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‘LittleBigPlanet’ wins big at video game awards

SAN FRANCISCO – “LittleBigPlanet” sacked the competition to win four trophies at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

Developed by MediaMolecule, the cutsey PlayStation 3 adventure game which allows players to create and share their own levels was honored for best game design, debut, technology and innovation at the Game Developers Conference ceremony Wednesday evening.

Bethesda Softworks’ “Fallout 3” seized the evening’s top prize. The post-apocalyptic shooter, which is set in the ruins of Washington, D.C., blasted fellow nominees “LittleBigPlanet,” Valve Software’s “Left 4 Dead,” Lionhead Studios’ “Fable II” and Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV” to win game of the year. “Fallout 3” was also awarded the best writing trophy.

“I was a nerd growing up in South Boston,” said “Fallout 3” lead writer Emil Pagliarulo during his acceptance speech. “To all the nerds growing up in South Boston, don’t play hockey. Don’t join Little League. Stay in your room, read your Lloyd Alexander and play ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’ It all works out in the end.”

Selected by a jury of gamecreators, the Game Developers Choice Awards honor the best games of the past year. The lively ninth annual ceremony was hosted by “Psychonauts “ and “Brutal Legend” developer Tim Schafer. The show was capped off with the debut teaser trailer for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” the upcoming sequel to the best-selling game of 2007.

Other winners at the ceremony at the Moscone Convention Center were Ubisoft Montreal’s “Prince of Persia” for best visual art, Ready at Dawn Studios’ “God of War: Chains of Olympus” for best handheld game, EA Redwood Shores’ “Dead Space” for best audio and 2D Boy’s “World of Goo” for best downloadable game.

“Video Games Live” concert series co-founder Tommy Tallarico was awarded the ambassador trophy. Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, co-founders of “Rock Band” developer Harmonix, received the pioneer award. “Metal Gear Solid” creator Hideo Kojima was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award.

“I wanted to give my speech in English, but this is GDC,” joked the veteran Japanese designer while accepting his lifetime achievement award. “All of this will be up on YouTube. If I make a mistake, it could stay on the net for the next century, so please allow me to read my speech.”

Earlier in the evening, several trophies were handed out at the 11^th annual Independent Games Festival Awards. Erik Svedang’s “Blueberry Garden” won the top honor, taking home the $30,000 Seumas McNally grand prize for best independent game. Other winners included Jason Rohrer’s “Between,” Data Realms’ “Cortex Command” and KranX Productions’ “Musaic Box.”