Although they come from computer Gaming World magazine.
It got Best Music:
"This was actually an incredibly close year for judging the best misic in games. Everquest II has a great orchestral score. World of Warcraft includes some majestic tracks, most notably the one that plays when you enter Stormwind. But by far, the best use of music has to go to Half-Life 2. It helps set the mood throughout the game and ratchets up the tension to new highs. As Combine forces chase you throughout burned-out buildings, the music pushes you to frantically kick open doors in order to find an escape route."
As well as best NPC, Dog:
"For the second year in a row, the NPC of the Year award goes to a robot. So whip out a can of Rustoleum, folks, for man's new best friend. For all the awesome facial animaiton in Half-Life 2 and good voice acting (sorry, Barney), a Frankenstein robot that doesn't say a word but thinks it's a loyal puppy is by far our favorite character. We need an expansion featuring him!"
(edit)
Steam also got a special "Coaster of the Year" award:
"For all the cream rising to the top of gaming, there must be a sedimentary layer of dead flies that have drowned pitiably whilst furiously mating upon the foamy excellence forever bobbing lightly above them. And plunging to the bottom of the barrel this year were the infantile series killer that was Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, the legacy-incinerating Lords of the Realm III, and the crap of Spider-Man 2. But nothing stood between gaming and fun quite like Valve's migraine- and gaming-delivery app, Steam.
Yeah, Steam was fine for the folks who bought Half-Life 2 online and it's "gaming future." But if the future doesn't improve on the initial Steam model, we're ready to be turned into soylent green right now. Weeks after release, Steam is still fouling up Half-Life 2 installations, still arrogantly commandeering out PCs and forcing us to deal with it every time we boot up, and still preventing gamers who thought they purchased a single-player offline playing because the online servers are down. Foisted upon unsuspecting consumers like a cold sore from a girl you initially thought was hot, Steam has earned out enmity...and our beloved Coaster of the Year designation"
I can't scan the pages since that always leads to trouble until the issue is out of circulation, but quoting them should work.
It got Best Music:
"This was actually an incredibly close year for judging the best misic in games. Everquest II has a great orchestral score. World of Warcraft includes some majestic tracks, most notably the one that plays when you enter Stormwind. But by far, the best use of music has to go to Half-Life 2. It helps set the mood throughout the game and ratchets up the tension to new highs. As Combine forces chase you throughout burned-out buildings, the music pushes you to frantically kick open doors in order to find an escape route."
As well as best NPC, Dog:
"For the second year in a row, the NPC of the Year award goes to a robot. So whip out a can of Rustoleum, folks, for man's new best friend. For all the awesome facial animaiton in Half-Life 2 and good voice acting (sorry, Barney), a Frankenstein robot that doesn't say a word but thinks it's a loyal puppy is by far our favorite character. We need an expansion featuring him!"
(edit)
Steam also got a special "Coaster of the Year" award:
"For all the cream rising to the top of gaming, there must be a sedimentary layer of dead flies that have drowned pitiably whilst furiously mating upon the foamy excellence forever bobbing lightly above them. And plunging to the bottom of the barrel this year were the infantile series killer that was Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, the legacy-incinerating Lords of the Realm III, and the crap of Spider-Man 2. But nothing stood between gaming and fun quite like Valve's migraine- and gaming-delivery app, Steam.
Yeah, Steam was fine for the folks who bought Half-Life 2 online and it's "gaming future." But if the future doesn't improve on the initial Steam model, we're ready to be turned into soylent green right now. Weeks after release, Steam is still fouling up Half-Life 2 installations, still arrogantly commandeering out PCs and forcing us to deal with it every time we boot up, and still preventing gamers who thought they purchased a single-player offline playing because the online servers are down. Foisted upon unsuspecting consumers like a cold sore from a girl you initially thought was hot, Steam has earned out enmity...and our beloved Coaster of the Year designation"
I can't scan the pages since that always leads to trouble until the issue is out of circulation, but quoting them should work.
