Sweeps the
CGDA Spotlight Awards!

At this year's CGDA' s Spotlight Awards, Valve Software's Half-Life was the star of the show. This ground-breaking PC game took home 7 official awards, including Best PC Title, Best Use of Graphics and Best Audio. In addition, it was voted by the GDC's attendees as Best of Show and took the People's Choice Award based on online voting done through Happy Puppy

“We were greatly honored by the recognition Half-Life received at the Spotlight Awards,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of Valve Software. “When Mike Harrington and I started Valve in 1996, we had no idea of the critical and popular success that Half-Life would achieve. We would really like to thank all of the gamers who told us what they wanted in the action genre, all of the playtesters who told us where we needed improvement, all the fansites who have supported us from the very beginning and all of our customers who, when you get down to it, are the real reason we build games. Thank you, and we hope our future products live up to your expectations.”

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time also made a showing with winning two awards including Most Innovative Game Design and Best Console Game. “In an event where PC titles seem to dominate, it is a great honor to be recognized for a console product in the category of innovative game design,” said Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Honored as well was Louis Castle, co-founder of Westwood Studios, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award. “I could not have done half the things I have in my life without the support of my family and my friends at Westwood," said Castle.

The Spotlight Awards Winners are as follows:

Best Use of Graphics – Half-Life
Most Innovative Game Design –
    Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Best Use of Audio – Half-Life
Best AI (Artificial Intelligence) – Half-Life
Best Children’s Title – Lego Creator
Best Trivia, Puzzle or Classic Game –
    You Don’t Know Jack 4: The Ride
Best Simulation – Gran Turismo
Best Strategy/Wargame – StarCraft
Best Adventure/RPG – Baldur’s Gate
Best Sports Title – NFL Blitz
Best Action Game – Half-Life
Best Multiplayer Game – StarCraft
Best PC Game – Half-Life
Best Console Game – Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time