Finalists for 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Announced Product: 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of interactive arts, has announced the finalists for the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards to honor outstanding technical and artistic achievement in the world of interactive entertainment. Voted and judged upon by game industry peers and members of the AIAS, this year?s Interactive Achievement Awards finalists represent an array of the best games of 2004. ?It is truly a great honor to have your work recognized by your peers as the best in the industry,? said Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. ?The Interactive Achievement Awards, much like the Oscars for the motion picture industry, provide an important showcase for members of the entire interactive entertainment industry to get together and pat each other on the back for a job well done.? Some of the game finalists for the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Award categories are listed below. You can check out all of the finalists by clicking on the link below. Game of the Year Awards Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Take 2/Rockstar North) Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games/Valve) Halo 2 (Microsoft/Bungie) Katamari Damacy (Namco/Namco Limited) World of Warcraft (Vivendi Universal Games/Blizzard) Console Game of the Year Burnout 3 (Electronic Arts/Criterion) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Take 2/Rockstar North) Halo 2 (Microsoft/Bungie) Katamari Damacy (Namco/Namco Limited) Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Sony/Insomniac Games) Computer Game of the Year City of Heroes (NCSoft/Cryptic Studios) Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games/Valve) Doom 3 (Activision/id Software) World of Warcraft (Vivendi Universal Games/Blizzard) Sid Meier?s Pirates! Live the Life (Atari/Firaxis Games) Innovation Awards Innovation in Computer Gaming Doom 3 (Activision/id Software) City of Heroes (NCSoft/Cryptic Studios) Rome: Total War (Activision/Creative Assembly) Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games/Valve) The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts/Maxis) Innovation in Console Gaming Fable (Microsoft/Big Blue Box) Halo 2 (Microsoft/Bungie) Donkey Konga (Nintendo/Namco) EyeToy: AntiGrav (Sony Computer Entertainment America/Harmonix) Katamari Damacy (Namco Hometek Inc./Namco Limited) Winners will be announced at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievements Awards ceremony, taking place February 1, 2005, the second evening of the D.I.C.E. Summit. The Awards event will be held at the Grande Ballroom of the Green Valley Ranch Resort and will showcase the industry?s best games of 2004. The 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate and Entertain), is a high-level interactive entertainment industry conference that brings together the top video game designers and developers from around the world and business leaders from all the major publishers to discuss the state of the industry, its trends and the future. The three-day event will be held January 31 - February 2, 2005 at Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas, NV. -Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann Related Links: Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 2005 D.I.C.E. Summit