It isn't for the cold, hard cash, the groupies or the beanbag chairs that developers do it. The only motivation these pallid, penniless creatures need is to, once a year, eat their own weight in prawn vol-au-vents and shake hands with Jonathan Ross.
Which must mean that the fellows from Valve ascended to geek-heaven last night, as they got to greet the host of It's Only TV But I Like It, not once but six times.
For at the BAFTA Games Awards in London's glamorous Cafe Royal, Half-Life 2 scooped Best: Game, Action/Adventure, Online & Multiplayer, Animation, Art Direction and PC Game. Which is a pretty impressive haul and one bettered only by our constant pilfering from the buffet table.
The chaps from Criterion also made an impact with Burnout 3 ram-raiding three awards in the categories for Racing, Technical Direction and PS2 Game, while Halo 2 nicked the Xbox gong and Prince of Persia Warrior Within beat everything Nintendo produced in 2004 to 'do one' with the statuette for Gamecube Game.
And no sooner than the last spring roll was dispatched into our gullet, it was all over, except that GTA San Andreas, one of the biggest games of the year, was yet to claim one of the mini-masks of BAFTA.
So either to prevent them causing a scene with a concealed Uzi or to recognise their undoubted genius, Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies of Rockstar Games were given a BAFTA Special Award.
The full and controversial list of winners is below, ready for all manner of debating.
- Best Game Half-Life 2
- Best Racing Game Burnout 3 Takedown
- Best Sports Game Pro Evolution Soccer 4
- Best Action/Adventure Half-Life 2
- Best Online %26amp; Multiplayer Half-Life 2
- Best Handheld Game Colin McRae Rally 2005
- Best Animation Half-Life 2
- Best Technical Direction Burnout 3
- Best Art Direction Half-Life 2
- Best PC Game Half-Life 2
- Best Gamecube Game Prince of Persia Warrior Within
- Best PS2 Game Burnout 3
- Best Xbox Game Halo 2
- Best Mobile Game Blue Tooth Biplanes
- Best Audio Call of Duty Finest Hour
- Best Original Music Hitman Contracts
- Best Children's Game Donkey Konga
- BAFTA Special Award for outstanding contribution to the Games Industry Rockstar
- Sunday Times Readers' Award Football Manager 2005
