I was greeted by Kristoff, one of the event organisers, and was delighted that he recognised me from previous years. I have arrived. This year was to be a bit different, though, for me as I was actually given an interview spot on the winners’ line up. Technically I had been promised this in previous years, but this time I was really promised. The following is an account of some of the day from my perspective; I will write up the rest in a subsequent post.

Being as I am always early for these things (and they always start late), I took up residence in the lobby of The Hilton. I was privy to a conversation between a hotel guest and the employee who was cleaning his shoes, and I was not particularly impressed. I shared it on my personal Twitter feed at the time, but I think it warrants repeating here.

Guest: What is going on here? What are the film crews setting up for?

Shoes’ Polisher: Oh… it is for some function taking place later… an award show for video-games. There won’t be any celebrities, or anything.

Guest: An award show? For video-games?

For real. I think this says quite a lot about the perception of games, even today. I just think that there is still a massive misunderstanding about the industry as a whole. Games do not come from nowhere; and they take a skill to make. They don’t just appear. I chose to keep my mouth shut at this, probably for the good of all.

As it is, thankfully that did not set the mood of the day. I was shown to a spot behind a velvet rope, ready for the Red Carpet arrivals, but was moved to a better location; right next to the door. All the better for bagging interviews, etc… but goodness me it was freezing! I was wearing a fairly tiny dress as I was expecting to be near the back where I normally am.

My first big interview came from Ian Livingstone, founder of Games Workshop and author of the Fighting Fantasy novels. I asked him whether we could expect a revival of the Fighting Fantasy ‘Create your own adventure’ novels. I believed I would get a “that would be a nice idea, but no” type answer, but I was thrilled to learn that he is working on another novel to celebrate thirty years from the publication of the first novel. This will be available in various different formats, including Kindle. This news made me very happy, as I devoured them as a child.

Ian Livingstone announcing the winner of the Special Prize.

When questioned about how he felt about the Special Award and its recipient, he had this to say:

“This particular award is going to a man that has been original, innovative and has gone against the grain. Triple ‘A’ games will continue to sell; that is always going to drive the industry, but on the other end of the scale you have incredible innovation whether on iPhone, Facebook… These are very exciting times.”

Hollyoaks and Luther actor Warren Brown told me very enthusiastically what he particularly enjoys playing:

 “I was a gamer for a long time, then took a few years out, but it’s kind of had a bit of a resurrection in the last few years. I go through phases [with which games I play]; I was a bit behind on Assassin’s Creed. I’ve spent many hours on that and I am still finishing my way through Brotherhood. Also I’m filming a new show in Liverpool called The Good Cop. I play the good cop whose best friend is beaten and murdered by a gang. He’s then torn between doing his job or going after the guys and getting revenge.

There was a particular night we were doing a car chase sequence so under strict supervision I was out… So I had a full night screaming up and down the dock roads of Liverpool and when I got back I kind of had this urge to go out myself, but no. So Forza became my wind down of choice!”

The Good Cop comes out at the end of April (probably) and will be on the BBC.

The highlight of the earlier part of my evening was chatting to Aaron Staton, who was both presenting an award, and nominated for one; Best Performer, for Cole Phelps.

“I’ve been playing games since I was five, so to be in one is surreal in itself and when I was doing it I was wondering how it will turn out. It is surreal to be here, and to be recognised in a way.”

Staton spoke passionately about games, and their place in our world as a medium for telling a story in a new and interesting way:

“I think it speaks to the medium’s value, and how it is changing. The opportunity that telling a story in this medium affords… I think by the simple fact that you have twenty-five, forty, a hundred hours to tell a story; you combine that with every year that goes by that technology evolves and we are able to get it just a little bit closer to things as we see them.”

Aaron and I bonded over the fact that we both have young kids. Our conversation (by this point that was what it was; not an ‘interview’):

“I started playing when I five, and I didn’t stop when I was twenty, twenty five or thirty… I still play! I don’t think I’ll pass it down to my son yet, because he is twenty months old!”

“Hell, my 8 month old plays!” I interjected.

“Really!? What does she play?”

“I just give her the controller… she has no idea that what she does with it has any bearing on the screen, though!”

“Which console?”

“PS3.”

“Really? Cool! On the Xbox you create an avatar. There was about a month where he would get a kick out of it, and he would call avatar ‘guy’. [At this point Aaron did an impression of his son shouting ‘Guy!’] Then he’d figure out how to make him turn, etc…”

One of my colleagues asked which award he would most like L.A. Noire to take home. I suggested he would most like Performer, but he was too humble for that. He just went with ‘Best Game.’

Here he is arriving, and looking nice and relaxed. (Aaron is on the left.)

His humility and downright loveliness came out once more (it was never hidden very well) when I asked him what it meant to be nominated for the part of Cole Phelps considering what Phelps means in terms of character design and technological advances in game animation. His “thank you” was quiet and very genuine, although I didn’t ask purely to flatter him; it is the truth. He replied that “99% of the reason I am here is the technology.” I doubt that very much.

Anyway, we got chatting about the actual process of the making of Phelps. The recording of his facial movements is well documented, and from what he was saying it sounds strangely restrictive for a technique which gives the audience so much depth and insight. The body movements were motion captured, and Aaron expressed amusement at the fact that they were so good that his wife could recognise his walk in Phelps.

Unfortunately he had to actually attend the award ceremony. I would have been quite happy to leave and continue our conversation over a pint in the nearest pub, though. As soon as he had gone I realised I should have tried to set up a play-date between his son and my daughter. Next time, next time. He needs to be in more games.

The final group to enter via The Red Carpet was Jonathon Ross, his wife Jane Goldman and their son Harvey. They were already running late for the dinner, and yet stopped for us as “otherwise [you journalists] would be standing there looking pathetic and unloved. We care about the online community!”

Jonathan Ross with his wife, Jane Goldman and their son Harvey.

When asked how he felt about presenting an award he said:

“I am presenting the award for the greatest game in the Universe up to this point, and that should be Ghouls and Ghosts; 16-bit on the Mega-Drive… or King of Fire on the Neo-Geo. Seriously; who is nominated?”

He asked us. He then gave us no chance to answer and proceeded to name some games he thought might be:

“I would guess Call of Duty, Batman… Mass Effect 3… that’s too late, right, and one of the Uncharted games?”

Good to know he’d had a look at the list of nominees before he got there!

Ross began to rabbit on without pausing for breath.

“I’ve been playing the new Uncharted game on the Vita, and it’s a really good machine, but I wonder whether handhelds are facing certain doom because of these fellows. [He held up his phone]…but I love it; the graphics are great… I love the backwards fiddling thing. I don’t know if they have trademarked it as the backwards fiddling thing, though.

The thing is, you don’t get into that category if you haven’t made a really good game. They are all immersive, incredible, you want to come back for more. Brilliantly written, brilliantly designed… I’d be happy for any of them to win.”

Which is great, but he had no idea which games he was talking about.

Despite running late, Jonathon and his family had a lot of time for us, and I could transcribe everything he said, but it would take forever, and probably would lose you all. Needless to say, though, it was very entertaining listening to them. It felt more like a private comedy show than an interview.

This was highlight number 2 of the Red Carpet for me. I was very pleased the very end was worth waiting for, as my teeny tiny dress that I was wearing meant that I now had hypothermia. (At one point I thought Craig Fairbrass was going to offer me his jacket.)

So that is my Red Carpet report. I spoke to a few other people on the way in, but the above constitutes the edited highlights. I’ll post again with my thoughts on the awards and winners, and about how I finally managed to get hold of two of my gaming heroes, having wrongly assumed they would have entered via the Red Carpet and through the front door.

Follow the link for our live text feed!

Please note: We’ve had a technical hitch with our usual live feed system, so it means you’ll need to refresh this page manually. Apologies for any inconvenience.

13:55: Bah, tech issues mean we’ll have to update this live feed manually, and you’ll need to refresh every so often. Bryony will be along shortly to bring you all the news as we have it. [Andy]

20:12 More tech issues. Hopefully now I am able to update this. If not, one of my TIMJ chums will be able to, and I’ll tweet. However, hopefully I’ll be able to get some winners’ interviews, so it’ll be a bit on-the-fly. [Bryony]

20:28 Despite technical gremlins doing their best to halt our coverage, we are ready for the awards to start at 21:00. So stay tuned for the news at it happens, possible jokes at the expense of the events sponsors by Dara and maybe even interviews with the winners afterwards. Stay tuned gang.

20:55 Only 5 minutes to go, feel free to comment with your predictions. Will Batman Arkham City clean up?

20:58 Dara is having a few microphone issues, at least its not just us that have had problems today.

21:07  Dara is on form having a few amusing digs at ITV using footage from Armour 2 in an IRA documentary. “the IRA didn’t have a uniform!”

21:10 Here we go The BAFTA Video Game Award for best Story goes to… Portal 2!

21:12 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Original Music goes to… LA Noire!

Nothing for Skyrim or Unchartered???

21:18 The BAFTA Video Game Award for Audio Achievement goes to Battlefield 3.

Strange award this one that leaves you saying Meh!

21:21 MW3′s Craig ‘Ghost’ Fairbrass presenting Best Design and can’t resit saying “Lets do this“

The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Design goes to… Portal 2

2 wins so far for Portal 2, could this be a trend?

21:26 All the footage of L.A. Noire and now Aaron Staton with a new season of Mad Men on the horizon is making me want to revisit the game. I fear it will not be a good night for them though.

The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Game Innovation goes to Little Big Planet 2

21:29 The BAFTA Video Game Award for best Strategy game goes to… Sho Gun 2!

21:34 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Mobile & Handheld goes to… Peggle HD

21.37 Time for award voted by the public, all of GAMES problems are forgotten for one night only.

The BAFTA Video Game Award for  The GAME Award goes to… Battlefield 3!

21:43 The BAFTA Video Game Award for Action goes to…Batman Arkham City!

21:47 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award goes to…Tick Tock Toys.

Little Big Planet 2 sitting on top of the world with two BAFTAS

21:52 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Online – Browser game goes to…MonsterMind.

21:56 The BAFTA Video Game Award for Artistic Achievement goes to…Rayman Origins.

22:00  BAFTA  Special Award goes to Markus Persson of the phenomenon that is Minecraft.

I want to make games innovative again.

Well deserved win for a true Indie hero.

22:06 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  Sports/Fitness goes to…Kinect Sports 2

22:10 The BAFTA Video Game Award for Online Multiplayer goes to Battlefield 3

Big night for Battlefield 3 winning three awards.

 22:15 Not a good night for Skyrim or Uncharted

The BAFTA Video Game Award for Debut Game goes to..Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Great name for a game, but nobody here to collect the award so not sure how wacky they actually are.

22:19 The BAFTA Video Game Award for  best Family Game goes to… Little Big Planet 2

22:25 The BAFTA Video Game Award for Performer goes to Mark Hamil for Batman Arkham City.

I bet Aaron Staton is wishing he never flew in for the show.

22:29 Jonathan Ross points out the positives around gaming and talks how gaming has brought his whole family together rather than the negative stories you read in the newspapers.

The BAFTA Video Game Award for Best Game goes to… Portal 2

So the awards are spread out but Battlefield 3 and Portal 2 have three awards whilst Little Big Planet pick up a respectable two BAFTAS.

Both Skyrim and Uncharted leave the BAFTAS empty handed.

The big shock of the night is Skyrim and Uncharted which has left many people feeling a little miffed. Some will say that both of these games have been done before and that Portal 2 offered something different so deserve their win, but what about Battlefield 3? Many here are just glad its not Call of Duty.

It was fantastic to see that #baftagames was trending on Twitter and shows just how far gaming as come. I could talk about this all night but we have to rush back to the red carpet and will try to interview the winners. You will be able to read more about this in the next few days, but until then its goodnight from me.

This year; our second at these awards, we had full red carpet access. Faithful readers (especially those with a good memory) will remember that last year I spent a reasonable amount of time sneaking about trying to listen in on people’s interviews, etc, while also trying extremely hard not to get thrown out. The experience was quite the opposite last night; I was shown to a spot behind a velvet rope, in full view of the doors through which the great and the good would be arriving. We even had some of the events organisers running around asking if there was anybody in particular we wanted to speak to, including nominees. I yelled for Russell Shaw, nominated for his original music work on Fable III and instantly panicked that I might not have anything to ask. I reminded myself that I love his work, so it ought be be like chatting to a friend. The thought kept me going, anyway.

Anyway, that aside; I may be wrong, but I did notice the previous year that the nominees were largely ignored when compared to the non-industry celebrities, which at the time I thought was wrong. It may sound slightly holier-than-thou, but I would far rather ask someone in the industry where their inspiration comes from, or what they are working on, etc, than someone who, however nice they happen to be, is attending for other reasons. So the point is that I am glad that the actual stars of our industry are getting a bit more recognition at their own awards show.

Assassin’s Creed led the nominations with a total of seven, and were looking understandably happy but nervous on the red carpet. When asked about their current project, they were tight-lipped; when pressed on the subject (not by me) the lips were noticeably tighter. The tension was diffused by one of their delegation smiling a winning smile and saying that telling us anything would be like spoiling Christmas. Revealing games (or even minute details) is an art; do it to soon and you run the risk of over hyping it; do it too late and people might not pick up on it in time. I feel sure that the date of the reveal is already set; if it wasn’t set for the BAFTA awards, no news would be forthcoming. Anyway, here is a nice picture of the Ubisoft delegation to make things a little better.

No news on the next game; all in good time, chaps.

I felt a teensy bit sorry for Reece Ritchie of the Prince of Persia movie, as no one seemed to really know who he was. He seemed pleasant and if anything a bit shy, I didn’t manage to get any words with him and nor did I hear him speak with any one else, but here he is in his tux. Not the most flattering of pictures, though, so my apologies to Reece.

Reece Ritchie; a star for the future?

Danny Wallace also came by, and I managed to snatch a few words with him. He is a friend of this website; he remembered where he’d run into some of us before. He was kind enough to give us a special message, though I feel I put him on the spot, somewhat! He told us that he likes this site because it has a nice personal feel, and that delighted me because I think that is something that we strive for. We are people, and we have our own opinions, and we are encouraged to express them. If this is what we are trying to do, and people have noticed that, then I am a happy person. Here he is, with someone who drives very fast.

Danny Wallace and Ben Collins; or 'The Stig' to the likes of me.

It sounds a tad sycophantic, but none of the celebs said anything to annoy me this year. One in particular last year (whose name does not need mentioning here) got up my nose by implying that gamers were sad, sweaty men with no social lives, and no social skills. I felt that was a tad tactless at an event designed to celebrate the achievements of the gaming industry. Anyway, I am very sorry that I am unable to launch into a scathing attack on anybody.

The Stig. Or is it? How can we tell?

I decided to stick on the side of non controversy (I might have joined in if other people were doing it, though) and not ask Ben Collins about that lawsuit. I meant to call him ‘Ben Collins’ but silly me called him ‘The Stig’. I had to remind myself that The Stig is actually a character, and one who is very different to the man in the photo above. Both drive very fast, and they are probably about the same size (I’d guess Collins’ head is a bit smaller) but otherwise they are different men. Ben Collins came over as being well spoken and polite, although he did lose me a bit when he went into detail about his current setup for his upcoming Le Mans 24hr job. I am not stupid, but I didn’t follow everything. Stig; if you read this; it was a pleasure being baffled by you. Oh, and best of luck with the race.

The only man to get away with an open collar at a black tie event.

Finally for this article, here is Sir Ben Kingsley. I wrote down most of what he said in our Live Feed, but I wanted to share this picture with you. Being the arguably the most important of the non-industry types at the award show he arrived last, and as such did not have a great deal of time to chat to us. Although being ushered by one of the event organisers he was more than ready to stick around and chat for longer. I think he would have answered all our questions, had fate and Father Time not intervened.

So that, for the most part, is my report from the Red Carpet. I will post at least once more some in-depth transcriptions, so this article is a taster for you. I am already looking forward to next year’s event; I feel even more prepared now, and ready to take them all on.

You can follow all the action in this article, and you won’t even have to refresh the page!

Not only will she be reporting the results live as they happen, Bryony will also be reporting live from the red carpet trying to get the attention of host Dara O Briain, Charlie Brooker and any other gaming celebrities in that she can tempt over to chat with her for This Is My Joystick.

You can also follow the fun at home too as this will be the first time that the awards will be streamed live at www.bafta.org and www.baftagameaward.com, which will save you having to dust down your tuxedo or black cocktail dress.

Make sure you stay tuned to This Is My Joystick and our Twitter Feed for news and gossip live as it happens at the gaming Oscars.

For those of you with a keen eye on the event here are the nominations for the big night.

ACTION
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE

BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Steve Caterson
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Ken Feldman, Cecil Kim
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Could Limbo be pull off a shock win?

BEST GAME
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

FAMILY
Dance Central
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix

Kinect Adventures
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Good Science Studio

Kinect Sports
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Rare

Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games

Toy Story 3
John Blackburn, Jonathan Warner, Jeff Bunker
Disney Interactive Studios/Avalanche Software

Will a Kinect title win best family game?

GAMEPLAY
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Adam Puhl
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

HANDHELD
Cut the Rope
Development Team
Chillingo/Zeptolab

God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games

Professor Layton and the Lost Future
Akihiro Hino
Nintendo/Level 5 Games

Sonic Colours
Development Team
SEGA/Sonic Team

Super Scribblenauts
Joseph M Tringali, Marius Fahlbusch, Jeremiah Slaczka
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/5th Cell

Will they be brave enough to not give COD the Multi Player award?

MULTI-PLAYER
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Development Team
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Alan Wake
Petri Alanko
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy

Fable III
Russell Shaw
Microsoft Games Studios/Lionhead Studios

Heavy Rain
Normand Corbeil
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

James Bond 007: Bloodstone
Richard Jacques
Activision Blizzard UK/ Bizarre Creations

Mass Effect 2
Jack Wall
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koji Kondo
Nintendo/Nintendo

SOCIAL NETWORK GAME
Bejeweled Blitz
Jon David, Heather Hazen, Jason Kapalka
Popcap Games/Popcap Games

Farmerama
Tobias Reisberger, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier, Marten Schröder
Bigpoint/Bigpoint

FIFA Superstars
Development Team
EA Sports/Playfish

My Empire
Development Team
Playfish/Playfish

Zoo Mumba
Tobias Reisberger, Eduard Röhrich, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier
Bigpoint GMBH/Bigpoint GMBH

Zuma Blitz
Isaac Aubrey, Jon David, Jason Kapalka
PopCap Games/PopCap Games

SPORTS
F1 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Codemasters Birmingham

FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Football Manager 2011
Development Team
SEGA/Sports Interactive

Gran Turismo 5
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Polyphony Digital Inc

International Cricket 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Trickstar Games

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Shingo Takatsuka, Naoya Hatsumi, Jon Murphy
Konami/Winning Eleven Productions

Year of the underdog for best story?

STORY
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy

BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Fallout: New Vegas
John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare

STRATEGY
Civilization V
Jon Shafer, Dorian Newcomb, Brian Wade
2K Games/Firaxis

Fallout: New Vegas
Josh Sawyer, Frank Kowalkowski, Justin Reynard
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment

FIFA Manager 11
Development Team
EA Sports/Bright Future

Napoleon Total War
Development Team
SEGA/Creative Assembly

Plants vs. Zombies XBLA
George Fan, Matt Lee Johnston, Ty Roberts
PopCap Games/PopCap Games

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo

USE OF AUDIO
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy/14.05.10

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal/19.11.10

Battlefield: Bad Company: 2
Stefan Strandberg
Electronic Arts/DICE/05.03.10

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch/ 09.11.10

DJ Hero 2
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK LTD/Freestylegames/22.10.10

LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games/21.07.10

BAFTA ‘ONES TO WATCH’ (In association with Dare to be Digital)
Mush
Henry Hoffman, Ahmed Zaman, Matthew Dennis, Katherine Killick, Greg O’Brien
(Angry Mango)

Sculpty
Druhin Mukherjee, Fabien Roussot, James Long, Fraser Littlejohn, Ronan Suess
(Team Tickle)

Twang
Jocce Marklund, Annette Nielsen, Linus Nordgren, Marcus Heder, Thomas Finlay
(That Game Studio)

Red Dead Redemption the only possible award?

GAME AWARD OF 2010 (The only award to be voted for by the public)

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch

Dance Central
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix

FIFA 11
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada

Halo Reach
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie

Heavy Rain
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe

Limbo
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games

Mass Effect 2
Electronic Arts/BioWare

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games

Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo/Nintendo

So, who is your money on to win the big awards? Let us know by commenting below and we will look forward to hearing from you all on Wednesday night when the results are revealed live from site.

I spent Friday morning making all the necessary preparations for the big day ahead; you know the drill, washing and straightening my hair, giving myself a French manicure, shaving my legs… oh, and reading up on the games that were nominated that I was less familiar with so that I wouldn’t feel like either a complete nincompoop or fraud. Being the slightly skittish and pessimistic person that I am, I got to the Park Lane Hilton somewhat early. I passed the time chilling in the lobby, and I can honestly say that this is the first time that I have ever been called ‘Ma’am.’

At the allotted hour I wended my way upstairs, and found my way in to what I assumed was the media room, which was to be my home for the next seven hours or so. What there was no sign of, however, was the media accreditation desk. I could have been anyone, but being as I am vey honest, I sought out the desk, and picked up my pass. I was told in fairly uncertain terms which areas this allowed me access to, and the Red Carpet was not one of them. Meh… We’ll see about that.

Not a lot happened for quite a while, so I spent the time chatting with some of the other journos as they arrived. I got the impression that the good stuff was all happening downstairs on the Red Carpet. Egged on by FantaMan from The Daily Joypad who I believe was also itching for some action, I made my way down to the Red Carpet area where, indeed, things were starting to happen. Armed with my trusty camera (and some sharp elbows and a decent evasion plan) I started snapping away at the celebs as they arrived. I have posted some of these on the Live Feed Thread but I’ll put a few more up now.

Olly Murs and Alex Zane.

Olly Murs was the surprise hit with the journos. I thought he seemed charming. I am far from a fan of X Factor, but I can’t say I didn’t see any of it, and he was my favourite. I am pleased that he clearly isn’t a knob. He was telling the guys with big microphones that his biggest regret was telling someone (I didn’t catch who) that he’d give them his PS3 if he got through to the finals of X Factor. He really misses it now.

A legend arrives.

This man was treated like the legend that he is by everybody, and rightly so. He seemed very humble, and very gracious. I am thrilled that I was so close to a man that has not only bought me so much joy and happiness, but millions of people around the world. What a man.

Chris O'Dowd. Hammering home the old stereotypes.

I am sure he meant it as a joke, but this gentleman annoyed me by answering the question “Do you play many games yourself?” with “I used to play a lot, and I like to call that time my ‘single years.’” The flames of the old stereotype that gamers are sad males sitting in their room playing by/with themselves need no fanning, thank you very much.

Charlie Brooker; moves about a lot.

I posted this in the main Live Feed thread, but as he is treated by many as The Messiah, I thought I’d post again. He is almost impossible to photograph, as he moves about all over the place. I took about twenty of him, and honestly, this was the best I got!

Something I noticed at this point is that the ‘celebs’ who were there to give out awards were treated as royalty. All this time the real celebs, i.e. those that had put a great deal of hard work into the making of all the excellent games without which the ceremony would not have been possible were nowhere to be seen. They were ushered off upstairs without further ado. I felt the balance here was quite wrong.

Unfortunately the wifi access was only available in the room upstairs, so I ran up and down the stairs approximate eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty three times in that hour to post pics, keep up with Twitter and try and keep the Live Feed going. The irony is of course if I had been in the right room to post regularly on the live feed, I would not have been anywhere near the action.

I am Homer Simpson.

Red Carpet over, celebs arrived and ushered to their special area; the real work was soon to begin. In the short time between celebs arriving and the ceremony I chatted to some of the other journos about their thoughts on the night ahead. The general consensus was that while Uncharted 2: Among Thieves lead he nominations it wasn’t really a BAFTA type game. The feeling was that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would sweep up the majority of the gongs, or failing that, Batman: Arkham Asylum. I still held out some hopes for my personal favourite, Uncharted 2.

It became obvious fairly quickly that this was not going to be either a walk in the park, or supremely glamorous. The set up in the main media area (that is the place to which I was meant to be confined) was a bit wrong. There was an area for photographing the winners that I have to admit I forgot about until I was reminded that photography was not allowed in the interview room. The interview room was also where the live video feed was being shown. Dilemma. Did I sacrifice the opportunity to photograph winners, or the video feed? It become apparent very quickly that the promise of ‘one-to-one’ interviews even for us journos at the bottom of the food chain was a joke. The chosen few had their big cameras and fat fluffy mics, and the likes of me wouldn’t even get a look in, even with the sharpest elbow sharpener in all the world. What also transpired fairly quickly was that the live video feed that was being piped through to our room was actually slower than the live internet feed. Results were being posted on Twitter before we were informed of them. Weird, non?

So, a quick call to Andy at This Is My Joystick HQ, and he was covering the winners announcements. I figured that without any hope in the deepest circle of Hell of getting any meaningful interviews that my best bet would be to hang around by the winners’ photography area. Doing this, at least I could subtly ask some questions of the winners while snapping them. Naughty girl.

Gavin Russell: Artistic Achievement for Flower.

This gentleman was incredibly chuffed with his award for Artistic Achievement, and seeing his joy was one of the highlights of the day.

Keith Ramsdale picked up the gongs for Best Sports and Use of Online for Fifa10. Here he is with Ralph Little.

Guy Perkins for Left 4 Dead 2 picked up the Multiplayer award.

They deserve to be dead chuffed.

Penultimately; the winners of two awards for Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady Studios. I think their entire office turned out. I asked them how they felt about pipping Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to this prestigious award. Unsurprisingly I can report that they are “thrilled.”

Gongs and grins all round!

Last but not least, the gentlemen from Naughty Dog laden with their four awards. I had to be patient to snap these guys. Understandably they were in demand, and enjoying their evening. Earlier on in the proceedings, certain other photographers got royally up my nose by being a bit snobbish; I might not have had an £8000 camera but was there to do a job just like them. When it became apparent to them that I knew what I was talking about, who the winners were, what they did etc, suddenly I was their best friend. I am a fan, but I was also trying to get the job done.

More importantly, unlike them I was trying to nab interviews, keep an eye on the online world, and take pics. It is for this reason that  I am thoroughly delighted that when I spotted Naughty Dog down the corridor I was able to congratulate them, thank them (and ask them whether Nathan Drake would be around for a long time (answer: “Oh yes!”)) and show to them that being a fan and journalist need not be mutually exclusive. Naughty Dog gave me the best shot of the night (apart from that one of Miyamoto that I posted on the Live Feed) and that put the cherry on the cake.

It was incredibly hard work, but in the end I did have a whale of a time. I got to meet two of my personal gaming heroes, (and another gaming God) and learnt a hell of a lot about how the world works. It was a baptism of fire, but I don’t think I got toasted.

One final quick note; I posted on the Live Feed that I was flirted with by a celeb I did not recognise. I can safely say he wasn’t Bill Gates, but I still have no idea. Sadly I didn’t take a picture as I was too busy being confused, so it will forever remain a mystery.

Stay tuned!

16.12 In the media centre, all set up… there’s not a lot going on right now, but there’s a lot of setting up… not much to report, people seem fairly relaxed.

16.47 At the moment I am watching a feed of the rehearsals for the Fellowship.

18.17 People are starting to arrive – Suzi Perry and Chris O’Dowd have come through. Dom Joly expected in a few minutes.

18.22 Limited WiFi, unfortunately! Please stay tuned.

18.37 Dom Joly is in the house – comes over very well. However, although he thinks it is great that women play games he ‘wouldn’t like it if his wife or girlfriend did as that is ‘his area’. I think his tongue was in his cheek.

18.48 Miyamoto just checked in! (Sadly too busy for an interview!) But WOW!

19.22 Right. Red Carpet over (blagged my way in there.) Got some pics… Will post.

Charlie Brooker

Olly Murs

Dom Joly

19.35 Taking a breather.  This is hard work!

OK – titbits… Same on the journos asking Edith Bowman purely about women and gaming.

Suzie Perry – has been playing games since she was 9. Pong, was what she started on!

Olly Murs – regrets telling someone that if he got through the first few rounds of X Factor he’d give them his PS3 as he’d have no time to play. He misses it now!

19.44 I haven’t had a pee since 10am…

20.20 There’s general milling going on… not much to report. Awards soon, though.

20.22 May resort to tweeting from phone… half laptop battery left… :-/

20.20 Meh. It says I have enough.

20.50 Dara O’Briain is on stage and introduces himself as Soap McTavish. Also made a joke about the ApocolyPS3… Pretty funny.

20.52 He just asked Miyamoto why you have to jump on bosses three times… Brilliant.

20.54 Michelle Ryan is introduced to give the award for Best Action Game.

20.55 Up for this: Assassins Creed 2, Uncharted 2, Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, inFamous.

20.56 Winner: Uncharted 2!

20.58 Michelle Ryan has the biggest shoulders in Showbiz…

20.58 Next award is for Family and Social, Jason Bradbury and some woman I’ve never heard of presenting this.

21.00 Up for this: Beatles Rock Band, Buzz: Quizworld, Eye Pet, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Guitar Hero 5, Wii Sports Resort.

21.02 Winner: Wii Sports Resort.

21.03 Next award is ‘Best use of online’. Presented by Chris O’Dowd and Miles Jacobson.

21.04 Up for this: Uncharted 2, Battlefield 1943, Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 10, Little Big Planet PSP, Singstar: Take That.

21.04 Winner: FIFA 10

21:06 Next award, use of audio, presented by George Lamb.

21.07 Up for this: Flower, DJ Hero, Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Uncharted 2.

21.09 Winner: Uncharted 2

21:10 Handheld category, Suzi Perry to announce this!

21.11 Up for this: Little Big Planet, Gran Turismo, Mario & Luigi, Scribblenauts, Professor Layton, Loco Roco 2.

21.13 Winner: Little Big Planet PSP, well deserved!

21.15 Olly Murr and Lisa Morgan to announce the ‘GAME Award’. Decided by the public.

21.16 Up for this: Modern Warfare 2 (the public are morons), Beatles Rock Band, Wii Sports Resort, Arkham Asylum, FIFA 10, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Assassins Creed 2, GTA: China Town Wars, Street Fighter IV, Uncharted 2.

21.18 3rd place: Uncharted 2, 2nd Place: Assassins Creed 2, Winner is: Modern Warfare 2. The public proves their detriment to the industry.

21.20 Next up, strategy, Dom Joly and Chris Dearing for this one.

21:22 Up for this: FIFA Manager 10, Plants vs Zombies, Red Alert 3: Uprising, Halo Wars, Football Manager 2010, Empire: Total War.

21.24 Winner is: Empire: Total War.

21.25 Next award is ‘Original Score’. Edith Bowman presents. Looks like she’s on crack.

21.26 Up for this: Modern Warfare 2, Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Assassins Creed 2, PixelJunk Shooter, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

21.27 Winner: Uncharted 2. Naughty Dog are cleaning up here.

21.27 Multiplayer category, Tom Watson MP to present the this one.

21.28 Up for this: Halo 3: ODST, Battlefield 1943, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, Beatles Rock Band, Left 4 Dead 2.

21.31 Winner: Left 4 Dead 2. Take that Activision.

21.32 Gameplay. Alex Zane to present.

21.33 Up for this one: Uncharted 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii (seriously?), Modern Warfare 2, Pixeljunk Shooter, Assassins Creed 2, Arkham Asylum.

21.34 Winner is:  Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is not going well for Modern Warfare 2.

21.36 Now sports: Ralph Little presents. Slags off Ubisoft for feather collection. Tells PES devs to get out, and that they dropped the ball.

21.36 Up for sports: DiRT 2, Wii Fit Plus, FIFA 10, FORZA 3, Wii Sports Resort, Football Manager 2010.

21.39 Winner is 2010

21.40 Best story now, unfunny man Kevin Bishop to present.

21.41 Up for this: Arkham Asylum, Broken Sword: Directors Cut, Assassins Creed 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend.

21.44 Winner: Uncharted 2.

21.45 Now ‘One to watch’.

21.46 Up for this: Shrunk, Quick as Thieves, Colour Coded.

21.47 The winner is… Shrunk

21.49 Next one up is Artistic Achievement, Dave Gibbons to present this.

21.50 Up for this one is: Arkham Asylum, Assassins Creed 2, Street Fighter IV, Modern Warfare 2 (artistic?!), Flower, Uncharted 2.

21.51 Winner is… Flower!

21.53 Best game award. This is the final one! Presented by Charlie Brooker!

21.54 Up for this one: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 10, Uncharted 2, Arkham Asylum, Left 4 Dead 2, Assassins Creed 2.

21.55 The winner is… Batman Arkham Asylum. Was certain Naughty Dog were gonna take that one.

21.57 Modern Warfare 2… MWHUHAHAHAHAHA! Only won the award voted for by morons.

21.57 Oh hang on, they lied, there’s another. Ant and Dec to award the Fellowship Award. Couldn’t they get anyone funnier? Someone should tell Dec that a comb over doesn’t disguise his huge forehead.

21.58 The winner is Miyamoto, say what you like about the Wii, but that’s thoroughly deserved.

22.03 So Naughty Dog and Uncharted 2 ‘won’ the BAFTA’s overall. Thoughts?

22.08 Standing ovation for Miyamoto, and deservedly so. Would the games industry be the same without him? I think not.

Winners for Best Game: Batman.

Biggest winners on the night: Uncharted 2

22.38 Well, that was hard work. Couple of soundbites for you: The boys behind Batman told me that they were ‘thrilled’ to have beaten Uncharted 2 to the Best Game Award. The guys responsible for Uncharted 2 promised me that Nathan Drake is here to stay for a long time. While they struggling with their four awards I offered to take one off their hands. They thought I was joking. I wasn’t.

More thoughts: the official photographers etc didn’t know who they were photographing. One was… a bit of snob towards me. Until he realised I knew who the people were, who had won, who was likely to win, etc, suddenly I was his best friend.

One mystery guy flirted with me. I have no idea who he was. When I asked he was very elusive. I still have no idea.

Journalism is very hard. I will post more pictures tomorrow morning, but for now, I need a drink. Actually I need sleep. Thanks for watching.

EDITORS NOTE: That’s it for for the Live Text Folks, I think Bryony deserves a big hand for her hard work today, and I hope in amongst the work she managed to enjoy herself in the process. Well done!

What type of coverage is exactly yet to be decided, but rest assured we’ll be bringing you all the news from one of the industries big award shows.