And Our Game Awards Nominees Are…

Love the idea or hate it but The Game Awards are coming here in a few weeks and the nominees and categories have been announced. Some of these were done yesterday via Geoff Keighley and the organization's official Twitch account. The bulk of them were released directly on The Game Awards website. A site that kind of makes things a bit difficult to get all the information you want in one quick and easy way so I've taken it upon myself to give the quick and easy way to look at all the games, developers, and performers that will be up to win whatever prize or trophy The Game Awards is offering up.

Before you dig into the long list here do know that The Game Awards nominees, and thus winners, were all selected by 28 publications from around the world. Some of them I would personally question to legitimacy and right to be on the panel but there are some really good trusted outlets there so hopefully The Game Awards won't be a big cock suck based on who knows who or someone getting paid off. With the majority not falling in those categories maybe The Game Awards has a real shot at being a true celebration as the whole group intends it to be.

I am personally happy to finally see some new categories like Best Narrative and Games For Change. The first being for who could tell the best story in a game which is something I always hold dear in my games. The latter being for who actually tried something new in video games and succeeded at it. While I don't agree with all of the nominees in the Games For Change list I do dig the new category. I just hope it won't be a "who could use a social aspect to try and seem clever" category every year. Yes, you can read that as I hope The Last Of Us: Left Behind doesn't win. Gay characters are nothing new and changing. They just should be considered part of the norm and not for shock value or to state "Look we care about the gays."

No more ranting there. I'll let you dig into the nominee list for The Game Awards so you can cheer for your favorites this coming December 5th.

Game Of The Year

  • Bayonetta 2
  • Dark Souls II
  • Dragon Age: Iquistision
  • Hearthstone
  • Shadow Of Mordor

Developer Of The Year

  • Blizzard
  • Monolith
  • Nintendo
  • Telltale
  • Ubisoft Montreal

Best Independent Game

  • Broken Age: Act I
  • Monument Valley
  • Shovel Knight
  • Transistor
  • The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter

Best Mobile/Handheld Game

  • Bravely Default
  • Hearthstone
  • Monument Valley
  • Super Smash Bros. 3DS
  • Threes!

Best Narrative

  • South Park: The Stick Of Truth
  • The Walking Dead, Season Two
  • The Wolf Among Us
  • Valiant Hearts: The Great War
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Score/Soundtrack

  • Alien: Isolation
  • Child Of Light
  • Destiny
  • Sunset Overdrive
  • Transistor

Best Performance

  • Adam Harrington As Bigby Wolf, The Wolf Among Us
  • Kevin Spacey As Jonathan Irons, Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • Melissa Hutchison As Clementine, The Walking Dead: Season Two
  • Trey Parker As Various Voices, South Park: The Stick Of Truth
  • Troy Baker As Talion, Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor

Games For Change

  • Mountain
  • Never Alone
  • The Last Of Us: Left Behind
  • This War Of Mine
  • Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Best Remaster

  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Pokemon Omega Ruby And Alpha Sapphire
  • The Last Of Us Remastered
  • The Master Chief Collection
  • Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Best Shooter

  • Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • Destiny
  • Far Cry 4
  • Titanfall
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Action/Adventure

  • Alien: Isolation
  • Assassin’s Creed Unity
  • Bayonetta 2
  • Shadow Of Mordor
  • Sunset Overdrive

Best Role Playing Game

  • Bravely Default
  • Dark Souls II
  • Divinity
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition
  • South Park: The Stick Of Truth

Best Fighting Game

  • Killer Instinct: Season Two
  • Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
  • Super Smash Bros. 3DS
  • Super Smash Bros. Wii-U
  • Ultra Street Fighter IV

Best Family Game

  • Disney Infinity 2.0
  • Fantasia: Music Evolved
  • Mario Kart 8
  • Skylanders: Trap Team
  • Tomodachi Life

Best Sports/Racing Game

  • FIFA 15
  • Forza Horizon 2
  • Mario Kart 8
  • NBA 2K15
  • Trials Fusion

Best Online Experience

  • Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  • Dark Souls II
  • Destiny
  • Hearthstone
  • Titanfall

So there are the ones that have been finalized and a winner already selected for The Game Awards. They didn't want to leave the masses out of the selection process though. The following categories are left up to us all to vote on for The Game Awards. Granted there is only one for the games directly, Most Anticipated Game, and the rest are for eSports and Gamers directly. Not really much I see being of any great value but at least we have the options.

Here are all of those categories and you can head to The Game Awards website directly to vote on them at your leisure.

Most Anticipated Game

  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
  • Evolve
  • Bloodborne

ESports Player Of The Year

  • Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag
  • Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund
  • Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson
  • James “Firebat” Kostesich
  • Xu “Fy” Linsen

ESports Team Of The Year

  • Ninjas in Pajamas
  • Evil Genuises
  • Samsung White
  • Newbee
  • Edward Gaming

Trending Gamer

  • TotalBiscuit
  • Jeff Gerstmann
  • PewDiePie
  • Evan “Vanoss” Fong
  • StampyLongHead

Best Fan Creation

  • Twitch Plays Pokemon
  • Luigi Death Stare
  • BEST Zelda Rap EVER!!
  • Minecraft – TITAN City
  • Mine the Diamond (Minecraft Song)
The Game Awards