Tonight, the games industry will be celebrating the finest titles of the past year at the 2011 GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. You can watch the whole event online at the Bafta website, and to get you in the mood, here are my predictions for each of the 16 categories. Feel free to provide your own suggestions, or simply mock mine.
Action
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BioShock 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Halo: Reach
Our prediction: Hmm, tricky. It could be any one of these (apart from Bioshock 2, possibly – but I could live to regret writing that). I think Call of Duty could take this as it's the most breathlessly action-packed of the collection.
Artistic Achievement
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2
Our prediction: I'm hoping LIMBO as it's such a singular work, or Heavy Rain as it creates a rich atmosphere (despite some dodgy voice acting and character animation). But Assassin's Creed with its astonishing recreation of renaissance Italy may just nick it.
Best Game
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
FIFA 11, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Our prediction: Ooh, tricky. Super Mario Galaxy 2 will surely be the choice for game design purists, with Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect running it close. I'll go with the plumber.
Family
The nominees: Dance Central, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Toy Story 3
Our prediction: It might not be the most obvious 'family' title here, but Dance Central is the best game on the list and should 'dance' away with the award.
Gameplay
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, God of War III, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Our prediction: What's the difference between best game and best gameplay? I don't get it. Super Mario Galaxy 2 again, methinks.
Handheld
The nominees: Cut the Rope, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Super Scribblenauts
Our prediction: Cut the Rope is lovely, but perhaps too 'casual'. God of War is also impressive but not really Bafta enough. I'm going for the delightful Super Scribblenauts.
Multiplayer
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Our prediction: This one depends very much on the voting criteria. Hot Pursuit adds a genuinely innovative feature with its Autolog, but the likes of Black Ops, Halo and Bad Company are much more immediate and visceral and, of course, highly populated, which is an extremely important factor. I think Treyarch will grab this one.
Original Music
The nominees: Alan Wake, Fable III, Heavy Rain, James Bond 007: Bloodstone, Mass Effect 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Our prediction: Could go anywhere. I'll opt for Fable III.
Social Network Game
The nominees: Bejeweled Blitz, Farmerama, FIFA Superstars, My Empire, Zoo Mumba, Zuma Blitz
Our prediction: Bejewelled Blitz for me, though My Empire and Zoo Mumba are interesting build-a-thons.
Sports
The nominees: F1 2010, FIFA 11, Football Manager 2011, Gran Turismo 5, International Cricket 2010, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Our prediction: It's surely FIFA vs Gran Turismo, and I'm going with EA Sports (though I'd love to see FM 2011 get it).
Story
The nominees: Alan Wake, BioShock 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fallout: New Vegas, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2
Our prediction: Heavy Rain's story is the most compelling, tricksy and shocking. Also, while Fallout is interesting and Mass Effect has a bit of depth, only Quantic Dream builds the entire structure of the experience and the gameplay interaction around the narrative.
Strategy
The nominees:Civilization V (2K Games/Firaxis)
Fallout: New Vegas, FIFA Manager 11, Napoleon Total War, Plants vs. Zombies XBLA, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Our prediction: Tough one. It's got to be Starcraft II or Civ V. I'll go for Starcraft, marginally a more complete and engrossing strategy offering, and great online.
Technical Innovation
The nominees: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, Kinectimals, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Our prediction: Well, Kinectimals could well get this thanks to its clever and thoughtful Kinect implementation. But on the game content alone, I'd go for Heavy Rain again – it's the only title here that tries to do something different with interface, and it makes gorund-breaking (if not always successful) use of full motion capture.
Use of Audio
The nominees: Alan Wake, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Battlefield: Bad Company: 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, DJ Hero 2, LIMBO
Our prediction: Alan Wake and LIMBO play with audio to create some creepy effects, but DJ Hero should get this – a lovely game that brilliantly captures the thrills of DJing.
BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital
The nominees: Mush, Sculpty, Twang
Our prediction: I'm hopelessly partisan here, but I think Mush should get it. Such a stylish, well-conceived and confident game from a group of students working on their very first title.
GAME Award of 2010
The nominees: Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dance Central, FIFA 11, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Our prediction: It's a toss up between Red Dead, Halo and Black Ops. I'll go for Red Dead as it's brilliant and voters may well respond to the fact that it is unavailable elsewhere on the night (as Rockstar did not submit the game for official voting).
Now what do you think?
