19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

Noodles

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Feb 28, 2011
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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences today announced nominations for the 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, hosted by comedian, podcaster, voice actor and cartoonist Pete Holmes. Academy members begin voting for the video game industry’s premier peer-based awards show Thursday, January 14th at 3 PM PST; the winners will be revealed at the Awards ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 18, at The Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas at the conclusion of the 2016 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit.

This year, the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony will honor the late Satoru Iwata as its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Also being honored this year as the Hall of Fame recipient is Hideo Kojima, world-renowned game creator and auteur recognized for the best-selling Metal Gear series.

The D.I.C.E. Awards nominees:

GAME OF THE YEAR
Bloodborne
Fallout 4
Ori and the Blind Forest
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GAME DIRECTION

Fallout 4
Life is Strange
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Undertale

ADVENTURE GAME OF THE YEAR
Batman: Arkham Knight
Life is Strange
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Ori and the Blind Forest
Rise of the Tomb Raider

ACTION GAME OF THE YEAR
Destiny: The Taken King
Helldivers
Just Cause 3
Star Wars Battlefront
Splatoon

MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
Dominations
Fallout Shelter
Lara Croft GO
Pac-Man 256
The Room Three

DICE SPRITE AWARD
Her Story
Galak-Z
Kerbal Space Program
Rocket League
Undertale

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ANIMATION
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Batman: Arkham Knight
Ori and the Blind Forest
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The Order: 1886

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Lara Croft Go
Ori and the Blind Forest
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The Order: 1886
Star Wars Battlefront

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHARACTER
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Evie Frye
Her Story, Hannah Smith
Life is Strange, Max
Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Geralt of Rivia

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSITION
Batman: Arkham Knight
Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture
Ori and the Blind Forest
Starcraft II: Legacy Of The Void
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND DESIGN
Destiny: The Taken King
Ori and the Blind Forest
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Star Wars Battlefront
The Order: 1886

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN STORY
Fallout 4
Her Story
Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Just Cause 3
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Star Wars Battlefront
The Order: 1886
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

FAMILY GAME OF THE YEAR
Guitar Hero Live
LEGO Dimensions
Rock Band 4
Super Mario Maker
Tearaway Unfolded

FIGHTING GAME OF THE YEAR
Mortal Kombat X
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Rising Thunder

RACING GAME OF THE YEAR
Forza Motorsport 6
Need for Speed
Project CARS

ROLE-PLAYING/MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
Bloodborne
Fallout 4
Pillars of Eternity
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Undertale

SPORTS GAME OF THE YEAR
FIFA 2016
Madden NFL 2016
MLB 15 The Show
NBA 2K16
Rocket League

STRATEGY/SIMULATION GAME OF THE YEAR
Cities: Skylines
Fallout Shelter
Grey Goo
Heroes of the Storm
Kerbal Space Program

HANDHELD GAME OF THE YEAR
Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space
Helldivers
Pokemon: Super Mystery Dungeon
Yo-Kai Watch

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ONLINE GAMEPLAY
Destiny: The Taken King
Halo 5: Guardians
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Rocket League
Splatoon

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GAME DESIGN
Fallout 4
Her Story
Lara Croft GO
Massive Chalice
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
 

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I don't know why Life is Strange is getting nominated so heavily.There is no way anything in that game was life changing.Seems like the game the industry want's to push them for some reason, so i'm guessing either there is some girl on girl action or some kinda gender talk going on.

I expect The witcher to clean up in most of the category's it's in, but the order will win best animation.
 
I don't know why Life is Strange is getting nominated so heavily.There is no way anything in that game was life changing.Seems like the game the industry want's to push them for some reason, so i'm guessing either there is some girl on girl action or some kinda gender talk going on.

I expect The witcher to clean up in most of the category's it's in, but the order will win best animation.
I'm yet to play Life is Strange (getting it at the end of the this month), so can't really comment... but I imagine it has a great story more than anything. I know @tridon highly recommends it as it was his favourite game of 2015, and he's a man I trust, so I certainly look forward to playing it!

I haven't played the majority of the games that have been nominated, but I expect Fallout 4 and/or The Witcher to win in quite a few of those categories. I'd like to see Star Wars: Battlefront win one or two as well, especially for sound design. Not that I've played it, but seeing Rocket League win over the more serious sports games would be cool to see too lol.
 
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I'm yet to play Life is Strange (getting it at the end of the this month), so can't really comment... but I imagine it has a great story more than anything. I know @tridon highly recommends it as it was his favourite game of 2015, and he's a man I trust, so I certainly look forward to playing it!

I haven't played the majority of the games that have been nominated, but I expect Fallout 4 and/or The Witcher to win in quite a few of those categories. I'd like to see Star Wars: Battlefront win one or two as well, especially for sound design. Not that I've played it, but seeing Rocket League win over the more serious sports games would be cool to see too lol.

Life is Strange is a beautiful little game. It may not be the prettiest, but it's extremely addictive. Max and Chloe are two very real characters and you become quite attached to them throughout the butterfly effect clusterf*ck of a story. And when I say that, don't think that I'm hating on the story because I'm not. It weaves in and out through time wonderfully, pretty much leaving you clueless to where things will go... and when you finally arrive at the final destination, you're left with an extremely difficult choice that makes you question what you would do yourself in that same situation. Told over five episodes, Life is Strange is basically a TellTale game, but one with a hell of a lot less bugs. The dialogue can become a little cheesy and drawn out at times, but being that developer Dontnod is a French developer, maybe some of it sounded better in their own tongue when it was originally written. Either way, Life is Strange was an amazing experience. It hooked me in an emotional sense and if that's what you're setting out for, you'll enjoy it, too. Personally, I don't have 100+ hours to play games anymore and I'm rather tired of open world games where you spend half your time just travelling, so this is easily my favourite game of 2015.
 
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Life is Strange is a beautiful little game. It may not be the prettiest, but it's extremely addictive. Max and Chloe are two very real characters and you become quite attached to them throughout the butterfly effect clusterf*ck of a story. And when I say that, don't think that I'm hating on the story because I'm not. It weaves in and out through time wonderfully, pretty much leaving you clueless to where things will go... and when you finally arrive at the final destination, you're left with an extremely difficult choice that makes you question what you would do yourself in that same situation. Told over five episodes, Life is Strange is basically a TellTale game, but one with a hell of a lot less bugs. The dialogue can become a little cheesy and drawn out at times, but being that developer Dontnod is a French developer, maybe some of it sounded better in their own tongue when it was originally written. Either way, Life is Strange was an amazing experience. It hooked me in an emotional sense and if that's what you're setting out for, you'll enjoy it, too. Personally, I don't have 100+ hours to play games anymore and I'm rather tired of open world games where you spend half your time just travelling, so this is easily my favourite game of 2015.
Well, if I wasn't sold before, then I definitely am now! Can't wait to check it out for myself. :)

I'm very happy to see the soundtrack for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture on there. Best video game score of 2015.
I agree 100%. Got my eye on the vinyl version of the soundtrack... just waiting for the price to drop a little.
 
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Which game would you vote for in each category?

I probably won't necessary agree with some of the winners (I'd love to see Life is Strange win something big -- and everybody seems to be all about the interactive movie Her Story this year), but this is who I think will win...

GAME OF THE YEAR
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GAME DIRECTION

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

ADVENTURE GAME OF THE YEAR
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

ACTION GAME OF THE YEAR
Star Wars Battlefront

MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
No clue.

DICE SPRITE AWARD
Rocket League

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ANIMATION
The Order: 1886

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Rise of the Tomb Raider

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHARACTER
Her Story, Hannah Smith

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSITION
Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND DESIGN
Star Wars Battlefront

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN STORY
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

FAMILY GAME OF THE YEAR
LEGO Dimensions

FIGHTING GAME OF THE YEAR
Mortal Kombat X

RACING GAME OF THE YEAR
Forza Motorsport 6

ROLE-PLAYING/MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

SPORTS GAME OF THE YEAR
No clue.

STRATEGY/SIMULATION GAME OF THE YEAR
Probably Fallout Shelter, but I don't know enough about this category.

HANDHELD GAME OF THE YEAR
Helldivers

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ONLINE GAMEPLAY
Splatoon

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GAME DESIGN
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
 
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