Rock Band gains E3 Game Critics applause

Mike Bantick
Thursday, 02 August 2007 04:29

Your IT - Entertainment

Though it seems to be simply an amalgamation of Guitar Hero, SingStar and some drums, the upcoming offering from original Guitar Hero developer Harmonix has gained the top award from the E3 Media and Business Summit.  Rock Band takes out Best in Show.

It was a toned down affair from E3’s of yore, but still an important focus of the gaming industry.  The Big Guns of gaming generally save their high calibre rounds for E3 (and arguably the Tokyo Game Show as well).

As such, the converted Game Critics post show awards are sweated on by PR people around the globe.

The big winner was Rock Band by Harmonix – featuring a game consisting of two guitars; one set of drums and a vocalist all working together to aim for a ‘top score’.  Rock Band also took out Best Hardware/Peripheral  and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle: award.

Developer BioWare (Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire) latest offering for the Xbox 360 Mass Effect also took out multiple awards, Best Console Game and Best Role-Playing game.

The full list of awards were;
Best of Show:
Rock Band
(Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Original Game:
LittleBigPlanet
(Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PS3)

Best Console Game:
Mass Effect
(BioWare/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Best PC Game:
Crysis
(Crytek/Electronic Arts)

Best Handheld Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
(Nintendo for Nintendo DS)

Best Hardware/Peripheral:
Rock Band Instruments
(Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Action Game:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
(Infinity Ward/Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game:
Bioshock
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, Xbox 360)

Best Role-Playing Game:
Mass Effect
(BioWare/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game:
Burnout Paradise
(Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game:
Madden NFL 08
(Electronic Arts for all platforms)

Best Fighting Game:
Virtua Fighter 5
(Sega for Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game:
World in Conflict
(Massive Entertainment/Sierra for PC)

Best Social/Casual/Puzzle:
Rock Band
(Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer:
Halo 3
(Bungie/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Special Commendation for Graphics:
Killzone 2
(Guerilla Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PS3)