2011 Canadian Videogame Award finalists announced

One misconception about Canadians is that we spend our lives obsessing over hockey, guzzling superior beer and adding extra vowels to our words. This is simply not true – we do all that, and also make and play a ton of videogames. In honour (that's honour with a 'u') of this, the Canadian Videogame Awards are returning to Vancouver this May for a second year, and today its producers released the list of finalists vying for the 2011 cup.

Spread over twelve categories, the list of top Canadian made games are no surprise. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 are tied for the most nominations at seven apiece, and are competing for the coveted Best Canadian Made Game of the Year award against Dead Rising 2, FIFA Soccer 11, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction. Other well known titles up for recognition include Deathspank (Hothead Games,Vancouver), Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Beenox, Quebec City), and Shank (Klei Entertainment, Vancouver).

31 different games are represented in total, all of which are now open to public voting.

"I am unbelievably excited about the second annual Canadian Videogame Awards!" said Victor Lucas, one of the events founders, and creator, producer and co-host for the games and entertainment show Electric Playground. "So many videogames developed in our country over the last year were phenomenal; I think we're going to see a lot of great surprises this year! It's a great privilege to be able to show the videogame community how important it is to this country."

The 2nd Annual Canadian Videogame Awards take place May 18th at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver, just one day prior to the big Canadian Games Conference. It will feature a live presentation by Video Games Live and a slew of famous Canadian presenters. And yes, we have a slew of famous Canadian presenters. They also drink superior beer.

[Source: 2011 Canadian Videogame Awards]

Apr 15, 2011