Thursday, February 2, 2012

11th Annual NAVGTR Awards Coming Soon

On February 15th, the NAVGTR (National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers) will be holding an event to officially unveil the nominations for the best in gaming art, production, and technology.

Hosted by Tom Sizemore (yes, that Tom Sizemore) and Tara Platt, the event will announce a list of the best of the best from 2011 across a whopping 53 categories. In a world of over the top award shows like the Spike Awards, it's nice to see something that actually takes the industry a little more seriously and treats it as a little less of a goofy spectacle.
More than any other professional group in the industry, testers spend the most time playing games and are therefore most apt to evaluate them on a technical level with intense detail or analysis.
Reviewers in the media also spend a great deal of time analyzing and writing about games from a creative perspective to aid consumers in their evaluations.  The best reviewers sometimes parlay their reputation into industry jobs as producers or testers.

For these reasons, the recommendation of testers and reviewers serves as a special mark of quality that balances important creative and technical perspectives and represents the most hard-core enthusiasts from industry and media.
If you're interested in seeing what NAVGTR is all about (and booking a pretty nice vacation for yourself), there's an 'informal fan gathering' being held in the Dominican Republic this August. That little shindig will be at the Melia Caribe Tropical resort in Punta Cana, and will run from 8/9 through the 11th. Check out the booking links right here if you're interested.