Call Of Duty 4 Snags Three BAFTA Game Awards

Call of Duty 4 took home three awards at the annual BAFTA video game awards, but the surprise winner was Super Mario Galaxy.

It was a good night for the makers of first-person shooter Call of Duty 4. At the British Academy of Film and Theatre Arts (BAFTA) video game awards 2009, they took home the awards for Gameplay, Story and Character, and People’s Choice (the last chosen by the public, not a panel).

Of a total of 15 categories, they snagged one-fifth, not a bad haul. But the winner that surprised everyone was Super Mario Galaxy, which walked away with Best Game. Dead Space received two awards, for Original Score and Best Use of Audio.

There have been BAFTA game awards since 1998, but in 2004 it was spun out into a separate event. In 2007, however, some of the titles nominated for events either weren’t yet in stores or, in a couple of cases, not even finished. In the wake of that controversy, the 2008 awards were abandoned until now to ensure the games were out and well-played.

Nolan Bushnell, the man behind Atari and creator of the first video game, Pong, was given a Fellowship by the Academy.