Nominations for the first ever Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts were announced today at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC.

UbiSoft lead the list of nominees in the Electronic Arts (Videogame categories) with multiple nominations, including best console game, best game design, and best graphics, for both Prince of Persia: Two Thrones, and Peter Jackson’s King Kong the Official Game of the Movie.

The impressive list of nominees highlights the strength of video game development in Canada, which the award show’s producer, Holly Carinci called “Hollywood, of the videogame industry.”

Each category has three or four very strong nominees, except for the Best PC Game of the Year category contested by only Doodlebops Club House Games and a game considered mediocre by most reviewers: Supreme Ruler 2010.

Besides awards for the best Canadian-made video and computer games, the awards ceremony, which is to be held on September 14th and hosted by William Shatner, will recognize Canadian animation.

There are also student categories, where students from Sheridan College, and the Vancouver Film School led in numbers of nominees.

Besides the nominees for this year’s awards, the award statuette was unveiled at the press conference this morning. Sculpted by Dean Lauze, and named “the Elan,” the statue features a man holding up the world framed in a flat-screen monitor held up by a woman.

The first year of this high tech/high glam awards event is being held near Vancouver, BC at the River Rock Theatre on September 14th, 2006, and hosted by William Shatner. More info at www.caeaa.com.

(Photo: Holly Carinci and Dean Lauze unveil the Elan)

 
 

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