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Finalists & Winners

Honoring the Best Games of 2002

For photos, please browse our albums.

"All the recognition we've received so far pales compared to this. Recognition from fans and the media tells us we've done something successful and valuable. Recognition from other game developers and from the industry tells us we've done something important, something that will be remembered, and something that helps advance the genre and the art form." - The Splinter Cell team, Ubi Soft Montreal

Lifetime Achievement Award

Gunpei Yokoi

Creator, Gameboy

First Penguin Award

David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Jim Levy, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead

Founders, Activision

IGDA Award for Community Contribution

Doug Church

Technical director, Eidos

Game of the Year

METROID PRIME (Retro Studios)

BATTLEFIELD 1942 (Digital Illusions)
GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY (Rockstar North)
NEVERWINTER NIGHTS (BioWare Corp.)
TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL (Ubi Soft Montreal)

Original Game Character of the Year

Sly Cooper from SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS

Blinx from BLINX THE TIME SWEEPER
Ratchet from RATCHET AND CLANK
Rau from THE MARK OF KRI
Sam Fisher from TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL

Rookie Studio of the Year

Retro Studios for METROID PRIME

Arkane Studios for ARX FATALIS
Day 1 Studios for MECHASSAULT
Gas Powered Games for DUNGEON SIEGE
Pipeworks Software for GODZILLA: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS MELEE

Excellence in Audio

Jack Grillo, Rebecca Hanck, Erik Kraber and Yuan Liu for sound effects in MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT

GTA Team for sound design in GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY
Takayuki Kawagoe, Hideki Naganuma and Fumitaka Shibata for sound design in JET SET RADIO FUTURE
Metroid Team for sound effects in METROID PRIME
Andrew Boyd, Chris Hegstrom, Robb Mills and Howard Shore for composition in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS

Excellence in Game Design

Romain de Waubert de Genlis and Team for game design in BATTLEFIELD 1942

GTA Team for game design in GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY
Metroid Team for game design in METROID PRIME
Satoru Iwata, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Kenta Usui for game design in SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE
Splinter Cell Team Leaders for game design in TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL

Excellence in Level Design

Metroid Team for level design in METROID PRIME

Brian Allgeier, Mark Cerny, Lesley Mathieson and Colin Munson for level design in RATCHET & CLANK
Brendan McNamara, Chun Wah Kong and the SCEE Design Team for level design in THE GETAWAY
Franois Pelland and Team for level design in TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL
Pancho Eekels, Dave Ewing and James Schmalz for level design in UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2003

Excellence in Programming

Mark Brockington, Scott Greig, Jason Knipe, Don Moar and Don Yakielashek for network programming in NEVERWINTER NIGHTS

Mike Biddlecombe, Scott Bilas, Bartosz Kijanka, James Loe, Eric Tams and Chad Queen for programming in DUNGEON SIEGE
Metroid Team for programming in METROID PRIME
Antoine Dodens and Team for graphics programming in TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL
Warcraft III Team for programming in WARCRAFT III: REIGN OF CHAOS

Excellence in Visual Arts

Tetsuya Nomura for art direction in KINGDOM HEARTS

Jonathan Chey, Ken Levine and Team for art direction in FREEDOM FORCE
Hokyo Lim, Suzanne Kaufman, Dev Madan, Augie Pagan and Karin Yamagiwa for art direction in SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS
Nicolas Cantin, Frdrick Gagn and Benoit Sokal for art direction in SYBERIA
Jay Beard, Erik Medina, Jeff Merghart , Dan Mueller and Tim Neveu for animation in THE MARK OF KRI

Excellence in Writing

Clint Hocking and JT Petty for writing in TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL

Denis Dyack and Ken McCulloch for writing in ETERNAL DARKNESS: SANITY'S REQUIEM
GTA Team for writing in GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY
Daniel Vavra for writing in MAFIA: THE CITY OF LOST HEAVEN
Craig Hubbard and Team for writing in NO ONE LIVES FOREVER 2: A SPY IN H.A.R.M.S. WAY

Game Innovation Spotlights

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