Host Jay Mohr, a self-proclaimed gamer, warmed up the crowd at the show as the Master of Ceremonies; although he unfortunately did no Christopher Walken impressions (the bet was 5:1 before the show that he would pull at least one out, and 25:1 that there would be three or more). Jay's fiancé, Las Vegas star Nikki Cox, also made an appearance at the show, accompanying Jay down the red carpet.
Of course, industry luminaries such as Sid Meier, Reggie Fils-Aime, Mark Rein, Lorne Lanning, and David Jaffe were also in attendance at the show, along with hundreds of game developers from around the world.
Not surprisingly, this year's big winner was Sony's God of War, which picked up seven awards, including Overall Game of the Year. You may remember that God of War also won IGN's Overall Game of the Year award for 2005. Other big winners included Guitar Hero, with five awards, and Shadow of the Colossus, which came in tops in three of the categories. It's also worth noting that NCSoft won not one, but two awards in the Best Massively Multiplayer Game category, where Guild Wars and City of Villains tied.
This year the AIAS also recognized Richard Garriott (perhaps better known to gamers as Ultima creator Lord British), inducting the legendary game designer into the AIAS Hall of Fame. Garriott joins previous Hall of Famers such as Trip Hawkins, Peter Molyneux, Yu Suzuki, Will Wright, John Carmack, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Sid Meier, and Shigeru Miyamoto.
Here's the full list of winners:
Action/Adventure Game of the Year
God of War
Children's Game of the Year
We Love Katamari
Family Game of the Year
Guitar Hero
Fighting Game of the Year
Soul Calibur III
First-Person Action Game of the Year
Battlefield 2
Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
City of Villains, Guild Wars (tie)
Racing Game of the Year
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Role-Playing Game of the Year
Jade Empire
Simulation Game of the Year
The Movies
Sports Game of the Year
SSX On Tour
Strategy Game of the Year
Civilization IV
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
God of War
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Shadow of the Colossus
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Guitar Hero
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering
Guitar Hero, Nintendogs (tie)
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Guitar Hero
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Battlefield 2
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
God of War
Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development
Call of Duty: Big Red One
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Shadow of the Colossus
Outstanding Achievement, Original Music Composition
God of War
Outstanding Achievement, Soundtrack
Guitar Hero
Outstanding Character Performance, Male
God of War
Outstanding Character Performance, Female
Jade Empire
Downloadable Game of the Year
WIK: Fable of Souls
Cellular Game of the Year
Ancient Empires II
Handheld Game of the Year
Nintendogs
Console Game of the Year
God of War
PC Game of the Year
Battlefield 2
Overall Game of the Year
God of War
