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2nd Annual Game Developers Choice Awards
2002 Finalists & Winners
Honoring the Best Games of 2001
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Lifetime Achievement Award
Yuji Naka
President and CEO of Sega's SONICTEAM, for the innovative and award-winning work he has produced during his career, including the creation of SEGA mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog™.
First Penguin Award
Hubert Chardot
For his risk-taking work on Alone in the Dark, a game that started the "survival-horror" genre.
IGDA Award for Community Contribution
Jeff Lander
For his writings on game development, community building efforts and student outreach.
Game of the Year
GRAND THEFT AUTO III (DMA Design/Rockstar Games)
Finalists:
- BLACK & WHITE (Lionhead Studios)
- HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (Bungie Studios)
- ICO (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.)
- MAX PAYNE (Remedy Entertainment)
Rookie Studio of the Year
Bohemia Interactive Studio (OPERATION FLASHPOINT)
Finalists:
- Adrenium Games (AZURIK: RISE OF PERATHIA)
- Croteam (SERIOUS SAM)
- Pseudo Interactive (CEL DAMAGE)
- TimeGate Studios (KOHAN: IMMORTAL SOVEREIGNS)
Original Game Character of the Year
Daxter (JAK & DAXTER: THE PRECURSOR LEGACY)
Finalists:
- Dante (DEVIL MAY CRY)
- Ico (ICO)
- Max Payne (MAX PAYNE)
- Munch (ODDWORLD: MUNCH'S ODDYSEE)
Excellence in Audio
Marty O'Donnell & Team for sound effects (HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED)
Finalists:
- Erik Kraber and Jack Grillo for sound design (CLIVE BARKER'S UNDYING)
- Harry Gregson-Williams for composition in (METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY)
- Josh Randall for sound design (FREQUENCY)
- Thomas Engel, Rudolf Stember and Chris Huelsbeck for sound engineering (STAR WARS ROGUE SQUADRON II: ROGUE LEADER)
Excellence in Level Design
Fumito Ueda & Team (ICO)
Finalists:
- Craig Filshie, William Mills, Chris Rothwell and James Worrall (GRAND THEFT AUTO III)
- Ghost Recon Team (TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON)
- Scott Campbell, Dave Jaffe, Kellan Hatch & Team (TWISTED METAL: BLACK)
- Toshihiro Nagoshi & Team (SUPER MONKEY BALL)
Excellence in Programming
Richard Evans for artificial intelligence (BLACK & WHITE)
Finalists:
- Akihiko Tan & Team for physics (GRAN TURISMO 3 A-SPEC)
- Andy Gavin and Stephen White for programming (JAK & DAXTER: THE PRECURSOR LEGACY)
- Jason Jones & Team for programming (HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED)
- Sherman Archibald, John Carmack and Ryan Feltrin for graphics (RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN)
Excellence in Game Design
GTA3 team for game play (GRAND THEFT AUTO III)
Finalists:
- Fumito Ueda & Team for game design (ICO)
- Lorne Lanning and Chris Ulm for story/writing (ODDWORLD: MUNCH'S ODDYSEE)
- Peter Molyneux & Team for game design (BLACK & WHITE)
- Shigeru Miyamto & Team for game design (PIKMIN)
Excellence in Visual Arts
Fumito Ueda & Team for art direction (ICO)
Finalists:
- Greg Griffith, Bill Harper, John Kim, Jordan Pitchon, Bob Rafei, Josh Scherr and Rob Titus for animation (JAK & DAXTER: THE PRECURSOR LEGACY)
- Kazunori Yamauchi & Team for modeling (GRAN TURISMO 3 A-SPEC)
- Lorne Lanning and Farzad Varahramyan for art direction (ODDWORLD: MUNCH'S ODDYSEE)
- Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Jun Kabayashi & Team for art direction (REZ)
Game Innovation Spotlights
BLACK & WHITE (Lionhead Studios)
GRAND THEFT AUTO III (DMA Design)
ICO (Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.)
MAJESTIC (Electronic Arts)
REZ (United Game Artists)
Finalists:
- CEL DAMAGE (Pseudo Interactive)
- FREQUENCY (Harmonix Music Systems)
- KOHAN: IMMORTAL SOVEREIGNS (TimeGate Studios)
- MAX PAYNE (Remedy Entertainment)
- SUPER MONKEY BALL (Amusement Vision)