Game Critics E3 Award nominees announced, BioShock Infinite and Uncharted 3 lead the pack

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Gaming press submit their choices for the big winners of E3 2011

The Game Critic E3 2011 Award nominees have been revealed, and it appears BioShock Infinite, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Batman: Arkham City are the titles that made the biggest splash with the gaming press at the latest E3 event in June. This list of 'best of' E3 hopefuls was compiled with input from 35 gaming publications across the industry (GR included), and includes numerous nods to Rocksteady, Irrational Games, and Naughty Dog's upcoming sequels, as well as recognition for other notable E3 titles; all which are up for one of 17 Game Critics Awards later this month.

Best of Show
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

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Best Original Game
Bastion (Supergiant Games/WB Games for PC, Xbox 360)
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/SCEA for PlayStation 3)
Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita)

Best Console Game
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PS3, Xbox 360)
Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/EA Games for PS3, Xbox 360)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PS3, Xbox 360)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PS3, Xbox 360)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Contre Jour (Mokus/Chillingo/EA for iPad, iPhone)
Mario Kart (Nintendo/Nintendo for 3DS)
Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita)
Super Mario (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo for 3DS)
Uncharted: Golden Abyss (SCE Bend Studio/Naughty Dog/SCEA for PSVita)

Best PC Game
Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA Games for PC)
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC)
End of Nations (Petroglyph Games/Trion Worlds for PC)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Bioware Austin/EA Games for PC)
Torchlight 2 (Runic Games/Perfect World for PC)

Best Hardware
PlayStation Vita (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Rocksmith (Ubisoft San Francisco/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Sony 3D Display (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Wii U (Nintendo)
Zoom for Kinect (Nyko)

Best Action Game
Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer/ATVI for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Prey 2 (Human Head Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
BioShock infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

Best Role Playing Game
Dark Souls (From Software/Namco Bandai Games for PS3, Xbox 360)
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Big Huge Games/38 Studios/EAP for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/EA for PC)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game
Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft Reflections/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Forza 4 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Mario Kart (Nintendo/Nintendo for 3DS)
Need for Speed:The Run (EA Black Box/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
Wipeout 2048 (Studio Liverpool/SCEE for PSVita)

Best Fighting Game
Skullgirls (Reverge Labs/Autumn Games for PS3, Xbox 360)
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition (Iron Galaxy Studios/Capcom for PS3, Xbox 360)
Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom/Capcom for PS3, Xbox 360, PSVita)
Soul Calibur V (Namco/Namco Bandai for PS3, Xbox 360)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Bandai Games for Arcade)
WWE 12 (Yuke's/THQ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 12 (EA Canada/EA Sportsfor PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Madden NFL 12 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NBA 2K12 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
SSX (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
UFC Undisputed 3 (Yuke's/THQ for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game
Age of Empires Online (Gas Powered Games/Microsoft Studios for PC)
End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC)
From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Skulls of the Shogun (Haunted Temple Studios for PC, Xbox 360)
Trenched(Double Fine/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)

Best Social/Casual Game
Dance Central2 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Disneyland Adventures(Frontier Developments/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Rocksmith (Ubisoft San Francisco/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Rhythm Heaven (TNX/Nintendo for Wii)
Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita)

Best Motion Simulation Game
Dance Central2 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Fruit Ninja Kinect (Halfbrick/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Double Fine Productions/WB Games for Xbox 360)
The Gunstringer (Twisted Pixel Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)

Best Online Multiplayer Game
Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer/ATVI for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/EA for PC)
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

Best Downloadable Game
Bastion (Supergiant Games/WB Games for PC, Xbox 360)
From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Fuelcell Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)
Journey (Thatgamecompany/SCEA for PlayStation 3)
Papo & Yo (Minority/SCEA for PlayStation 3)

The winners will be voted on by reps from participating game sites and magazines, with the winners to be revealed June 28th. In the meantime, let us know whichof theabove is on your 'must-have' list, or if one of your E3 picks got overlooked.

Jun 22, 2011

[Source:Game Critics Awards]

Matt Bradford

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.