Shadow of the Colossus has won several heavyweight plaudits at the Game Developers Conference Awards. Taking place on 22 March, the GDC awards are an opportunity to give recognition to games based on their quality rather than their popularity.

Colossus scooped four awards (Best Game, Character Design, Audio Design and Best Visual Arts). God of War, despite being nominated in six different categories, never got a look in. Kratos was unavailable for comment, mostly because we were a bit scared to ask.

Above: Shadow of the Colossus swept the board, possibly with a giant broom-sword

Tim Schafer's Psychonauts landed two well-deserved awards, for Best Writing and Best New Studio (Double Fine), while Nintendogs beat off Guitar Hero to win the Innovation and Best Technology categories. A handful of gaming goodies popped up throughout the nominations - Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Fahrenheit, Animal Crossing and Project Gotham Racing 3 - but couldn't stand up to the combined power of Nintendogs and the Colossus.