So What Were the Top Games of E3?

Another year, another E3 now just a memory. It was an exciting year with major new hardware reveals and lots of big-name game titles shown off. We really seem to be arriving at a new golden age for video games, when new ideas and increasingly better equipment are making it possible for developers to keep dreaming up stuff that players have never seen before.

So which titles at E3 got top marks from critics?

The picks of 35 media outlets were compiled to create this year’s list of the Game Critics Awards nominees. Of the hundreds of games shown off at E3, these are the titles that got the most love from critics, broken down into seventeen categories. Winners in each category will be revealed on June 28th.

By my count, the top nominees are BioShock Infinite and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, both with four nods each. Placing just behind them, with three nominations each: Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Tomb Raider, and PS Vita title Sound Shapes.

Perhaps more telling are the omissions. While critics seemed to agree that Modern Warfare 3 looks “good,” it’s more-of-the-sameness couldn’t overcome the headlines that Battlefield 3 generated. MW3 only grabbed 2 nods to Battlefield‘s 3. And the Assassin’s Creed series is usually a lock for a Game-of-Show nomination, but this year it was edged out by loads of more attention-grabbing titles; AC Revelations had to settle for a single nomination, under “Best Action/Adventure Game.”

Other big contenders that will surely light up the sales charts, like Mass Effect 3 and Gears of War 3, were also pushed ou tof Game-of-Show territory, with just two nods each. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword managed only one nomination, while heavyweights like Forza Motorsport 4 and Prey 2 eked out a nod. Others that generated chatter at E3, Driver: San Francisco, Hitman Absolution, Rise of Nightmares, and many others, are nowhere to be found.

And the nominees are…

Best of Show

• Batman: Arkham City
• BioShock Infinite
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Tomb Raider
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best Original Game

• Bastion
• BioShock Infinite
• From Dust
• Journey
• Sound Shapes

Best Console Game

• Batman: Arkham City
• Mass Effect 3
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Tomb Raider
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

• Contre Jour
• Mario Kart 3DS
• Sound Shapes
• Super Mario 3DS
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Best PC Game

• Battlefield 3
• BioShock Infinite
• End of Nations
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Torchlight 2

Best Hardware

• PlayStation Vita
• Rocksmith
• Sony 3D Display
• Wii U
• Zoom for Kinect

Best Action Game

• Battlefield 3
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Gears of War 3
• Prey 2
• Rage

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
• Batman: Arkham City
• BioShock infinite
• Tomb Raider
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best Role Playing Game

• Dark Souls
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• Mass Effect 3
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Best Racing Game

• Driver: San Francisco
• Forza 4
• Mario Kart
• Need for Speed: The Run
• Wipeout 2048

Best Fighting Game

• Skullgirls
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Soul Calibur V
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• WWE 12

Best Sports Game

• FIFA Soccer 12
• Madden NFL 12
• NBA 2K12
• SSX
• UFC Undisputed 3

Best Strategy Game

• Age of Empires Online
• End of Nations
• From Dust
• Skulls of the Shogun
• Trenched

Best Social/Casual Game

• Dance Central 2
• Disneyland Adventures
• Rocksmith
• Rhythm Heaven
• Sound Shapes

Best Motion Simulation Game

• Dance Central 2
• Fruit Ninja Kinect
• Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
• The Gunstringer
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Best Online Multiplayer Game

• Battlefield 3
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Gears of War 3
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best Downloadable Game

• Bastion
• From Dust
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
• Journey
• Papo & Yo