|
|
GamingExcellence Best of E3 2006: Special Awards
We take a look at the top titles of this years' E3 expo.
June 2, 2006 - Our special awards are for a variety of show-specific and non-typical gaming categories.
Best Booth
 Nokia N-Gage
This award goes to the best booth at the show, usually battled out between the big giants. This year, Noka’s N-Gage booth took the win hand’s down – our publication doesn’t even actively cover the platform and yet we were convinced by a trifecta of babes to take a look around. Nokia also did an outstanding job on the use of space, leaving a lot of room to mingle and walk around. Honorable mentions to SOE for their themed booth, as well as Ubisoft for their outstanding theater presentations. Finally, a nod to Nintendo, who easily had the longest lines and a good use of color.
Other Nominees:
.Sony Online Entertainment
.Ubisoft
.Nintendo
Best ‘Tucked Away’ Booth
Buka Entertainment
This award is given to the best booth tucked away into the shadows of E3, the most creative use of space, friendly atmosphere, and use of colour and lighting. Buka Entertainment’s booth in Kentia hall proved to be just that, bright orange and visible from a distance, a pair of meeting rooms, and a demo station for all to take a look at. Honourable mentions go to CD Projekt’s “The Witcher” booth, which hands-down wins the “best couch” award. CCP Games upstairs lounge and DreamCatcher’s “amazingly quiet in the South Hall” booth were also award-worthy.
Other Nominees:
.CD Projekt (The Witcher)
.DreamCatcher/The Adventure Company
.CCP Games (Eve Online)
Best Eye Candy
The Girls of EverQuest and Dark Kingdom
This is a very special award that goes out to the ‘element’ of the show that we most enjoyed watching – it was a tough call this year. Sony Online Entertainment’s girls of EverQuest and Dark Kingdom take the win, although any of the nominees for the category could have walked away with it (and with the closeup’s in Tecmo’s Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 in high-definition, it was hard to pass that up!)
Other Nominees:
.Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
.Tecmo’s Babes
.PlayLogic’s Babes
.The Girls of N-Gage
.Nintendo’s ‘Well Dressed’ Clan
Best Trailer
Assassin's Creed
Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
What gets you more excited about a game more then an all new trailer, especially if it’s how they announce a games' existence? In this case, all of these trailers were phenomenal, but Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed was mind-blowingly gorgeous and a step above the rest. Kudos to Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4, which was a clear runner up in this category.
Other Nominees:
.Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie)
.Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami, Kojima Productions)
.The Guild 2 (Aspyr, 4 Head Studios)
.Call of Duty 3 (Activision)
.Eight Days (SCEA)
Sleeper Hit
Aggression: Europe 1914 (PC)
Buka Entertainment, Lesta Studio
Often, it’s the games we’re not all that familiar with that surprise us the most. This award is given to the game that isn’t a widely known, but one that has a lot of potential. All of the games nominated for this award are worthly of the title, however Buka’s Aggression: Europe 1914 came out of left field, and turned out to be one of the best games at the show.
Other Nominees:
.El Matador (PC) (Cenega, Red Mile Entertainment)
.The Guild 2 (PC) (Aspyr, 4 Head Studios)
.ANNO 1701 (PC) (Sunflowers)
Best Expansion
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
Blizzard Entertainment
Expansions were a surprisingly large part of this years E3, with releases for some of the largest gaming franchises ever produced. Our clear winner, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, is certainly no slouch here, our own Jason Murphy described it as a MMOLCG – that is, massively multiplayer online life controlling game. The upcoming to Buka’s Pacific Storm finished a close second in this category.
Other Nominees:
.Pacific Storm: Allies (PC) (Buka Entertainment, Lesta Studio)
.Civilization IV: Warlords (PC) (2K Games, Firaxis)
.EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer (PC)
.Guild Wars: Factions (PC)
Biggest WTF at the Show
Paris Hilton's Jewel Jam ( Mobile)
Gameloft
This category is for the rest of bizarre finds at the show, this years winner is Paris Hilton’s Jewel Jam – or is it Diamond Quest?. Well, if she doesn’t know the name then it’s probably not important. The second game, WTF (work time fun), we’ll it’s definitely not a bad game, but when we’ve got a category "biggest WTF" and they put a game out by that name, it’s hard NOT to nominate it. Finally, we’ve got Desparate Housewives: The Game. Four words – what are they thinking?
Other Nominees:
.WTF (PSP) (D3 Publisher, SCEI)
.Desperate Housewives: The Game (PC) ( Buena Vista Games, Liquid Entertainment)
|
|
|
