Red Dead Redemption Leads Nominations for AIAS Awards

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has revealed the full list of nominees for its 2010 awards, with Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar getting the most nominations, nine, and Angry Birds getting a surprising nod for Game of the Year.

President Martin Rae stated, “2010 saw many great achievements in interactive entertainment. Great games are found everywhere - this year’s nominations illustrate the depth and breadth of our game experience for titles from core consoles, browsers and personal entertainment devices like the iPhone.”

Here are all the categories with their nominees (that's quite a list):

Game of the Year

Angry Birds HD – Chillingo, Rovio
Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision, Treyarch
God of War III - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2 - Electronic Arts, Bioware
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego

Family Game of the Year

Dance Central - Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn - Nintendo, Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Traveller's Tales
Rock Band 3 - MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems
SingStar Dance - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE London Studio

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising – THQ, Relic Entertainment
Sid Meier's Civilization - V 2K Games, Firaxis
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Blizzard Entertainment
Supreme Commander 2 - Square Enix Gas, Powered Games
Toy Soldiers - Microsoft Game Studios, Signal Studios

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision, Treyarch
Ensalved: Odyssey to the West - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
God of War III - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Alan Wake - Microsoft Game Studios, Remedy Entertainment
Ensalved: Odyssey to the West - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
God of War III - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Kirby's Epic Yarn – Nintendo, Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision, Treyarch
God of War III - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Heavy Rain - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Quantic Dream
Medal of Honor - Electronic Arts, Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Metro 2033 – THQ, 4A Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

Dance Central - Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn – Nintendo, Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego
Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Nintendo
Super Scribblenauts - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 5th Cell

Outstanding Character Performance

Ensalved: Odyssey to the West - Monkey - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
God of War III - Kratos - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2 - Male Shepard - Electronic Arts, Bioware
Red Dead Redemption - John Marston - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Tychus Findlay - Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Alan Wake - Microsoft Game Studios, Remedy Entertainment
Ensalved: Odyssey to the West - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Quantic Dream
Mass Effect 2 - Electronic Arts, Bioware
Metro 2033 – THQ, 4A Games

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies – Nintendo, Square Enix
Fable III - Microsoft Game Studios, Lionhead Studios
Fallout: New Vegas - Bethesda Softworks, Obsidian Entertainment
Mass Effect 2 - Electronic Arts, Bioware
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

Angry Birds HD – Chillingo, Rovio
Dance Central - Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems
Heavy Rain - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Quantic Dream
LIMBO - Playdead
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Fable III - Microsoft Game Studios, Lionhead Studios
Heavy Rain - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Quantic Dream
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

Dance Central - Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems
DJ Hero 2 – Activision, FreeStyleGames
Gran Turismo 5 - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Polyphony Digital
Rock Band 3 - MTV Games, Harmonix Music Systems

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Electronic Arts, Digital Illusions CE
LIMBO - Playdead
Medal of Honor - Electronic Arts, Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego

Social Networking Game of the Year

CityVille - Zynga
Family Feud - iWin/Backstage Technologies, iWin/Backstage Technologies
FrontierVille - Zynga
Nightclub City - Booyah
Ravenwood Fair - Lolapps

Adventure Game of the Year

Alan Wake - Microsoft Game Studios, Remedy Entertainment
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Ensalved: Odyssey to the West - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Quantic Dream
LIMBO - Playdead

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA Soccer 11 - Electronic Arts, EA Canada
MLB 10: The Show - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE San Diego
NBA 2K11 - 2K Sports, Visual Concepts
NHL 11 - Electronic Arts, EA Canada

Racing Game of the Year

Gran Turismo 5 - Sony Computer Entertainment America, Polyphony Digital
ModNation Racers - Sony Computer Entertainment America, United Front Games/SCE San Diego
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit - Electronic Arts, Criterion
Split/Second - Disney Interactive Studios, Black Rock Studio

Fighting Game of the Year

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift - Aksys Games, Arc System Works
EA Sports MMA - Electronic Arts, EA Tiburon
Super Street Fighter IV – Capcom, Capcom/Dimps
UFC 2010 Undisputed – THQ, Yuke's Co.

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Electronic, Arts Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision, Treyarch
Halo: Reach - Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Blizzard Entertainment

Action Game of the Year

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Electronic Arts, Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision, Treyarch
God of War III - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio
Halo: Reach - Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego

Portable Game of the Year

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies – Nintendo, Square Enix
God of War: Ghost of Sparta - Sony Computer Entertainment America, SCE Santa Monica Studio/Ready at Dawn
Infinity Blade - Epic Games, Chair Entertainment
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future – Nintendo, Level-5
Valkyria Chronicles II - Sega

Casual Game of the Year

Angry Birds HD – Chillingo, Rovio
Bejeweled 3 - PopCap Gamesm PopCap Games
Kinect Sports - Microsoft Game Studios, Rare
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX - Namco Bandai, Namco Bandai
Plants vs. Zombies - PopCap Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Namco Bandai, Ninja Theory
LIMBO - Playdead
Mass Effect 2 - Electronic Arts, Bioware
Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego