BAFTA Nominations

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced its list of nominations for the 2009 awards. Where last year we saw a ton of RPG nominations under the flag of Fable 2 and Fallout 3, it took me by surprise – in this year I personally considered much stronger for RPGs – to see only one RPG nomination; Dragon Age: Origins is nominated for best writing, but does not squeak in at either best game (which has 6 nominees) or public-voting GAME Award 2009 (which has 10).

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves leads with nine BAFTA nominations

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 garners eight nominations

Batman: Arkham Asylum follows with seven and Assassin’s Creed II with six

London, 16 February 2010: The Academy today announced the nominations for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. This year 40 different games have been recognized and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin’s Creed II are all nominated for Action, Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, and Original Score. In addition, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves got the nod for Story and, together with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, also received nominations in Multiplayer, Use of Audio and Use of Online. Batman: Arkham Asylum was also nominated for Story and Use of Audio, and Assassin’s Creed II received its 6th nod for Story.

Left 4 Dead 2 took four nominations for Action, Best Game, Multiplayer, and Use of Audio. Battlefield 1943, FIFA 10, Flower, Football Manager 2010, LittleBigPlanet (PSP) New Super Mario Bros Wii, PixelJunk Shooter, The Beatles: Rock Band and Wii Sports Resort all received two.

Other nominated games include Broken Sword-Shadow of the Templars: The Director’s Cut, Brutal Legend, Buzz! Quiz World, Colin McRae: DiRT 2,Command and Conquer 3: Uprising, DJ Hero, Dragon Age: Origins, Empire: Total War, EyePet, FIFA Manager 10, Forza 3, Gran Turismo, Guitar Hero 5, Halo 3 ODST, Halo Wars, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, inFAMOUS, LocoRoco Midnight Carnival, Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Plants vs Zombies, Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, Scribblenauts, Singstar TakeThat, Streetfighter IV and Wii Fit Plus.

This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category the GAME Award of 2009. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Assassin’s Creed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Beatles: Rockband, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 10, GTA China Town Wars, Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks, Street Fighter IV, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Wii Sports Resort. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com .

While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their game, it also wishes to nurture the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. The nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Colour Coded, Quick as Thieves and Shrunk!

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Friday 19 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at www.bafta.org and www.baftagameaward.com .

Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Arkham Asylum/Assassin’s Creed II leading the way comes as no surprise, but am I the only one somewhat surprised at the lack of RPG-flavour?