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Innovation Archive


The Innovation Award recognize games that demonstrate true innovation, advance the state of the art, and push the boundaries of games as an expressive medium. In essence, these are the games that are leading the way as the medium continues to evolve. Up to three Innovation awards may be bestowed on games that contain such outstanding contributions.

 

 

12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2012)

Johann Sebastian Joust

Recipient

  • Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)
    • - Die Gute Fabrik Team

    Nominees

  • Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Toys For Bob)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
    		•

     

     

    11th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2011)

    Minecraft

    Recipient

  • Minecraft (Mojang)
    • - Markus Persson

    Nominees

  • Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory)
  • Limbo (Playdead)
  • Dance Central (Harmonix)

    •  

     

    10th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2010)

    scribble

    Recipient

  • Scribblenauts (5th Cell)
    • - Jeremiah Slaczka

    Nominees

  • Flower (thatgamecompany)

    • - Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, Nick Clark, John Edwards

  • Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)

    • - Evan Weels, Christophe Balestra, Bruce Straley, Amy Hennig

  • Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)

    • - George Fan, Tod Semple, Sukhbir Sidhu, Jason Kapalka

  • Demon's Souls (From Software)

    • - Takeshi Kajii, Hidetaka Miyazaki

     

     

    9th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2009)

    littlebigplanet Recipient
  • LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
    - Alex Evans, Kareem Ettouney

    •  

     

    8th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2008)

    portal Recipient
  • Portal (Valve)
    - Kim Swift, Erik Wolpaw
    		•

     

     

    7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2007)

    okamilineriderwiisports  

    Recipient

    • Line Rider
      - Bostjan Cadez
    • Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
      - Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya
    • Wii Sports (Nintendo)
      - Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

     

     

    6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2006)

    shadowcolossusnintendogsguitarhero  

    Recipient

  • Guitar Hero (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
    - Greg LoPiccolo, Ryan Lesser
  • Nintendogs (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
    - Tsutomu Kaneshige, Hideki Konno, Shigeru Miyamoto, Kiyoshi Mizuki
  • Shadow of the Colossus (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)
    - Junichi Hosono, Fumito Ueda

    •  

     

    5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2005)

    donkeykonga

    Recipient

  • Donkey Konga (Namco / Nintendo)
    - Hiroshi Igarashi, Hiroyuki Onoda

    • Nominees

  • I Love Bees (4orty2wo Entertainment / Microsoft Game Studios)
    - Eln Lee

  • Katamari Damacy (Namco)
    - Keita Takahashi

    		•

     

     

    4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2004)

    eyetoy

    Recipient

  • EYETOY: PLAY (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)
  • VIEWTIFUL JOE (Capcom)
  • WARIOWARE INC.: MEGA MICROGAME$ (Nintendo)
    		•

     

     

    3rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2003)

    animalcrossing

    Recipient

  • ANIMAL CROSSING by Nintendo
  • BATTLEFIELD 1942 by Digital Illusions
  • MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT by 2015, Inc.
  • THE THING by Computer Artworks
    		•

     

    Note: The nomination processes changed slightly in 2003, with only the actual recipients being presented an Innovation award. Having nominees "lose" in this category, while being nominated for risk taking and innovation was not in the spirit of the award.

     

    2nd annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2002)

    blackwhite

    Recipient

  • BLACK & WHITE by Lionhead Studios
  • GRAND THEFT AUTO III by DMA Design
  • ICO by Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.
  • MAJESTIC by Electronic Arts
  • REZ by United Game Artists
    • Nominees
    • CEL DAMAGE by Pseudo Interactive
    • FREQUENCY by Harmonix Music Systems
    • KOHAN: IMMORTAL SOVEREIGNS by TimeGate Studios
    • MAX PAYNE by Remedy Entertainment
    • SUPER MONKEY BALL by Amusement Vision
     

     

    1st annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2001)

    counterstrike

    Recipient

  • Counter-Strike by the Counter-Strike team
  • Crazy Taxi by Sega AM3
  • Deus Ex by ION Storm Austin
  • Jet Grind Radio by Smilebit
  • No One Lives Forever by Monolith
    • Nominees
    • AMERICAN MCGEE's ALICE by Rogue/EA
    • LEGEND OF ZELDA: MAJORA'S MASK by Nintendo
    • NFL2K1 by Visual Concepts
    • SACRIFICE by Shiny
    • SAMBA DE AMIGO by Sega Sonic Team
    • SEAMN by Vivarium
    • SHENMUE by Sega AM2
    • SSX by EA Canada
    • THE SIMS by Maxis
    • VIRTUA TENNIS by Sega