 2--Electronic Arts--Bioware
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Angry Birds HD--Chillingo--Rovio
Dance Central--Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games--Harmonix Music Systems
Heavy Rain--SCEA--Quantic Dream
Limbo--Playdead--Playdead
Red Dead Redemption--Rockstar Games--Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--Ubisoft--Ubisoft Montreal
Fable III--Microsoft Game Studios--Lionhead Studios
Heavy Rain--SCEA--Quantic Dream
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm--Blizzard Entertainment--Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack
Dance Central--Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games--Harmonix Music Systems
DJ Hero 2--Activision--FreeStyleGames
Gran Turismo 5--SCEA--Polyphony Digital
Rock Band 3--MTV Games--Harmonix Music Systems

[BahamasTJET]

It's so funny because i really thought that Red Dead was overrated i myself liked the first one for the ps2 wayyyy better than Redemption, As for enslaved i played it once and i wasn't too happy with it but different strokes for diffrent folkes.

[Paprika]

for the Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play, I would love to see Assassin's Creed take it. Honestly it was a new concept that I felt worked nicely for it style.
Like CoD been there several times,
Bad Company 2 pretty good but it isn't exactly new
Halo Meh
Starcraft didn't play so can't comment

Though I do doubt it will win, It would be a nice change from the typical FPS winning.

Though for the others Red Dead will probably clean up, God of War or Mass Effect will take art direction and visuals and original Compositions I hope goes to Fable that had a superb soundtrack (especially Reaver's Mansion)