The Last of Us, Tearaway lead the way for the 14th annual Game Developers Choice Awards nominees

The Game Developers Choice Awards is shaping up to be a party for two of the best games of 2013 — and for Sony.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us (PS3) and Media Molecule’s Tearaway (Vita), both first-party games from Sony, earned five nominations apiece for the 14th edition of the awards, which take place March 19 during the 2014 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

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The 14th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) is the leading peer-based video game awards event which annually recognizes the best games and developers in the industry. The 2014 GDCA is open to any video game released during the calendar year of 2013.

Nintendo earned multiple nominations, including Game of the Year and Best Design for Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U as well as Best Handheld/Mobile Game and Best Design for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS.

The trend of smaller studios earning acclaim has continued this year, including nominations or honorable mentions in nine of 10 categories. Standouts include The Fulbright Company’s Gone Home, Galactic Café’s The Stanley Parable, Lucas Pope’s Papers Please, and Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. All four of these downloadable games received more than one nomination.

Other games that secured multiple nominations are Square Enix’s Tomb Raider reboot (three nominations), Rockstar’s best-selling Grand Theft Auto V (three nominations), and Simogo’s literature-inspired puzzle thriller for mobile devices, DEVICE 6 (two nominations).

The complete list of GDCA nominees, including honorable mentions, is as follows:

Game of the Year

• Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
• Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
• The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
• Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
• Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
• Honorable Mentions: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe), Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony).

Innovation Award

• DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
• Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
• Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
• Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
• The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
• Honorable Mentions: Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games),Candy Box (Aniwey), Kerbal Space Program (Squad), The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony), Proteus (Ed Key/David Kanaga).

Best Debut

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• Blue Manchu (Card Hunter)
• The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
• Galactic Cafe (The Stanley Parable)
• Squad (Kerbal Space Program)
• Undead Labs (State Of Decay)
• Honorable Mentions: Facepalm Games (The Swapper), Frogmind Games (Badland), Grinding Gear Games (Path Of Exile), Suspicious Developments (Gunpoint), Warner Bros. Games Montreal (Batman: Arkham Origins).

Best Design

• Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
• The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
• Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
• Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
• Honorable Mentions: DOTA 2 (Valve) Pokemon X & Y (Game Freak/Nintendo),Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe),SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form), TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka).

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

• DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
• Fire Emblem: Awakening (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
• Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
• Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
• Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), 868-HACK (Michael Brough), Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (Next Level Games/Nintendo), Plants Vs. Zombies 2 (PopCap/Electronic Arts), The Room Two(Fireproof Games), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form).

Best Visual Art

• BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games)
• DmC (Ninja Theory/Capcom)
• The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai)
• Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
• Honorable Mentions: Don’t Starve (Klei Entertaintment), Grand Theft Auto V(Rockstar North/Rockstar Games), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), Puppeteer (SCE Japan/Sony), Ryse: Son Of Rome (Crytek/Microsoft), Wonderful 101 (Platinum Games/Nintendo).

Best Narrative

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• Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
• Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
• The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
• Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
• The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
• Honorable Mentions: Attack Of The Friday Monsters (Millennium Kitchen/Level 5),BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games), The Cave (DoubleFine Games),Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai), Shadowrun Returns (Harebrained Schemes).

Best Audio

• BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games),
• Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games)
• Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
• Saints Row IV (Volition/Deep Silver)
• Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
• Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo),Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts), Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), Gone Home (The Fullbright Company), Metro: Last Light (4A Games/Deep Silver).

Best Downloadable Game

• Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
• Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
• Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
• Resogun (Housemarque/Sony)
• The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
• Honorable Mentions: Guacamelee (DrinkBox Studios), Gunpoint (Suspicious Developments), State Of Decay (Undead Labs), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form),TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka), The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games).

Best Technology

• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
• Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
• The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
• Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games/Sony)
• Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
• Honorable Mentions: Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts), DOTA 2 (Valve), Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games), Metro: Last Light (4A Games/Deep Silver), Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix).

The Game Developers Choice Awards also gives out three special awards yearly: the Pioneer, Ambassador, and Lifetime Achievement awards, all of which will be announced in the near future. The Audience Award for the Choice Awards – open to all finalists for this year – will also return and will open for online voting on Feb. 19.

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