The stars of the portable gaming world celebrated at lavish ceremony
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Exploding champagne bottles couldn’t drown out the fact Pocket Gamer has unveiled the winners of the site’s 2012 awards at a special event at GDC in San Francisco last night, made possible thanks to sponsors iDreamSky, CocoaChina, GREE, and FreeAppaDay.
Judged by the PG team and a selection of respected industry figures, the awards cover a number of key categories across the iPhone/iPod touch, Android, Windows Phone, Java, iPad, 3DS, DS/DSi and PSP formats, and reflect the very best of portable gaming to have emerged during last year. That meant contemplating the merits of over 700 titles (anything reviewed onPocket Gamer between January 1st and December 31st, 2011 qualified) in order to settle on a shortlist.
The winners were then selected following the kind of strict democratic process that Russians might find hard to fathom, and applied to the list of finalists revealed in early February. The overall quality of both the winners and all nominees showcases what an excellent year for portable gaming 2011 turned out to be.
One key difference in approach for this year’s event is the fact that the team deliberately opened up the categories across the entire range of formats the site covers. Equally, handheld titles were no longer segregated as in previous years, because PG genuinely believes that there is no longer a distinction to be made – from a technical, creative, and thematic perspective, smartphone games can now proudly stand bit-to-bit next to their historically superior cousins.
The resulting selection is evidence of this, spanning a broad range of titles: from the instant, yet fiendishly layered gratification of Jetpack Joyride, the unexpected joy of Mr Karoshi, or the dangerously addictive nature of Where’s My Water, to the innovation of Superbrothers: Swrod & Sworcery, the strategic supremacy of Carcassonne, and the firmly established royalty of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – to name but a few.
Yet it’s not just games. Developers and publishers also get recognition, with Halfbrick Studios and Chillingo also going home with a shiny glass trophy.
You’ll find the full list of winners (together with the nominations) here:http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/pgawards2012.asp
