The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) revealed the 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards Winners. Blizzard Entertainment was nominated in several categories, and won two of them.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty won the Oustanding Achievement in Online Game Play Award and the Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year Award.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm wasn’t lucky this year, but it was nominated in two categories. The fact an expansion was nominated, that’s a bonus.

The replay of AIAS 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards will Air on G4TV on Saturday, Feb. 12th at 4PM ET / 1PM PT.

“The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ annual conference exploring artistic expression in video game development includes the Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be handed out on Thursday, February 10 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. The awards celebrate the best technical and artistic achievements in video games in the last year.

Hosted for the sixth year in a row by comedian, actor and game enthusiast Jay Mohr, the AIAS Awards will air on G4TV on Saturday, February 12th at 4pm ET in a one-hour, G4 special presentation. We’ll also be featuring a live, same-day webcast of the awards on our site, and a ton of exclusive online content from the D.I.C.E. Summit sessions and the Indie Game Challenge that take place throughout the week.”

Read more: http://www.g4tv.com/dice2011/interactive-achievement-awards/#ixzz1DfezY1oz

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play

This award will be presented to the individual or team whose work represents the highest level of achievement in online game play in an interactive title. These titles frequently offer excellent matchmaking systems, innovative gameplay options including collaborative and competitive gameplay, user customization and fluidity of gameplay.

Winner:

  • StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Nominated Games:

  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops
  • Halo: Reach
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Strategy games are defined to be those titles in which the user directs or manipulates resources to create a set of conditions that result in success as determined within the confines of the game. These games can offer the user the chance to simulate or to virtually reproduce an experience, real or imaginary, which would require some form of equipment. Strategy games emphasize the planning of tactics rather than the execution.

Winner:

  • StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Nominated Games:

    Outstanding Achievement in Online Game PlayDawn of War II: Chaos Rising

  • Sid Meier’s Civilization V
  • Supreme Commander 2
  • Toy Soldiers
Outstanding Character Performance

Presented to the individual or team whose work has furthered the interactive experience through the creation of a memorable character within an interactive title. Outstanding character takes into consideration the marriage of voice acting and performance (motion capture work), character design and execution, and writing.

Winner:

  • Red Dead Redemption – Rob Wiethoff as John Marston

Nominated Games:

  • ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West – Andy Serkis as Monkey
  • God of War III – TC Carson as Kratos
  • Mass Effect 2 – Mark Meer as Male Shepard
  • StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Neil Kaplan as Tychus Findlay
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

This award honors a title, single-player or multi-player, where an individual assumes the role of one or more characters and develops those characters in terms of abilities, statistics, and/or traits as the game progresses. Gameplay involves exploring, acquiring resources, solving puzzles, and interacting with player or non-player characters in a persistent world. Through the player’s actions, his/her virtual characters’ statistics or traits demonstrably evolve throughout the game.

Winner:

  • Mass Effect 2

Nominated Games:

  • Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
  • Fable III
  • Fallout: New Vegas
  • World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Presented to the individual or team whose work represents the highest level of achievement in original musical composition for an interactive title. Both the quality of the score and the integration of the score into the title will be considered when determining the recipient of this Award.

Winner:

  • Heavy Rain

Nominated Games:

  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
  • Fable III
  • StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
  • World of Warcraft: Cataclysm