The Game Critics Awards nominations have been announced and apparently the best liked titles at E3 this year have been Brutal Legend, the rock adventure created by Double Fine, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the Naughty Dog created videogame. The awards are being voted on by gaming critics from 29 press outlets and are not directly affiliated with the organizers of E3, the Entertainment Software Association.

When it comes to publishers, Electronic Arts has 18 nominations, followed by Sony with 13, Activision with 10, Nintendo and Microsoft with only 5. The winners for all categories are set to be announced on June 23. All the games nominated were directly playable by the critics at this year's E3.

The Best of Show award is contested by Brutal Legend, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The above nominations are dominated by sequel titles and those who have no love for them can look to the Best Original Games category, where the nominees are: Alan Wake, Bayonetta, Brutal Legend, Heavy Rain, Scribblenauts.

When it comes to hardware, judges must choose among the DJ Hero Controller, Microsoft's Project Natal, the new handheld PSP Go! from Sony Computer Entertainment, the skateboard peripheral for Tony Hawk and Wii MotionPlus from Nintendo. We are genuinely surprised that the Vitality Sensor has not been included.

BioShock 2, Halo 3 ODST, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Singularity are up for the Best Action title, while Best Role Playing Game is disputed by Alpha Protocol, Dragon Age: Origins, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mass Effect 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Best Racing Game award is also much disputed with Blur, Forza Motorsport 3, ModNation Racers, Need for Speed Shift and Split/Second fighting for it. For the Best Sports Game category, critics must choose among Fight Night Round 4, Madden NFL 10, NHL 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Tony Hawk Ride.