LittleBigPlanet cleans up at AIAS awards

Forget the Oscars, LittleBigPlanet has cleaned up at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' annual awards shindig, collecting eight gongs including best game, best console game and best game direction.

It was also a good night for the boys and girls of Valve (Left 4 Dead collected best PC game and best online game), and of Bethesda Softworks (Fallout 3 winning best RPG and best original story).

Then there was an "industry icon" award for Bruce Shelley, one of the founders of now-defunct Ensemble Studios.

There were some surprises in the list too, with Metal Gear Solid 4 only winning best original music, and it was nice to see World of Goo given the game design award, while Mirror's Edge was somehow deemed the best adventure game.

Meanwhile, Rock Band 2 won best soundtrack, which is a bit like giving "best colours" to a rainbow, but never mind.

The AIAS says that the voters on its "Peer Panels" are "the game industry's most experienced and talented men and women"

Check out the full list of nominees and winners (in bold) below.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Castle Crashers
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• Metal Gear Solider 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Prince of Persia

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Dead Space
• Fable II
• LittleBigPlanet
• Mirror's Edge
• Prince of Persia

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

• Gears of War
• LittleBigPlanet
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Resistance 2
• Tomb Raider: Underworld

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Left 4 Dead
• Spore
• Tom Clancy's EndWar

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay

• Call of Duty: World at War
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• NHL 09
• Rock Band 2

Outstanding Achievement in Original Story

• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Outstanding Achievement in Adapted Story

• LEGO Batman: The Videogame
• Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
• Naruto: The Broken Bond
• Quantum of Solace
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• de Blob
• Dead Space
• Fable II
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

• Guitar Hero: World Tour
• LittleBigPlanet
• MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
• Rock Band 2
• SingStar PS3 Vol. 1

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

• Dead Space
• Gears of War 2
• LittleBigPlanet
• Prince of Persia
• WipEout HD

Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance

• Gears of War 2 - Dom
• Gears of War 2 - Marcus
• LittleBigPlanet - Sackboy
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Old Snake
• Tomb Raider: Underworld - Lara Croft

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• World of Goo

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Fallout 3
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• LittleBigPlanet
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

• Braid
• Left 4 Dead
• LittleBigPlanet
• Spore
• Wii Fit

Family Game of the Year

• Boom Blox
• LittleBigPlanet
• Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
• Rock Band 2
• Wii Fit

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
• Sins of a Solar Empire
• Tom Clancy's EndWar

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
• Tales of Vesperia

Adventure Game of the Year

• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
• God of War: Chains of Olympus
• Mirror's Edge
• Naruto: The Broken Bond
• Prince of Persia

Action Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: World at War
• Dead Space
• Far Cry 2
• Gears of War 2
• Grand Theft Auto IV

Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

• EVE Online: Quantum Rise
• Pirates of the Burning Sea
• PMOG
• Warhammer Online; Age of Reckoning
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Sports Game of the Year

• FIFA 09
• Madden NFL 09
• MLB 08: The Show
• NBA 2K9
• NHL 09

Racing Game of the Year

• Burnout Paradise
• GRID
• Mario Kart Wii
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift
• Pure

Fighting Game of the Year

• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
• Soul Calibur IV
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
• WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009

Casual Game of the Year

• Braid
• Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhurst
• Patapon
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village
• World of Goo

Handheld Game of the Year

• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
• God of War: Chains of Olympus
• Patapon
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Cellular Game of the Year

• Reset Generation
• Spore Origins
• Trism

Computer Game of the Year

• Fallout 3
• Left 4 Dead
• Mass Effect
• Spore
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Console Game of the Year

• Fallout 3
• Gears of War 2
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• LittleBigPlanet
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots

Overall Game of the Year

• Fallout 3
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Left 4 Dead
• LittleBigPlanet
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots