1up presented their annual 1UP Awards in San Francisco, crowning the best of each category. The awards were given for a broad range of gaming platforms and genre's but there was only one "best of the best" MMORPG. This year, Guild Wars has taken the crown.

Ziff Davis Media Game Group tonight presented the third annual 1UP Awards during a special ceremony in San Francisco, California. The 1UP Awards, hosted at the epicenter of the $10 billion videogame industry, honored videogame publishers and developers who have made a powerful impact on American culture and the entertainment industry.

The editors of the Game Group's market-leading magazines and websites celebrated the best videogames of 2005 by presenting the 1UP Awards to the industry's top developers and executives from prominent videogame companies including Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and many others. During the ceremony at Foreign Cinema, nominees' in-game footage and the highly acclaimed 1UP Show podcast were projected on movie screens above the crowd.

The 1UP Awards are named for Ziff Davis Media Game Group's online destination for gaming enthusiasts, 1UP.com. The Game Group's print and online editors, widely recognized as the foremost authorities in the industry, collaborated to select nominees in 13 genres. The awards were then open to voting by the 20-million-plus readers of the Game Group's publications: Computer Gaming World, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and the 1UP Network (1UP.com, GameVideos.com, FileFront.com, and GameTab.com). The winners will be posted online on 1UP.com and featured in the March issues of the magazines.

"Our editors had no problem choosing the top contenders, but we believe it's up to the gamers to choose the absolute best in each category," said Sam Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief of 1UP.com. "We had faith in their votes, and they delivered -- they've chosen the titles that gamers themselves most enjoy playing. We're proud to see that the 1UP Awards reflect the voice of the gaming community."

  The gaming community voted for the following winners:

• Game of the Year:  Resident Evil 4 (Capcom / Capcom)  [PS2, GC]
• Most Innovative Game:  Nintendogs (Nintendo / Nintendo)  [DS]
• Best Action Game:  Resident Evil 4 (Capcom / Capcom)  [PS2, GC]
• Best Adventure Game:  Shadow of the Colossus (SCEA / Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)  [PS2]
• Best Fighting/Wrestling Game:  Soul Calibur III (Namco / Namco)  [PS2]
• Best Massively Multiplayer Game:  Guild Wars (NCsoft / ArenaNet)  [PC]
• Best Online/Multiplayer Game:  Battlefield 2 (EA Games / Digital Illusions)  [PC]
• Best Puzzle Game:  Lumines (Ubisoft / Q Entertainment and Bandai)   [PSP]
• Best Racing Game:  Mario Kart DS (Nintendo / Nintendo)  [DS]
• Best Role Playing Game:  Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Square Enix / Level 5)  [PS2]
• Best Shooter Game:  Call of Duty 2 (Activision / Infinity Ward) [PC, 360]
• Best Sports/Extreme Sports Game:  Madden NFL 2006 (EA Sports / EA Tiburon)  [PS2, Xbox, 360]
• Best Strategy/Simulation Game:  Civilization IV (2K Games / Firaxis) [PC]