The editors of CMP Technology's Game Developer magazine have announced the finalists for the 2006 Front Line Awards, the magazine's ninth annual evaluation of the year's best in game-making tools. Award categories include: programming, art, audio, hardware, game engine, middleware, and books.
The awards winners will not be announced until the January 2007 issue of Game Developer hits newsstands on January 17, 2007. In addition to the winners in the above categories, a Front Line Awards Hall of Fame inductee will be announced, chosen for its outstanding contribution to the game development industry for five years or more.
The products nominated were selected by readers of Game Developer magazine, as well as other game professionals. Winners will be chosen by a panel of professional game developers specializing in the fields relevant to each category. Finalists and award recipients are selected based on utlity, innovation, value, and ease of use.
"Game Developer magazine, at its heart, is about the advancement of the state of the art of games and the Front Line Awards celebrate the otherwise unsung heroes of that demanding quest," said Simon Carless, Editorial Director of Game Developer. "In a year that has brought us into the next generation, it is these products that have made possible the incredible new gaming experiences we can now enjoy."
Read on to see the full list of finalists for the 2006 Front Line Awards
Thomas Brush says that after five years of scoring, illustrating, designing, and developing Pinstripe, my game about Hell, I'm left with a strange pit in my stomach, and a lot of questions.
How do you improve a game as good as Virtua Tennis 2? Even though it's been four or five years since its release, it's still the best tennis game on any platform, anywhere. The sheer simplicity of the series masks an astonishing achievement: by pinning down the physics of a tennis ball and tying it together with simple, effective controls the game boils down to position and timing. Which means it's basically as open-ended as the real thing, and each game - heck, each point - is capable of unfolding into infinite possibilities. So exactly how do you build on 'one of the most enduringly playable games of all time' (as it's been referred to in some very highly respected quarters)?
"the online features (which aren't present on the PS3), will definitely be really good, boasting 60 frames per second online, and a variety of modes, including ranked matches, friendly matches, TV (where you can watch other games online) and a leaderboard - where it's possible to upload and download highlight clips."
Damn you're missing out a lot if you bought a PS3 these days
its not like the end of the world. im gonna get it when it comes out for the ps3. it looks fun.
This will be a great game online. Top Spin was fun when you played with good people. No online means this game will be played on my 360 and my playstation 3 still only gets to see movies, which is all it's good for at the moment. How much time did Sony have to put in place a unified online system. Why doesn't this seem to be important to Sony. They cannot win this war unless they get the online play going and fast. XBOX live is worth every penny. Sony needs to charge so they have the fund to act and just shrug everytime another game lacks online play.
Top Spin was fun.
My personal opinion is that top spin totally sucks. Please play virtua tennis on dreamcast, best tennis game made.tennis 2k2 was also good.
