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Game Critics E3 nominations announced

And the jury says...

"Leading members of the gaming press" have picked their nominations for the Game Critics Awards, designed to pick out the cream of this year's E3 crop. The nominations are mostly predictable, but there appear to be some fairly baffling omissions, and the lack of platform-specific categories save the PC seems odd to us.

The sports categories appear particularly American-biased, especially considering how suitably impressed Tom was with FIFA 2004, for example. Rob also just mumbled something about completely disagreeing with the RPG category and the exclusion of Crystal Chronicles, and Nintendo's presence in the entire list is worryingly light, especially on the GBA front.

Anyway, here's a fun game: see how vehemently you can disagree with the panel's decisions before the results are announced on June 10th.

Best of Show

  • Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ / Xbox)
  • Gran Turismo 4 (SCE / PS2)
  • Half-Life 2 (VU Games / PC)
  • Halo 2 (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Ubi Soft / PC, PS2, Xbox, GC)

Best Original Game

  • Boktai (Konami / Game Boy Advance)
  • Evil Genius (VU Games / PC)
  • Fable (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ / Xbox)
  • The Movies (Activision / PC)

Best PC Game

  • Call of Duty (Activision / PC)
  • Deus Ex: Invisible War (Eidos / PC, Xbox)
  • Half-Life 2 (VU Games / PC)
  • Halo (Microsoft / PC)
  • The Sims 2 (EA / PC)

Best Console Game

  • Fable (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ / Xbox)
  • Gran Turismo 4 (SCE / PS2)
  • Halo 2 (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Ubi Soft / PC, PS2, Xbox, GC)

Best Action Game

  • Call of Duty (Activision / PC)
  • Half-Life 2 (VU Games / PC)
  • Halo 2 (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Medal of Honor Rising Sun (EA / Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • Unreal Tournament 2004 (Infogrames / PC)

Best Action Adventure Game

  • Jak II (SCE / PS2)
  • Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo / Xbox)
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Ubi Soft / PC, PS2, Xbox, GC)
  • Starcraft: Ghost (VU Games / Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • Viewtiful Joe (Capcom / GC)

Best Fighting Game

  • Dead or Alive: Online (Tecmo / Xbox)
  • Onimusha Blade Warriors (Capcom / PS2)
  • Soul Calibur II (Namco / Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (Sega / PS2)

Best Role-Playing Game

  • Deus Ex: Invisible War (Eidos / PC, Xbox)
  • Fable (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Final Fantasy X-2 (Square Enix / PS2)
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts / PC, Xbox)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (Activision / PC)

Best Racing Game

  • F-Zero GX (Nintendo / GC)
  • Gran Turismo 4 (SCE / PS2)
  • Need for Speed Underground (EA / PC, Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo / GC)
  • Project Gotham Racing 2 (Microsoft / Xbox)

Best Simulation Game

  • Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight (Microsoft / PC)
  • Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ / Xbox)
  • Secret Weapons Over Normandy (LucasArts / PC, Xbox, PS2)
  • The Sims 2 (EA / PC)
  • The Movies (Activision / PC)

Best Sports Game

  • Amped 2 (Microsoft / Xbox)
  • Madden NFL 2004 (EA / PC, Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • NFL 2K4 (Sega / Xbox, PS2)
  • SSX 3 (EA / Xbox, PS2, GC)
  • Tony Hawk's Underground (Activision / Xbox, PS2, GC)

Best Strategy Game

  • Evil Genius (VU Games / PC)
  • Homeworld 2 (VU Games / PC)
  • Pikmin 2 (Nintendo / GC)
  • Rise of Nations (Microsoft / PC)
  • Rome: Total War (Activision / PC)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game

  • The EyeToy Games (SCEE / PS2)
  • Karaoke Revolution (Konami / PS2)
  • Mario Party 5 (Nintendo / GC)
  • Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Nintendo / GC)
  • Xbox Music Mixer (Microsoft / Xbox)

Best Online Multiplayer Game

  • City of Heroes (NCsoft / PC)
  • EverQuest II (Sony Online / PC)
  • Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix / PC, PS2)
  • Mythica (Microsoft / PC)
  • Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (LucasArts / PC)
  • World of Warcraft (VU Games / PC)

Best Peripheral / Hardware

  • Driving Force Pro (Logitech / PS2)
  • EyeToy (Sony Computer Entertainment / PS2)
  • GeForce FX 5900 (Nvidia / PC)
  • Helix Gaming Device (Tapwave)
  • Radeon 9800 (ATI / PC)