Console Sports Game of the Year
See Biggest Ripoff of the Year below.

Console Game of the Year
Along with PC GOTY and the overall winner, this is one of the biggies. Crazy Taxi, Gran Turismo 2, Soul Calibur, Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Yellow, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Driver. Steep competition indeed; Soul Calibur took it, though the audience seemed to be leaning toward Driver and Donkey Kong 64.

Computer Adventure/Role-Playing Game of the Year
Asheron's Call, Outcast, Ultima IX: Ascension, Gabriel Knight 3 and Planescape Torment were nominated. I'd rallied the guys next to me into a riot if Ultima IX won, so it was kind of a let-down when the award went to Asheron's Call.

Computer Sports Game of the Year
Backyard Football (huh?), High Heat Baseball 2000, NHL 2000 and FIFA 2000. NHL 2000 had my vote, but FIFA took the prize, which was only notable because some EA jackass went on stage, grabbed his trophy and slurred "Where's the babes?" into the mike. We were all very impressed, and I saw a few women in the audience toss their room keys his way.

Computer Simulation of the Year
F/A-18, Freespace 2, Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and MiG Alley got the nod, and MFS 2000 took the prize. Gotta give Bill something to smile about, right? Huh? Timely joke, anyone? Oh. OK.

Computer Action Game of the Year
Now this was the big one. Look at these nominees: Half-Life: Opposing Force, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena. Phew. Surprisingly, Half Life: Opposing Force ended up taking the final honors. OpFor was great, but it seems to me a new game should have won over an expansion.

Computer Strategy Game of the Year
Age of Empires 2, Heroes of Might and Magic III, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun and Homeworld were nominated, and audience favorite AOE 2 stole the crown.

Computer Game of the Year
Four of the five CGOTY nominees were strategy games, which seemed kind of odd: Age of Empires 2, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun and Homeworld. The only action game in the mix was Unreal Tournament, but it couldn't fight off the Age of Empires 2 juggernaut.

Game of the Year
Finally, the whole enchilada. The six nominees for Game of the Year were Age of Empires 2, Pokémon Yellow, The Sims, Donkey Kong 64, Soul Calibur and Unreal Tournament. Will Wright's The Sims won amid much cheering and hoopla, though I'm still a little unclear how a PC game that wasn't even nominated for Computer Game of the Year can win the overall Game of the Year. But I'm just simple folk.

To give you the reader a little more bang for your click, I've decided to add a few categories myself. There were some categories that the Academy somehow managed to miss. Read on....