That's what GameShadow plans to find out, as it pits one-man game developers against the big boys in the inaugural GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards

Oxfordshire, 28th September - GameShadow announces the first GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards. Fed up with ‘me too' awards that reward marketing spend or those that just exist as industry-backslapping exercises, the team at GameShadow has put together a new awards initiative, based online, that focuses on the one thing that makes the games industry great: Innovation.

The mission of the GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards is to promote fun, innovative gameplay whether from games that are firmly in the public eye or those that have previously gone unnoticed, and to reward the respective developers - whether they are global publishers like Sony, Nintendo and Take 2, or small development teams crafting creative gems like Stickman Madness, N or Darwinia. There are 11 categories in total and include Best Script, Best Machinima Movie and Jaw Dropping Demo.

The composition of the judging panel reflects the high ambitions of the Awards. Experts have been drawn from all areas of the media industry, not just games, and include film director Neil Marshall, who wrote and directed Dog Soldiers and The Descent, artist Greg Staples, who has drawn iconic characters such as Batman and Judge Dredd, and journalist and scriptwriter Rhianna Pratchett.

More than 50 different titles have been nominated, of which a quarter are completely free. The judges are currently considering the nominees to determine the winner in each category. One category, the ATI CrossFire™ People's Choice Award, is voted for by the public. Gamers should go to www.gameshadow.com/awards to vote and for the chance to win over £1,000 of top-of-the range hardware upgrades for their PC. This is where the public can finally decide once and for all whether Samorost, the Space Gnome, can beat Kratos, God of War, and all the other characters and games recognised by the Awards.

Patrick O'Luanaigh, CEO of casual games developer nDreams and former creative director of Eidos, said, At E3 this year in-between the repetitive sequels and me-too titles, there were a handful of real gems. The awards team has undertaken a mammoth task to separate the wheat from the chaff, and identify all these games that will hopefully remind gamers why they fell in love with games in the first place.

Charles Cecil, Managing Director of Revolution commented, I'm so pleased to be part of the judging panel for these awards. Innovation is the life blood of any creative industry, and I hope that we will see new games and successful development studios grow, develop and get the recognition they deserve.

It's been a real labour of love for us, added Tony Treadwell, founder and COO of GameShadow. As avid gamers, we're delighted to be bringing some of the most innovative games to the attention of gamers everywhere. We encourage gamers everywhere to try out these fantastic titles and get voting.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

About the Awards
The GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards aim to recognise, reward and promote those games that have pushed the boundaries of games development. The broad rules are No licences, no sequels, although the judges have discretion to waive these rules where clear innovation exists.

The categories are: Best Game, Best New Character, Innovative Gameplay, Innovative Visual Effects sponsored by ATI CrossFire, Imaginative use of in-game Audio, Best Narrative, Best Casual Game, Jaw Dropping Demo sponsored by Softwrap, Best Machinima Movie, Best Mobile Game and the ATI CrossFire People's Choice Award.

The judging panel is: Charles Cecil (MD Revolution Studios), Steve Chippington (Event Director, GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards), Toby Gard (creator of Lara Croft), Tim Harrison (Head of Mobile Games, Vodafone), Nicholas Lovell (CEO, GameShadow), Neil Marshall (Film director, The Descent, Dog Soldiers), Chris Nuttall (Head of Games, Air Studios), Patrick O'Luanaigh (CEO, nDreams and former Creative Director, Eidos), Rhianna Pratchett (journalist and scriptwriter), Gary Rowe (acquisitions director, Sega), Jonathan Smith (Development Director, TTG), Greg Staples (Artist, Batman, Judge Dredd) and Tony Treadwell (founder and COO, GameShadow).

The awards can be found at www.gameshadow.com/awards. The website includes screenshots, commentary, demos, trailers and links to allow gamers to play and buy the games that have been nominated as the most innovative games of the last 18 months.

The Awards are sponsored by Microsoft, ATI, Softwrap and Limelight Networks.

About GameShadow
GameShadow provides free automatic videogame patch and update tools to gamers all over the world. Its core product automatically updates all of a user's games and graphics drivers, ensuring that the gamer always plays the best possible version of their games and they are getting the very best performance from the game and their hardware. GameShadow also provides gamers with game-related content and products that are relevant to their individual game collections and their gaming interests. GameShadow currently supports over 1,750 games with content ranging from patches to demos, movies and mods, as well as paid-for content such as expansion packs, full games and merchandise.

For further information please contact:

Steve Chippington
Event Director
+44 7881 951669
steve@gameshadow.com

Nicholas Lovell
CEO
+44 7900 691975
nicholas@gameshadow.com

Nicola Kirby
Little Brown Dog
+44 (0) 1372 818 776
kirby@littlebrowndoggy.com

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