Billboard Awards Gaming's Best

Billboard magazine announced its winners.

In an award show held in Los Angeles last week, Billboard magazine announced the winners of its Digital Entertainment Awards. Much like the UK Golden Joystick Awards held last week in London, the Billboard awards reflect an industry in top form and with eclectic content coming from a variety of publishers and developers.

Sony's EyeToy was a winner at the latest awards.

BioWare was chosen as the game developer of the year, amid a flurry of strong releases including Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights as well as the upcoming Jade Empire.

"This award is truly a testament to the hard work of our entire staff, comprised of the most talented, creative, and original people in the world. This award recognizes their fantastic efforts over the last few years," said BioWare co-CEO Dr. Greg Zeschuck.

NCsoft, meanwhile, picked up two awards for its recent comic-themed MMORPG City Of Heroes. The game beat out strong competition to take the PC Or Console Game Of The Year and Multiplayer Game Of The Year awards.

"This recognition for our first title in front of the elites in the entertainment industry is a tremendous honour and is a testament to the hard work that went into developing City of Heroes," said Jack Emmert, City of Heroes' lead designer and creative director at Cryptic Studios.

"This is a very pleasant surprise, considering we are the new kid-on-the-block going up against other well-established games and big-name companies."

The full list of winners and runners-up from last week's award ceremony is presented below.

• Game Innovation of the Year
  Winner: EyeToy, (Dr. Richard Marks and SCEA)
  Runners-up: Doom 3 (Activision); Nintendo DS; Qualcomm's Brew

• PC or Console Game of the Year
  Winner: City of Heroes (NCsoft)
  Runners-up: Prince of Persia (Ubisoft); Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (LucasArts and BioWare); Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Ubisoft)

• Handheld Game of the Year
  Winner: Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga (Nintendo)
  Runners-up: Astro Boy: Omega Factor (Sega); Jamdat Bowling 2 (Jamdat Mobile); Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (Gameloft)

• Web/Downloadable Game of the Year
  Winner: Shroomz: Quest for Puppy (Game Trust)
  Runners-up: Chappelle's Show Skate Bored Game (Comedy Central); Feeding Frenzy (Sprout Games); Jewel Quest (iWin)

• Multiplayer Game of the Year
  Winner: City of Heroes (NCsoft)
  Runners-up: Socom II: U.S. Navy Seals (SCEA); Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Ubisoft); Unreal Tournament 2004 (Atari)

• Game Developer of the Year
  Winner: BioWare
  Runners-up: Maxis, EA, Pandemic Studios, Ubisoft Montreal

• Best Character in a Game
  Winner: Link from Legend Of Zelda (Nintendo)
  Runners-up: Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (VU Games); Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Ubisoft); True Crime: Streets Of LA (Activision)

• Best Use of Sound in a Game
  Winner: True Crime: Streets Of LA (Activision)
  Runners-up: DOOM 3 (Activision); Freedom Fighters (EA); Tony Hawk's Underground (Activision)

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games