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Action thriller Bioshock has been awarded game of the year at the Spike TV awards in Las Vegas. The underwater adventure, widely praised for its storyline and production values, also won the prize for best Xbox 360 title and best score. It beat high-profile titles such as Halo 3, Mass Effect and The Orange Box to win the top prize. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare won the awards for best shooter and best military game. Actor Samuel L. Jackson hosted the awards, which were broadcast on cable channel Spike TV. Nintendo title Super Mario Galaxy, which has been feted with a series of near-perfect review scores, won for best action game and best Wii game, while science fiction epic Mass Effect won best RPG and PC title Crysis won for best graphics. Blockbuster title Halo 3 picked up two awards, for best multiplayer and most addictive game. The Orange Box, a compendium of Half-Life 2 titles, 3D puzzler Portal and online game Team Fortress, was named PC game fo the year. Other highlights included Colin McRae: DiRT picking up the best driving game prize, Ratchet and Clank winning the best PlayStation 3 prize, and Portal chosen as the breakthrough technology winner. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| The golden age of videogames By Darren Waters Technology editor, BBC News website Edge magazine is notoriously parsimonious when it comes to handing out 10 out of 10 review scores for video games but in the past three issues there have been three of them. Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy have all been awarded one of the highest accolades in gaming - a perfect score from Edge. And plenty of other games have been given near perfect scores also - from Bioshock to Crysis, Drake's Fortune and Call of Duty 4. The Edge scores are just one of a number of signs that reinforce a growing feeling that videogames are enjoying a golden age. It is not just that the interactive experiences are getting ever more immersive, or the industry is being taken ever more seriously, but hardware and software sales are up significantly on last year - buoyed by a new generation of consoles and the work of developers who are beginning to exploit the tools they have at their disposal. A lot of the games are sequels and I would like to see more innovation Margaret Robertson, games consultant "You have to look at the maturity of platforms in part to answer why there are currently so many good games out there," said Tony Mott, editor of Edge magazine. "It's difficult to say across the board that games are getting better. But we are seeing publishers being more careful about the quality of games that they release. "And there are so many good games out now that some publishers are holding titles back to next year." The industry also looks to have found a way to blend the loose attractions of casual and social gaming with the hardcore experiences beloved by the seasoned player. GAMES OF THE YEAR? Super Mario Galaxy (pictured) - 97.3% The Orange Box - 96.1% Bioshock - 95.3% Call of Duty 4 - 95.1% Halo 3 - 93.2% God of War 2 - 93% Mass Effect - 93% Crysis - 91% Drake's Fortune - 89% Project Gotham Racing 4 - 87% Assassin's Creed - 84.5% Gamesrankings.com aggregates review scores Margaret Robertson, a former editor of Edge and now a games consultant, said long-standing gamers were spending more money on games and a whole new audience had been introduced to gaming for the first time. "There are now more ways than ever to spend money on video games - from consoles to handhelds, supplementary purchases online via Live Arcade, Virtual Console and the PlayStation Network to games on your iPod. "The evidence of what Nintendo has done to attract people to games for the first time with the DS and the Wii is unmistakably clear." This year will be remembered as the year the Wii took centre stage as the console of choice for families, the year PlayStation 3 finally showed its promise in real terms and the Xbox 360 hit its stride with the 5th anniversary of online service Xbox Live. It is also the year of the handheld with Nintendo DS and PSP continuing to sell explosively, the year PC gaming began its renaissance and developers got to grips with tools that allowed them to tell stories in new, dynamic ways. I have been publicly criticised for saying that we are yet to see a next generation game in terms of gameplay. And I stand by that David Braben, Frontier Games Developer David Amor, creative director of Relentless games: "This is the second generation of titles on consoles and speaking as a developer, we are now benefiting from the tools that these machines offer. David Braben, founder of Frontier games, agreed: "This new generation of machines is now bedding down with developers. A crop of quality titles emerging simultaneously is typical at this point in a console's lifecycle. "I have been publicly criticised for saying that we are yet to see a next generation game in terms of gameplay. And I stand by that." Mr Amor added: "I found myself queuing at the local video game store the other day and that hasn't happened for a long time. There is a batch of very good games out at the moment and I'm finding myself putting TV and movies to one side to play video games. Titles like Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect have also helped raise the profile of games with big budget advertising campaigns, and an emphasis on storyline and production values. Both are expected to join the ranks of million-plus sellers this year. Margaret Robertson said the market growth for games this year had been "explosive and phenomenal". Sales in the US are up 50% on last year and the Christmas figures are still to come. "On the strength of sales alone 2007 has been the greatest year in gaming - that much is certain," she said But she said the industry was also showing signs of maturity. "This year we have had the huge titles like Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy, which have had huge success and deservedly so. "But it's almost the next tier down - games like Project Gotham Racing 4, Call Of Duty 4, Ratchet and Clank and God of War 2 - where there has been such ambition and confidence that you can now almost take the quality for granted. It's very encouraging." She added: "A lot of the games are sequels and I would like to see more innovation." Mr Braben said it was ironic that the games getting all the praise are the least representative of the industry as a whole. "Games like Bioshock and Halo 3 are made for the hardcore gamer while there is a widening family appeal of games and gaming that is less talked about. "2007 will probably be remembered as the year of the Wii," he added. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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| 2007's best selling game revealed First-person-shooter Call of Duty 4 was last year's biggest selling game, according to sales figures. It has sold more than seven million units since its launch in November, says its publisher Activision. The claim is based on sales figures from research firms The NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group. The game was just one of a raft of high profile releases in 2007 including the third instalment of the Halo series for the Xbox 360. Halo 3 earned more than £84m ($170m) in sales in its first 24 hours on release, according to Microsoft. The game sets the record for the most money earned in a day by an entertainment product, topping figures set by film Spiderman 3. 'Perfect 10' However, Microsoft recently announced that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had overtaken Halo 3 for the first time as the most popular game on Xbox Live, based on unique users. FROM THE DOT.LIFE BLOG It is a game that is unafraid to take chances Darren Waters, technology editor BBC News website And despite being released six weeks after Halo 3 it has also sold more units. "We're very excited about this achievement especially given so many competitive titles this year," said Will Kassoy, of the game's publisher Activision. Call of Duty 4 was developed by Infinity Ward and is available for PC, PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. It follows the story of a American and British Special Forces in Russia and the Middle East and won "Best Action game" at the video game industry's leading event, E3. It also won the Spike TV awards for "Best Shooter" and "Best Military Game". However, the title narrowly missed a perfect 10 out of 10 score in computer game's magazine Edge. Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy all achieved a perfect score. Story from BBC NEWS: |