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    Game Critics Awards

    Concept »

    Since 1998, an independent group of about forty worldwide media outlets who determine the best games of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

    Short summary describing this concept.

    Game Critics Awards last edited by Marino on 06/01/21 08:19AM View full history

    Overview

    The Game Critics Awards are decided by an independent group of worldwide media outlets. They have selected the most promising games of each Electronic Entertainment Expo since 1998, and have thus become recognized as the most respected "Best of" awards that come out of the annual show. Games qualify for nomination by having hands-on playable versions of the game at the show. Games that are not available for play by the judges (i.e. shown only in trailers, announcements, or developer walkthroughs) do not qualify, but can still be considered for Special Commendations.

    Judges

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    As of E3 2019, there are sixty-five media outlets considered as judges for the awards. Included among these judges are:

    North America

    • ArsTechnica
    • CG Magazine
    • Easy Allies
    • Electric Playground
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • Forbes
    • Game Informer
    • GamesRadar
    • GameRanx
    • Gannett News
    • GameSpot
    • Giant Bomb
    • Hollywood Reporter
    • IGN
    • Kinda Funny
    • LA Times
    • Newsweek
    • PC Gamer
    • Polygon
    • ShackNews
    • US Gamer
    • VentureBeat
    • The Verge
    • Waypoint
    • What's Good Games

    International

    • Cultura Geek (Argentina)
    • Maditos Nerds (Argentina)
    • AusGamers (Australia)
    • Press Start (Australia)
    • Stevivor (Australia)
    • Omelete/The Enemy (Brazil)
    • Jovem Nerd (Brazil)
    • Voxel (Brazil)
    • A9VG (China)
    • GamerSky (China)
    • GameBlog (France)
    • JeuxVideo Magazine (France)
    • GamePro (Germany)
    • GameStar (Germany)
    • PCGames.de (Germany)
    • EveryEye.it (Italy)
    • Multiplayer.it (Italy)
    • 4Gamer (Japan)
    • EAA!! (Japan)
    • Famitsu (Japan)
    • Inven (Korea)
    • Atomix (Mexico)
    • Level Up (Mexico)
    • Saudi Gamer (Middle East)
    • True Gaming (Middle East)
    • Tec.com.pe (Peru)
    • GameCored (Peru)
    • GRY Online (Poland)
    • Hobbyconsolas (Spain)
    • Meristation (Spain)
    • Vandal.net (Spain)
    • EuroGamer (UK)
    • DailyStar (UK)
    • EDGE (UK)
    • GameReactor (UK)
    • Metro (UK)
    • PCGames N (UK)
    • UNILAD Gaming (UK)
    • VG 24/7 (UK)
    • GameByte (UK)

    Previous judges have included 1UP Network, 3DJuegos (Spain), AOL GameDaily, Associated Press, Business 2.0, CNN, Comcast Games, Destructoid, Digital Trends, EGM, The Escapist, Fortune, Game-Revolution, Gamer, Games for Windows Magazine, Giant, Glixel, Igromania, Joystiq, Kotaku, Machinima, Mashable, Nerdist, Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Penny Arcade Report, Play Magazine, Playboy, PSM, Revision3, Rolling Stone, San Jose Mercury News, SpieleTipps, SpikeTV, Sun Media, TIME Magazine, UGO, UOL Jogos (Brazil), USA Today, Variety, Vice, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Wenner Media, Wired, and Yahoo!

    Winners

    The Game Critics Awards co-chairmen, Aaron Loeb and Rob Smith, determine what categories will be open each year. After E3, the judges submit their top five nominees for each category and from those, official nominees are named. The judges then vote for their top pick in each category among those final nominations. In the event of a tie, the title with the most total nominations will break the tie.

    For a full list of nominations for each year, see the corresponding E3 page for that year.

    BEST OF SHOW

    BEST ORIGINAL GAME

    2002 Best Original Game
    2002 Best Original Game

    BEST CONSOLE GAME

    1998 Best Console Game
    1998 Best Console Game

    BEST PC GAME

    2003 Best PC Game
    2003 Best PC Game

    BEST HANDHELD / MOBILE GAME

    2005 Best Handheld Game
    2005 Best Handheld Game

    BEST PERIPHERAL / HARDWARE

    1999 Best Hardware
    1999 Best Hardware

    BEST ACTION GAME

    2007 Best Action Game
    2007 Best Action Game

    BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE GAME

    2008 Best Action/Adventure Game
    2008 Best Action/Adventure Game

    BEST FIGHTING GAME

    2000 Best Fighting Game
    2000 Best Fighting Game

    BEST INDEPENDENT / DOWNLOADABLE GAME

    BEST MOTION SIMULATION

    BEST ONLINE MULTIPLAYER

    1998 Best Online Multiplayer
    1998 Best Online Multiplayer

    BEST PLATFORMER

    BEST RACING GAME

    2004 Best Racing Game
    2004 Best Racing Game

    BEST ROLE PLAYING GAME

    2009 Best RPG
    2009 Best RPG

    BEST SIMULATION GAME

    2003 Best Simulation Game
    2003 Best Simulation Game

    BEST SOCIAL/FAMILY/CASUAL/PUZZLE/PARLOR GAME

    2001 Best Casual Game
    2001 Best Casual Game

    BEST SPORTS GAME

    2006 Best Sports Game
    2006 Best Sports Game

    BEST STRATEGY GAME

    2000 Best Strategy Game
    2000 Best Strategy Game

    BEST VR / AR GAME

    BEST ONGOING GAME

    SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR GRAPHICS

    1999 Graphics
    1999 Graphics

    SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR INNOVATION

    SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR SOUND

    BEST BOOTH

    BEST PARTY

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