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The Game Developers Conference has annually hosted the 'Game Developers Choice Awards' presented by the International Game Developers Association for outstanding developers of video game entertainment since 2001. Prior to the GDC awards, the Game Developers Conference hosted another award ceremony called the Spotlight Awards from 1997 to 1999.

Contents

Nomination & Voting Process

List of winners

Game of the Year / Best Game

Character Design

Rookie (New) Studio of the Year

Excellence in Audio

Excellence in Game Design

Technology

Excellence in Visual Arts

Excellence in Writing

Game Innovation Spotlights

Lifetime Achievement Award

The First Penguin Award

Maverick Award

IGDA Award For Community Contribution

Retired Awards

Excellence in Level Design

Excellence in Programming

Original Game Character of the Year

External links

Nomination & Voting Process

The Choice Awards are nominated and chosen by members of the IGDA with a few exceptions. The nomination process invites all members in good standing with the IGDA to submit nominations for each category. With these suggestions, an advisory board selected by the IGDA picks five finalists in each category. The final award recipient is voted based on these five by all IGDA members for each category.
The Lifetime Achievement, First Penguin, Maverick, and First Penguin awards, are awarded by the Advisory board.

List of winners

Game of the Year / Best Game

The Best Game award recognized the overall best - as interpreted by developers - game released during the calendar year.
:2007 : ''Gears of War''
:2006 : ''Shadow of the Colossus''
:2005 : ''Half-Life 2''
:2004 : ''
:2003 : ''Metroid Prime''
:2002 : ''Grand Theft Auto III''
:2001 : ''The Sims''

Character Design

The Character Design award recognizes the overall excellence of non-licensed character design in a game - including but not limited to, originality, character arc, emotional depth, etc.
:2007 : ''Okami''
:2006 : ''Shadow of the Colossus''
:2005 : ''Half-Life 2''

Rookie (New) Studio of the Year

The New Studio award recognizes the outstanding achievement of a 'new' game development studio and the obstacles it overcame in releasing its first publicly available game in the calendar year.
:2007 : Iron Lore Entertainment (for ''Titan Quest'')
:2006 : Double Fine Productions (for ''Psychonauts'')
:2005 : Crytek (for ''Far Cry'')
:2004 : Infinity Ward (for ''Call of Duty'')
:2003 : Retro Studios (for ''Metroid Prime'')
:2002 : Bohemia Interactive Studio (for '')
:2001 : Counter-Strike (for ''Counter-Strike'')

Excellence in Audio

The Audio award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game - including, but not limited to, sound effects, musical composition, sound design, orchestration, etc.
:2007 : ''Guitar Hero 2''
:2006 : ''Guitar Hero''
:2005 : ''Halo 2''
:2004 : ''Call of Duty''
:2003 : ''
:2002 : ''
:2001 : ''Diablo II''

Excellence in Game Design

The Game Design award recognizes the overall excellence of design in a game - including, but not limited to, gameplay, mechanics, puzzles, play balancing, scenarios, etc.
:2007 : ''Wii Sports''
:2006 : ''Shadow of the Colossus''
:2005 : ''Katamari Damacy''
:2004 : ''
:2003 : ''Battlefield 1942''
:2002 : ''Grand Theft Auto III''
:2001 : ''Deus Ex''

Technology

The Technology award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in a game - including, but not limited to, graphics programming, artificial intelligence, networking, physics, etc.
:2007 : ''Gears of War''
:2006 : ''Nintendogs''
:2005 : ''Half-Life 2''

Excellence in Visual Arts

The Visual Arts award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in a game - including, but not limited to, animation, modeling, art direction, textures, etc.
:2007 : ''Gears of War''
:2006 : ''Shadow of the Colossus''
:2005 : ''World of Warcraft''
:2004 : ''
:2003 : ''Kingdom Hearts''
:2002 : ''ICO''
:2001 : ''Jet Grind Radio''

Excellence in Writing

The Writing award recognizes the overall excellence of writing in a game - including, but not limited to, story, plot construction, dialogue, branching narratives, etc.
:2007 : ''
:2006 : ''Psychonauts''
:2005 : ''Half-Life 2''
:2004 : ''
:2003 : ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell''

Game Innovation Spotlights

The Innovation awards recognize games that demonstrate true innovation, advance the state of the art, and push the boundaries of games as an expressive medium. In essence, these are the games that are leading the way as the medium continues to evolve. Up to three innovation awards may be bestowed on games that contain such outstanding contributions.
:2007 : ''Line Rider''; ''Okami''; ''Wii Sports''
:2006 : ''Nintendogs''; ''Guitar Hero''
:2005 : ''Donkey Konga''; ''I Love Bees''; ''Katamari Damacy''
:2004 : ''; ''Viewtiful Joe''; ''WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$''
:2003 : ''Animal Crossing''; ''Battlefield 1942''; ''; ''The Thing''
:2002 : ''Black and White''; ''Grand Theft Auto III''; ''ICO''; ''Majestic''; ''Rez''
:2001 : ''Counter-Strike''; ''Crazy Taxi''; ''Deus Ex''; ''Jet Grind Radio''; ''No One Lives Forever''

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement award recognizes the career and achievements of a developer who has made an indelible impact on the craft of game development and games as a whole.
:2007 : Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda)
:2006 : Richard Garriott (Ultima)
:2005 : Eugene Jarvis (Defender and )
:2004 : Mark Cerny (SEGA, Sonic the Hedgehog)
:2003 : Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997) (Game Boy, Super Mario Land series)
:2002 : Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog, EyeToy)
:2001 : Will Wright (Sim games)

The First Penguin Award

The First Penguin award looks back to the industry's history to recognize the courage and bravery of a developer who tested the proverbial 'waters', uncertain of success or failure. A 'first penguin' served as a lesson, and inspiration, to the rest of the community over the years. More background on the award.
:2007 : Alexey Pajitnov
:2006 : Don Woods, Will Crowther (creators of the early text game ''Adventure'')
:2005 : Richard Bartle
:2004 : Masaya Matsuura
:2003 : David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Jim Levy, Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead (Activision)
:2002 : Hubert Chardot
:2001 : Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer

Maverick Award

The Maverick award recognizes the current achievements of a developer who exhibits independence in thought and action while experimenting with alternate/emerging forms of digital games.
:2007 : Greg Costikyan
:2005 : Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr, and Nick Tandavanitj (Blast Theory)
:2004 : Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka, and John Vechey (PopCap Games)

IGDA Award For Community Contribution

:2007 : George Sanger
:2006 : Chris Hecker
:2005 : Sheri Graner Ray
:2004 : Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk
:2003 : Doug Church (Eidos Interactive)
:2002 : Jeff Lander
:2001 : John Carmack

Retired Awards

The following award categories have been retired or replaced with a different focus.

Excellence in Level Design

:2003 : ''Metroid Prime''
:2002 : ''ICO''
:2001 : ''American McGee's Alice''

Excellence in Programming

:2004 : ''
:2003 : ''Neverwinter Nights''
:2002 : ''Black and White''
:2001 : ''The Sims''

Original Game Character of the Year

:2004 : "HK-47" from ''
:2003 : "Sly Cooper" from ''Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus''
:2002 : "Daxter" from ''
:2001 : "Seaman" from ''Seaman''

External links

★ Official Website

★ IGDA: Complete list of nominees for the Game Developers Choice Awards