This year’s standouts for nominations include Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception with 9 nominations. Other games nominated in several categories include Battlefield 3, L.A. Noire, Portal 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Nominees listed below will be judged upon by the game audio industry and members of G.A.N.G.
The final nominees for this year’s 10th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards:
AUDIO OF THE YEAR
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Dead Space 2
Gears of War 3
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Batman: Arkham City
InFamous 2
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
L.A. Noire
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
Battlefield 3
Forza Motorsport 4
Gears of War 3
NCAA Football 12
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Batman: Arkham City
Dead Space 2
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Dead Space 2
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
Death Rally HD
Infinity Blade II
Monster Hunter 3G
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Super Mario 3D Land

BEST AUDIO IN A CASUAL/INDIE/SOCIAL GAME
Bastion
Conspiracy
Monday Night Combat
Orcs Must Die
Star Wars: Clone War Adventures
WindUp Knight

BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Crysis 2
Gears of War 3
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST DIALOGUE
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
L.A. Noire
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
“Lacrimosa” – Dead Space 2
“Main Theme” – Deus Ex: Human Revolution
“GameWrapper” – Kinect Disneyland Adventures
“Pirate Dance” – Kinectimals Gold
“Glory, The Galactic Republic” – Star Wars: The Old Republic
“Small Beginnings” – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL
“Main Theme” – Batman: Arkham City
“Storm Clouds Over Stalingrad” – Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
“Guardians Theme” – RIFT
“Clash of Destiny” – Star Wars: The Old Republic
“Main Theme” – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP
“Rogue Heart”  – Dragon Age II
“Torched Song” – L.A. Noire
“Victoria’s Lab” – LittleBigPlanet 2
“Wabby Wabbo” – Plants Vs. Zombies (PS3/XBOX360)
“Want You Gone” – Portal 2
“Kayfoundo Naweea (Hungry Eyes)” – Star Wars: The Old Republic

BEST AUDIO MIX
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Crysis 2
L.A. Noire
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
LittleBigPlanet 2
MLB 11: The Show
Rocksmith
Shift 2: Unleashed – Need for Speed
Stacking

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
Designing the Boot Sound for the Original XBOX
Game Developer Magazine – “Three Erroneous Conceits”
Mixing as Part of the Music Composing Process
Sound Effects Transformation: From This to That
The Use of Voice in Portal 2

Other awards to be presented during the ceremony include Rookie of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, the G.A.N.G. Recognition Awards, Student/Apprentice competition winners and the G.A.N.G. Distinguished Service Awards.

The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) is a non-profit organization established to educate the masses in regards to interactive audio by providing information, instruction, resources, guidance and enlightenment not only to its members, but to content providers and listeners throughout the world. G.A.N.G. empowers its members by establishing resources for education, business, technical issues, community, publicity and recognition. G.A.N.G. also supports career development for aspiring game audio professionals, publishers, developers and students.

In case you’re feeling a bit brain-wiped by all this pressure, I’m here to help. Here are six ways you could express yourself, and two of them are even free!

• Get your Mass Effect 3 on: The demo for Mass Effect 3 is going to be released on Valentine’s Day. You can stay in together and experience a few missions of the new adventure together. Or, if you’re in a long distance relationship, you can go through the multiplayer portion of the demo and help the one you love fight the Reapers.
• Celebrate the debut of otome in America: Aksys is releasing the very first English language translation of an otome (girl’s dating game) in North America on Valentine’s Day! Grab a copy of Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (PSP) and help her choose her own romantic adventure. The standard version is $29.99 and the collector’s edition, which also includes a CD soundtrack and artbook, is $39.99.
• Take an arrow in the heart: ThinkGeek has just started selling Skyrim-inspired shirts for men and women that say, “I used to be a player, then I took an arrow in the heart.” Aww! This would make a great gift for a gamer you love. The men’s shirt costs between $16.99-$18.99, depending on size, while the women’s shirt is $19.99.
• Did somebody say cake?: The cake may have been an unobtainable tease in Portal, but it doesn’t have to be in your loved ones life. Get yourself a square cake pan, some cake mix, grey and pink frosting and bake a Companion Cube shaped cake for the one you love. It will be delicious and moist. Plus, you’ll probably get to have a piece of it too!
• Nibble on some candied zombie brains together: I know, there’s already one ThinkGeek item on the list, but the Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons with Cherry Brains were too good to pass up. For $9.99 you get a box of six dark-chocolate bon bons shaped like zombie heads. Inside are cherry brains. Some of the bon bons even have breaks in them so you can see the “brains” oozing out. Yum!
• Get married… virtually: Hop onto your favorite MMO with a marriage system in place and show the one you love that, at the very least, your avatars will be together forever. It’s a nice gesture, might help get your non-MMO playing significant other into the game so you have something else to enjoy together and means you’ll probably get some kind of stat bonuses for your character!

Image Source: Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bon picture taken from ThinkGeek

Sir Benfro’s Brilliant Balloon is a simple game, for $0.99, but still maintains a fun factor. You control Sir Benfro’s Ballon, powered by fireflies, and try to get to the end of each level as you discover new and awesome creatures. The challenge is reaching the end of the level while collecting fireflies to keep your ballon powered and keeping a safe distance from the curious creatures you discover.

It’s been a while since a racing game has made the list, let alone a FREE racing game. Rogue Racing lets you create and customize a racing machine worthy of the speed barriers you are about to break. Choose from an abundance of parts and ground effects and take the race to the streets, time-attack trials, or the extreme elimination mode all while listening to your personal iTunes music.

Another simple game for $0.99, Fly With Me has you tapping to stay alive and in the air as you try to make it the other side of the level while feeding your bird gullet with bees. Doesn’t sound appetizing to me but then again I am not a bird. Shoot for a perfect score on each level, work to unlock Robot Bird, and take flight in the challenge modes.

Site: [GLU Games] Site: [Electronic Arts]

As much as I love the works of HP Lovecraft, I could never get into the tabletop game. Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is based on said tabletop game but perhaps is more accessible for people like me. It’s turn-based, yet strategic role playing that has you take on the ancient beings with a ragtag group of your choosing. Fight for both your sanity and humanity in this $4.99 adventure.

Shogun brings danmaku (bullet-hell), a sorely lacking genre on the iPad, to the iPad as a free download. Test out the first mission and if you like what you play, you can buy additional missions. If you’ve never played a SHMUP before, the idea is simple the execution is not – dodge bullets, shoot for the high score.

Terra Noctis: Free Dreaming does what it can to play on the retro platforming heart strings. With promises of goodies and baddies, puzzles and 4 worlds to explore, Terra Noctis takes it a step further and adds a dreamy art style and “atmospheric music” to enhance the experience. Collect fairies to upgrade your weapon and buy useful items or just collect hats… yes HATs, a fashionable accessory to throw those epic baddies for a loop. Did I mention all this is FREE?

Available now for $1.99, Soul Tamer KiKi HD pits you in the role of Kiki, an aspiring hero, on the search for her parents who disappeared fighting the Demon King. To help in your quest capture, train, and maintain relationships with the creatures of the world. Create your own weapons and armor, make your own items through cooking and experimenting with ingredients and so on. It’s pretty much a game you’ll want to sink a lot of time into which is great considering the price.

Site [Red Wasp Design] Site [int13] Site [Everplay Interactive]

Jurassic Park: The Game 3 HD continues the story as the group escapes the tunnels only to run into betrayal, raptors and, of course, this guy: T-Rex. I believe Alan Grant was the one who said if you cross a T-Rex don’t move, right? At $6.99 I might take that advice but if you’ve come this far might as well see it through…

If you don’t feel like running from dinosaurs there’s always Breakout®: Boost+ for $0.99. With 100 levels, Game Center and Open Feint support, better graphics and plenty of power ups (missiles!), this version of the classic arcade game is sure to keep you busy for awhile competing for high scores against your friends and yourself.

Take your basic strategy defense game, give it 50 stages, upgrades, a hero system, and 3 different game modes and you have Fantasy Defense Plus. At $2.99 it’s probably one of the most fleshed out defense games I’ve seen yet. Fusing RPG and defense concepts makes for an interesting twist on the genre and a good way to kill time.

The not-so-dynamic duo return in Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Ep 1 available for $6.99. However this case will hit home for a lot of us. The legendary evil-doer is creating havoc for Christmas and it’s the team to stop none other than… Santa Claus? Still undecided? Did I mention there’s a torture-me-Elmer?

It’s about time I get to write this game is available. Baseball Superstars® 2012 has arrived and a great price – FREE. It’s been a long time coming for iPad gamers; the last entry we had was Baseball Superstars 2010 HD. Too long Gamevil. This edition brings updated modes, HD graphics, smart controls, Game Center support and more. Did I mention it is free?

Site: [Gamevil] Site: [TellTale]

Think you could’ve made that kick a certain Baltimore Raven missed? Then put up in NFL Flick Kicker for $0.99. Make field goals, place kicks, kick offs in 5 different game modes and who knows, maybe you can teach a that certain Raven’s kicker a thing or two. Level up your kicker, read NFL news, and acquire Game Center achievements as well.

RaonDefenders is a strategy defense game for $1.99 and blah blah blah. You’ve heard this all before. What RaonDefenders does differently is it allows you to manipulate your heroes and summon towers to defend. Use the landscape and your mental prowess to annihilate the marching enemies.

Who says bunnies always have to be cute and cuddly? Sometimes bunnies like to try and eat your brains too. At least Zombie Bunnies do. $0.99 allows you to take control of Dr. Hare’s evil ship and his zombie bunny army to terrorize citizens. Randomly generated levels, 32 achievements, leaderboards, and you know, the bunny army make this a must buy for fans of cartoon and senseless violence.

What happens when the world breaks out in a zombie apocalypse and the hero is on vacation? Apparently you get the call instead. One Epic Game for $0.99 pits you in that exact situation as you jump into the fray and take on the zombie hordes as any action hero would. There’s three game modes to destroy and rewards to unlock so what are you waiting for?

If you were ever thrown off by a dungeon crawling games graphics and serious sense of humor then Dungeon Crawlers is for. Guide the alchemist, the druid, the warrior, and the dwarf in their search for “loot, women, and monsters to crush”. Featuring turn-based combat, 12 levels, a comedic story, boss battles, and everyone’s favorite achievements, you’d be hard pressed to find a more fun adventure for $1.99.

Site [Ayopa Games] Site [Chillingo] Site [Full Fat Games]

This week’s best bet is: A Sirius Game (Windows)

Mahjong: Legacy of the Toltecs
Genre: Mahjong
Availability: Big Fish Games, GameHouse
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP or better
Premise: Match Mahjong tiles to find an artifact.
Demo Available: Yes

Three Musketeers Secret: Constance’s Mission
Genre: Hidden Object
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP or better
Premise: Help Constance the maid works as a maid and assist the queen and three musketeers in secret by finding missing objects and spotting differences in pictures.
Demo Available: Yes

Spooky Mall
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows XP or better
Premise: Manage five stores for ghosts and monsters.
Demo Available: Yes

A Sirius Game
Genre: Strategy
Availability: Over Cloud 9, Amaranth
Retail Price: $12.99
Platform: Windows XP or better
Premise: Sirius has been kicked out of his home, and now has to make the most of his life. He can become good, learning and growing as a person, or seek out revenge against his family. He goes out and gets himself a boat, becoming a pirate or a good man.
Demo Available: Yes

Otherworld: Spring of Shadows Collector’s Edition
Genre: Hidden Object
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $13.99
Platform: Windows XP or better and Mac 10.4 or better
Premise: A shadow wisked away Fiona to another world, and now that you have a magic locket you can go after her and save her. The collector’s edition includes extra puzzles, a strategy guide and wallpapers.
Demo Available: Yes

Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart Collector’s Edition
Genre: Hidden Object
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $13.99
Platform: Windows XP or better
Premise: Viggo and Christine escaped the Vansigs, only now Viggo’s been kidnapped again. You have to help Christine find him. The collector’s edition includes extra puzzles, a strategy guide and wallpapers.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

I haven’t played any fighting games on my iPad yet. I bough Street Fighter IV for it and it has just been looking at me in the face like “cmon already!”. It’s just, the idea of fighting games on the iPad seems wonky to me. I just don’t want buyers remorse you know? I only bring this up because of our first game on this week’s update:

Through destiny and blah blah blah comes SOULCALIBUR on the iOS platform. Oh yes, now you can relieve the classic arcade and Dreamcast fighting game on your iOS devices for the rather pricey $11.99. Included are 19 characters, an arcade, time attack, survival, and extra survival modes. Admittedly, as much as I like the Soul Calibur games, I’m leery on this one. A virtual fighting game pad on a 3D fighting game doesn’t sound like it makes the most awesome combination but I could be wrong.

Not into fighting games or just not into paying $12 dollars for an iOS game? Then here’s ASH II: Shadows Gold Edition for $4.99. It’s an RPG as you can see with a story of adventure and quests as you help Damien and others save the world of Aghaus. There are two versions of the game, one is just this chapter and the gold edition (the one we are listing) is the version that will give you all future update for free.

Or if you need something a little more fast paced, there’s Battleland: Honor of Arena HD for $0.99. What you get here is a castle defense game with 6 unit types, 24 skills, and a 100 levels to test your strategizing skills in an effort to save the princess for the Demon king.

Ever since Angry Birds I have noticed a disturbing trend of adjectives and animal names as app titles. Take Ninja Chicken 3: The Runner for example. OK, it’s probably just a coincidence. Anyway, this game will run you $0.99 and has you controlling two ninja chickens as they fight to retrieve their stolen treasure from the samurai pig. What? Sounds like a perfectly sound plot to me.

JAZZ: Trump’s journey takes you into the heart of New Orleans and Jazz as you play through the memories of Trump. Trump is a jazz musician trying to make his way in the world by forming, chasing Lady Poppy, and dealing with injustice. It’s an odd setting and story for a platforming game but I suppose that’s what makes it unique and worth the $2.99.

Alright, our last game this week is definitely apt for that Angry Birds comparison. Greedy Penguins has you getting fishes into specific penguins mouths. Poor fishes. But that’s the break for being delicious I guess, accept not every penguin likes the same type of fish. Use whatever you can find to make sure each greedy penguin is stuffed with their preferred meal. Work across three environments to unlock bonuses and solve each puzzle.

So CES 2012 has come and gone with little to do with the iPad. Sure, there were some neat accessories but I’m still not convinced to play Espgaluda 2 on my iPad on an iCade setup. Sorry guys. But I would be glad to play Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time! on my iPad the normal, more proper way. Niceville has been overrun by zombies and it’s up to you and Chuck to time travel and stop them. Head back to Egypt, Japan, and other locations to kick some zombie butt for the modest price of $0.99.

It’s $1.99 but Run Roo Run HD looks immensely fun. 420 platforming adventure levels – plus more coming every week, leaderboards, GameCenter support, all to help a mother kangaroo find her captured child.

When you imagined a Woody Woodpecker game what did you imagine? Yep so did we, Woody Woodpecker is racing game available for $0.99. Choose from five characters and join the wacky racing fun either on your own or in the multiplayer.

It’s been awhile since we had a point-and-click adventure game but here we are – Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World HD. The priciest game of the week is also sure to be one of the funniest ones. Follow the adventures of Space Police officer Kaptain Brawe as he tracks down two missing scientists over four planets. Did we mention GameCenter support and space pirates?