DICE Award Nominations Announced, Chris Hardwick To Host Ceremony

The nominations for the 16th annual DICE Awards have been announced, and leading the pack for the yearly awards show is Journey, who leads with 11 nominations, including Game of the Year.  Other games have cleaned up in nominations as well, including Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, Borderlands 2, and Far Cry 3.

The awards will be given out on February 7th during a live ceremony at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, with Chris Hardwick hosting them.  If you can’t be there in person, Machinima will also be broadcasting the awards ceremony live.

“The D.I.C.E. Awards are VERY important to me,” said Hardwick. “I have been playing video games since there were video games. I hope there is some type of Dovahkiin Shout that will make sure I don’t mess this up. I will find one! If not, I’ll just look like a psychotic, screaming a**hole leading up to the Awards.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to the D.I.C.E. Awards. He is the ultimate representation of our industry: a nerd at heart with a wicked sense of humor and a deep appreciation for the immense talent and creativity that keeps our industry thriving,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “As I look at the list of the 2012 finalist games, there is no doubt in my mind that every single nominated title strongly reflects the D.I.C.E. Awards moniker – Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain. Across all platforms and through deeply immersive experiences, our industry continues to outdo itself year over year, finding new and interesting ways to evolve and engage audiences.”

The full list of nominees can be found here. But here’s a small teaser, with the Game of the Year nominees…

Borderlands 2

• Publisher: 2k Games

• Developer: Gearbox Software

Far Cry 3

• Publisher: Ubisoft

• Developer: Ubisoft

Journey

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC

• Developer: thatgamecompany

The Walking Dead

• Publisher: Telltale Games

• Developer: Telltale Games

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

• Publisher: 2k Games

• Developer: Firaxis Games

Good luck to everyone nominated, and we’ll be watching February 7th!