Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 16, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
From around 150 submissions by German game manufacturers and developers, universities and schools, an independent expert jury chaired by Professor Dr Ring, President of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media, selected the nominees for the German Computer Game Award.
The winners in nine categories, with total prize money of €600,000, and the winner of Best International Game will be announced at the awards ceremony in Munich on March 31, 2009.
With particular emphasis on culturally and educationally valuable content, the nominees are:
Best Innovation:
- Die Heinies, Lilli & Killa, STORMVISION Multimedia GmbH
- The Settlers: Rise of Cultures, FUNACTICS STUDIO ALPHA LIMITED & CO KG / Ubisoft GmbH
Best Browser Game:
- Online Football Manager, Online Fußball Manager GmbH
- Equilino – My Virtual Horse, Limbic Entertainment GmbH
- Ikariam, Gameforge AG
Best Youth Game:
- Drakensang: The Dark Eye, dtp entertainment AG / Radon Labs GmbH
- Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, Daedalic Entertainment GmbH
- Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis, Koch Media GmbH / Deep Silver / Fusionsphere Systems Ltd.
Best Children’s Game:
- Fritz & Chesster, Koch Media GmbH / Deep Silver / Terzio Möllers & Bellinghausen Verlag GmbH
- The Settlers: Rise of Cultures, FUNACTICS STUDIO ALPHA LIMITED & CO KG / Ubisoft GmbH
- 2weistein – The Secret of the Red Dragon, Brainmonster Studios GmbH
Best School Competition Concept:
- Monkey’s World Wide Jungle, Elsa Brandström Secondary School, Oberhausen
- Die Elfenflöte, Moritz Blanck
Best Student Competition Concept:
- Snatch’Em, Katrin Köhler, FHTW Berlin
- Studeorama, Martin Reichl, BU Weimar
- BLIND, Sebastian Knüppel and Falko Melz, Media Design Hochschule Düsseldorf
Best Mobile Game:
- Emergency DS, rondomedia Marketing & Vertriebs-GmbH / Promotion Software – Agentur für interactive Medien GmbH; Crazy Machines DS, dtp entertainment AG / FAKT Software GmbH
- Secret Files: Tunguska, Koch Media GmbH / Deep Silver / Fusionsphere Systems Ltd.
Best Serious Game:
- TechForce, Zone 2 Connect GmbH
- Willi wills wissen: Notruf – Retter im Einsatz, United Soft Media Verlag GmbH / Promotion Software – Agentur für interactive Medien GmbH
- 2WEISTEIN – Lernen, Trainieren, Spielen!, Brainmonster Studios GmbH
Best International Game:
- Wii Fit, Nintendo of Europe GmbH
- LittleBigPlanet, Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland GmbH
- Rock Band 2, Electronic Arts GmbH
The Best German Game winner will be selected from the winners of the categories above, excluding the school and student concepts and the special award.
Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann and the industry associations G.A.M.E., BIU, BVDW and BITKOM, which jointly organise the award, welcomed the strong response from the games industry and particularly praised the jury’s professional work. Neumann said: “The high quality of the nominations underlines the central purpose of the German Computer Game Award—promoting culturally and educationally valuable computer games in Germany. The initiative is therefore a sustainable investment in Germany as a business location. I look forward to Munich with great anticipation and wish all nominees the best of luck.”
The category winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at BMW Welt in Munich on March 31, 2009. Medientage München, a partner of the organising associations, is staging the gala with support from the Free State of Bavaria. “I am delighted that the games industry is visiting Bavaria,” said Minister-President Horst Seehofer, who will present Best International Game.
