The British Academy Video Game Awards were hosted by games aficionado Dara O'Briain who described these times as a "Golden Age" for video games. The Wii, PSP, DS and iPhone have made games accessible to all ages, turning what was once described as a rather solitary hobby for teenage boys into a very social activity for the whole family.

Steven Spielberg claimed his third BAFTA mask – this time it was for his début as a games creator, with Boom Blox winning the BAFTA in the Casual category, outplaying Guitar Hero, LittleBigPlanet, Singstar Vol 2, Wii Fit and Buzz! Quiz TV.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which plunges its players into the frenzied epicentre of a 21st century war zone, won for Gameplay, Story & Character and also proved to be the public's game of choice, winning the GAME Award of 2008 with a record 60,000 gamers casting their votes.

Dead Space, the bone-chilling, deep space, horror survival game took the coveted BAFTA mask in both sound categories (Use of Audio and Original Score) evoking a genuinely scary atmosphere onboard the game's deserted space ship.  One of the most fiercely contended awards, Artistic Achievement, went to the stitched and glued 3D world that is LittleBigPlanet while the Technical Achievement BAFTA went to Spore, which allows players to control the development of a species from its beginnings as a single cell organism, to an intelligent and social creature, a tribe, a civilisation and then once uploaded to the internet, interacting with other civilisations.  

In the Strategy category, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, the latest iteration of a game which first appeared 15 years ago, proved that strategy games requiring clever thinking, tactical planning and logistical exploration are as compelling today as they were last century.

FIFA 09 and Football Manager took on Wii Fit, but it was Race Driver: GRID which outraced the monster trucks and rally cars of Motorstorm Pacific Rift and the off-road quad bikes of PURE to claim the BAFTA for Sport. 

Left 4 Dead took the BAFTA in the Multiplayer category, Fable II won in Action and Adventure, while Professor Layton and the Curious Village was victorious in the Handheld category.  This year's highly-prized Best Game went to Super Mario Galaxy which fought off very stiff competition from Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare, Fable II, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and Rock Band.

The Academy is keen to nurture and encourage the up-and-coming stars in games, as well as recognising those at the peak of their talent. This year's ceremony also included The BAFTA Ones To Watch Award. Working with the University of Abertay and its Dare To be Digital competition, this award was contended by three groups of university graduates who had each designed a new game prototype. The winning game was Boro-Toro, designed by a team calling themselves DarkMatter Designs.

The climax of the evening saw Jonathan Ross present the Academy's highest honour, the Fellowship, to one of the founding fathers of the video games industry, electrical engineer, entrepreneur and founder of Atari inc, Nolan Bushnell. Credited by many for kick-starting the video games revolution, his Pong was the first video game to achieve widespread popularity in both the arcade and home console markets.

ACTION & ADVENTURE

WINNER:
Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

OTHER NOMINEES:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space
Glen Schofield, Chuck Beaver, Bret Robbins
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Prince Of Persia
Ben Mattes, Jean-Christophe Guyot
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Tomb Raider: Underworld
Development Team
Crystal Dynamics/Eidos

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

WINNER:
LittleBigPlanet
Kareem Ettouney, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

OTHER NOMINEES:
Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space
Ian Milham
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Yoji Shinkawa
Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

BEST GAME

WINNER:
Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

OTHER NOMINEES:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studio

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, Gavin Carter
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy, Mike Dornbrook
Harmonix Music Systems/MTV Games

CASUAL

WINNER:
Boom Blox
Steven Spielberg, Louis Castle, Amir Rahimi
Electronic Arts LA/Electronic Arts

OTHER NOMINEES:
Buzz! Quiz TV
David Amor, Andrew Eades, Lee Clare
Relentless Software & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Guitar Hero: World Tour
Development Team
Neversoft/Activision

LittleBigPlanet
Mark Healey, Dave Smith, Pete Smith
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

SingStar Vol. 2
Vera So, Gillian Connole, Kevin Mason
SCE London Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Wii Fit
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

GAMEPLAY

WINNER:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

OTHER NOMINEES:
Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Left 4 Dead
Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek
Valve/Valve

Mario Kart Wii
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Dan Teasdale, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom
Harmonix Music Systems/MTV Games

Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

HANDHELD

WINNER:
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

OTHER NOMINEES:
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Development Team
Doublesix/Sierra

God of War: Chains of Olympus
Development Team
Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Patapon
Development Team
Pyramid & SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Soul Bubbles
Olivier Lejade, Omar Cornut, Frederick Raynal
Mekensleep/Eidos

MULTIPLAYER

WINNER:
Left 4 Dead
Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek
Valve/Valve

OTHER NOMINEES:
Buzz! Quiz TV
David Amor, Andrew Eades, Lee Clare
Relentless Software XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios

Mario Kart Wii
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band
Alex Rigopulos, Kasson Crooker
Harmonix Music Systems/MTV Games

ORIGINAL SCORE

WINNER:
Dead Space
Jason Graves, Don Veca
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

OTHER NOMINEES:
Assassin's Creed
Jesper Kyd
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Fable II
Russell Shaw
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Inon Zur
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

LittleBigPlanet
Kenneth Young, Mat Clark, Daniel Pemberton
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Harry Gregson-Williams
Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

SPORTS

WINNER:
Race Driver: GRID
Development Team
Codemasters Studios/Codemasters

OTHER NOMINEES:
FIFA 09
Andrew Wilson, David Rutter, Gary Paterson
EA Canada/Electronic Arts

Football Manager 2009
Development Team
Sports Interactive/SEGA

Motorstorm Pacific Rift
Development Team
Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment

Pure
Development Team
Black Rock Studios/Disney Interactive Studios

Wii Fit
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

STORY AND CHARACTER

WINNER:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

OTHER NOMINEES:
Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Mass Effect
Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn, Derek Watts
Bioware/Electronic Arts

STRATEGY

WINNER:
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
Development Team
Firaxis Games/2K Games

OTHER NOMINEES:
Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3
Development Team
EA Los Angeles/Electronic Arts

Ninjatown
Brandon Curiel, Jeremy Pope, Shawn Smith
Venan in conjunction with Cashmere Productions & Shawnimals/SouthPeak Games

SOCOM: US Navy Seals Tactical Strike
Development Team
Slant Six Games & SCE Foster City Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
Gary Richards, Paul Machacek, Joe Humfrey
Rare/THQ

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

WINNER:
Spore
Development Team
Electronic Arts Montreal/Electronic Arts

OTHER NOMINEES:
Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Fable II
Development Team
Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3
Todd Howard, Guy Carver
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet
Alex Evans, Dave Smith, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

USE OF AUDIO

WINNER:
Dead Space
Don Veca
Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

OTHER NOMINEES:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Development Team
Infinity Ward/Activision

Gears of War 2
Development Team
Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV
Development Team
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet
Kenneth Young, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin
Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Super Mario Galaxy
Development Team
Nintendo/Nintendo

THE BAFTA FELLOWSHIP

Nolan Bushnell

BAFTA ONES TO WATCH AWARD in association with Dare to Be Digital

WINNER:
Boro-Toro
Adam Westwood, Graham Ranson, Yves Wheeler, Matthew Booton, Owen Schwehr (DarkMatter Designs)

OTHER NOMINEES:
Origamee
Richard Barlow, Alberto Fustinoni, Jonathon Holmes, Kevin Dunlop, Jade Law
(Blue Skies)

VegeMe
Guo Lin, Gao Ting, Zhang Jun, Laing Wei, Alexander Syminton
(Ctrl_D)

GAME Award of 2008
(The only award to be voted for by the public)

WINNER:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward/Activision

OTHER NOMINEES:
Fallout 3
Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Software Europe

Gears of War 2
Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV
Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Guitar Hero World Tour
Neversoft/Activision

Left 4 Dead
Valve/Valve

LittleBigPlanet
Media Molecule & XDEV Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Nintendo/Nintendo

Wii Fit
Nintendo/Nintendo

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment