9th Annual G.A.N.G Award Winners Announced

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 14, 2011) - The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), the non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio, is proud to announce the winners of the 9th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards held at the 25th Annual Game Developers Conference Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 in San Francisco.

Voted and judged upon by the game audio industry and members of G.A.N.G., the finalists represent an array of the best audio in video games from 2010. A 70 person Advisory Committee helped in deciding each of the final nominees which included hundreds of hours of research, listening, watching and playing. The final winners, voted on by the general membership of GANG, included multiple wins for Red Dead Redemption, Battlefield: Bad Company, and a strong showing by Blizzard Entertainment and Activision. "The quality bar from 2010 was so high across the board, it was impossible to predict specific wins," said G.A.N.G. President Paul Lipson. "With over 350 submissions this year, just making it to the final nomination process is something all the teams and publishers can be proud of."

Over 2,000 people representing over 30 countries have signed up as members of G.A.N.G. since its inception in 2002. The award show has become an annual tradition at GDC, drawing standing room only crowds, and has become the centerpiece of the audio track at GDC.

AUDIO OF THE YEAR

• Red Dead Redemption
• Rockstar Games
• Composers Bill Elm & Woody Jackson
• Lead Audio Designer Jeffrey R. Whitcher
• Audio Designers Steven von Kampen, Christian Kjeldsen, Corey Ross
• Audio Programmers Corey Shay, Robert Katz

MUSIC OF THE YEAR

• Red Dead Redemption
• Rockstar Games
• Bill Elm, Woody Jackson

BEST AUDIO OTHER

• Halo: Waypoint "The Return"
• 343 Industries/Microsoft Game Studios
• Kristofor Mellroth, Senior Audio Director, Microsoft Game Studios
• Paul Lipson, Audio Director, Pyramind Studios
• Peter Steinbach, Steve Heithecker, David Earl, Michael Roache

STUDENT/APPRENTICE CONTEST

• Sound Design: Adam Raley
• Music: Paolo Amati

SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Electronic Arts/DICE
• Stefan Strandberg, Ben Minto, David Mollerstedt, Thomas Danke, Mari Saastamoinen, Olof Stromqvist

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM

• Video Games Live - Level 2
• Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall

BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE

• Red Dead Redemption
• Rockstar Games
• Bill Elm, Woody Jackson

BEST HANDHELD AUDIO

• Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge
• LucasArts
• Tom Bible, Jesse Harlin, Wilbert Roget II, Jeff Ball, Dan Reynolds, Andrew Aversa

BEST CINEMATIC/CUTSCENE AUDIO

• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Paul Menichini, David Farmer

BEST DIALOGUE

• Red Dead Redemption
• Rockstar Games
• Lead Audio Matthew Smith
• Additional Dialogue Editing Will Morton, Allan Walker, Jon McCavish
• Audio Designer George Williamson
• Dialogue Assistant Lindsay Robertson

BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL

• "Athens Harbour Chase" - James Bond 007: Blood Stone
• Activision
• Richard Jacques

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL - CHORAL

• "Invincible" - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Music by Russell Brower, Jason Hayes; Lyrics by Derek Duke, Neal Acree

BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL POP

• "I'll Take it All" - James Bond 007: Blood Stone
• Activision

BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC

• Bioshock 2
• 2K Games/2K Marin
• Michael Kamper, Audio Lead and the 2K Marin Audio Team

BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST

• "The Weight of Silence - How Silence Can Indicate a Character's Importance" - Game Developer Magazine
• Jesse Harlin

BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND IN A GAME

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Electronic Arts/DICE
• Stefan Strandberg, Ben Minto, David Mollerstedt, Thomas Danke, Mari Saastamoinen, Olof Stromqvist

RECOGNITION AWARD

• Sumthing Else Musicworks

DISTINGUISED SERVICE AWARDS

• Dren McDonald, Jacquie Shriver

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

• Chris Huelsbeck

DIAMOND SPONSOR/PARTNER AWARDS

• Sumthing Else Musicworks
• Game Developers Conference
• Pyramind Studios
• American Federation of Musicians

About G.A.N.G. [www.audiogang.org]
The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) is a non-profit organization established to educate the masses in regards to interactive audio by providing information, instruction, resources, guidance and enlightenment not only to its members, but to content providers and listeners throughout the world. G.A.N.G. empowers its members by establishing resources for education, business, technical issues, community, publicity and recognition. G.A.N.G. also supports career development for aspiring game audio professionals, publishers, developers and students.