Wizard101 Up for Two Awards at GDC Online 2011

What can I say?  I'm super excited to see Wizard101 up for a couple of awards at GDC Online again this year!  It definitely means the air will be electric in the auditorium in Austin for the KingsIsle people.  It makes me wish there was again a way for me to end up there.  If I close my eyes, I can still remember being there last year.  As I walked in the auditorium with Beau and Leesha, it was just a bit overwhelming in there . . . like GDC and really outdone themselves with professional lighting and a stage.  It felt like the first Oscars for videogames, and I do believe that is exactly what they are trying to become with this award ceremony.

I was able to get some face time right there in that auditorium with J. Todd Coleman and Josef Hall.  I remember telling them great job on the presentation earlier and good luck with the awards.  Somehow we ended up riffing about the screenshots for the Alpha versions of Wizard101, and J Todd and Josef explained to me how the card game was originally in a 2D state where shields used to bounce spells around the screen, back and forth randomly between players, gaining speed, getting more deadly with each deflection . . . seriously awesome moment for me.

Ok, that's enough reminiscing.  It's gonna bum me out that I won't be there to see KingsIsle go up for these awards.  Go check the GDC nominee page to see what I'm talking about.

The one I think I’m most excited about is Best Community Relations.  Honestly, Professor Greyrose works her wings off for Wizard101. 

There’s some interesting competition this year. Check it out: “The Best Community Relations Award honors the currently operating online game that provides the highest quality community feedback and experience, including customer support, forum moderation and leadership, weblog and information updates, real-life events, and other community outreach. The original launch of this game is not limited to any time frame.

*     Wizard101 (KingsIsle)

*     World of Tanks (Wargaming)

*     Minecraft (Mojang)

*     EA Sports FIFA Superstars (Playfish/EA)

*     World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)”

Oh man . . . 2011 was like *the year of Minecraft* (even though it’s still in beta) . . . this is going to be a tough competition, and of course World of Warcraft took this one last year.

Best of luck Wizard101!

Happy Dueling