Fallout 3 has been selected by developers as the best game of 2008.
Many games can lay claim to being some sort of “game of the year,” depending on who’s opinion it’s based on. But winning such an accolade at the Game Developers Conference Choice Awards must be special, as winners are voted on by other developers.
Taking top honors was Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 3, named as the game of the year and as well as having the best writing. The award applies equally to the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Fallout 3
Although it wasn’t game of the year, Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 took home the most awards with four. The innovative platforming creation game was awarded with best game design, best technology, best debut game and best innovation.
The remaining awards were: best visual arts to Prince of Persia; best audio to Dead Space; best handheld game to God of War: Chains of Olympus; and best downloadable game to World of Goo.
The awards also recognized several key industry figures. This year, Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his “influence on the craft of game development and his twenty years of work on Metal Gear and other notable franchises.”
Harmonix co-founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, co-developers the original Guitar Hero games and now the Rock Band franchise, received the Pioneer Award for their work.
Finally, Tommy Tallarico, co-founder of the Video Games Live concert series and founder of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), received the Ambassador Award for helping to advance the game audio community.
While the games industry does seem more focused on consoles these days, it’s interesting to note that, of six games recognized to be the very best in their respective areas, four of them are available on the PC -- and none of them were long-delayed ports.
Does this mean that PC gaming is still alive and well? Hopefully so.