2010 was officially a vintage year for video games – at least, that was the message from the closest thing the industry has to an Oscars ceremony, the GAME British Academy Awards (better known as the Bafta video games awards).
Mass Effect 2 won best game at the ceremony, held at London's Park Lane Hilton on Wednesday night, while Heavy Rain, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Super Mario Galaxy 2, God of War III and Cut the Rope were also recognised.
However, big-selling blockbuster Call of Duty: Black Ops was snubbed, winning none of the judged categories. However, games buyers came to its rescue, as it won the publicly voted GAME Award.
Psychological thriller Heavy Rain scooped three awards – in the story, technical innovation and original music categories.
The most nominated game, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, only won one award – but that was in the highly coveted action category.
Super Mario Galaxy 2, another contender in several categories, won the Bafta for gameplay, while God of War III took the artistic achievement prize.
As well as big-selling blockbusters, the Baftas also recognised under-rated titles such as Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, which won the multiplayer award. Codemasters' F1 2010 triumphed in the sports category and Battlefield Bad Company 2 won best use of audio.
Perhaps the only disappointment of the night was the failure of Limbo to pick up a gong, despite five nominations – perhaps if 2010 hadn't been such a strong year for releases, it would not have gone home empty handed.
The most left-field award was for Twang, which won the Ones to Watch category, fought between three games created over the space of 10 weeks, under the Dare to Be Digital banner. Channel 4 is poised to air a series examining the process of creating those games, Crunch Time, which launches on 27 March.
Other winners included iPhone app Cut the Rope in the handheld category, Kinect Sports in the family category, My Empire in the social network game category and the venerable but unimpeachable Civilization V in the strategy category.
Finally, Lionshead boss Peter Molyneux – who created games such as Populous and Fable – was presented with the fellowship award by Sir Ben Kingsley.
Bafta video games awards: complete list of winners
Action: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Artistic achievement: God of War III
Best game: Mass Effect 2
Family: Kinect Sports
Gameplay: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Handheld: Cut the Rope
Multiplayer: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Original music: Heavy Rain
Social network game: My Empire
Sports: F1 2010
Story: Heavy Rain
Strategy: Civilization V
Technical innovation: Heavy Rain
Use of audio: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Bafta ones to watch award in association with Dare to Be Digital: Twang
GAME award of 2010: Call of Duty: Black Ops
