With the end of the year comes awards season, so it's time to celebrate the best of video games for 2011. We already had the Spike VGAs and our own 2011 Game Rant Video Game Awards, and now the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences have announced their nominations for the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves nabbed 10 of the prestigious awards two years ago, can Uncharted 3 repeat that success?

It's possible.Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Naughty Dog may be reign supreme this year with 12 nominations from the 26 possible categories, including Game of the Year. Drake's Deception may take the cake, but don't be surprised if fan favorites like Batman: Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human RevolutionPortal 2, L.A. Noire, Rayman: OriginsSkyrim and Skyward Sword take some awards home.

Check out the full list of nominees below:

Game of the Year

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)
  • InFamous 2 (Sucker Punch)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

  • Battlefield 3 (DICE)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Need for Speed: The Run (EA Black Box)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Story

  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Character Performance

  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Adam Jensen (Eidos Montreal)
  • L.A. Noire - Cole Phelps (Team Bondi)
  • Portal 2 - Wheatley (Valve)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Nathan Drake (Naughty Dog)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Victor Sullivan (Naughty Dog)

Downloadable Game of the Year

  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • Drawn: Trail of Shadows (Big Fish Games)
  • Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Fuel Cell)
  • Ms. Splosion Man (Twisted Pixel Games)

Casual Game of the Year

  • Fruit Ninja Kinect (Halfbrick Studios)
  • Tiny Wings (Andreas Illiger)
  • Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick Studios)
  • Monsters Ate My Condo (Adult Swim/PikPok)
  • Where's My Water? (Creature Feep)

Social Networking Game of the Year

  • Army Attack (Digital Chocolate)
  • CastleVille (Zynga)
  • Gardens of Time (Playdom)
  • The Sims Social (Playfish)
  • Triple Town (Spry Fox)

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

  • Dark Souls (From Software)
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal)
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
  • The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt)

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (Toys for Bob)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)

Sports Game of the Year

  • FIFA 12 (EA Canada)
  • Madden NFL 12 (Tiburon)
  • MLB 11: The Show (SCE San Diego)
  • NBA 2K12 (Visual Concepts)
  • NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (Firemint)

Racing Game of the Year

  • Forza Motorsport 4 (Turn 10 Studios)
  • Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo)
  • Real Racing 2 HD (Firemint)

Fighting Game of the Year

  • Fight Night Champion (EA Canada)
  • King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore)
  • Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm Studios)
  • Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom)
  • Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom)

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

  • Iron Brigade (Double Fine)
  • Orcs Must Die! (Robot Entertainment)
  • Total War: Shogun 2 (The Creative Assembly)
  • Toy Soldiers: Cold War (Signal Studios)
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution (Relic Entertainment)

Family Game of the Year

  • Dance Central 2 (Harmonix)
  • Just Dance 3 (Ubisoft)
  • Kinect Disneyland Adventure (Frontier Developments)
  • LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule)
  • Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (Toys for Bob)

Mobile Game of the Year

  • Contre Jour (Chillingo)
  • Dead Space (EA Mobile)
  • Infinity Blade II (Chair Entertainment)
  • Tentacles (Press Play)
  • The Dark Meadow (Phosphor Games Studio)

Handheld Game of the Year

  • Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Capcom)
  • Kirby Mass Attack (Hal Laboratory)
  • Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo)
  • Professor Layton and the Last Specter (Level 5)
  • Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)

Adventure Game of the Year

  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play

  • Battlefield 3 (DICE)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games)
  • Gears of War 3 (Epic Games)
  • Little Big Planet 2 (Media Molecule)
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare)

Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity

  • Battlefield 3 (DICE)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games)
  • Dragon Age II (BioWare)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Action Game of the Year

  • Battlefield 3 (DICE)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games)
  • Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games)
  • Gears of War 3 (Epic Games)
  • Saints Row: The Third (Volition)

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

  • Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft)
  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Rayman Origins (Ubisoft)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • Battlefield 3 (DICE)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • Rayman Origins (Ubisoft)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • Crysis 2 (Crytek)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Rage (id Software)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (Toys for Bob)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

  • Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
  • L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
  • Portal 2 (Valve)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog)

Some quick call-outs that jump out at us: Madden was nominated over NHL which we disagree with wholeheartedly, and the Ultimate re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was nominated over the retail release - that's salt in early adopters' wounds.

The 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards will be held again at this year's annual DICE Summit in Las Vegas. The awards will be held in front of a live audience and may be streamed online with host comedian Jay Mohr. Check out the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and the DICE Summit websites for more information. Also check out the nominees list for the 12th Annual Game Developer's Choice Awards.

Ranters, do you expect another sweep from Naughty Dog and Uncharted 3 or will do other games stand a better chance?

-

Source: The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences