CMP's 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards Now Open for Nominations in All Categories

Eighth Annual Awards Introduce Categories for Downloadable and Handheld Games; Ceremony to Take Place at the Game Developers Conference February 20, 2008

PRNewswire
SAN FRANCISCO
Dec 17, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards, the eighth annual presentation of the most prestigious honors in videogame development. Awards in ten categories, including two categories new to the awards this year, for Best Downloadable Game and Best Handheld Game, will be given at a ceremony produced by CMP's Game Developers Conference (GDC) and presented by Gamasutra.com and Game Developer Magazine, on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at GDC. The gala event, held in conjunction with the Independent Games Festival, will be hosted in the Esplanade Room in the South Hall of San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. The nomination ballot and further details about the Choice Awards are now available online at http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/.

"The Game Developers Choice Awards are built with the same care and editorial integrity as the Game Developers Conference itself, which means that we facilitate true and open peer based recognition of creative talent in games," said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference. "Recently, games have become dramatically more integrated into pop culture given their diversity and portability, so this year the Choice Awards is evolving to include the well-deserving makers of the best downloadable and handheld games."

The Game Developers Choice Awards recognize excellence in the art of game creation regardless of genre or platform. The 2008 award categories are:

  --  Best Audio
  --  Best Game Design
  --  Best Technology
  --  Best Visual Arts
  --  Best Writing
  --  Best Debut Game
  --  Best Downloadable Game
  --  Best Handheld Game
  --  Innovation
  --  Game of the Year

"One of the guiding principles behind Gamasutra and Game Developer has always been to give a voice to the game development community," said Simon Carless, publisher and editorial director of Gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine. "We are very excited to be extending that role this year by providing developers the opportunity to nominate and vote for the best games of the year."

To submit a nomination, please visit https://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/choice_2008_games.php. For details about the Game Developers Choice Awards, visit http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/. For further information and to register for GDC, please visit http://www.gdconf.com/.

About the Game Developers Conference (http://www.gdconf.com/)

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world's largest professionals-only game industry event. Presented every spring in San Francisco, it is the essential forum for learning, inspiration, and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, and online games. The GDC attracts over 16,000 attendees, and is the primary forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry. The GDC is produced by the CMP Game Group, a division of CMP

About CMP (http://www.cmp.com/)

CMP (http://www.cmp.com/) is a media and marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. With the leading online, event and print brands in all technology market categories, and with services and tools that reach beyond traditional advertising, CMP shapes and influences the technology industry worldwide. CMP publishes highly respected media brands such as TechWeb, InformationWeek, ChannelWeb, CRN, EE Times and TechOnline; produces major industry events such as Interop, Web 2.0 Expo, XChange, Game Developers Conference and the Embedded Systems Conferences; and provides business information and marketing services such as the International Customer Management Institute, Semiconductor Insights and Second Life consulting for technology marketers. CMP is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. For more CMP news, go to cmp.com/news.

SOURCE: CMP Game Group

CONTACT: Sibel Sunar, sibel@fortyseven.com, or Brian Rubin,
brian@fortyseven.com, both of fortyseven communications, +1-323-658-1200, for
CMP Game Group; or Loria Ryan of CMP Game Group, +1-415-947-6287,
lryan@cmp.com