BAFTA Nominations for Games Are Announced

After the Game Developers Choice Awards nominations were dominated by LittleBigPlanet, which lead the field with seven nominations, with Brain being the closest competitor with five nominations, it is time for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to announce the nominations for its videogame-oriented awards.

The gala where the prizes will be handled out is set to take place on March 10 in London, with Nolan Bushnell, the guy who created Pong, being inducted into the BAFTA Fellowship. The awards are handed out based on the votes of game developers and journalists in Great Britain.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare from Infinity Ward and Activision, Fable II from Lionhead, Fallout 3 from Bethesda, Grand Theft Auto IV from Rockstar, Rock Band from Harmonix, and Super Mario Galaxy from Nintendo are battling for the Best Game award, while Gears of War 2 from Epic, Guitar Hero, Left 4 Dead from Valve, LittleBigPlanet from Media Molecule, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Wii Fit and World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King are joining them in the running for the GAME Award of 2008, a category which is being voted on by the public.

Boom Blox, Buzz! Quiz TV, Guitar Hero: World Tour, LittleBigPlanet, SingStar Vol. 2 and Wii Fit are nominated for the award recognizing casual games, while Call of Duty 4, GTA IV and Fable II are the most nominated games, being in the running for categories like Action & Adventure, Artistic Achievement, Gameplay, Multiplayer, Story & Character.

The Sports category has seen FIFA 09, Football Manager 2009, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Pure, Race Driver: GRID, and Wii Fit being nominated, while in the Strategy category, the nominees are Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Ninjatown, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals - Tactical Strike and Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise.