The International Film Music Critics Association announced the nominees for its annual awards. One of the categories this year is Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media. Five games released in 2011 are contending for the award:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, music by Brian Tyler
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, music by Jeremy Soule
- L.A. Noire, music by Andrew Hale and Simon Hale
- Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, music by Joe Hisaishi
- SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALS, music by Bear McCreary
The only game that's probably unfamiliar to you is Ni No Kuni. It's a role-playing game by Studio Ghibli and Professor Layton developer Level-5. Originally released on the DS in Japan in 2010, it hit the PS3 in that country last year. The game's not actually available in this country yet, but the PS3 edition is scheduled for release here sometime in 2012.
I'm a bit surprised that Battlefield 3 wasn't on the list, as I've often found myself humming the electronic, bass-thumping theme song. Crysis 2's soundtrack, created with help from Hans Zimmer, deserves some praise too. It's possible that EA just didn't submit these games' soundtracks for consideration, though.
The IFMCA is an organization of "online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music." The group has held an awards ceremony every year since 2004. The 50+ members of IFMCA vote on the awards based on its effectiveness within the context of the work and its intellectual/technical merit.
The winners of the 2012 IFMCA will be announced on February 23rd.
