BAFTA Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for the 2012 British Academy Video Games Awards have been announced by BAFTA. 


L.A. Noire and Batman: Arkham City are leading it with eight nominations each. The best game is voted on by the public, and alll winners will be revealed in London on the 16th March. Check out the categories and the full list of nominees below.

Action

• Assassin's Creed Revelations
• Batman: Arkham City
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Portal 2
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Artistic Achievement

• Batman: Arkham City
• L.A. Noire
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• Rayman: Origins
• The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Audio Achievement

• Batman: Arkham City
• Battlefield 3
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Dead Space 2
• The Nightjar
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Best Game

• Batman: Arkham City
• FIFA 2012
• L.A. Noire
• Portal 2
• The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Debut Game

• Bastion
• Eufloria
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
• L.A. Noire
• Monstermind
• RIFT

Design

• Batman: Arkham City
• L.A. Noire
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• Portal 2
• Super Mario 3D Land
• The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim

Family

• Dance Central 2
• Kinect Sports 2
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• Mario Kart 7

Game Innovation

• Bastion
• Child of Eden
• From Dust
• L.A. Noire
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Mobile & Handheld

• Dead Space iOS
• Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint
• Peggle
• Quarrel
• Super Mario 3D Land
• The Nightjar

Online - Browser

• Gardens of Time
• I Am Playr
• Monstermind
• Global Resistance
• Skylanders: Spyro's Universe
• The Sims Social

Online - Multiplayer

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Battlefield 3
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Dark Souls
• Gears of War 3
• LittleBigPlanet 2

Original Music

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Batman: Arkham City
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• L.A. Noire
• The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Performer

• Aaron Stanton (Cole Phelps) - L.A. Noire
• Mark Hamill (The Joker) - Batman: Arkham City
• Nolan North (Nathan Drake) - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
• Stephen Fry (Narrator) - LittleBigPlanet 2
• Stephen Merchant (Wheatley) - Portal 2
• Togo Igawa (Dipolomat, Advisor and Military General) - Total War: SHOGUN 2

Sports/Fitness

• Dance Central 2
• DiRT 3
• F1 2011
• FIFA 2012
• Kinect Sports 2
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012

Story

• Batman: Arkham City
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• L.A. Noire
• Portal 2
• The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Strategy

• Dark Souls
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Football Manager 2012
• From Dust
• Ghost Recon Shadow Wars
• Total War: SHOGUN 2

BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital

• Dreamweaver
• Joust!
• Tick Tock Toys

GAME Award of 2011 (voted for by the public)

• Batman: Arkham City
• Battlefield 3
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• FIFA 2012
• L.A Noire
• Minecraft
• Portal 2
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Happy New Year!

Well, on writing this, we're officially two hours in to 2012! 

I'm taking this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year. Let's make this a good one!

I'm looking forward to a brand new year with 8-Bit Girl, which I hope will bring plenty of exciting opportunities for myself, and some interesting reads for all of you.

Thank you for being so supportive of 8-Bit Girl. I've now got quite a following, and so many of you have emailed, commented, or Tweeted me your kind words about it. So again, I thank you.

All the best for 2012!

Kayleigh

The Tomb Raider Legacy Continues

Since the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, Tomb Raider has expanded from merely games to two live-action films (a new one is currently in the works too), comic books, and theme park rides. The franchises' English action heroine Lara Croft is now a very recognisable gaming icon. With so many games now under their belt, Tomb Raider does not appear to show signs of slowing down just yet.

Now, in 2012, the ninth game in the series is getting a complete revamp. Simply titled Tomb Raider, the game will follow 21 year old Lara Croft as she travels aboard the Endurance, a salvage ship destined for Japan. However, nothing is plain sailing (excuse the pun) for Lara, as the Endurance is hit by an unexpected storm halfway through the voyage. Shipwrecked, injured and alone, Lara must now overcome serious obstacles and danger whilst frantically searching for a way off of the island. 

In game hints and automatic weapon targeting has been kept to a minimum in this release, to keep this game challenging. To add to the challenging aspect, puzzles are supposed to be much trickier to solve this time around, and jumps to ledges or other parts of map have been made harder, as the landscape has a tendency to crumble if you have been dangling or standing on it for too long. The game introduces a new "survival instinct", which will help players solve these puzzles with subtle hints if they require them though, so perhaps it is not as difficult as it was first made out to be. 

What intrigues me the most about Tomb Raider is the element of adapting to the island. Lara starts off the game with nothing to defend herself. However, whilst progressing through the island, Lara can pick up objects to combine and create her own weapons. Another aspect that I am intrigued about is the idea of exploring the island freely. This loose sand-box element completely changes the formulaic structure of the previous games in the franchise, and the idea of exploration in games has always been something that has captivated me (this is probably due to my love of RPGs). 

Immediately from the demo and details currently available, it appears that the confident, hardy and gymnastic Lara we have grown accustomed to over the past 15 years has gone. In her place is a much more vulnerable and real character. This time around, the game play will focus on surviving the horrors that await on the island. The demo unveiled at E3 gave this outing an almost survival horror feel, but the action adventure and puzzle aspect that so many Tomb Raider fans know and love are thankfully still present. 

The previous games in this franchise are definitely worth playing, especially if you enjoy the puzzle platformer genre. Steam users will be thankful of the Tomb Raider Summer Sale over on the Steam store from today. This sale includes 75% off Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and Tomb Raider: Legend. 

If you were only to download one from this sale, I would strongly suggest Tomb Raider: Anniversary. It is a revamped edition of the original Tomb Raider, and will allow you to get acquainted with the series before playing the new game.

Tomb Raider will be released in Autumn 2012 for Microsoft Windows games, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.