At the British Oscars for video games, Wii Sports practically swept the awards by picking up six honours, including best sports game and best innovation. Bioshock won best overall game and poor PlayStation 3 was nowhere to be found on the winners list.
Digital Journal — At the British Academy Video Game Awards yesterday, Nintendo’s Wii Sports was the big winner, picking up six awards. It won for best overall game, as well as best gameplay, innovation, strategy, casual and multiplayer.
What’s the big deal about Wii Sports? As any Nintendo fan knows, the year-old Wii console features a wireless motion-sensitive controller resembling a remote that allows players to use it as a golf club, baseball bat or tennis racket. In the comfort of their living room, Wii owners can practice the same athletic moves they would use in a real game.
There were even several reports of Wii Sports players losing weight by playing the game over consecutive weeks.
Although Wii Sports was a champion in almost all its categories yesterday, it lost out in one of the most respected areas, best game. Taking home that prized trophy was BioShock, a gorgeous first-person shooter taking place in an underwater city. Most impressively, BioShock beat out Xbox 360’s Gears of War.
A significant absence in this British Academy Video Game Awards didn’t go unnoticed. No PlayStation 3 titles snagged any awards, even though PS2 was saluted with an award for Okami (artistic achievement, original score) and God of War 2 (best story and character, technical achievement). Does this mean PS3 titles need to step up their innovation and gameplay features in order to be recognized by the video game elite?
Like in the film Oscars, the awards for gaming may seem arbitrary. What one judge finds challenging, another finds simple. But these gaming awards at least celebrate the true innovation that Wii Sports boasts, which cannot go unrecognized in the gaming industry.
