Nintendo's Wii console and EA's Spore title have proved that the gaming industry is hungry for innovation and willing to reward those that dare. The Wii received the coveted Best of Show award in a decision which was more or less obvious to anyone who witnessed the record queues outside Nintendo's E3 booth.
The attention given to Nintendo's console also suggests that critics and fans alike seem to be frowning upon the extreme budgets required for next-generation games. Nintendo is reaching out to developers allowing them to create Wii content for less. Wii also won the Best Hardware title and Nintendo's Wii Sports game the prize for Best Sports Game.
The other big winner of E3 2006 was Will Wright and his new, post-Sims project, Spore. The game promises to take players on an epic journey from single cell organism to intergalactic conquest. Anyone that missed the presentation of the game by Will Wright and Robin Williams should rush to see it as that alone was worthy of an award. Spore, winner of last year's Best of Show prize, bagged the Best Original Game, Best PC Game and Best Simulation Game titles.
Epic's X360 Gears of War and its chainsaw machine gun won the Best Console Game and Best Action Game awards while Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed grabbed the Best Action/Adventure Game award.
The full list of awards is as follows:
Best of Show
Wii (Nintendo)
Best Original Game
Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Hardware/Peripheral
Wii (Nintendo)
Best Console Game
Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best PC Game
Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Handheld Game
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
Best Action Game
Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal / UbiSoft for PlayStation 3)
Best Role Playing Game
Mass Effect (Bioware / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best Racing Game
Excite Truck (Monster Games / Nintendo for Wii)
Best Simulation Game
Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Sports Game
Wii Sports (Nintendo for Wii)
Best Fighting Game
Heavenly Sword (Ninja Theory / Sony for PlayStation 3)
Best Strategy Game
Supreme Commander (Gas Powered Games/THQ for PC)
Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix / Red Octane for PlayStation 2)
Best Online Multiplayer
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Splash Damage/id/Activision for PC)
