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Family Game Awards 2009

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The Family Gamer Awards FGA suggests ideal games for different family age-groups: Infants, Juniors, Students, Workers, Parents and Seniors.

These awards complement PEGI's age-appropriate ratings by suggesting games each age group will enjoy. Rather than warning families about which games are inappropriate, we suggest which games each age group will get the most out of.

The games awarded for infants for example, not only contain appropriate content for 3 year olds but are also easy enough for them to play and enjoy.

Four times a year we pick the best games in each of our family age groups:

Games for Infants (3 to 6 yrs)
The best games for toddlers, very-young children and pre-school kids from 3 to 6 years old. These games work with the basics of play and should easily engage the super young players in our families. Simple and easy controls and bright colours engage young players in some educational and informative games.

Go Go Diego: Dinosaur Adventure
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Go Go Diego: Dinosaur Adventure: The sensible design combined with the engaging levels and children's voice work make this another excellent game for infant gamers from the Dora and Diego team.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: Wii PS2 version(s)

Story Hour Adventures
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Story Hour Adventures: Fairy tales with optional minigames make this the ideal compromise between a video game and a bedtime story. Low impact gaming at its best.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: Wii version(s)

Pass the Pigs
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Pass the Pigs: The simplicity of swiping the screen to roll the pigs, combined with the funny sound effects and positions make this ideal for infant gamers.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: DS version(s)

EyePet
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter EyePet: The sheer magic of a little living creature appearing in your lounge on you TV connects with very young players. Add in the simple mini-games, grooming and dress-up aspects and this is a lot of entertainment, with a little help from mum and dad.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: PS3 Move version(s)
Games for Juniors (7 to 11 yrs)
The best games for primary school, junior and young children aged from 7 to 11 years old. These games provide experiences that connect with a basic joy of discovery and play. Although still simplistic they engage with a wide range of basic principles.

World of Goo
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring World of Goo: The ingeniously simple premise of building with living blobs of goo, combine with the fiendish level design and excellent story telling to make this a truly magical experience for Junior gamers in particular.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: Wii PC version(s)

Rolando 2
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Rolando 2: The combination of the portable device, tilt and touch controls make for a great game. This stands out though for more traditional reasons. Bright clean visuals and fiendish levels design. Perfect for tiny fingers.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: iPhone iPad version(s)

Shaun White's Snowboarding World Stage
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Shaun White's Snowboarding World Stage: The simple controls and sense of speed make this accessible and fun. A strong cartoon feel and animated sequences make this well rounded entertainment.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: Wii MotionPlus version(s)

High School Musical 3: Dance!
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter High School Musical 3: Dance!: Simply the best rhythm dance game released to date. A strong combination of music from the films and a range of gesture, jumps, poses and swings to get the blood pumping.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: Wii version(s)
Games for Teens (12 to 15 yrs)
The best games for secondary, high-school, teenagers, adolescent kids and young-adults aged from 12 to 17 years old. These games provide thrilling experiences that major on brash, loud protagonists and aim to connect with the teens in our families.

Mario Charged Football
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Mario Charged Football: One of the best multiplayer games on the Wii that combines the tactics football, physical attacks of hockey with a range of Nintendo characters with unique abilities. It's the level of depth here that takes this game beyond young gamers to those looking for more of a challenge.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: Wii Gamecube version(s)

Wii-Sports Resort
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Wii-Sports Resort: The simplicity and fidelity of control make this simply the best sports game on the Wii. Golf here gives even Tiger Woods a run for its money. Table Tennis is the most direct racket game to grace a console. Archery creates a nail biting fine tuned challenge to rival any adrenalin sport.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Game of the Year
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: Wii MotionPlus version(s)

Little King's Story
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Little King's Story: This is a finely balanced real time strategy for the Wii. Student gamers shouldn't be put off the cartoony visuals, this is a really hard core challenge. One that will last for as long as many 360/PS3 games.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: Wii version(s)

DJ Hero
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter DJ Hero: Surprising us all with quality and fun - and by trumping the established Guitar based games. The quality and attention to detail in both the record deck controller and soundtrack show the pedigree of all involved.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: Wii 360 PS3 version(s)
Games for Students (16 to 17 yrs)
The best games for students, studying, college, school and young-adults aged from 16 to 17 years old. These games provide experiences that are great to share in halls, offer multiplayer thrills, or demand commitment and dedication to progress.

Skate 2
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Skate 2: Skate 2 refine's the original games "flick-it" controls. The left stick controls the board and the right stick the skater's body. It's an intuitive scheme that rewards instincts and practice. Ideal for student skaters.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: 360 PS3 version(s)

Grand Slam Tennis
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Grand Slam Tennis: A combination of cartoon tennis stars, real grand slam locations and the one-to-one tennis controls make this the perfect tennis game. With MotionPlus adding even more accuracy this is ideal for multiplayer fun in student halls.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: Wii MotionPlus version(s)

Disaster: Day of Crisis
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Disaster: Day of Crisis: An unusually adrenaline led shooting game on the Wii. A combination of third person exploring, stop-action events and on-rails shooting make this varied and compelling. The production values and staging in the end mark this out as a winning formula.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: Wii version(s)

Left 4 Dead 2
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter Left 4 Dead 2: It's Left 4 Dead 2's multiplayer that will attract student players. Both online and local split screen you need to master the different zombie and player types to perform well here. Perfect for long nights after college.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: 360 PS3 version(s)
Games for Workers (18 and over)
The best games for those with full time jobs, workers, 9-to-5-ers, employed hard-core gamers 18 years and over. These games provide more of a challenge in both dexterity and problem solving. They are often more about strong single player experiences that hard working hard core gamers. Although these are often longer experiences that are also ideal to switch off and chill out after a long day at the office.

Street Fighter 4
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Street Fighter 4: Street Fighter is the game that started the fighting genre. And here in a return to old style game play married with state of the art hand drawn visuals we find a game so engaging and beautiful we played until our hands hurt. Perfect for easing those aches and pains after a long day at work.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: 360 3DS PS3 version(s)

Shadow Complex
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Shadow Complex: A brash Gears of War styles platform game that follows the lines of Metroid and Castlevania. It's the joy in the delivery that turns this into an experience players return to again and again.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: 360 XBLA version(s)

Dead Space Extraction
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Dead Space Extraction: A brash Gears of War styles platform game that follows the lines of Metroid and Castlevania. It's the joy in the delivery that turns this into an experience players return to again and again. (Now also released with Dead Space 2 on PS3.)
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: Wii PS3 version(s)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Many missed the excellent first game, but Naughty Dog come back with a truly worthy sequel. A combination of highly tuned controls, compelling characters and great gunplay make this a ride worth seeing to the end - and back again.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: PS3 version(s)
Games for Parents
The best games for parents, mums, dads, carers, aunties and uncles. These games connect with the gamer on a more mature level. Story driven and often open ended, the experiences here provide space to play with complex issues and engage in moral dilemmas. Either that or to escape the grind of the work/home balance.

Fable 2
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Fable 2: We may be a little late to the Fable party but with Knot Hole Island and See the Future expending the experience we have been captivated by just how meaningful a game this is. Never before has a video game created such a sense of consequence to each and every choice. Proper ethically engaged gaming fun.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: 360 version(s)

Red Faction
Buy:
UK US
2009 Summer Red Faction: Because every fence, building and vehicle can be destroyed and brought crumbling down, players have many more ways to complete what would otherwise be an average shooter. The attention to architectural destruction makes this into the thinking man's shooting game.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Summer 2009
- Platform: PS3 360 version(s)

Dragon Age: Origins
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Dragon Age: Origins: The depth and length of Dragon Age Origins is reason alone to acquire this game and delve into its impressive story. But the mature nature of the content and the way its presented really show how far video games have come in recent years.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: PS3 360 PC version(s)

Assassin'S Creed 2
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter Assassin'S Creed 2: A return to the free-running assassination of the original proves to be exciting and fresh. Enough has been reworked to make this a great game in it's own right. Intrigue and ethics combine with the nuanced fighting and climbing to create a compelling experience.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: PS3 360 PC version(s)
Games for Grandparents
The best games for grandparents, older, senior, grown-up, mature, retired and wiser people. These games provide a slightly slower, although no less challenging experience. Time and consideration are of the essence as our most senior gamers enjoy interacting with other players and perfecting their approach.

Flower
Buy:
UK US
2009 Spring Flower: The marvelous premise of controlling a game just by tilting sets the laid back tone for Flower. What's more of a surprise is how ephemeral and spine tingling it is to float on the wind through gorgeous landscapes, and on through the game's pictorially told story.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Winner
- Date: Spring 2009
- Platform: PS3 PSN version(s)

Fuel
Buy:
UK US
2009 Autumn Fuel: This takes the usually constrained driving game and lets you race anywhere you want in a massively open world. More experienced gamers will appreciate the realistic feel this gives proceedings, accentuated by the superb real time weather and day/night cycles - something that even Forza 3 doesn't offer.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Autumn 2009
- Platform: PS3 360 PC version(s)

Real Racing
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter Real Racing: Firemint have managed to take enough time out from shaving with Ockham's razor to make an amazing game. Find, beg, borrow or make GBP6 any way you can, and give it to them as a reward.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: iPhone iPad version(s)

Gardening Guide
Buy:
UK US
2009 Winter Gardening Guide: Spending time researching different plants that would work with your soil type, and you can take the DS with you to the garden centre to help you get the right thing. You will also know when the best time to plant them is and when they will flower. Genius.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Winter 2009
- Platform: DS version(s)

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