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 Postcard
From GDC 2004
The G.A.N.G. Awards
Last
night, the Regency Ballroom of the San Jose Fairmont hotel was awash in
game audio. G.A.N.G.-the Game Audio Network Guild--held its second annual
awards ceremony to a room full of game sound designers, composers, and
musicians. Tommy Tallarico and friends hosted the festivities, which had
a laid back, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants feel, though the production
values--particularly the live surround sound system provided by Dolby--were
first-rate.
Though Mr.
T. and friends tried to keep things moving at a brisk pace, the ceremony
lasted from 8:30 PM to 11:00, prompting suggestions future G.A.N.G. Awards
that a cue from the Academy Awards and hold an "earlier, the following
were presented with awards for ..." event. To offset the monotony
of endless acceptance speeches, the audience was treated to live music
by Steve Kirk and the Voodoo Vince Band (New Orleans meets prog rock syncopation
ala the sound track to Voodoo Vince), LoudLouderLoudest! (sax,
clarinet, upright bass, and marimba arrangements of classic game tunes),
The Rockin' Hobbit Band (two guitars, balalaika, percussion, and violin
blending classic rock 'n' roll with music from The Hobbit), the
OneUp Mushrooms (an outfit from Arkansas who played rock and jazz-flavored
arrangements of game tunes), and Dweezil Zappa (monolog with guitar shredding
of some choice game tunes).
In addition
to awards for best audio, sound design, and like that, there were plenty
of awards for G.A.N.G.'s sponsors--DTS, Dolby, APM, Creative Labs, Escalet,
Spherex, and so on.
Here's a
quick rundown of who won what:
- Best
Commentary in a Sports Game: Madden NFL 2004, the Madden commentary
team
- Best
Dialog: The Getaway, Dave Raymond audio manager
- Rookies
of the Year: Chris Velasco and Jerod Emerson Johnson
- Most
Innovative Use of Audio: Amplitude, Chuck Doud, producer
- Best
Sound Design in a Sports or Driving Game: Need for Speed: Underground
- Best
Arrangement of a Non-Original Score: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's
Tomb, Clint Bajakian
- Best
Use of Licensed Music: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
- Best
Original Sountrack Album: The Hobbit
- Best
Original Instrument Song: "Max Payne Theme," Max Payne
2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Best
Original Vocal Song-Pop: "Late Goodbye," by Poets of the Fall,
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Best
Original Vocal Song-Choral: "Gallery Theme," by Tim Larkin,
URU: Ages Beyond Myst
- Best
Live Performance Recording: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb,
Clint Bajakian
- Best
Handheld Audio: 007: Everything or Nothing
- Best
Edutainment/Children Audio: Tonka Rescue Patrol
- Best
Producer/Director: Simon Pressey, Ubisoft
- Best
Website Audio: Shiny Entertainment's site by Blitz Digital Studios
- Best
Audio-Other (toys): LeapFrog Leapster: SquareBob SpongePants
- 2nd Annual
Student Competition: Ian Dorsch-composition; Jonathan Wall-sound design
- Best
New Audio Technology: Yamaha Vocaloid
- Best
Audio Software: Native Instruments Absynth and Spectrasonics Atmosphere
- The Silas
Warner Best Audio Programmer Award: Thomas Engel, Factor 5
- Best
Audio Hardware: Digidesign ProTools HD Accel
- Best
Sound Library: SFX Kit, Tommy Tallarico Studios
- Best
Game Audio Article: Direct X 9.0 Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development
by Todd Fay
- Best
Interactive Score: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, Clint
Bajakian
- Sound
Design of the Year: Call of Duty, Chuck Russom
- Music
of the Year: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, Clint Bajakian
- Lifetime
Achievement Award: Rob Hubbard
- Audio
of the Year: Call of Duty, Chuck Russom
- Golden
Melodica Award: Tommy Tallarico
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