February 25, 2007 --- The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp.™ is pleased to announce the nominees for its sixth annual awards honoring the best of the interactive entertainment industry in the fields of art, technology, and production.  A voting body of more than 1,150 eligible video game media critics, analysts, and journalists determined the final 236 nominees in 48 categories, up from 223 nominations last year. 

The nominees for Game of the Year are Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Final Fantasy XII, Gears of War, Loco Roco, Okami, and Viva Pinata.  The nominees for Game of the Year represent 29.24% of the total nominations, up from 22.87% last year. 

For the first time ever, four original IP’s have been nominated for Game of the Year.  With 16 nominations, Gears of War has broken the records set by God of War and Psychonauts last year for being the most-nominated original IP’s in Academy history.  Final Fantasy XII also received 16 nominations, just one short of Metroid Prime's 17 nomination record. 

Other leading original IP’s over the years have been ICO (13 nominations), Shadow of the Colossus (10), Kingdom Hearts (10), Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (10), Fable (10), Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (10), Halo (9), and Devil May Cry (9). 

Of the games which tallied three or more nominations this year, 54% of the nominations went to original properties (70 nominations), compared to franchises (60 nominations).  Last year, the comparison was 84:57. 

This year, Microsoft leads all other publishers with 29 nominations.  In 2002, Nintendo set a record with 41 nominations.  The record still stands. 

Square Enix, Nintendo, and 2K Games also lead with 23, 22, and 20 nominations respectively as publishers, making this only the second year in which four publishers totaled 20 nominations or more.  Other top publishers are Sony and Capcom with 18 nominations each, Bethesda Softworks (14), THQ (13), Rockstar, Konami, and Electronic Arts with 9 nominations each, Atlus (8), Activision (6), and Atari (5), Sega, RedOctane, and Namco Bandai with 4 nominations each. 

As developers, Square Enix leads with 22 nominations, followed by Epic with 16 nominations.  Bethesda Game Studios, Clover Studios, and Nintendo have 13 developer nominations each, followed by Sony with 11 developer nominations. 

Gears of War and Final Fantasy XII are leading the pack with 16 nominations each.  Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion received the next highest total with 13 nominations, while Clover Studios’ swan song Okami received 12 nominations.  These four games are the only games to score double digit nominations. 

Loco Roco rolled in with 7 nominations, while Viva Pinata pinned down 5 nominations.  Suikoden V, Company of Heroes, and Bully also earned 5 nominations each.  Resistance: Fall of Man, Kingdom Hearts II, Guitar Hero II, and Dead Rising received 4 nominations each. 

Earning three nominations each were the games Rule of Rose, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, Neverwinter Nights 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Lumines II, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Elite Beat Agents, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Destroy All Humans! 2: Make War Not Love, and Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. 

Through annual awards, television specials, videos, and other future plans, we hope to preserve the history of the medium as well as honor the creative and technical individuals who have paved the way for new ideas and innovations. 

In addition to the annual awards show, NAVGTR Corp. also distributes the historical archive series, “Gaming in the Clinton Years.”  For a full index of 400 series episodes, log onto http://www.navgtr.org/library.html

For more information on NAVGTR Corp.’s missions and programs, log onto www.navgtr.org.  Winners will be announced May 20, 2007. 

The general voting body of more than 1,150 journalists and writers includes contributors for such varied outlets as About.com, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin American-Statesman, NBC, CNN, CNN.com, CNNmoney.com, Chicago Sun-Times, Computer Gaming World, Contra Costa Times, Digital Journal, ElectricPlayground.com, FHM, GamersTemple.com, GamingTarget.com, Gannett News Service, Gear, HappyPuppy.com, Kids & Computers, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, National Post, New York Times, Marquee, PC Gamer, Philadelphia Inquirer, PlanetPong.com, Salon, San Jose Mercury-News, USA Today, USAToday.com, Wired News, Wizard Magazine, WOW Weekly, ZDNet, Detroit Free Press, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, Play Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff-Davis Media), Evergeek Media, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, The Regina Leader-Post, EclipseMagazine.com, and hundreds more. 

-30-