Last Friday in Marseille, France, I got together with some dudes from Pocket Gamer, Orange, ARM, and a few other outfits to wade through the 200+ submissions to the International Mobile Gaming Awards. It was an incredible experience, and beyond cool to be waxing video games with fellow mobile gamers from all over the world.

After hours and hours of deliberation, we nominated five games in each of the six categories. Keep in mind that not all of these games are for the iPhone, and some are still in development. If you don't see one of your favorite games in this list, chances are the developer either didn't submit it, or my single American vote wasn't strong enough to overcome the rest of the world.

Best Casual Game

• Bird Strike � Gold Edition, 99� � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Bulba The Cat, 99� � [Forum Thread]
• Fruit Ninja, 99� � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Jenga, 99� � [First Impressions / Forum Thread]
• Plants vs. Zombies, $2.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]

Best Real World Game

• AR Invaders, 99� � [Forum Thread]
• Blaze � [In Development]
• Ghostwire � True Stories � [In Development]
• Pocket Critter
• Tourality

Best Sports Game

• Billabong Surf Trip, $2.99 � [Forum Thread]
• Championship Manager 2011, $4.99 � [Forum Thread]
• Ice Breaker � [In Development / Forum Thread]
• Let's Golf 2, $4.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Snowboard Hero, Free � [Forum Thread]

Excellence in Design

• Galaxy on Fire 2, $9.99 � [Review / Forum Thread
• ilomilo - [In Development]
• Infinity Blade, $5.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Real Racing 2, $9.99 � [Review / Forum Thread
• Zen Bound 2, $2.99 - [Forum Thread]

Excellence in Game Play

• Beyond Ynth, $1.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Guns'n'Glory, 99� � [Review / Forum Thread]
• N.O.V.A. 2, $6.99 � [Forum Thread]
• Perfect Cell, $4.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Pix'n Love Rush, 99� � Review / Forum Thread]

Most innovative Game

• Anomaly Warzone Earth � [In Development]
• EpicWin, $2.99 � [Review / Forum Thread]
• Finger Balance, 99� � [Forum Thread]
• Papa Sangre, $6.99 � [Forum Thread]
• The Line, $1.99 � [Forum Thread]

From here, we meet in Barcelona, Spain in late February to discuss the nominees again and vote on the winners for each of the categories which will be announced on February 17th. The IMGA is also running a People's Choice Award poll, which requires registration to vote in. If you feel particularly strong about any of the announced nominees, make sure you stop by their site and vote.

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