NINTENDO® SCORES MOST NOMINATIONS, FOLLOWED BY UBISOFT AND VIVENDI UNIVERSAL;

FABLE™ AND CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK™ LEAD THE RACE WITH 10 NOMINATIONS

February 16, 2005 (Corrected Release) --- The 2004 NAViGaTR nominees were originally announced on January 25, 2005, after which the Academy began certifying nominations and determining eligible credits. 

The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp.™ is pleased to announce the nominees for its fourth annual awards honoring the best of the interactive entertainment industry in the fields of art, technology, and production.  A voting body of more than 950 eligible video game media critics determined the final 211 nominees in 45 categories, up from 179 nominations last year.   

The nominees for Game of the Year are Burnout 3: Takedown™, Half-Life 2™, Katamari Damacy™, Ninja Gaiden™, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal™, and Rome: Total War™.  The nominees for Game of the Year represent 14.69% of the total nominations, down from 22% last year.  Katamari Damacy™ and Rome: Total War™ are the only original properties nominated for Game of the Year, as the remaining nominees are sequels, of which the Ninja Gaiden™ series is the oldest, dating back to the 1980’s on the Nintendo Entertainment System™.

Fable™ and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay™ are leading the pack with 10 nominations each.  They are the only two games to score double-digit nominations.  Doom 3™, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™, and Half-Life 2™ received the next highest totals with nine (9) nominations each, while Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow™ won eight (8) nominations. 

Katamari Damacy™ won seven (7) nominations, and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege™ took six (6) nominations.  Scoring five (5) nominations each were Burnout 3: Takedown™, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater™, Ninja Gaiden™, Pikmin 2™, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™, and Sly 2: Band of Thieves™.  Lastly, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles™ and Viewtiful Joe 2™ each took four (4) nominations, while Far Cry™, Halo 2™, Myst IV: Revelation™, and Rome: Total War™ each earned three (3) nominations.

For a year with so many huge franchise sequels, original properties fared quite well, and most franchises pulled in fewer nominations than previous installments.  Of eighteen (18) franchises that have pulled in four (4) nominations in at least one awards year, only three (3) of them have shown an increase for the 2004 awards year:  Burnout 3, Half-Life 2, and Viewtiful Joe 2.  Burnout 2 received one (1) nomination, but Burnout 3 has “taken down” five (5) nominations this year.  The original Half-Life also received one nomination, but Half-Life 2 is a Game of the Year contender with 9 nominations.  With four (4) nominations, Viewtiful Joe 2 has doubled its tally over the first Joe, which had two (2) nominations.

In contrast, Sly 2 has earned half the nominations (5) as the original (10).  The same goes for Metal Gear Solid 3, also earning five (5) nominations, where the last installment, MGS2, had a tally of ten (10).   The biggest franchise drops are represented by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (17:1), Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (16:5), Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (13:8), Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (7:1), Halo 2 (9:3), and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (5:14:9).

Franchises with moderate to negligible drops from last year include Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (13:7:4), Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 (4:2:2), Call of Duty: Finest Hour (5:1), Call of Duty: United Offensive (5:1), Pikmin 2 (6:5), and Silent Hill 4 (2:5:1).  The most interesting story, however, lies with the Onimusha franchise, which started off with 6 nominations for Onimusha Warlords, struck out completely for Onimusha 2 despite heavy buzz, and has come full circle with 6 nominations for the mid-year Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, marking a sort of comeback for the series unlike any other franchise in the race this year.

Competing heavily with the established franchises in the creative and technical award categories are original properties such as Fable™, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay™, and Katamari Damacy™.  In fact, with the exception of seven (7) Sound-related categories and, additionally, the category of Control Precision, one or more of these three (3) games is nominated in every possible remaining category where these games are eligible to be nominated.  Together, these games have 27 nominations and are the only original properties with at least 4 nominations this year, compared to 75 nominations for franchise sequels with at least 4 nominations. 

Not since Devil May Cry (9 nominations), Halo (9 nominations), Kingdom Hearts (10 nominations), Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (10 nominations), and ICO (13 nominations) have original properties scored this many nominations.  While ICO still holds the record for most nominations for an original property, Fable™ and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay™ are now tied with Kingdom Hearts and Sly Cooper for the second-place record.

For the second time in NAViGaTR Awards history, Nintendo® leads all other game companies in terms of total nominations.  In 2001, the leader was Sony® with 27 nominations.  In 2002, Nintendo® set a record with 41 nominations.  The record still stands.  In 2003, Ubisoft® led with 25 nominations, but in 2004, Nintendo® leads with 24 nominations, while Ubisoft® has the second-highest tally with 21 nominations.  Vivendi Universal® earned 20 nominations, creating a parallel with the 2001 race --- the only other awards year in which three companies scored 20 or more nominations. 

Other top performers were Activision® with 17 nominations, followed by Microsoft (16), Namco (14), Electronic Arts (14), Capcom (12), Sony (12), Rockstar (9), Tecmo (8), Konami (8), Sega (6), and Midway (5).

New categories this year include Sound Editing in a Game Cinema, Outstanding Classic Revival, Outstanding Music or Performance Game, and Outstanding Supporting Voice Performance, where Matt Olsen enjoys his second nomination for voice work as the hilariously professorial turtle in the Sly Cooper® series.  He is nominated with Max Cassella for “Jak III,” Dennis Haysbert for “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow,” Peter Fonda for “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” and Arrested Development’s David Cross, also for “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.”

In the lead performance category, Cary Elwes is nominated for “The Bard’s Tale,” along with Michael Ironside for “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow,” Vin Diesel for “Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay,” and Young Maylay for “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.”

For the complete list of nominees, as well as more information on NAVGTR Corp.’s missions and programs, log onto www.navgtr.org.  Winners will be announced March 9, 2005, at 5:00 p.m. in San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference.  More details will follow.

The first four years of NAViGaTR Awards will be chronicled in a 2005 television special produced by Mark Patterson and executive produced by George Wood (Flights of Fantasy Productions, Inc.), who will also serve as co-host with Don Risher.  Wood has extensive experience related to emerging technologies and markets, including the growth of the video game industry. 

In 1993, his “Flights of Fantasy” brand name was first introduced to the public at large through the groundbreaking, award-winning television series of the same name, airing nationally in 141 markets and on 3 satellite networks.  The show was the first to identify the growing influence of comic books, video games, anime, fantasy, and science-fiction in popular culture and was instrumental in covering these industries due to the lack of news and feature reporting in the mainstream media.

Mr. Wood has also produced infomercials, sales videos and specialty marketing websites for Capital One Financial, Shawn Casey, Mile High Partners, Neways, The Peoples Network, Web Results Institute, Nutrition For Life, Wireless Depot, Full Power Corporation, Big Planet, Innovative Vending, and others.  He is also very active in the product development industry as a New Product Director for The Patent and Trademark Institute.  In his prior experience working in this field, he negotiated a confidential disclosure document accord with an Asian government that recognized American inventors' patent rights in that country.

Most recently, Mr. Wood is a managing partner of the FLIGHTS OF FANTASY DEVELOPMENT FUND, Inc. – a multi-million dollar venture capital fund dedicated to the development and capitalization of software and interactive gaming developers – and is partnered with Hollywood Home Entertainment (www.hollywoodhomeentertainment.com) to provide local production for the upcoming 13-part World War II series of an A-list production company that is entering final negotiations. 

The NAVGTR voting body includes more than 950 eligible voters, representing a broad spectrum of mainstream and specialist media that cover video games, including Computer Graphics World, The Detroit Free Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, Play Magazine, ESPN.com, About.com, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin American-Statesman, Artxilla.com, NBC-KNTV, CNN, CNN.com, CNNmoney.com, Copley News Service, Computer Gaming World, Contra Costa Times, Digital Journal, ElectricPlayground.com, FHM, Gamephiles.com, GamersTemple.com, GamingTarget.com, Gannett News Service, Gear, HappyPuppy.com, Kids & Computers, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, National Post, Marin Independent Journal, Marquee, PC Gamer, Philadelphia Inquirer, PlanetPong.com, Salon, San Jose Mercury-News, Stuff Magazine, USA Today, USAToday.com, Wired News, Wizard Magazine, WOW Weekly, ZDNet, Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff-Davis Media), New York Post (NY), Boston Herald (MA), Dallas Morning News (TX), Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN), Denver Post (CO), Birmingham News (AL), Albuquerque Journal (NM), Ashville MudCat Magazine (AL), Beaver County Times (PA), Bridgeport Post Telegram (CT), Bridgewater Courier News (NJ), Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH), Durham Sun Morning Herald (NC), Erie Times (PA), Gainesville Sun (FL), Jackson Clarion Ledger (MS), Kingsport Times (TN), Las Vegas Review Journal (NV), Lexington Herald Leader (KY), Maryville Times (TN), Pueblo Star Journal Chieftan (CO), Salt Lake Deseret News (UT), Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC), Tifton Gazette (GA), Ventura County Star(CA), Evergeek Media (www.evergeek.com), The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, The Regina Leader-Post, Canada.com, myTelus.com, www.YesWonder.com, www.GamesArcadia.com, www.freep.com/gameon, www.staticmultimedia.com, and many more.