The votes have been counted at this year's coveted video games awards at the Game Developer's conference in San Francisco. Voted for by members of the IGDA, the winners reflect the international development community's opinions on the best games of the last year.

The best game award went to Epic's Gears of War on Xbox 360. It's great to see Okami on the PS2 pick up a well deserved award.

The Winners

Best Game
Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson

Audio
Guitar Hero II (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
- Jeff Allen, Eric Brosius, Izzy Maxwell

Character Design
Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Mari Shimazaki, Sawaki Takeyasu, Kenichirou Yoshimura

Game Design
Wii Sports (Nintendo) - Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Technology
Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel

Visual Arts
Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Jerry O'Flaherty, Chris Perna

Writing
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
- Kyogoku Aya, Nate Bihldorff, Mitsuhiro Takano

New Studio
Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan Quest)
- Paul Chieffo, Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan

Innovation
Line Rider - Boštjan Cadež

Ōkami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita

Recipients for the evening's special awards were:

Lifetime Achievement
Shigeru Miyamoto
First Penguin
Alexey Pajitnov
Maverick Greg Costikyan

Community Contribution
George “The Fat Man” Sanger

"Once again, the Game Developers Choice Awards have shown that gaming greatness can be found within every type of game—from the most hardcore of experiences, to those that have brought all new audiences into our industry’s fan base," said Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director, IGDA. “Each year, I am humbled by what our members can do with this great art form.”