Fumito Ueda, Masanobu Tanaka, Atsuko Fukuyama, John Tam, Tim Schafer, Keita Takahashi Win Big

March 31, 2006 --- The winners of the 2005 NAViGaTR Awards were announced today, revealing the winners in 48 categories.  Multiple awards went to Fumito Ueda, Masanobu Tanaka, Atsuko Fukuyama, John Tam, Tim Schafer, and Keita Takahashi. 

The awards are presented by the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp.™, a non-profit media organization with over 1,200 voters honoring the best of the interactive entertainment industry in the fields of art, technology, and production for calendar year 2005. 

Like last year’s Game of the Year winner, Shadow of the Colossus™ won five (5) awards, including Outstanding Animation in a Game Engine, Character Design, Game Design, Graphics, Technical, and Game of the Year. 

Guitar Hero™ and Psychonauts™ won 4 awards each, while God of War™, Resident Evil™ 4, and We Love Katamari™ each won 3 awards. 

Wrapping up the multiple award winners are Dragon Quest VIII, Indigo Prophecy, and Jade Empire with two (2) awards each. 

Publisher Tallies

With 5 awards for Shadow of the Colossus™, 3 awards for God of War, and one award each for Gran Turismo™ 4, Jak X: Combat Racing™, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves™, Sony has set a publishers’ record by winning 11 awards in a single year.  The record was previously held by Ubisoft, which won 10 awards for the year 2003. 

Publishers Capcom, Majesco, and Red Octane won 4 awards each, while Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Namco won 3 awards each.  Atari, Nintendo, and Square Enix each won 2 awards. 

Developer Tallies

Sony developed eight (8) out of its eleven (11) winning titles.  Other top developers include Capcom (Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 3), Double Fine (Psychonauts), Harmonix (Guitar Hero), and Namco, all of which won four (4) awards.  The only other developers to win more than one award were Bioware (Jade Empire), Level 5 (Dragon Quest VIII), and Quantic Dream (Indigo Prophecy), all of which won two (2) awards. 

Since the inception of the NAViGaTR Awards, Sony has won the most awards as a developer, with 16 awards to date.  Rockstar follows with 15 awards, stepping ahead of Konami’s 14 awards to date as a developer.  Other top developers to date are Nintendo and Ubisoft (12 awards each), Square/Square Enix (11), Namco (9), Capcom (8), Electronic Arts, Harmonix, Sucker Punch, and Valve (6 each), Bungie (5), and Bioware, Double Fine, id Software, and Team Ninja (4 each). 

Individual Tallies

Six individuals won multiple awards this year.  Fumito Ueda won 3 awards for his work on Shadow of the Colossus™, more than any other individual, while Ueda’s collaborators Masanobu Tanaka and Atsuko Fukuyama each won 2 awards.  John Tam won 2 awards for his work on Guitar Hero™; Tim Schafer won 2 awards for Psychonauts™.  Keita Takahashi also won 2 awards for We Love Katamari™. 

This year, Atsuko Fukuyama, Bruce Oberg, Fumito Ueda, and Hajime Sugiyama earned a third, fourth, or fifth NAViGaTR award in their respective careers, thus taking their places among a group of only twenty-three (23) people to have won three (3) or more awards to date. 

Dan Houser, Shigeru Miyamoto, Fumito Ueda, and Takashi Tezuka have won the most awards to date.  Dan Houser has won eight (8) awards for his widespread work in the Grand Theft Auto® series. 

Shigeru Miyamoto has won six (6) awards to date.  With the exception of this year’s win for Innovation in Game Play, Miyamoto has won only for roles as a producer in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and lastly, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem --- the only non-Mario game in the group.  Mr. Miyamoto has not yet won for a Zelda game, although his art directors have won for Legend of Zelda®: Wind Waker™. 

Fumito Ueda and Takashi Tezuka have won five (5) awards to date.  Ueda has won 2 awards for ICO™ and 3 awards for Shadow of the Colossus™ in the areas of animation and design.  Takashi Tezuka has won for Animal Crossing®, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Sunshine. 

Jamie King, Jeremy Pope, and Leslie Benzies have each won four (4) awards for producing the Grand Theft Auto® series, including two genre awards and two Game of the Year awards. 

Hajime Sugiyama has won 3 awards --- two for ICO’s camera and lighting, plus a technical graphics award for Colossus. 

Atsuko Fukuyama has won 3 awards --- two for Animation in a Game Engine (Ico™ and Shadow of the Colossus™), as well as an award for Colossus’ character design. 

Bruce Oberg has earned his third award for programming on the Sly Cooper series. 

Keita Takahashi has won three awards for the Katamari series. 

James Worral has also won three (3) awards for writing and design in the Grand Theft Auto® series. 

Akira Yamaoka has won three awards for his work on the Silent Hill® series, winning in the categories of Sound Effects, Use of Sound, and Original Musical Score. 

Mathieu Laforce has won three awards.  His first two awards were for Graphics, Technical and Lighting & Texturing Effects for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell™ in 2002, and his third award was for Lighting & Texturing Effects for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time™ in 2003. 

Rik Schaffer has won three awards, including two for Sound Effects in Call of Duty and Doom 3, as well as one for Sound Editing in a Game Cinema for Doom 3. 

Programmers Ben Wallace, Bernie Freidin, Charles Gough, Chris Butcher, Mat Noguchi, Matt Segur, Eamon McKenzie, and Stefan Sinclair have all won three awards for the first Halo®. 

Of those who have won at least three awards, Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Mathieu Laforce, Atsuko Fukuyama, Fumito Ueda, Hajime Sugiyama, and Rik Schaffer are the only people that have won awards for work in multiple franchises. 

The NAVGTR voting body represents a broad spectrum of mainstream and specialist media that cover video games, including About.com, Albuquerque Journal (NM), Artxilla.com, Ashville MudCat Magazine (AL), Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin American-Statesman, Beaver County Times (PA), Birmingham News (AL), Boston Herald (MA), Bridgeport Post Telegram (CT), Bridgewater Courier News (NJ), Canada.com, CiN Weekly, Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH), CNN, CNN.com, CNNmoney.com, Computer Gaming World, Computer Graphics World, Contra Costa Times, Copley News Service, Dallas Morning News (TX), Denver Post (CO), Digital Journal, Durham Sun Morning Herald (NC), ElectricPlayground.com, Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff-Davis Media), Erie Times (PA), ESPN.com, FHM, Gainesville Sun (FL), Gamephiles.com, GamersTemple.com, GamingTarget.com, Gannett News Service, Gear, HappyPuppy.com, Jackson Clarion Ledger (MS), Kids & Computers, Kidzworld Media, Kingsport Times (TN), KNTV, LA Weekly, Las Vegas Review Journal (NV), Lexington Herald Leader (KY), Lone Pine Capital, Los Angeles Times, Marin Independent Journal (San Francisco), Marin Independent Journal, Marquee, Maryville Times (TN), Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN), National Post, National Public Radio, NBC, New York Post (NY), PC Gamer, Philadelphia Inquirer, PlanetPong.com, Play Magazine, Public Radio International, Pueblo Star Journal Chieftan (CO), Salon, Salt Lake Deseret News (UT), San Jose Mercury-News, Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC), St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Stuff Magazine, The Detroit Free Press, The New York Times, The Ottawa Citizen, The Regina Leader-Post, The Tenessean, The Vancouver Sun, The Washington Post, Tifton Gazette (GA), USA Today, USAToday.com, Ventura County Star(CA), Wired News, Wizard Magazine, WOW Weekly, www.armchairempire.com, www.consolegold.com, www.evergeek.com, www.freep.com/gameon, www.GameDev.net, www.GamesArcadia.com, www.gamevortex.com, www.ladydragon.com, www.psillustrated.com, www.psx2.com, www.staticmultimedia.com, www.teamps2.com, www.YesWonder.com, ZDNet, and many more.

Videos of nominees and winners can be viewed here.  The full list of nominees can be viewed here.  All past winners are archived here.