LAS VEGAS - February 8, 2008 - And the winners are… Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), BioShock (2K Games) and The Orange Box (Electronic Arts and Valve Software); each picked up four statues at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ^{[span style="font-size:7pt"]®[/span]} last night. The award ceremony was hosted by comedian and avid video game player Jay Mohr at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

The Academy of Interactive Arts&Sciences also honored two industry icons for their tremendous contributions. Mike Morhaime, president, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment ^{[span style="font-size:7pt"]®[/span]} , was inducted as the 11th member of the prestigious AIAS Hall of Fame and Ken Kutaragi, former president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., received the highly coveted Lifetime Achievement Award.

"The Interactive Achievement Awards is the forum for the industry's best game makers to evaluate the merits of more than 160 titles submitted for consideration and honor the best in technical innovation and gameplay experience," said Joseph Olin, president of the AIAS. "This year's winners truly represent the best cross section of interactive entertainment, demonstrating the power of next-generation platforms that have come of age."

These peer-based awards recognize the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

The winners in each category are as follows:

Overall Game of the Year:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• Publisher: Activision[/*]
• Developer: Infinity Ward[/*]
• Producer: Mark Rubin[/*]
• Game Director: Jason West[/*]
• Creative Director: Vince Zampella[/*]

Console Game of the Year:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• Publisher: Activision[/*]
• Developer: Infinity Ward[/*]
• Producer: Mark Rubin[/*]
• Game Director: Jason West[/*]
• Creative Director: Vince Zampella[/*]

Computer Game of the Year:

The Orange Box

• Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software[/*]
• Developer: Valve Software[/*]
• Producer: Gabe Newell[/*]

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:

Rock Band

• Publisher: MTV Games[/*]
• Developer: Harmonix[/*]
• Producer: Robert Jerauld[/*]
• Game Director: Bob Settles[/*]
• Creative Director: Jonas Norberg[/*]

Handheld Game of the Year:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

• Publisher: Nintendo of America[/*]
• Developer: Nintendo[/*]
• Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto[/*]
• Director: Eiji Aonuma Massively[/*]

Multiplayer Game of the Year:

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

• Publisher: Vivendi Games[/*]
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment[/*]
• Producer: Frank Pearce[/*]
• Game Director: Rob Pardo[/*]
• Creative Director: Chris Metzen[/*]

Cellular Game of the Year:

skate.

Publisher: Electronic Arts

• Developer: EA Mobile[/*]
• Producer: David Manriquez[/*]
• Game Director: David Manriquez[/*]
• Creative Director: Derek Zakaib[/*]

Role-Playing Game of the Year:

Mass Effect

• Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios[/*]
• Developer: BioWare[/*]
• Producer: Casey Hudson[/*]
• Lead Designer: Preston Watamaniuk[/*]
• Art Director: Derek Watts[/*]

Racing Game of the Year:

Motorstorm

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America[/*]
• Developer: Evolution Studios[/*]
• Producer: Simon Benson[/*]
• Creative Director: Paul Hollywood[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design:

The Orange Box: Portal

• Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software[/*]
• Developer: Valve Software[/*]
• Lead Game Designer: Robin Walker[/*]
• Game Director: Kim Swift[/*]
• Creative Director: David Speyrer[/*]

Adventure Game of the Year:

Super Mario Galaxy

• Publisher: Nintendo of America[/*]
• Developer: Nintendo[/*]
• Producer: Takao Shimizu[/*]
• Game Director: Yoshiaki Koizumi[/*]
• Creative Director: Shigeru Miyamoto[/*]

Sports Game of the Year:

skate.

• Publisher: Electronic Arts[/*]
• Developer: EA Black Box[/*]
• Executive Producer: Scott Blackwood[/*]

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year:

Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

• Publisher: Electronic Arts[/*]
• Developer: EA Los Angeles[/*]
• Producer: Mike Verdu[/*]
• Creative Director: Matt Britton[/*]

ActionGame of the Year:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• Publisher: Activision[/*]
• Developer: Infinity Ward[/*]
• Producer: Mark Rubin[/*]
• Game Director: Jason West[/*]
• Creative Director: Vince Zampella[/*]

Family Game of the Year:

Rock Band

• Publisher: MTV Games[/*]
• Developer: Harmonix[/*]
• Producer: Tracy Rosenthal-Newson[/*]
• Game Director: Greg LoPiccolo[/*]
• Creative Director: Josh Randall[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Animation:

Assassin's Creed

• Publisher: Ubisoft[/*]
• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal[/*]
• Animation Director: Alex Drouin[/*]
• Lead Animators: Elspeth Tory, Sylvain Bernard[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:

BioShock

• Publisher: 2K Games[/*]
• Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia[/*]
• Visual Art Director: Scott Sinclair[/*]
• Technical Art Directors: Hogarth De La Plante, Andrew James, Jay Kyburz, Nate Wells[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering:

Crysis

• Publisher: Electronic Arts[/*]
• Developer: Crytek[/*]
• Director of R&D: Douglas Binks[/*]

Outstanding Character Performance:

The Orange Box: Portal

• Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software[/*]
• Developer: Valve Software[/*]
• Writer: Erik Wolpaw[/*]
• Voice Actor: Ellen McLaw[/*]
• Character Name: GLADos[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Story Development:

BioShock

• Publisher: 2K Games[/*]
• Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia[/*]
• Writer: Ken Levine[/*]
• Character Designer: Rob Waters[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering:

The Orange Box: Portal

• Publisher: Electronic Arts, Valve Software[/*]
• Developer: Valve Software[/*]
• Lead Game Designer: Robin Walker[/*]
• UI Designer: Alden Kroll[/*]
• AI Designer: Tom Leonard[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• Publisher: Activision[/*]
• Developer: Infinity Ward[/*]
• Lead Online Designer: Todd Alerman[/*]
• Lead Online Programmer: Richard Baker[/*]

Downloadable Game of the Year:

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

• Publisher: D3 Publisher or America[/*]
• Developer: Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions[/*]
• Producers: Arthur Kawamoto, Steve Baldoni[/*]
• Game Directors: Steve Fawkner, Janeen Fawkner[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition:

BioShock

• Publisher: 2K Games[/*]
• Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia[/*]
• Composer: Garry Schyman[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack:

Rock Band

• Publisher: MTV Games[/*]
• Developer: Harmonix[/*]
• Music Supervisors: Paul DeGooyer, Eric Brosius[/*]

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design:

BioShock

• Publisher: 2K Games[/*]
• Developer: 2K Boston, 2K Australia[/*]
• Sound Designers: Emily Ridgway, Patrick Balthrop, Justin Mullins[/*]
• Audio Lead: Eric Brosius[/*]

Since 1996, the Interactive Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. More than 160 titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy's Peer Panels. The panels are comprised of the game industry's most experienced and talented men and women. Each panel is responsible for evaluating one award category. Interactive Achievement Award recipients are determined by a vote of qualified Academy members. Award voting is confidential, conducted online and supervised and certified by VoteNet Solutions, Inc. The integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the Interactive Achievement Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software.

About the D.I.C.E. Summit:

The D.I.C.E. Summit is a high-level interactive entertainment industry conference that brings together the top video game designers and developers from around the world and business leaders from all the major publishers to discuss the state of the industry, its trends and the future. The three-day event will be held in Las Vegas, at the upscale Red Rock Resort, February 6-8, 2008. Online registration for the D.I.C.E. Summit 2008 is open now. Please visit http://www.dicesummit.org for more information and to register to attend the interactive entertainment industry event of the year.

About the Academy of Interactive Arts&Sciences

The Academy of Interactive Arts&Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of the interactive arts. The Academy's mission is to promote and advance common interests in the worldwide interactive entertainment community; recognize outstanding achievements in the interactive arts and sciences; and conduct an annual awards show (Interactive Achievement Awards) to enhance awareness of the interactive art form. The Academy also strives to provide a voice for individuals in the interactive entertainment community. In 2002 the Academy created the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, a once yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. The Academy has over 12,000 members, with the board comprised of senior executives from the major videogame companies including BioWare/Pandemic, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Insomniac Games, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Sony, THQ and Ubisoft. More information on the AIAS, the Interactive Achievement Awards and the nominees can be found at http://www.interactive.org.

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CONTACT:

Angelina Duran / Wendy Zaas

Rogers&Cowan

310-854-8168 / 310-854-8148

aduran@rogersandcowan.com

wzaas@rogersandcowan.com

Geri Gordon Miller

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences

818-876-0826 x202

geri@interactive.org