Game Developer Announces FINALISTS for the
2006 Front Line Awards
CMP Technology's Game Developer magazine names top five finalists in seven categories for best video game creation tools of the year
SAN FRANCISCO-Nov. 28, 2006-The editors of CMP Technology's Game Developer have named the finalists for the 2006 Front Line Awards, the magazine's ninth annual evaluation of the year's best game-making tools in the categories of programming, art, audio, hardware, game engine, middleware, and books.
The final award winners, plus one inductee to the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame chosen for its outstanding contribution to the game development industry for five years or more, will be announced in the January 2007 issue of Game Developer, available on newsstands beginning January 17, 2007.
Products were nominated in all categories by Game Developer magazine's readers and other game professionals; winners will be chosen by a distinguished panel of professional game developers specializing in the fields relevant to each category.
Finalists and winners are selected based on utility, innovation, value, and ease of use.
"Game Developer magazine, at its heart, is about the advancement of the state of the art of games and the Front Line Awards celebrate the otherwise unsung heroes of that demanding quest," said Simon Carless, Editorial Director of Game Developer. "In a year that has brought us into the next generation, it is these products that have made possible the incredible new gaming experiences we can now enjoy."
The finalists for the 2006 Game Developer Front Line Awards are:
ENGINES
Torque Game Builder 1.1.1, Garage Games
Valve Source Engine, Valve
Unreal Engine 3, Epic
HeroEngine, Simutronics Corporation
Gamebryo 2.2, Emergent
BOOKS
Better Game Characters By Design, Katherine Isbister, Morgan Kaufmann 3D Game Textures: Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop, Luke Ahearn, Focal Press ShaderX4, Wolfgang Engel (ed.), Charles River Media
Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames, Chris Bateman, Charles River Media
Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, by Jesper Juul, The MIT Press
HARDWARE
FireGL V7300, ATI
GEForce 7950GX2, Nvidia
PhysX, Ageia and BFG Technologies
Alienware Mj12 8550i workstation, Alienware/Dell Xbox 360 XMA Audio Decompression Hardware, Microsoft
MIDDLEWARE
AI.implant, Engenuity Technologies Inc.
SpeedTree 4.0, IDV
Havok FX 4.0, Havok
Euphoria, NaturalMotion
Kynapse SDK 4, Kynogon SA
PROGRAMMING
XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft
Perforce SCM 2006.1, Perforce Software
NVPerfKit2, Nvidia
IBM Rational Purify Plus v7.0, IBM
DevTrack 6.0, TechExcel
ART
Modo 202, Luxology
Maya 8, Autodesk
Corel Painter IX.5, Corel
Softimage Face Robot, Softimage
MotionBuilder 7.5, Autodesk
AUDIO
Wwise 2006.2.1, Audiokinetic
Miles Sound System v7.q, RAD Game Tools
CRI ADX, CRI Middleware Co. Ltd.
Vivox Precision Studio and the Vivox Network managed service, Vivox ISACT, Creative Labs
For more information, please visit Game Developer online at www.gdmag.com.
About Game Developer (www.gdmag.com)
Game Developer, the print publication written specifically for creators of entertainment software, provides technical and industry information to over 35,000 professional game developers. Each month, industry leaders and game development experts share technical solutions, review new products, and discuss strategies for creating innovative, successful games. Game Developer features articles written by professional game developers on cutting-edge game development techniques in the areas of graphics and AI programming, audio design and engineering, art and animation, QA/testing, game design, and project management.
About the CMP Game Group (www.cmpgame.com) A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the CMP Game Group offers market-defining content, and drives community through the Game Developers Conference, Game Developer magazine, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, the Serious Games Summit D.C., GDC Mobile, GDC Europe, the Independent Games Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, GDC London, the London Games Summit, GDCTV, GDCRadio, and the GDC Focus On event series. For more information, please visit www.cmpgame.com.
About CMP Technology (www.cmp.com)
CMP Technology is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry.
Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company.
As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.
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