GAME AUDIO NETWORK GUILD (G.A.N.G.) ANNOUNCES FINAL NOMINEES FOR 11TH ANNUAL G.A.N.G. AWARDS

Awards Ceremony to Take Place Thursday, March 28th, 2013 During Game Developers Conference in San Francisco


LOS ANGELES, CA – February 27th, 2013– The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), the non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio, is proud to announce the finalists for the 11th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards to honor outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in the world of interactive entertainment.

Voted and judged upon by the game audio industry and members of G.A.N.G., the finalists represent an array of the best audio in gaming from 2012. A 70 person Advisory Committee helps in deciding each of the final nominees which includes hundreds of hours of research, listening, watching, playing and discussing. The standouts for nominations this year include Journey with 7 nominations, Darkness II with 6, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Diablo III and Halo 4 with 5 nominations each and Far Cry 3 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss receiving 4.

(Full nominee list after the fold)…

Final voting has begun and the final winners are chosen by the entire membership of the G.A.N.G. organization. Over 2,500 people representing over 30 countries have signed up as members of G.A.N.G. since its inception in 2002. “This year’s G.A.N.G. award nominees continue to raise the bar, pushing creative boundaries, innovating in technology and delivering exceptional execution and production across all aspects of game audio,” said G.A.N.G. President Brian Schmidt. “With a record number of nominations this year, the G.A.N.G. awards provide an opportunity to put on display and recognize the incredible talent, skill and craft in our industry both to industry peers and the public at large. G.A.N.G. is proud to highlight these final nominees and their works as the best of our industry.”

The winners will be announced at the 11th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards ceremony being held on Thursday, March 28th, 2013 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA during the Game Developers Conference. The show will be recorded and edited for viewing via streaming on the Video Games Live Twitch.TV channel (http://www.twitch.tv/videogameslive). Game composers, sound designers and game audio professionals from around the world will be taking part in the stream to interact with viewers.
The complete list of nominees are as follows…


AUDIO OF THE YEAR

Diablo III

Far Cry 3

Halo 4

Journey

The Darkness II

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

MUSIC OF THE YEAR

FEZ

Journey

The Unfinished Swan

Wonderbook: Book of Spells

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR

Diablo III

Far Cry 3

Halo 4

Journey

The Darkness II

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM

Dear Esther

Halo 4

Journey

Mass Effect 3

The Unfinished Swan

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE

Diablo III

Journey

Sound Shapes

Starhawk

The Unfinished Swan

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO

Need for Speed Most Wanted

ORC: Vengeance

Ravensword: Shadowlands

Rayman Jungle Run

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

BEST AUDIO IN A CASUAL/INDIE/SOCIAL GAME

Deadlight

Dear Esther

Ghost Recon Commander

Globulous

Solitaire Blitz

The Unfinished Swan

BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO

Halo 4

Resident Evil 6

The Darkness II

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

BEST DIALOGUE

Diablo III

Fable: The Journey

Far Cry 3

The Darkness II

The Walking Dead

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL

“Apotheosis” – Journey

“Heart of Pandaria” – World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

“I Have Begun My Ascent” – Dear Esther

“Pigs In Space” – LittleBigPlanet 2: The Muppets

“Outcast Theme” – Starhawk

“The Unfinished Swan” – The Unfinished Swan

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL

“Angelus” – The Darkness II

“Incantation” – Diablo III

“Main Menu” – Halo 4

“Main Theme” – Assassin’s Creed III Liberation

“The Eored” – Riders of Rohan

“The Resistance Fighters” – Kinect Star Wars

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP

“Always” – Dear Esther

“I Was Born For This” – Journey

“Song of Liu Lang” – World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

“The Taking” – Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

“Try And Forget Me” – 1954: Alcatraz

BEST AUDIO MIX

Dragon’s Dogma

Far Cry 3

Planetside 2

Prototype 2

The Darkness II

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC

Kinect Star Wars

LittleBigPlanet Karting

MLB 12: The Show

Need for Speed Most Wanted

Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST

Adaptive Game Music: The Evolution and Future of Dynamic Music Systems in Video Games

All In The Mix – The Importance Of Real-Time Mixing In Video Game

Audio In Unity 101

How Loud Should It Be?

Meet Diablo III’s Sound Team

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria “Sounds of the Mists”

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to industry veteran Clint Bajakian. Clint started his game audio career in 1991 where he spent nearly 10 years at LucasArts working on their biggest franchises such as Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Maniac Mansion and Star Wars. From there he formed his own independent audio company for which he was involved in such franchises as Unreal, The Lord of the Rings, James Bond: 007, Bard’s Tale, Battlestar Galactica and others. In 2004 he joined Sony Computer Entertainment and was head of the music production group for their biggest projects such as God of War, Uncharted, SOCOM, Jak & Daxter, Heavy Rain and most recently, the Grammy nominated Journey.

Other presentations at the Awards Ceremony will include the Rookie of the Year award, the G.A.N.G. Recognition Awards, Student/Apprentice competition winners and the G.A.N.G. Distinguished Service Awards.