Rage, 3DS top Game Critics' E3 Awards

With the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo over and done with, the Game Critics Awards winners have surfaced. The committee gave three accolades to id Software's Rage, but top honors went to Nintendo's new portable.

Best of Show went to the 3DS, Nintendo's innovative portable that supports 3D without the need for glasses. The device also won the Best Hardware honor, beating out Sony's PlayStation Move for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's full-body gesture recognition tech for the Xbox 360, Kinect.

Prior to voting, id Software's Rage led the nomination pack with five nods, including Best of Show, Best Original Game, Best Console Game, Best PC game, and best Action game. Rage turned in three of those nominations, securing the Best Console Game, Best Action Game, and Special Commendation for Graphics.

Electronic Arts led all competing publishers with four awards: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Best Racing Game), Rock Band 3 (Best Social/Casual Game), Star Wars: The Old Republic (Best Role-Playing Game), and NBA Jam (Best Sports Game). The closest competing publisher to EA was Bethesda with three awards (all from Rage).

The Game Critics Awards are doled out by a cross section of 31 mainstream and enthusiast gaming media outlets, with the panel of judges hailing from such online and print publications as GameSpot, Wired, USA Today, and others. To qualify for an award, the game must be shown in a playable form running on its native platform.

A full list of nominees is below, with winners highlighted in bold.

Best of Show
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)

Best Original Game
Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3, Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)

Best Console Game
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
InFamous 2 (Sucker Punch/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel/Nintendo for Wii)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Handheld Game
Ghost Trick (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
Okamiden (Capcom for Nintendo DS)
SuperScribblenauts (5TH Cell/WBIE for Nintendo DS)
Valkyria Chronicles 2 (Sega for PSP)
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready at Dawn/Sony Santa Monica for PSP)

Best PC Game
Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games)
Crysis 2 (CryTek/Electronic Arts)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA)
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Hardware
Kinect (Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Move (Sony for PlayStation 3)
Rock Band 3 Pro Guitars (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)
Rock Band 3 Keyboard (Harmonix/MTV Games/Mad Catz)
Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)

Best Action Game
Bulletstorm (People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (TreyArch/Activision for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Gears of War 3 (Epic Game/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Halo: Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Disney's Epic Mickey (Junction Point/Disney Interactive Studios for Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)
Portal 2 (Valve for PC / Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Role-Playing Game
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Fable III (Lionhead/Microsoft Game Studios for PC and Xbox 360)
Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt RED STUDIO/Atari for PC)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)

Best Fighting Game
Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm/WBIE for PS3 and Xbox 360)
WWE All Stars (THQ San Diego/THQ for PS3 and Xbox 360)
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom for PS3 and Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game
Gran Turismo 5 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
MotorStorm: Apocalypse (Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Eden Games/Atari for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game
EA Sports MMA (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
Madden NFL 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NCAA Football 11 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NHL 11 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360)
NBA Jam (EA Canada/EA Sports for Wii)

Best Strategy Game
Company of Heroes Online (Relic/THQ for PC)
End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC)
Shogun 2: Total War (The Creative Assembly/Sega for PC)
Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games for PC)

Best Social/Casual Game
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
DJ Hero 2 (FreeStyle Games/Activision for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
Kinect Adventures (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Rock Band 3 (Harmonix/MTV Games/Electronic Arts for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Best Motion Simulation Game
Child of Eden (Q Entertainment/Ubisoft for PS3 and Xbox 360)
Socom 4 (Zipper/Sony Computer Entertainment for PS3)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for Xbox 360)
Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer
Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Halo Reach (Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360)
Medal of Honor (EALA/DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/LucasArts/EA for PC)
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360)

Special Commendation for Graphics
Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360)