Epic Games subsidiary Chair’s ‘Shadow’ wins Spike TV video game award

Updated Dec. 14, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.

Epic Games subsidiary Chair’s ‘Shadow’ wins Spike TV video game award

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Local Tech Wire, AP

CARY, N.C. – Epic Games came home with another honor from the annual Spike TV Video game Awards this weekend – but for “Shadow Complex,” a title produced by its subsidiary Chair Entertainment.

Based on the Empire world created in part by best-selling science fiction writer Orson Scott Card, Shadow Complex received the “Best Downloadable Game” at the show in Los Angeles.

Epic’s development team in Cary – the brains behind previous award winners “Gears of War,” “Gears of War 2” and top game studio – assisted in developing Shadow Complex. The Chair team is based in Utah.

Card is a resident of Greensboro.

The Associated Press raved in a review last summer that Shadow Complex was one of the year’s best titles:

“This $15 adventure harkens back to beloved 1990s games like ‘Super Metroid’ and ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.’ They're what we called ‘2-D side-scrollers’: You could move up, down, left or right, with the screen scrolling to follow your character. (Shadow Complex is really ‘2.5-D’: The settings have three dimensions, but you can only move in two.)

“Your character is a hiker named Jason Fleming, who, with his girlfriend, stumbles across a massive paramilitary complex in the mountains. Your sweetie is taken hostage, so you have to storm the facility - armed only with a flashlight.

“Of course, you'll quickly discover more lethal weapons, starting with a pistol and working your way up to a missile launcher. You'll also find armor, grenades, explosive foam and other devices that will help you survive the waves of troops and robots that come after you.

“Combat isn't the main attraction, though. Shadow Complex is essentially a giant maze filled with clever puzzles and hidden prizes. Some parts of the maze can't be solved until you find certain devices, like a rappelling hook or hyperspeed boots. You can race through the game, but it's more rewarding to take your time and explore all the nooks and crannies.”

Most of the attention at the Spike show, however, went to “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves,” which nabbed three prizes/

The PlayStation 3 exclusive was named top game for that console and honored for its graphics at the awards show Saturday night at the LA Live complex in downtown, which featured appearances from Stevie Wonder, Green Day and Jack Black. Snoop Dogg and The Bravery performed.

"I want to see the companies that make these video games make them accessible so that people like myself can enjoy them too," Wonder said before presenting the best music game award to "The Beatles: Rock Band."

Green Day announced that they would be featured in a similar standalone title by game maker Harmonix, "Green Day: Rock Band," to be released next year.

Jake Gyllenhaal promoted his Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action movie based on the "Prince of Persia" games, due out next summer, and presented the game of the year award.
"Uncharted 2" earned raves from critics when it was released in October, and from attendees Saturday ranging from actor Zach Braff to "Gears of War" designer Cliff Bleszinski.

"We knew when we were making this game it was going to be good, but nobody could have predicted this kind of success," said Nolan North, the voice actor who plays "Uncharted 2's" lead character Nathan Drake.

He said he and developers at Naughty Dog studios had celebrated the game's big sales "by kicking around ideas for 'Uncharted 3,' because that's what we want to do."

Zachary Quinto of "Star Trek" said he'd be lending his voice to the upcoming massively multiplayer online game "Star Trek Online." Mike Tyson made an appearance alongside the cast of MTV's new "Jersey Shore" reality show, who hogged attention backstage.

"Everybody in the green room is pushing all these mega-celebrities out of the way," Braff said. "Get out of the way Sam Jackson, I think 'The Situation' is coming in."

Besides the awards, the show's focus was on never-before-seen previews of upcoming titles, including Afghanistan-set "Medal of Honor," "Batman: Arkham Asylum 2," "Crackdown 2," "The Force Unleashed 2" and "Halo: Reach."

Click here for the complete awards list.

Tags: Epic Games, Video game industry

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