Uncharted 2 wins 10 AIAS Awards

By Oli Welsh Published 19 February, 2010

Batman and Scribblenauts get the scraps.

Sony's Uncharted 2 dominated last night's Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Awards in Las Vegas; the PS3 exclusive went home with no less than 10 gongs.

It won the overall Game of the Year and Adventure Game of the Year, as well as awards for Game Direction, Animation, Visual Engineering, Art Direction, Story (Original), Original Music Composition, Game Play Engineering and Sound Design.

Following far behind were Batman: Arkham Asylum and Scribblenauts, which picked up three awards apiece. Batman won awards for Game Design and Story (Adapted), plus Outstanding Character Performance for Mark Hamill's Joker. Scribblenauts went home with Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Portable Game of the Year and the Portable Game Design award.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Brutal Legend picked up two awards each, while Street Fighter IV, Flower, Farmville, The Beatles: Rock Band, FIFA 10, Dragon Age: Origins and Forza Motorsport 3 won their genre categories.

AIAS awards are voted by peers in the relevant professional fields, much like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Oscars. There were a couple of nods to industry veterans, too: Activision co-founder and Pitfall! author David Crane received the Pioneer Award, Entertainment Software Association founder Douglas Lowenstein was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Crash Bandicoot creator Mark Cerny was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Here's the full list:

  • Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Casual Game of the Year: Flower
  • Fighting Game of the Year: Street Fighter IV
  • Role-playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year: Dragon Age: Origins
  • Sports Game of the Year: FIFA 10
  • Racing Game of the Year: Forza Motorsport 3
  • Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Batman: Arkham Asylum
  • Adventure Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Social Networking Game of the Year: Farmville
  • Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: Brutal Legend
  • Action Game of the Year: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  • Family Game of the Year: The Beatles: Rock Band
  • Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Scribblenauts
  • Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Story - Adapted: Batman: Arkham Asylum
  • Outstanding Character Performance: Batman: Arkham Asylum - Joker
  • Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  • Outstanding Achievement in Story - Original: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack: Brutal Legend
  • Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
  • Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design: Scribblenauts
  • Portable Game of the Year: Scribblenauts
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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Goodfella #1 2 years ago

    The best game won.

  • Emmit_Assassin #2 2 years ago

    The worst game lost.

  • M_of_the_sys #3 2 years ago

    Outstanding!

  • Shadders #4 2 years ago

    Well deserved. Naughty Dog are ridiculously awesome. :D

  • GreyBeard #5 2 years ago

    Well done Naughty Dog, a well deserved victory. Glad to see Batman:AA got some props too, my only real complaint is giving Dragon Age RPG of the year, when Demon's Souls was the true stand-out of 2009.

  • solidSnake04 #6 2 years ago

    my god !

  • ignatiusjreilly #7 2 years ago

    Slightly concerned that an unethical game like Farmville should be winning awards form the industry.

    edit: for the neg-reppers, see the following:

    [link url=h ttp://www.eurogamer.net/articles/scamville-article
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/scamvi...[/link]
    [link url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/ scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/
    ]http://te chcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamvil...[/link]
    Edited by 1 at 19/02/10 @ 11:08

  • abot #8 2 years ago

    Congrats to Naughty Dog.

    Batman might have gotten scaps but Best Design ain't to shabby. Arkham was a very good game. Well deserved.

  • liverpoolfc #9 2 years ago

    plus another 10 BAFTAS

  • Murton #10 2 years ago

    No awards for Borderlands? Looks like it really is the Dead Space of 2009, massive acclaim from fans but largely unnoticed by the industry, shame as it was probably one of the best games of last year when you look at the total package.

  • bodypopper #11 2 years ago

    UC2 should have received the Best Action Game award too. MW2's single player was cheesy as hell.
    Edited by 1 at 19/02/10 @ 09:47

  • kangarootoo #12 2 years ago

    Regards Borderlands "as it was probably one of the best games of last year when you look at the total package"

    My eyebrow is just SO raised right now.

  • berryl227 #13 2 years ago

    yep UC2 awesome made me remember why i like spending time gaming.

  • chrisno21 #14 2 years ago

    UNcharted 2 is deserving in all respects. Stunning stuff.

  • Segnit #15 2 years ago

    After EG gave it the game of the year, I just had to play it.

    The first 5 or so hours I was stunned. After that though things got repetitive and the game was far too linear for my enjoyment.

    I'm glad Batman: Arkham Aslyum got recognition. For me it was a the superior experience.

    Edit: Congrats to everyone on the list and especially to Naughty Dog for earning the most awards.
    Edited by 1 at 19/02/10 @ 10:08

  • kangarootoo #16 2 years ago

    I loved UC2, except for the final battle, which was a terrible let down (can't say more without spoilering).

  • jambo74 #17 2 years ago

    U2 was great right up to the point where those wierd enemys appeared.

  • woodnotes #18 2 years ago

    When UC2 focusses on the perfect blend of platforming and action, it's great. When it goes completely action, it sucks.

    Luckily it's 90% greatness.
    Edited by 1 at 19/02/10 @ 10:51

  • Darren #19 2 years ago

    Well UC2 was my favourite game of 2009 by miles so it's great to see it picking up 10 awards. Batman: AA was probably my second favourite of last year, so again, nice to see it getting some recognition.

  • Boomerang #20 2 years ago

    Glad Mark Hamill is receiving recognition for his role as The Joker. Truly stunning. Charming and terrifying in equal amounts.

  • Drpwnage #21 2 years ago

    Uncharted 2 was a wonderful game, final Boss fight was rubbish though but the cut scenes afterwards made up for it.

  • harrisimo #22 2 years ago

    Well deserved. UC2 actually reinvigorated my love of gaming...

  • pinebear #23 2 years ago

    Anyone else surprised to see Scribblenauts pick up three of the four awards it was nominated for?

    Winning the Innovation category I can understand, but both Portable Game Design and Portable GOTY is perhaps a little less foreseeable given its eventual review scores and general player feedback.

  • RobotRocker #24 2 years ago

    Really games industry? Really?

    No, seriously, I've played UC2. Its nice. It has a good balance of action set-pieces and platforming. Story isn't awful for copy pasting Indiana Jones with a Joss Wheldon filter (And its a shame as Amy Hennig is so much better than that). Its a perfect 8/10 game in the two hours I got with it (And those are supposedly the best bits). I just didn't see anything that makes it the second coming of adventure games.

  • kangarootoo #25 2 years ago

    @RobotRocker

    "Its a perfect 8/10 game in the two hours I got with it"

    With respect, if you've not completed a game, you can't really give it a final score. You might well be right about the 8/10 (though the difference between 8 and 9 is splitting hairs somwhat), but how would you really know for sure if you hadn't even played halfway through?

  • Stomp224 #26 2 years ago

    Wow! These awards actually made sense!! And the deserving games won them!!! :o

    I think i need to lie down and stop spamming the ! key

  • kangarootoo #27 2 years ago

    @mr_writer

    You need to calm down.

  • AC!D #28 2 years ago

    There are only two new game franchises that have blown me away this gen. In second place the Mass Effect Saga because the games are so damn addictive that i was literally playing 5 hour daily sessions which has not happened since i was a kid and in first place the Uncharted series. I always hear ppl say that their jaws dropped when they played a game and for me thats only ever happened once with Shadow of the Colossus but not since then has a game ever given me Jaw dropping OMG moments like Uncharted 2. The most beautiful and action packed game ive played this gen. There are not enough superlatives to describe Uncharted. Well done Naughty Dog because you guys truely are a class apart from all the rest and are way up on my Pedestal of elite devs along with Kojima Productions, Bioware, Sony Santa Monica and Team Ico. Well deserved!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see what the next big one God of War 3 throws at us. This generation for me has finally truely started.
    Edited by 2 at 19/02/10 @ 14:13

  • penhalion #29 2 years ago

    I love uncharted and all but, the amount of stuff it won was frankly silly. Outstanding achievement in story? Are they serious? Did they actually play the game?

    I guess this is why a lot of people don't take awards shows seriously anymore.

    Yea yea mark the comment down. Still not going to stop me being honest about stuff!

  • HarryPalmer #30 2 years ago

    @ penhalion - which game had a better story as well executed?

  • kangarootoo #31 2 years ago

    @penhalion

    I think an award related to "story" often means the wider bracket of story telling, which includes things like dialogue and voice acting. Its not just about the core plot progression.

  • RobotRocker #32 2 years ago

    Robot thats cause your a tard.

    Oooh, Fiesty. 'Scuse me whilst I laugh.

    if you just want the same crap again and again and again.

    See, I find this truly ironic when the game being defended quite brazenly nicks the best parts from Gears Of War, Resident Evil 4, Tomb Raider and even Crash Bandicoot/Jak and Daxter (I know, but self plagarism is fun to point out).

    I never said UC2 was a bad game yet it seems like I just ran over your dog. Its a fine game. I just don't get the heaps of praise over what is essentially a popcorn throwaway game.

  • HarryPalmer #33 2 years ago

    Robot - it's more the fact that you've only played 2hrs - and not even in sequence that invalidates your opinion.

  • RobotRocker #34 2 years ago

    Robot - it's more the fact that you've only played 2hrs - and not even in sequence that invalidates your opinion.

    Really? Hear that Bramwell? Cant have hands on previews any more because it invalidates Eurogamers opinion! Better cancel that E3 coverage!

    2 Hours is enough for people to get a hold of a game (And this was the Full game, I may add. I got up to around the end of the second Borneo chapter before it was knocked off). I wasn't impressed so I have no desire to play any further. I don't see the appeal. It plays nice and it looks and sounds nice but its not going to complete my life. I just don't see the appeal.

  • man.the.king #35 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    "I loved UC2, except for the final battle, which was a terrible let down"

    I agree. Although UC2 is a stellar game and a superlative experience, the final battle felt kinda out-of-place.

  • Les #36 2 years ago

    @ penhalion

    "I love uncharted and all but, the amount of stuff it won was frankly silly. Outstanding achievement in story? Are they serious? Did they actually play the game?"

    I haven't played UC2 but if the story telling is anything like that of UC, it's lightyears ahead of the competition. It might have been cheesy B-movie crap but it was expertly executed, self-conscious B-movie crap that fit the gameplay remarkably well.

  • smoothn00dle #37 2 years ago

    Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves/Demon's souls
    Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Demon's souls
    Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Demon's souls
    Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Demon's souls
    Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Demon's souls
    Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering: Demon's souls
    Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play: Demon's souls. Come on!!! Not MW2, it is just same thing again and again

  • zedzee #38 2 years ago

    Can you imagine how many units Uncharted 2 would shift if it came out on the X360?

  • freakzilla #39 2 years ago

    For the highest selling (and thus the most popular) game last year MW2 is definitely not keeping up in terms of awards.

  • gjgjg #40 2 years ago

    ass. creed 2 gets 0?!?

  • VMerken #41 2 years ago

    Deserved winner. And I'm glad that Batman: Arkham Asylum got the scraps. Pretty much the only two games released last year which made me go "wow, well done".

  • KayTannee #42 2 years ago

    @BloodKult - LoL, Had just copied and ready to paste exactly the same when saw your post.

    WTF... Brutal Legend is not Stratergy or Simulation. I feel that Brutal Legend winning that award completely makes this whole post completely irrelevant.

  • Collymilad #43 2 years ago

    I love UC2, but i see what you're getting at.

    It's amazing first play through but it's not the kind of game you look back on and think of as something really meaningful. I know this comparison has been made before but it's sort of like a popcorn action film. It's great while it lasts and polished and enjoyable, but you don't really take anything away from it.

    @semitope, really? You're a fanboy if you didn't already know.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 04:14