E3 06 Game Critics Award nominees revealed

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
- Elite Beat Agents -- (Inis/Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
- Guitar Hero 2 -- (Harmonix/Red Octane for PlayStation 2)
- LocoRoco -- (SCEJ/Sony Computer Entertainment for PSP)
- Lumines II -- (Q Entertainment/Buena Vista Games for PSP)
- WarioWare: Smooth Moves -- (Nintendo for Wii)

Best Online Multiplayer Game
- Battlefield 2142 -- (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts for PC)
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars -- (Splash Damage/id/Activision for PC)
- Gears of War -- (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
- Huxley -- (Webzen for PC/Xbox 360)
- World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade -- (Blizzard for PC)

Nominations breakdown:

Five Nominations: Gears of War

Four Nominations: Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Spore

Three Nominations: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, LocoRoco

Two Nominations: Crysis, Elite Beat Agents, Hellgate: London, Madden NFL 07, Mass Effect, Nintendo Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Supreme Commander, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

Publisher Breakdown
(Plus Trend Analysis Over Past 3 Years)

13 Nominations: Nintendo-- (+1 from 2005, +2 from 2004, +7 from 2003)

11 Nominations: Electronic Arts-- (-5 from 2005, Same as 2004, +5 from 2003)

10 Nominations: Sony Computer Entertainment-- (+2 from 2005 and 2004, +4 from 2003)

9 Nominations: Microsoft-- (+1 from 2005, Same from 2004, -4 from 2003)

6 Nominations: Take Two Interactive-- (+3 from 2005, +6 from 2004 and 2003)

5 Nominations: THQ -- (+4 from 2005, +2 from 2004, +1 from 2003)

4 Nominations: Activision -- (Same as 2005, -2 from 2004, -3 from 2003); Ubisoft-- (+3 from 2005, Same as 2004, +2 from 2003)

3 Nominations: Namco Bandai -- (Same as 2005); Vivendi Games-- (Same as 2005, -2 from 2004, -5 from 2003)

2 Nominations: Atari -- (+1 from 2005); Sega -- (Same as 2005)

Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.