It's the taking part that counts. Well, an award would be nice

With the BAFTA Video Game Awards done and dusted, gamers hoping to see their favourite titles get some sort of golden trophy need only wait a few more weeks as this September marks the fourth annual Milthon Awards; recognising European video game studios and the art production that goes into their respective releases. The Organization Commitee has officially announced the nominees that will be eligible for an award, as well as the president of the jury.

Martin Brown, co-founder of Team17; perhaps widely known as the studio and publisher that brought us Worms, has been named as the 2010 president. Team17 is a major independent studio with over 60 titles released across 20 platforms in its history. Speaking about his new appointment, Brown declares:

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Obviously I was tremendously honored and excited to be invited to be president of the jury at the Milthon Awards... with such a strong short-list and some exciting independent entries, it is sure to be a fitting tribute to yet another superb year for the European games industry.

This year, three Wii games (one WiiWare title) and a DSiWare title are up for nomination. Alien After All's DodoGo! is up for the Best Mobile game award, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias from Frontier Developments is up for Best Indie game, Ubisoft Montreuil is up for Best Visual Art for its work on Red Steel 2, and Climax Studios is up for Best Audio Design for the spooky atmosphere it produced on Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Milthon 2010 will be held on 10th September in Paris, as the 5th Paris Game Festival inauguration. Read on for the full list of categories and their respective nominees:

The nominees

8 MILTHON awards will be given, among them the highly anticipated “Game of the Year”. 15 European games have already been nominated in 7 categories, featuring the following list.

Best Console game:

  • Alan Wake (Xbox 360) from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Playstation 3/Xbox 360) from EA DICE (Sweden)
  • Heavy Rain (Playstation 3) from Quantic Dream (France)

Best PC/MAC game:

  • Colin McRae : DiRT 2 from Codemasters (United-Kingdom)
  • Metro 2033 from 4A Games (Ukraine)
  • Napoleon: Total War from The Creative Assembly (United-Kingdom)

Best Mobile game:

  • Dodogo! (Nintendo DS) from Alien After All (France)
  • iBlast Moki (iPhone/iPod) from Godzilab (France)
  • N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance (iPhone/iPod) from Gameloft (France)

Best Indie game:

  • Limbo (Xbox 360) from Playdead (Denmark)
  • LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (Wii) from Frontier Developments (United-Kingdom)
  • Machinarium (PC) from Amanita Design (Czeck Republic)

Best Game Design:

  • EA DICE (Sweden) for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Playstation 3/Xbox 360)
  • Quantic Dream (France) for Heavy Rain (Playstation 3)
  • The Creative Assembly (United-Kingdom) for Napoleon: Total War (PC)

Best Visual Art:

  • Playdead (Denmark) for Limbo (Xbox 360)
  • Remedy Entertainment (Finland) for Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
  • Ubisoft Montreuil (France) for Red steel 2 (Wii)

Best Audio Design:

  • Climax Studios (United-Kingdom) for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
  • IO Interactive (Denmark) for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (Playstation 3/Xbox 360)
  • Remedy Entertainment (Finland) for Alan Wake (Xbox 360)

The Ceremony will be held in Paris on Friday 10th of September 2010, as the 5th Paris Game Festival inauguration.

The Milthon awards will also be the occasion to once again reward the Video Game Creation teaching organizations and their students' artwork excellence, thanks to the Paris Game Festival Student Award.

The 4th Milthon ceremony is presented by Games Fed, the Cultural Ministry, the Industrial Ministry, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée and the Regional Île-de-France Council.