2009 Game Audio Network Guild Award Winners

The Game Audio Network Guild fired over a press release this evening announcing the winners of their 7th annual G.A.N.G. awards, with World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King showing up in two of the twenty-one categories. In addition, Inon Zur manager Bob Rice took home a lifetime achievement award:

THE GAME AUDIO NETWORK GUILD ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 7TH ANNUAL G.A.N.G. AWARDS SHOW

San Francisco, CA The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), the non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio announces the winners for the 7th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards which honor outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in the world of interactive entertainment. The awards are voted and judged upon by the G.A.N.G. community consisting of over 800 members in over 30 countries. The winners were announced last week in a ceremony held in San Francisco, CA during the Game Developers Conference.

Dead Space took home the coveted AUDIO OF THE YEAR and SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR categories while ROOKIE OF THE YEAR composer Wataru Hokoyama received the MUSIC OF THE YEAR award for his amazing work in the Japan released Afrika for the PlayStation 3.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to industry veteran and game composer agent Bob Rice. Bob has been a part of the music and record industry for over 50 years and has received 31 gold and platinum records. Hes been involved in the game audio industry since the early 80s when he helped put together the first officially licensed music industry video game (Journey 1983). Over the past 15 years Bob has successfully helped to launch and develop the careers of some of the top U.S. and European game composers including Inon Zur, Jack Wall, Jesper Kyd, Rod Abernathy, Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco, Mark Griskey, Richard Jacques & Tom Salta. Under his guidance, his clients credits include the following series of games: World of Warcraft, Myst, Gears of War, Guitar Hero, Splinter Cell, Mass Effect, Unreal Tournament, Lord of the Rings, Crysis, Everquest II, Hitman, Prince of Persia, Tom Clancy, Quake and Lineage II.

AUDIO OF THE YEAR
Dead Space

MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Afrika

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
Dead Space

BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO (TIE)
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Gears of War 2

BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND IN A GAME
Left 4 Dead

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL SONG CHORAL
Main Title – World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL SONG POP
Still Alive Mirrors Edge

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL (TIE)
The Garden LittleBigPlanet
Main Theme Afrika

BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Video Games Live: Volume One

BEST DIALOGUE
Grand Theft Auto IV

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
Rock Band 2

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
God of War: Chains of Olympus

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
LittleBigPlanet

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
The Complete Guide to Game Audio 2nd Edition Aaron Marks

BEST AUDIO OTHER
Watchman Motion Comic

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Wataru Hokoyama (Afrika, Resident Evil 5)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Bob Rice

G.A.N.G. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS
Richard Jacques
Tom Salta
Stephen Years

G.A.N.G. RECOGNITION AWARDS
Jim Charne
John Broomhall

STUDENT/APPRENTICE COMPETITION WINNERS
MUSIC Tom Graczkowski
SOUND DESIGN Benoit Babin

DIAMOND SPONSORS
5 Rockets, Inc.
AFM (American Federation of Musicians)
Sumthin Else Musicworks

About G.A.N.G. [www.audiogang.org]
The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) is a non-profit organization established to educate the masses in regards to interactive audio by providing information, instruction, resources, guidance and enlightenment not only to its members, but to content providers and listeners throughout the world. G.A.N.G. empowers its members by establishing resources for education, business, technical issues, community, publicity and recognition. G.A.N.G. also supports career development for aspiring game audio professionals, publishers, developers and students.