2013 Canadian Videogame Awards Finalists Announced

^[1]The finalists in sixteen categories were announced today for the upcoming Canadian Videogame Awards ^[1], which will be held in Vancouver on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in conjunction with  Fan Expo Vancouver ^[2].  Over 100 nominations were received this year from all parts of Canada, with ­­25 games represented in the list of finalists. All awards are for work developed in Canada and released in 2012. A body of industry experts from across the country will vote on the winners in each category.

Sponsored by Future Shop, The CVAs will be broadcast across the country on Citytv and G4 Canada through the Rogers Network.  Members of the public can get in the game and cast their vote for the Future Shop Fans’ Choice Award ^[3] online.

Elias Toufexis has been announced as the host for this year’s show. Elias has gained a huge following in the videogame world with dozens of roles in extremely popular games like The Assassin’s Creed series, The Splinter Cell Series and, most notably, as the lead character of Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution which won Best New Character at last year’s CVAs! On television he has had leading characters in shows like Supernatural, Smallville, Alphas, Eureka, Lost Girl and dozens more.

2013 Canadian Videogame Awards Finalists

Game of the Year

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Console Game

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• FIFA Soccer 13 (EA Sports)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.)

Best Downloadable Game

• Incredipede (Northway Games)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• MechWarrior Online (Piranha Games/Infinite Games Publishing)
• Shank 2 (Klei Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
• Waveform (Eden Industries)

Best Game on the Go

• Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (Beamdog)
• My Singing Monsters (Big Blue Bubble)
• Shellrazer (Slick Entertainment)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• The Bard’s Tale (Square One Games/inXile Entertainment)

Best Social/Casual Game

• i saw her standing there (krangGAMES)
• Jurassic Park Builder (Ludia)
• Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth (Ubisoft Quebec)
• Rubber Tacos (Sava Transmedia/Zygna)
• The Secret World (Funcom Games/Electronic Arts)

Best Animation

• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Prototype 2 (Radical Entertainment/Activision)
• Shank 2 (Klei Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.)

Best Audio

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Incredipede (Northway Games)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• My Singing Monsters (Big Blue Bubble)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Game Design

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Game Innovation

• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Waveform (Eden Industries)

Best Indie Game

• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Shank 2 (Klei Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Waveform (Eden Industries)

Best New Character

• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft) – Vaas
• Nun Attack (Frima Studio) – The Nun Squad!
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment) – Quico
• Prototype 2 (Radical Entertainment/Activision) – James Heller
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.) – Wei Shen

Best Original Music

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal) – Main Theme Song
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts) – Leaving Earth
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment) – Liberation
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.) – Sleeping Dogs Score
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment) – Cities

Best Technology

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• MechWarrior Online (Piranha Games/Infinite Games Publishing)
• Prototype 2 (Radical Entertainment/Activision)
• SSX  (EA Sports)

Best Visual Arts

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Incredipede (Northway Games)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)

Best Writing

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.)

Future Shop Fans’ Choice Award

• Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Montreal)
• Batman Arkham City Armored Edition (WB Games Montreal)
• Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
• Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment/Microsoft)
• Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/Electronic Arts)
• Papo & Yo (Minority Media/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Prototype 2 (Radical Entertainment/Activision)
• Sleeping Dogs (United Front Games/Square Enix Ltd.)
• Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Waveform (Eden Industries)

For full event information and ticket sales visit the official Canadian Videogame Awards ^[1] site or follow along on Facebook ^[4] or Twitter ^[5] (#CVA2013). The Canadian Videogame Awards are produced by Reboot Communications and Greedy Productions. The producers are joined by a national committee of developers, leaders, and associations from the Canadian interactive entertainment industry.

Future Shop is proud to be the title sponsor of this year’s CVAs, which are also sponsored in part by: G4 Canada, Click Magazine, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, WB Games Canada, EA, Eidos-Montréal, United Front Games and officially endorsed by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, and DigiBC.