The movie industry has the Oscars, music has the GRAMMYs,
journalism has the Pulitzers, and now the gaming industry has the
Gaming Globes!
EuroGamer is proud to unveil the first Gaming Globe awards,
recognising excellence in a range of different fields within PC
game development, from sound and visual effects, to storyline and
overall game design.
Over the past week well over 1,000 gamers from around the world
have voted for the Gaming Globe awards, picking from five nominees
in each of the fifteen categories. And now it's time to announce
the winners, as well as presenting our own staff picks in each of
the categories. We also have
acceptance speeches from some of the companies that picked up
awards this year.
Best Game
The nominees for the Best Game of 1999 were -
Asheron's Call
Outcast
Quake 3 Arena
System Shock II
Unreal Tournament
And the winner is...
Asheron's Call!
Asheron's Call is a highly addictive massively multiplayer role
playing game, featuring a huge dynamic game world to explore, an
on-going storyline to keep you hooked, and some of the best
graphics seen in a 3D RPG to date.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for Best Game of 1999 is .. Unreal
Tournament. This multiplayer first person shooter from Epic
Games has proven to be a firm favourite with the EuroGamer staff,
with a range of innovative game modes, maps and weaponry.
Designer
The nominees for the Best Designer category were -
Bruce Shelley (Age of Empires II)
Toby Ragaini (Asheron's Call)
Franck Sauer, Yann Robert, Yves Grolet (Outcast)
Chris Avellone (Planescape Torment)
Cliff Bleszinski (Unreal Tournament)
And the winner is...
Chris Avellone for Planescape Torment!
Planescape Torment took a darker, more adult approach to the
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons system, with an unusual setting, an
involving storyline, and a range of bizarre characters. A welcome
breath of fresh air for the traditional RPG genre.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Designer category is .. Cliff
Bleszinski for Unreal Tournament.
Male Lead Character
The nominees for the Best Male Lead Character category were -
Marcellus Faust (Faust)
Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
Indiana Jones (The Infernal Machine)
Cutter Slade (Outcast)
The Nameless One (Planescape Torment)
And the winner is...
The Nameless One from Planescape Torment!
An amnesiac immortal covered in scars might not be the most obvious
choice for a hero, but The Nameless One stood out as one of the
most original and involving lead characters of the year.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Male Lead Character category is ..
Cutter Slade from Outcast. A sarcastic special forces
officer who finds himself alone on an alien world surrounded by
people who believe he is their messiah, Cutter was an instant
favourite amongst the EuroGamer staff.
Female Lead Character
The nominees for the Best Female Lead Character category were -
Lara Croft (Tomb Raider 4)
Claire Redfield (Resident Evil 2)
April Ryan (The Longest Journey)
D'arci Stern (Urban Chaos)
Eleyna (Wheel of Time)
And the winner is...
Lara Croft from Tomb Raider : The Last Revelation!
Love her or loathe her, you can't ignore her - Lara is everywhere
these days. Some would argue that her biggest asset is her sizeable
bust, and that more effort went into shaping her buttocks than her
character, but Lara picked up both the people's choice and staff
pick awards for her starring role in the latest Tomb Raider.
Male Supporting Character
The nominees for the Best Male Supporting Character category
were -
Horny (Dungeon Keeper 2)Mephistopheles (Faust)David Bowie (Omikron : Nomad Soul)Anthony Xue (Outcast)Morte (Planescape Torment)
And the winner is...
Morte from Planescape Torment!
Planescape Torment picks up another award, this time for the
abusive floating skull known as Morte who is the first of the
Nameless One's companions to join him in the game.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Male Supporting Character
category is .. Mephistopheles from Faust. A suave and
sophisticated demon, Mephisto offers seven people living in the
Dreamlands amusement park a range of temptations .. in exchange
for their souls.
Female Supporting Character
The nominees for the Best Female Supporting Character category
were -
Mistress (Dungeon Keeper 2)Rinoa Heartily (Final Fantasy VIII)Svetlana Lupescu (Nocturne)Marion Wolfe (Outcast)Annah (Planescape Torment)
And the winner is...
Annah from Planescape Torment!
A streetwise young tiefling woman with a twitching tail and a
sharp tongue, Annah is one of only two major female characters
in Planescape Torment, but also one of the game's most
interesting supporting characters.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Female Supporting Character
category is .. Rinoa Heartily from Final Fantasy VIII. A
beautiful and free-spirited young woman who becomes involved
with trainee mercenary Squall Leonhart.
Art Direction
The nominees for the Best Art Direction category were -
Age of Empires IIOutcastPlanescape TormentQuake 3 ArenaUnreal Tournament
And the winner is...
Planescape Torment!
The gritty, grimy, and at times grisly settings for Planescape
Torment were beautifully designed and rendered, as well as
being highly imaginative, ranging from the chaotic city sprawl
of Sigil to the pits of hell itself.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Art Direction category is ..
Outcast. One of the few games released last year to
feature a voxel graphics engine, it took full advantage of it
to produce a vast and beautiful alien world, with deserts,
towns, temples and forests.
Cinematography
The nominees for the Best Cinematography category were -
FaustFinal Fantasy VIIINocturneOutcastPlanescape Torment
And the winner is...
Final Fantasy VIII!
It's perhaps no surprise that Final Fantasy VIII's gorgeous
computer rendered cutscenes picked up both the public choice
and staff pick awards.
Character Design
The nominees for the Best Character Design category were -
NocturneOutcastPlanescape TormentQuake 3 ArenaUnreal Tournament
And the winner is...
Planescape Torment!
After picking up three of the four best character categories,
it's perhaps no surprise that Planescape Torment also got Best
Character Design. The game featured a wide range of interesting
and beautifully drawn and animated characters.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Character Design category is ..
Quake 3 Arena. Quake 3 sported dozens of interesting and
intricately detailed player models with a range of beautiful
high resolution skins, from hoverboarding punks to eyeballs
with legs.
Visual Effects
The nominees for the Best Visual Effects category were -
Freespace 2NocturneOutcastQuake 3 ArenaUnreal Tournament
And the winner is...
Quake 3 Arena!
In a not entirely unexpected result, Quake 3 Arena won the
visual effects category, thanks to its advanced 3D accelerated
engine, curved surfaces, and an array of over-the-top weapons
effects, as well as the most spectacular gibs yet seen in a
game.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Visual Effects category is ..
Outcast. The mix of voxel landscapes and polygonal
characters allowed for some beautifully detailed settings and
spectacular explosions, and the full-screen anti-aliasing and
depth of focus effects made it all look smooth and cinematic,
without needing a $600 graphics card to make it work!
Original Score
The nominees for the Best Original Score category were -
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy VIII)Paul Ruskay and Roger Savoie (Homeworld)David Bowie (Omikron : Nomad Soul)Lennie Moore (Outcast)Mark Morgan (Planescape Torment)
And the winner is...
Homeworld!
The eerie and atmospheric music of Homeworld made up for the
total lack of atmosphere in the rest of the game (it was set in
space). [You're fired - Pun Editor]. Seriously though, the
music was great and fitted the game perfectly.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Original Score category is ..
Lennie Moore for Outcast. The music from Outcast is
amongst the best to ever feature in a computer game, and was
performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
Sound
The nominees for the Best Sound category were -
David Levison (The Infernal Machine)Kyle Richards (Nocturne)Franck Sauer (Outcast)Tim Haywood (Shadow Man)Epic and Digital Extreme (Unreal Tournament)
And the winner is...
Unreal Tournament!
With its deep chunky weapon sounds, rumbling explosions, and a
constant flood of taunts and commentary, Unreal Tournament put
your subwoofers to good use and was the clear winner in this
category.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Sound category is .. Tim
Haywood for ShadowMan. The game might have been something
of a disappointment in many ways, but ShadowMan's sound effects
and ambient melodies certainly helped reinforce the game's
eerie atmosphere.
Adapted Storyline
The nominees for the Best Adapted Storyline category were -
Stephen Carriere, Beryl Chanteux and Hubert Chardot
(Faust)Hal Barwood (The Infernal Machine)Chris Avellone (Planescape Torment)Guy Miller and Simon Phipps (Shadow Man)Glen Dahlgren (Wheel of Time)
And the winner is...
Chris Avellone for Planescape Torment!
Set in the bizarre AD&D world of the Planescape, last
year's hit RPG featured an involving plot featuring an immortal
amnesiac trying to rediscover his past and his identity.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Adapted Storyline category is ..
Hal Barwood for Indiana Jones and The Infernal Machine.
We've always had a soft spot for Indiana Jones here at
EuroGamer, and his latest PC adventure wasn't a disappointment,
with Indy searching for an ancient artifact against the
backdrop of the Cold War.
Original Storyline
The nominees for the Best Original Storyline category were -
Kazushige Nojima (Final Fantasy VIII)Jason Scott and Mike Breault (Freespace 2)Dave Williams and Marcus Skyler (Homeworld)Franck Sauer, Yann Robert, and Yves Grolet (Outcast)Tom Clancy (Rogue Spear)
And the winner is...
Dave Williams and Marcus Skyler for Homeworld!
Alright, so the plot of Homeworld bore more than a passing
resemblance to cult 80s TV series Battlestar Galactica, but the
storyline about your base ship searching for the birthplace of
your species after your home planet is obliterated was
gripping, and kept you guessing as to what you would discover
next.
Staff Pick
EuroGamer's pick for the Best Original Storyline category is ..
Franck Sauer, Yann Robert, and Yves Grolet for Outcast.
Featuring secret military experiments, an alien culture, black
holes, and time dilation, Outcast's story was a firm favourite
with the EuroGamer staff.
Best Foreign Language Game
And last and not least, the nominees for the Best Foreign
Language Game category were -
Earth 2150Final Fantasy VIIIOdium (aka Gorky 17)The Longest JourneyX : Beyond The Frontier
And the winner is...
Final Fantasy VIII
The process of porting the game from the Playstation to the PC
and translating its seemingly endless dialogue from Japanese to
English might not have gone as well as it could have done, but
the latest entry in the mighty Final Fantasy franchise was a
sure-fire favourite, picking up both the public choice and
staff pick awards in this category.
Summary
The biggest winner of the night was undoubtedly Planescape
Torment. It had been nominated in nine of the fifteen
categories, and at the end of the week it won seven Gaming
Globe awards!
Meanwhile Outcast dominated the staff pick awards, taking five
of them including Best Visual Effects and Best Original
Storyline. Here at EuroGamer we feel that the game's relatively
poor showing in the public voting was probably mostly due to
the game being rather less well known than the other nominees,
which is a shame because it truly is an excellent game.
Other success stories included Homeworld (which won both of the
Gaming Globes it had been nominated for), Final Fantasy VIII
(which took two Gaming Globes and three staff picks), and
Unreal Tournament (which won Best Sound and a pair of staff
picks).
The inaugural Gaming Globes have been a big success, and we'd
like to thank everybody who took part in them or supported
them. We are always looking for suggestions as to what we can
do better next year though, so if you have an opinion why not
head over to our
forums and let us know?
Nominees List
Here's a full list of all the games that were nominated for
Gaming Globe awards this year, with details of their developers
and publishers -
Age of Empires II
Ensemble
and
Microsoft
Asheron's Call
Turbine
and
Microsoft
Dungeon Keeper 2
Bullfrog
and EA
Earth 2150
Topware
Faust
Arxel Tribe
and
Cryo
Final Fantasy VIII
SquareSoft
and Eidos
Freespace 2
Volition
and
Interplay
Homeworld
Relic and
Sierra
Indiana Jones
Lucas
Arts
Longest Journey
Funcom
Nocturne
Terminal
Reality and
GOD
Odium
Metropolis
and
Topware
Omikron : Nomad Soul
Quantic
Dream and
Eidos
Outcast
Appeal and
Infogrames
Planescape Torment
Black
Isle and
Interplay
Quake 3 Arena
id
Software and
Activision
Resident Evil 2
Capcom and
Eidos
Rogue Spear
Red Storm
Shadow Man
Acclaim
System Shock 2
Looking
Glass and
EA
Tomb Raider : TLR
Core
Design and
Eidos
Unreal Tournament
Epic and
GT
Interactive
Urban Chaos
Mucky
Foot and
Eidos
X : Beyond The Frontier
EgoSoft
and THQ
Wheel of Time
Legend
and GT
Interactive
Black Isle Studios - Planescape Torment
On behalf of the entire Torment Team, we sincerely thank all of
you gamers who've voted for us and played Planescape: Torment.
We are extremely honored to be nominated for the EuroGamer
Gaming Globe Awards, let alone be selected to win them. The
games that we were nominated with are fantastic games in their
own right, and each just as deserving, if not more so.
Lastly, I'd like to say that this game wouldn't have been
possible without each and every person on Team Torment: Chris
Avellone, Steve Bokkes, Eric Campanella, John Deiley, Jake
Devore, Tim Donley, Scott Everts, Yuki Furumi, Jim Gardner,
Adam Heine, Guido Henkel, Dave Hendee, Robert Holloway, Derek
Johnson, Chris Jones, Nick Kesting, Dave Maldonado, Colin
McComb, Brian Menze, Aaron Meyers, Kihan Pak, Gary Platner,
Dennis Presnell, Dan Spitzley, Jason Suinn, Scott Warner, and
Feargus Urquhart, our tireless Division Director. Then there's
the great QA Teams that helped us immensely, kick-ass Audio
team, Video, and PR.
It was a blast making the game.
Thanks to EuroGamer and everyone who's played the game!
Kenneth Lee
Producer, Planescape: Torment
Black Isle Studios
Turbine Entertainment Software - Asheron's Call
All of us at Turbine are delighted that the Gaming Globe Awards
have recognized Asheron's Call as the Best Game of 1999. We
couldn't imagine a more powerful endorsement than the votes of
individual gamers.
Just as the Gaming Globes recognize the influence of gamers,
Turbine is committed to letting players participate in the
ongoing world of Dereth, as in the latest episode of AC's
evolving saga, "Thorns of the Hopeslayer".
Thanks to all of our supporters. We couldn't have done it with
you.
Toby Ragaini
Design Director
Turbine Entertainment Software
Related Features
Gaming
Globe nomineesAge
of Empires II reviewAsheron's
Call review (first look)
Dereth
Diary
Earth 2150 previewFaust
reviewFinal
Fantasy VIII review
Freespace 2 review
Homeworld reviewIndiana
Jones and the Infernal Machine reviewNocturne
reviewOdium
review
Omikron : Nomad Soul reviewOutcast
reviewPlanescape
Torment reviewQuake
3 Arena review
Rogue Spear review
Shadow Man reviewUnreal
Tournament reviewUrban
Chaos reviewX :
Beyond The Frontier review
-- John "Gestalt" Bye