The 5th annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Science Awards were held on February 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Nintendo won 3 awards:

Children's Title of the Year - Mario Party 3

Hand-Held Game of the Year - Advance Wars

Innovation in Console Gaming - Pikmin

Full press release below...

ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF FIFTH ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

March 2, 2002, LAS VEGAS - The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) announced today the recipients of its 5th annual Interactive Achievement Awards. The awards were presented at a gala event held in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on February 28, the first evening of the Academy's inaugural D.I.C.E. Summit. Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX), developed by Bungie, garnered four awards, including the top honor of overall Game of the Year.

Computer Game of the Year honors went to Black & White, developed by Lionhead Studios. Halo: Combat Evolved received the award for Console Game of the Year.

"The Interactive Achievement Awards and the D.I.C.E. Summit help promote artistic aspects of our industry through the recognition of creative accomplishment and exploration of new creative possibilities," said Academy President Paul Provenzano. "We congratulate all of the finalists and winners, who continue to advance this exciting industry."

The Academy presented Interactive Achievement Awards in 29 craft, console, computer and online categories. The Academy also honored Will Wright, creator of SimCity and The Sims and co-founder of Maxis, inducting him into the Academy Hall of Fame. In keeping with Academy tradition, John Carmack, last year's Hall of Fame inductee and founder and technical director of id Software, returned to make the presentation.

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, who stars as "Spence" on The King of Queens on CBS and has appeared in such feature films as Man on the Moon, Zoolander, and Magnolia, hosted the 5th annual awards. Also on hand for the award event was an all-star lineup of gaming industry guest presenters and special guests from the television, film, music and sports industries, including: Resident Evil Director Paul Anderson, Cliff Bleszinkski of Epic Games, motocross champion Mike Cinqmars, Richard Garriott of Destination Games, X-Files star Dean Haglin, Richard Hilleman of Electornic Arts, Academy Chair Don James of Nintendo of America, pro-surfer Veronica Kay, Lorne Lanning of Oddworld Inhabitants, American McGee of Carbon6 Entertainment, Sid Meier of Firaxis Games, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Dr. Ray Muzyka of BioWare Corp., Ted Price of Insomniac Games, V.I.P's Natalie Raitano, kickboxing champion Lucia Rijker, Jason Rubin of Naughty Dog, Jez San of Argonaut Games, George Sanger of Big Fat Inc., Steven Schirripa from the The Sopranos, visual director of Tron Richard Taylor, and musical guest The X-ecutioners.

The 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and the D.I.C.E. Summit were presented with the support sponsors including Electronic Arts, Infogrames, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Alias/Wavefront, THQ Inc., and Ziff Davis Media.

"The sold out inaugural launch of the D.I.C.E. Summit as the new home of the Interactive Achievement Awards allows the Academy to create an intimate environment where the game industry can celebrate creative accomplishments in the interactive art form and exchange information and ideas about the process of creating great games," said Provenzano.

The Academy voting process begins with peer panel review boards made up of Academy members with specific expertise in each of the categories to determine the finalists for each of the awards. Each peer panel member reviewed the submissions in his or her category and then met in person, online, or by telephone conference call to consider the nominees with their respective review boards. Final balloting, overseen and certified by PricewaterhouseCoopers, took place online by a vote of eligible AIAS members. Membership in AIAS is open to all qualified individuals working in the interactive software entertainment industry.

FIFTH ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS - RECIPIENTS

I. CRAFT AWARDS

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
ICO (Play Station 2) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./Sony Computer Entertainment America

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (XBOX) Oddworld Inhabitants/Microsoft

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Metal Gear Solid 2 (Play Station 2) Konami/Konami

Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition
Tropico (PC) Pop Top Software/God Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Grand Theft Auto III (Play Station 2) DMA Design/Rockstar Games

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX) Bungie/Microsoft

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Grand Theft Auto III (Play Station 2) DMA Design/Rockstar Games

Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development
ICO (Play Station 2) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./Sony Computer Entertainment America

II. CONSOLE

Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX) Bungie/Microsoft

Children's Title of the Year
Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64) Hudson Soft Co. Ltd./Nintendo of America

Fighting Game of the Year
Dead or Alive 3 (XBOX) Tecmo/Tecmo

Hand-Held Game of the Year
Advance Wars (GameBoy Advance) Nintendo Co. Ltd./ Nintendo of America

Role Playing Game of the Year
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (Play Station 2) Snow Blind Studios/ Black Isle Studios

Racing Game of the Year
Gran Turismo 3 (Play Station 2) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./ Sony Computer Entertainment America

Sports Game of the Year
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (Play Station 2) Neversoft Entertainment/Activision

Innovation in Console Gaming
Pikmin (GameCube) Nintendo Co. Ltd./Nintendo of America

Console Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX) Bungie/Microsoft

III. ONLINE

Online Gameplay of the Year
Return to Castle Wolfenstein id Software/Activision

Massive Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year
Dark Age of Camelot Mythic Entertainment/ Mythic Entertainment

IV. PERSONAL COMPUTER

Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Return to Castle Wolfenstein id Software/Activision

Children's Title of the Year
Backyard Basketball Humongous Entertainment/Infogrames

Educational Title of the Year
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Treasures of Knowledge Learning Company/Learning Company

Role Playing Game of the Year
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal BioWare Corp./Interplay

Simulation Game of the Year
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 Microsoft/ Microsoft

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 2002 EA Canada/Electronic Arts

Strategy Game of the Year
Sid Meier's Civilization III Firaxis Games/Infogrames

Innovation in Computer Gaming
Black & White Lionhead Studios/Electronic Arts

Computer Game of the Year
Black & White Lionhead Studios/Electronic Arts

V. GAME OF THE YEAR

Game of the Year
Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX) Bungie/Microsoft

About the Academy

Located in Los Angeles, CA, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) is an official professional academy of the $7+ billion interactive entertainment industry. AIAS is supported by the industry's leading companies and counts among its board of directors representatives from Activision, BioWare Corp., Electronic Arts, Ensemble Studios, Infogrames, Insomniac Games, Interactive Digital Software Association, Knowledge Adventure, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Oddworld Inhabitants, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Ubi Soft Entertainment.

For more information about AIAS, Interactive Achievement Awards, and D.I.C.E. Summit, visit the web site at www.interactive.org.