The nominations for the 2012 BAFTA In Scotland awards were announced yesterday. Alongside the glamour and household names in the film and actor categories, the far more vital and fascinating games category nominees were named.
They are, in no particular order:
Bad Hotel is, we all know, a tower defence game which is also a music generating sequencer ‘thing’ of unsurpassed loveliness.
iBomber Defense Pacific is, similarly, a tower defence game, but one set in the pacific islands of WWII, which swaps yetis and bomb carrying birds for tanks, bombs, ships and more ammunition than Rambo’s wardrobe. It is also fun, strategic, complex, rewarding and incredibly fun to play.
Golf Squared is NOT a tower defence game. It is a golf game. A simple, 2D golf game. You play golf. You knock a wee ball into a wee hole, in the least possible number of shots. It’s cartoony, it’s accessible and it’s fun.
Congratulations to Cobra, Lucky Frame and Dynamo on their nominations.
After something of a slow start, the games category in the BAFTA In Scotland is one of the competition’s most active. More than many of the film and television categories in fact. The 2012 competition received 16 entries, covering almost every platform and including titles from massively multiplayer online PC, through to a re-imagining of a classic novel, to social games on Facebook.
This year’s games jury included two game developers, two journalists and a company CEO, who debated and pondered for most of a day over the nominations.
The awards ceremony, which will of course be glittering, star-studded and glamorous, takes place in Glasgow on the 18th of November at the Raddison Blu hotel. Your host for the evening will be the adorable Edith Bowman.
Table space is limited, but tickets are still available. A table of ten costs a mere £1500. Who’s up for a Scottish Games night out, to show these film and television people how we roll, games style…?