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The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Simon Brew
Shouldn't consideration for an award from such a supposedly prestigious body at the very least demand that the nominee's product is, well, finished?
Want a BAFTA Video Game award? It turns out your game doesn't even need to be finished to get a nomination! Full winners and nominees here.
Published on Oct 24, 2007
Firstly, there’s the usual contention when any awards are announced, that so-and-so should have beaten whatsitsface. That clearly applies here: the admittedly grand Crackdown beating both Zelda and The Orange Box for the Action and Adventure award and Wii Sports taking the Strategy and Simulation prize over World In Conflict.
But staggeringly, there are games that were nominated for awards that ARE NOT EVEN OUT YET. That AREN’T FINISHED. And yet they’re up for prizes that aim to “reward the individuals behind the very best in artistic, creative and technical innovation in video games”.
Is this really what BAFTA wants to be associated with? Nominating incomplete products for its so-called prestigious awards? What next? Giving a BAFTA film award to the drawings that thus far make up all of Toy Story 3?
In fact, let’s go the whole hog and decide next year’s awards now, based on what we think will be out! It’s genius! I reckon the next Scorsese movie will be rollicking: let’s give him a BAFTA now and save him the trouble of, well, finishing it.
Of course, you may think that this is an over-reaction on my part. Well, tell me the shop that I can walk into and buy any of these:
Crysis (current ETA: November)
Ratchet and Clank: Tools Of Destruction (November)
Singstar PS3 (November again)
Eye of Judgement (late October)
The Simpsons Game (yep, back to November)
Lair (November)
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (that’ll be November)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (December)
Find all of them, and I’ll take back my words. Or at the very least, give me some clue to the actual judging criteria: is it that games that look good in magazine previews get nominated? Is that what a BAFTA Award stands for these days?
Looking on the BAFTA website, and eligibility for these awards – given out in October, remember – is open to titles released between 6 October 2006 and 31 December 2007.
Why?
It specifically says that “currently uncompleted games” can be entered, “so long as they will be released in the UK by 31 December 2007”. See? It even seems to work on the honour system!
Does anyone else think this is a shambles of a decision from a body that’s supposed to reward excellence? Shouldn’t consideration for an award from such a supposedly prestigious body at the very least demand that the nominee's product is, well, finished?
But it actually gets worse. The nominations were actually announced on 25th September (must have been asleep that day), and the judging criteria is in two stages: a vote of BAFTA members, and a jury then selects the winners. Let’s be generous and say that process takes a month: this then throws doubt on the likes of October releases such as The Orange Box, Sega Rally, FIFA 08, Football Manager 2008 and Skate too, surely? [UPDATE: We've since discovered that the entry deadline was 12th July! 12TH JULY!]
Judging was thus done the basis of games that could have been – and let’s be generous here, and say that it took place from the end of August – four months from completion. That’s outrageous, and colours the whole exercise utterly worthless to the end consumer, making BAFTA look like a lapdog to big software publishers in the process. After all, what’s the point of getting a BAFTA nomination next year, when your game’s marketing might not be so dependent on it? Best let them have the unfinished code now, and they can judge it on the basis of that.
The shame, of course, is that some really good games won awards. We’re big fans of Crackdown, for instance, along with the likes of Bioshock, God of War 2, Zelda and Guitar Hero II. Fortunately, these games don’t need a hollow award to beat their drum. It’s a good job, too.
What’s shocking here is that it’s BAFTA. We’re supposed to look up to BAFTA, to have at least some respect for their opinions and see them as some sort of chartermark of quality.
Right now? They’re making the ITV National Movie Awards seem credible and prestigious.
The full list of winners and nominees is as follows [winners in bold]
Action and Adventure
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Rod Fergusson, Michael Capps, Cliff Bleszinski
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios
God of War 2 (PS2)
Cory Barlog, Michael Cheng, Eric Williams
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
The Orange Box (PS3)
Development Team
Valve/Electronic Arts
Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Development Team
SCE Foster City Studio & Insomniac/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Artistic Achievement
Bioshock (Xbox 360)
Development Team
2K Boston/2K Australia/2K Games
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Development Team
Ninja Theory/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Okami (PS2)
Atsushi Inaba
Clover(Capcom)/Capcom
Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Development Team
SCE Foster City Studio & Insomniac/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Skate (PS3)
Development Team
EA Black Box/Electronic Arts
Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)
Ryan Stevenson, Ed Bryan
Rare/Microsoft Game Studios
Best Game
Bioshock (Xbox 360)
Development Team
2K Boston/2K Australia/2K Games
Crysis (PC)
Development Team
Crytek/Electronic Arts
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Rod Fergusson, Michael Capps, Cliff Bleszinski
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Development Team
Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)
Development Team
IO Interactive/Eidos
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Casual
Big Brain Academy for Wii (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Cake Mania (DS)
Development Team
Digital Embryo/Sandlot Games/Majesco
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Development Team
Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane
More Brain Training (DS)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
SingStar (PS3)
Development Team
SCE London Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Gameplay
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Cliff Bleszinski, Ray Davis, Lee Perry
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios
Sega Rally (PS3)
Development Team
SEGA Racing Studio/SEGA
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Warhawk (PS3)
Dylan Jobe, Bruce Woodard, Brian Upton
Incognito/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Innovation
fl0w (PSN)
Jenova Chen, Nicholas Clark, Austin Wintory
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Thatgamecompany/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Okami (PS2)
Atsushi Inaba
Clover(Capcom)/Capcom
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Development Team
Intelligent Systems/Nintendo
The Eye of Judgment (PS3)
Kazuhito Miyaki, Yusuke Watanabe
SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
Development Team
Atlus USA/Nintendo
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Multiplayer
Battlefield 2142 (PC)
Development Team
EA Dice/Electronic Arts
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Development Team
Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
World in Conflict (PC)
Development Team
Massive Entertainment/Sierra Entertainment/Vivendi Games
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Original Score
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Hitoshi Sakimoto, Nobuo Uematsu
Final Fantasy XII Project Team/Square Enix
God of War 2 (PS2)
Clint Bajakian, Jonathan Mayer, Chuck Doud
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Lair (PS3)
John Debney, Ryan Hamlyn, Clint Bajakian
SCE Foster City Studio & Factor 5/Sony Computer Entertainment America
Okami (PS2)
Atsushi Inaba
Clover (Capcom)/Capcom
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)
Grant Kirkhope
Rare/Microsoft Game Studio
Sports
Colin McRae: DiRT (Xbox 360)
Gavin Raeburn, Matt Horsman, Alex Grimbley
Codemasters/Codemasters
FIFA 08 (PS3)
Development Team
EA Chicago/Electronic Arts
Football Manager 2008 (PC)
Development Team
Sports Interactive/SEGA
MotorStorm (PS3)
Mick Hocking, Martin Kenwright, Pete Smith
SCE External Development Studio & Evolution/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Sumo Digital/SEGA
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
Strategy and Simulation
Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Electronic Arts LA/Electronic Arts
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Turn 10/Microsoft Game Studios
Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms (PC)
Development Team
The Creative Assembly/SEGA
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360)
Chadi Lebbos, Alexandre Parizeau, Maxime Beland
Ubisoft Studios (Montreal)/Ubisoft Entertainment
Wii Sports (Wii)
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo
World in Conflict (PC)
Development Team
Massive Entertainment/Sierra Entertainment
Story and Character
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Development Team
Final Fantasy XII Project Team/Square Enix
God of War 2 (PS2)
Cory Barlog, David Jaffe, Marianne Krawczyk
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Development Team
Ninja Theory/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Okami (PS2)
Atsushi Inaba
Clover (Capcom)/Capcom
The Darkness (Xbox 360)
Denby Grace, Lars Johansson, Jerk Gustafsson
Starbreeze Studios/2K
The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360)
Matt Selman, Scot Amos
EA/Gracie Films/Electronic Arts
Technical Achievement
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Realtime Worlds/ Microsoft Game Studios
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Tim Sweeney, Ray Davis, Daniel Vogel
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studio
God of War 2 (PS2)
Tim Moss, Christer Ericson
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
MotorStorm (PS3)
Scott Kirkland, Martin Kenwright, Pete Smith
SCE External Development Studio/Evolution/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Okami (PS2)
Atsushi Inaba
Clover(Capcom)/Capcom
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
Development Team
Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Use of Audio
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Development Team
Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios
Elite Beat Agents (DS)
Development Team
iNiS/Nintendo
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Mike Larson, Lee Perry, Desmond Rogers
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios
God of War 2 (PS2)
Dave Murrant, Philip Kovats, Chuck Russom
SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Development Team
Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane
Skate (PS3)
Development Team
EA Black Box/Electronic Arts
BAFTA One’s To Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital
Ragnarawk
Voodoo Boogy (Malcolm Brown, Robert Clarke, Peter Carr, Lynne Robertson, Finlay Sutton)
ClimbActic
Carebox (Jack Potter, Alan Campbell, Benjamin Rollinson, Zarek Cohen, Duncan Harrison)
Bear Go Home
Phoenix Seed (Fengming Bao, Xi Deng, Yi Li, Guangyao Wang, Christopher Isaacs)
The PC World Gamers’ Award
(The only award to be voted for by the public)
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (DS)
Nintendo/Nintendo
FIFA 07 (PS2)
EA Canada/Electronic Arts
Football Manager 2007 (PC)
Sports Interactive/SEGA
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Epic Games/Microsoft
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)
Rockstar Leeds/Take Two
Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
Insomniac/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Wii Play (Wii)
Nintendo/Nintendo
Leave your thoughts in the comments field. Don't worry. We've got plenty of server space to hold any rants.
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Users Comments
Re: The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Posted By simonbrew 1 October 24, 2007 09:18:50 AM
"Did you threaten to overrule him?"
Re: The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Posted By picknmix 1 October 24, 2007 10:07:51 AM
Award ceremonies - more self congratulatory garbage...if you want an opinion...what next a BAFTA for the best avoiding of a straight question by a politician? And the nominations are...
Re: The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Posted By RonHogan 1 October 24, 2007 01:02:18 PM
And the winner is... something no one's played! Yay?
Re: The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Posted By Kempas 1 October 25, 2007 05:50:27 PM
Atrocious. Simply Atrocious state of affairs.
Re: The shambles of the BAFTA video games awards
Posted By kimkaze 1 October 28, 2007 08:54:36 PM
Heh. Nobody cares about the BAFTAS, it's the people who vote for all but one of the Golden Joysticks every year and that's why we care about them. I am shocked that unfinished games can somehow be graded since even late in the day, major changes can and do take place (like whole levels being removed, finishing moves taken out, etc.).
Good games will always shine through thank goodness, thanks to the many, quality games review sites (cheap plug - DenOfWii.com!!!) out there which give gamers a fairly safe idea of what they're getting into before they hand over those hard earnt greenies (or if you're really jammy, Daddy's greenies).
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Post a Comment
Crysis. unfinished, but feck it, give it a BAFTA nomination anyway!
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