AIAS Awards: RDR, Enslaved, Heavy Rain, GoWIII Honored

We have great respect for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and we're always interested to see their list of nominations for the annual AIAS awards.

You can check out the full list over at GameSpot; Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption leads all games with 9 total nominations, and that includes a nod for Game of the Year. We're a little surprised to see Enslaved: Odyssey to the West land 6 nominations - the same as God of War III - despite the fact that we at PSXE tried to tell everyone the game was well worth playing. 'cough' We're a little disappointed that Heavy Rain wasn't nominated for GotY (nominate that instead of Call of Duty: Black Ops, and we'd agree with the list), but Quantic Dream's masterpiece did strike a handful of nominations, including Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Outstanding Achievement in Story, and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming. We're also happy to see games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Alan Wake and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 getting some much-deserved attention.

So what say you? Would you agree with most of the nominations? The AIAS is certainly more of an authority on this industry than Spike TV, right?

Tags: aias awards, red dead redemption, heavy rain

1/19/2011 8:56:45 PM John Shepard

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Comments (41 posts)

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:51:09 PM

A cell phone game for your console, lol.

3 up, 1 down

GuernicaReborn
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:55:08 PM

Can anybody tell me what would make Angry Birds a candidate for Game of the Year? Should I log in to PSN and download this game now, or is it all based on hype?

CoD, ME2, GoWIII, RDR.... and Angry Birds. Looks like a "Which one doesn't belong" question from the SAT's.

4 up, 0 down

shadowpal2
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:56:31 PM

YEP AIAS IS WAY BETTER. I feel as if they truly understand what gaming is and which ones deserve the award.

I actually remember it was being live streamed via IGN about 2 years back to awards game of 2008. LittleBigPlanet TOOK NEARLY EVERY AWARD. Though there were some moments where I thought "Oh MGS4 should have gotten that" - I was still glad to see LittleBigPlanet taking most of the awards.

SHALL IT DO THE SAME, when it's held next year? Actually that's a tough one to call considering how many AAA games are coming out this year. Haha.

0 up, 0 down

FM23
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:51:30 PM
Reply

When I think of Heavy Rain...GOTY doesn't come to mind. I don't know. The game was great even classic...but game of the year just doesn't fit for me. Yeah it was original, but then again it's not a game to begin with. That's my dilemma. GOWIII was definetly a heavy hitter. RDR is getting the respect it deserve, maybe a little too much.

3 up, 2 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:02:12 PM

I agree on RDR, it deserves massive respect, but I think people are so baffled that a Western turned out popular that they forget it's a GTA clone.

0 up, 1 down

Alienange
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:29:35 PM

They're ALL GTA clones WorldEnds. It's just a matter of what they DO with the format. Is there engaging gameplay? Is the story gripping and coherent?

inFamous and RDR are two that did a lot right with the GTA format. Some others... not so much.

1 up, 1 down

bigrailer19
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:31:19 PM

I still dont see it as a gta clone... I see where your coming from, but in no way would i ever tell somebody "get RDR if you like GTA." that may just be me and im fine with that. Cus i really am not a huge GTA fan, of course i like to play them, but dont consider it a favorite franchise. RDR on the other hand is a game i absolutely love and cherrish. With that said i wouldnt think id love one and say "eh the other is ok" (TO ME), if they are clones.

In a sense i agree with alienange. But still wouldnt call it a clone. Its similiar. ;)

Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/19/2011 10:32:37 PM

1 up, 0 down

Alienange
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 11:07:50 PM

I agree bigrailer19. But for those who view it as a GTA clone, I just let 'em believe it. ;)

1 up, 0 down

GuyverLT
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 11:09:51 PM

@bigrailer19
But if GTA had never been made I honestly don't think we would have see great games like RDR or inFAMOUS, and even if we did they would probably be linear type games instead of sandbox style which is one of the main reasons they're so fun. GTA revolutionized open-world sand box games as far as the consoles are concern(don't know much about pc). I for one don't think RDR was a exact clone, but we all know where the open-world sandbox style comes from, but I actually liked RDR more so than I do GTAIV & I think allot of people would agree.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 1/19/2011 11:18:33 PM

1 up, 1 down

bigrailer19
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:35:04 AM

I pretty much agree with you that GTA has paved a road for sandbox games, at least to some extent. But that doesnt make RDR a clone. To me they are completely different games. Saying RDR is a clone is saying inFamous or any other sandbox game is a clone as alienange stated. Sorry i just dont see it. But its ok that some of you may think otherwise. I guess i can see where your coming from, but when i pick RDR up i dont feel like im playing GTA. I just dont.

Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/20/2011 12:37:55 AM

1 up, 0 down

FlyingKickPunch
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 5:27:44 PM

In that sense, Black Ops is a Doom clone.

Even though RDR does share a developer, game engine, and control scheme with GTA...I forgot what I was saying.

0 up, 1 down

Highlander
Friday, January 21, 2011 @ 11:03:35 AM

And Doom is a Wolfenstein 3D clone...

0 up, 0 down

GuyverLT
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:57:40 PM
Reply

Glad to see Enslaved getting some notoriety with awards I hope it takes home at least 1, while it had it's technical issue & wasn't as diverse with the combat as I would have liked it to be, it was still a good game in my opinion, even though some people seem to just down right hate NT.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 1/19/2011 10:00:32 PM

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 9:58:09 PM
Reply

That's a pretty good list that I can't much argue with. Cept of course that Heavy Rain diss, but hey it did get some good respect.

Enslaved deserves some recognition as well, I wish it could have sold enough to warrant a sequel because while it is worth a play and in many ways delivers the goods, it unfortunately utilizes every opportunity it can to display painful technical problems. Taking the IP forward could correct some of those early mistakes. It's too damn short too, MAYBE half as long as Uncharted.

Tip for those wanting to play Enslaved: play it on Hard, there is so much restrictive hand-holding that making the battles difficult is the best way to balance it out.

2 up, 0 down

Gordo
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 11:58:01 PM

Funny, I would recommend playing Enslaved on easy so you can just take in the story and the scenery.

I found the fighting hard enough on "Normal" mode to keep interupting the flow of the game.

(I'm such a noob).

0 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 1:19:28 AM

I think Enslaved is best left alone. I personally thought that it was fantastic, and it was near on-par with Uncharted in terms of length for me.

I can see the desire to sequelise it, and I somewhat agree with it, but I fear that it would destroy the singular charm of it. Like ICO and Heavy Rain, I'm glad that it is to be left alone.
Peace.

1 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:20:08 PM
Reply

Little upset that black ops is up for goty over heavy rain. I like the cod franchise regardless what any one says. But ill be the first to admit it doesnt even deserve a nomination for goty considering other titles out their, like heavy rain!

3 up, 0 down

ZettaiSeigi
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:23:48 PM
Reply

Definitely better over the nominees and winners at Spike TV, but I'm kinda bummed that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker did not even get a nod for Portable Game of the Year. Oh well, can't have them all.

2 up, 0 down

PasteNuggs
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:25:06 PM
Reply

Pretty good list. Although I'm wondering how the hell Medal of Honor got nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering. Don't get me wrong, I loved the game but really the visuals were not always too pretty

1 up, 0 down

Alienange
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:37:53 PM
Reply

You ask me AIAS got it absolutely correct. Let's face it, Black Ops HAD to make the list, but there's no way in hell it's going to win anything. It's just there to get the masses to pay attention to the awards.

I see RDR sweeping it here too. Heavy Rain's an interactive adventure and that's exactly how they've placed it. Good for them. You'll also notice the lack of GT5 in the GotY nominees. These aren't "disses," these games are nominated for what they do best and they'll probably win those categories.

And Angry Birds deserves to be there as easily as Tetris would have in its day.

1 up, 2 down

BikerSaint
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 10:52:29 PM
Reply

Angry Birds>Heavy Rain????
Angry Gamer> Angry Birds!!!

And why the hell wasn't Peacewalker given a nomi in the PSP cat?

Other than those, the rest of the AIAS cat's look OK to me

2 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 9:50:14 AM

Dance Central as innovation of the year? really? Most of the categories look like they were chosen using a dart board and a blindfolded darts player. Heavy Rain and God of War look to me like they were thrown in to balance the look of the nominations.

2 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 11:00:29 PM
Reply

Another CoD nominated for GOTY eh?
Well it's not like it's going to win it.

CoD can get as many GOTY nomination but it will never win.

2 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 1:13:39 AM

Thats my take on it. Except in this case with all the great games that came out last year i dont think it deserves a nomination.

Dont get me wrong though i like the COD games and i do think black ops has one of the better campaigns, just as i said too many other, dare i say better games in 2010.

Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/20/2011 1:15:04 AM

1 up, 0 down

steven_bodner
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 @ 11:32:07 PM
Reply

*Sees my 3 favorite games of thew year in title*

I. love. This.

0 up, 0 down

Gordo
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:02:54 AM
Reply

Best Soundtrack?

Where is NieR. That's got to be the best OST for a video game that I have ever heard...

(BTW, spent 3 hours playing NieR and have had more fun than I did with 30 hours of FFXIII).

0 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 1:12:17 AM

Nier is that good huh? Dang i seen it for $15.99 the other day on clearance. I knew i shoulda picked it up.

0 up, 0 down

kraygen
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:37:15 PM

Yeah, Nier is pretty good. $15.99 would have been a steal. I think I've already put in over 50 hours and I've only seen the first ending.

0 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 11:28:10 PM

Since I'm not really into RPG's(I will still try it though), I just grabbed a used 360 copy of Nier used for $12 at Gamestop.

Now if I'm remembering right, I'll still need the PS3 copy too, for the different content
Or was that just a East or West version difference.(Damned CRS syndrome)

0 up, 0 down

Gordo
Friday, January 21, 2011 @ 1:06:12 AM

Half way through my first playthrough and it is fantastic.

It's an action RPG but it's not that heavy on the stats. It's got towns, sidequests, excellent boss battles, a very esoteric story and the most wonderful music.

In my opinion one of the most different games of the last few years. Will be a cult classic once it becomes hard to pick up.

Gameplay beats graphics everytime!

0 up, 0 down

A2K78
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 3:27:00 AM
Reply

"I pretty much agree with you that GTA has paved a road for sandbox games, at least to some extent."

The credit should really to the first Zelda game on the NES, but then again most GTA kiddies probably never played the Zelda to recognize this...

0 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 1:39:29 PM

I dont totally believe GTA is solely responsible for the way sandbox games are, which is why i said to some extent it has paved the way.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 9:46:38 AM
Reply

Considering the number of nominations that
Dance Central from Microsoft has picked up, I personally can't find any reason to take these4 awards seriously, especially when on of the nominations Dance central has received is for the Outstanding Innovation in Gaming award.

How in heck is Dance Central innovative? It's a camera based dance game. PSEye and EyeToy games both featured full body motion detection long before this. The whole take a video of yourself doing something stupid and share it has been done before, SingStar on PS3 has had this feature for years before Kinect or Move cam along. SingStar also featured voice control, as do a number of other games. Rhythm based dance games have been around for years - DDR from Konami for example.

So, innovative? Seriously? All I see is an awards list dominated by crap like this and Kirby's Extensive Yawn. Whoopty-do.

3 up, 1 down

kraygen
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:38:29 PM

Couldn't agree more, does MS pay for these awards ceremony?

0 up, 1 down

tridon
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 10:46:34 AM
Reply

Pretty decent nominations, in my opinion. I personally think that Red Dead is over-rated and I can't imagine why Call of Duty received a nom for GotY over a title like Heavy Rain, but overall still pretty decent.

I also think that Enslaved was under-rated and I'm happy to see it receiving some sort of recognition. I think that's my favourite under-rated title since Beyond Good & Evil. Sure the ending was pretty confusing and non-climatic but the rest of the story and acting was incredible. I'd love to see more DLC featuring an epilogue of the main game or even prequels featuring Monkey and Trip. I unfortuntely don't see that happening considering sales and Ninja Theory being busy with DmC, though.

1 up, 0 down

kraygen
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 12:41:33 PM
Reply

I honestly don't understand all the Enslaved love, it's platforming is uber weak. If you push the right direction and hit the jump button you make it, if you don't push the right direction he won't move. It's no challenge, you can't fall, and the combat is just standard action game melee combat.

The fact that people are claiming it's near uncharted quality is just sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a terrible game or anything, just that it's been done and it doesn't do it better than most.

The nominations sound weak all around though, sounds like some people over there got a nice christmas bonus if you ask me.

0 up, 2 down

Danny007
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 2:16:24 PM
Reply

What?!? How could they nominate Dance Central or GT5 for best soundtrack and not Green Day: Rock Band? Heck, even Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock.

How come Green Day: Rock Band got no respect at all. It was a good game and I liked it better than Rock Band 3. I wasn't even a Green Day fan until I played it.

I get that everybody doesn't like punk music, but not all of their songs are punk. Its really grinding my gears.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 2:57:12 PM

Well, to be honest, I don't agree with putting music or dancing games up for soundtrack awards because they are commonly using existing music by established artists. You mentioned Green Day for example, but giving that game an award for Green Day's music is like giving an album an award for best soundtrack at the Academy Awards.

At least with something like GT5, there is some original music and specific compilation of tracks to accentuate the game. Soundtrack awards should be more about the quality of original music, and/or the choice of music to enhance the game.

1 up, 0 down

FlyingKickPunch
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 5:41:15 PM

Don't say heck.

0 up, 1 down

Highlander
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 7:17:54 PM

Why? The site's language filter will catch many other words, so no point getting a filtered word for the heck of it. Just tone down your language ahead of time, it's easier.

1 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Thursday, January 20, 2011 @ 11:39:55 PM

Hey, no HECK-ling!!!!

Heck, now I've just gotta go say heck too!

And just for the heck of it all.

0 up, 0 down

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AIAS Awards: RDR, Enslaved, Heavy Rain, GoWIII Honored

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