After a summer of voting for titles from a super year of gaming, the shortlist has been announced for this year’s GameCity Prize and it’s a magnificent seven.
Launched earlier this year with a panel at the BFI, the organisers of this year’s GameCity Prize sent a call out to all gamers, asking them to nominate games they thought were “The most brilliant, interesting and meaningful” from the past twelve months, which were all documented on the prize website. Whittled down by an academy of twelve industry professionals, the diverse judging panel now have to pick a winner from a shortlist of:

• Catherine – Atlus Persona Games
• Fez – Polytron
• Johann Sebastian Joust – Die Gute Fabrik
• Journey – thatgamecompany
• Mass Effect 3 – Bioware
• Proteus – Ed Key and David Kanaga
• Super Mario Land 3D – Nintendo EAD

Traditionally, the GameCity Festival, which was the catalyst for creating the Prize, programmes an eclectic range of games for all ages which are reflected in the shortlist this year. GameCity Director Iain Simons said, “The GameCity Prize isn’t really about which is the best videogame, it’s about how we talk about videogames and live with them in the mainstream culture and modern life. Many of the jurors are playing games with their families and the perspective they bring to thinking about the titles selected is going to be really interesting.”

Certainly, the list seems to feel better balanced this year as it features massive blockbusters alongside smaller indie gems, though all titles have undoubtedly made a huge impact on gaming audiences and should give the judges who include Dave Gibbons, Ekow Eshun, Wayne Hemmingway, Jo Wiley and Louise Brealey plenty to debate which is a key element of why this prize exists. Last year's inaugral winner, Minecraft by Mojang, has since been released on XBLA and has millions of players from around the world.

The GameCity Prize will be awarded on Wednesday 24th October, as part of the GameCity 7 Festival in Nottingham. Pefect for getting you in the festival mood for the SFL mini-fest in November!