Uncharted 3 gets a dozen Interactive Achievement Award nods

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences today released its full list of nominees for the Interactive Achievement Awards, with Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3-exclusive Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception leading the pack of 2011 games with a dozen nominations across 11 categories, including Game of the Year. The remaining candidates for the top IAA honor include Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Uncharted 3's 12 nominations tops the nine nods put up by last year's IAA darling Red Dead Redemption, but the territory isn't quite uncharted. In 2010, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves garnered 15 nominations, winning 10 categories, including Game of the Year.

The next most frequently nominated game was Portal 2 with 10 nods, followed by L.A. Noire with nine. The only other games that made the cut in more than three categories were Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Skyrim, with six nominations each.

As for the publishers, Electronic Arts topped the list, collecting 21 nominations spread across 14 games. Uncharted 3 pushed Sony into the second place (18 nominations between five games), while Microsoft managed to take the bronze with 13 nominations for 11 games.

The 15th annual Interactive Achievement Awards will be presented Thursday, February 9 at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. GameSpot will be live streaming the event, with comedian Jay Mohr once again hosting the ceremony. A complete list of categories and nominees follows below.

Game of the Year
Batman: Arkham City--Rocksteady Studios
Portal 2--Valve
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim--Bethesda Game Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword--Nintendo
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception--Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
L.A. Noire--Team Bondi
Little Big Planet 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 Game Studios
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
Orcs Must Die!--Robot Entertainment

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 Austin
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim--Bethesda Game Studios
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 Game Studios

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 Paris
Kinect Disneyland Adventure--Frontier Developments
Little Big Planet 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 Austin

Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity
Battlefield 3--DICE
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3--Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games
Dragon Age II--BioWare Edmonton
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 Montreal
Batman: Arkham City--Rocksteady Studios
L.A. Noire--Team Bondi
Rayman Origins--UbiArt Montpellier
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--UbiArt Montpellier
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception--Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Batman: Arkham City--Rocksteady Studios
Crysis 2--Crytek GmbH
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 Game Studios
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 Game Studios
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception--Naughty Dog

[CORRECTION]: This story originally referred to the Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity category as Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play. We regret the error.