7th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Honoring the Best Games of 2006

For photos, please browse our albums.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Shigeru Miyamoto

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the career and achievements of a developer who has made an indelible impact on the craft of game development and games as a whole.

First Penguin Award

Alexey Pajitnov

The Pioneer Award (formerly known as the First Penguin Award) celebrates those individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept, or gameplay design at a crucial juncture video game history - paving the way for the myriads who followed them.

Maverick Award

Greg Costikyan

Community Contribution Award

George "The Fat Man" Sanger

Best Audio

Guitar Hero II (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
- Jeff Allen, Eric Brosius, Izzy Maxwell

Finalists:

• Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
  - Crispin Hands, John Johnson, Jennifer Lewis, John Tennant
• DEFCON: Everybody Dies (Introversion Software)
  - Alistair Lindsay, Michael Maidment
• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend (Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Interactive)
  - Troels Folmann, Karl Gallagher, Mike Peaslee, Gregg Stephens
• LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
  - Kemmei Adachi, Tomonobu Kikuchi, Kouji Niikura, Nobuyuki Shimizu

Best Character Design

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Mari Shimazaki, Sawaki Takeyasu, Kenichirou Yoshimura

Finalists:

• Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
  - Hideo Minaba, Hiroshi Minagawa, Akihiko Yoshida
• LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
  - Tsutomu Kouno, Keigo Tsuchiya,
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft Montpellier Studio / Ubisoft Entertainment)
  - Michel Ancel, Charles Beirnaert, Hubert Chevillard, Florent Sacre
• Viva Piñata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
  - Ryan Stevenson

Best Game Design

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Finalists:

• Bully (Rockstar Vancouver / Rockstar Games)
  - Hideki Kamiya
• Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
  - David Jaffe
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games / Bethesda Softworks)
  - Todd Howard
• Viva Piñata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
  - Justin Cook, Gregg Mayles

Best Technology

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel

Finalists:

• Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
  - Drew Dunlop, Shelby Hubick, David Swinerd, Ian Thomson
• Dead Rising (Capcom Entertainment)
  - Shinya Ikuta, Tomofumi Ishida, Yasuhide Sawada, Tomohiro Ueda
• Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Rockstar San Diego / Rockstar Games)
  - Ted Carson, Eugene Foss, Wil Paredes, Steve Reed
• Wii Sports (Nintendo)
  - Takuhiro Dohta, Takeshi Miyamoto, Keizo Ohta, Kenta Sato

Best Visual Art

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Jerry O'Flaherty, Chris Perna

Finalists:

• Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
  - Isamu Kamikokuryo, Hideo Minaba, Akihiko Yoshida
• Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
  - Naoki Katakai, Kenichirou Yoshimura
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games / Bethesda Softworks)
  - Matthew Carofano, Christiane Meister, Istvan Pely
• Viva Piñata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
  - Ed Bryan, Ryan Stevenson

Best Writing

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
- Kyogoku Aya, Nate Bihldorff, Mitsuhiro Takano

Finalists:

• Bully (Rockstar Vancouver / Rockstar Games)
  - Dan Houser, Jacob Krarup
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom / Aspyr Media)
  - Dag Scheve, Ragnar Tørnquist
• Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock (Telltale Games / GameTap)
  - Brendan Ferguson, Dave Grossman, Steve Purcell
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games / Bethesda Softworks)
  - Ken Rolston

Best Game

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson

Finalists:

• Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
  - Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games / Bethesda Softworks)
  - Todd Howard
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
  - Eiji Aonuma, Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto
• Wii Sports (Nintendo)
  - Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Best New Studio

Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan Quest)
- Paul Chieffo, Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan

Finalists:

• Gastronaut Studios (Small Arms)
  - Jacob Van Wingen, Don Wurster
• Naked Sky Entertainment (RoboBlitz)
  - Joshua Glazer, Tian Mu, Sam Thibault
• Ready At Dawn Studios (Daxter)
  - Didier Malenfant, Andrea Pessino, Ru Weerasuriya
• Wadjet Eye Games (The Shivah)
  - Dave Gilbert

Game Innovation Spotlights

Line Rider (Bostjan Cadez)

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita