G4techTV Crowns Winners at Celebrity Studded Television Event

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood's hippest celebs joined hundreds of gaming geeks from around the country at the Shrine Expo Center in Los Angeles this weekend at "G-Phoria -- The Award Show 4 Gamers" to toast the year's hottest games, stars, music and trends that define the gamer lifestyle. Carmen Electra and hubby Dave Navarro co-hosted the television event and announced winners in categories ranging from Hottest Game Character to Best Voice Performance. "G-Phoria -- The Award Show 4 Gamers" airs exclusively on G4techTV on FRIDAY, AUGUST 6 at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT with the pre-show broadcast starting at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT.

Celebrity gamers Anna Nicole Smith, Casper Van Dien, Mekhi Phifer, Tony Hawk, Aisha Tyler, Stan Lee, Hal Sparks and Bai Ling presented awards. The lucky winners were determined by close to 500,000 votes from video game fans who logged onto http://www.g4techtv.com.

After the tally, the Jedi reigned supreme and the force rested with "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic." The popular game won awards for Best Game; Best Adaptation; Best RPG; and EB Gamers Choice. Also, "Tony Hawk's Underground" received top honors for the Alt Sports Award Powered by Mountain Dew and Best Soundtrack. Additionally, actors Jada Pinkett-Smith and Pierce Brosnan took home Best Voice Performance awards for "Enter the Matrix" and "James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing," respectively. And, for the second year in a row, John Madden tackled the award for Best Traditional Sports Game with "Madden NFL 2004." (See attached for complete list of winners).

The more than 1,000 VIP guests were treated to exclusive sneak peeks of dozens of yet-to-be-released video game titles and trailers. Topping this year's hot-list were the first playable versions of the highly-anticipated "Half-Life 2" and "Counter-Strike: Source." Additional world exclusives included the first-look at EA's "Oddworld Stranger" and the first playable versions of "Halo 2" and "Need For Speed Underground 2."

In addition, as a special thank you, attendees received gift bags packed with gaming goodies including the new Nokia-N-Gage QD. Also, G4techTV presented hosts Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro with their very own UltraCade, the world's first classic arcade machine, featuring original arcade games including "Street Fighter II," "Defender," "Joust," "Robotron," "Centipede," "Missile Command," "Asteroids," "Golden Tee Golf" and more than 100 additional titles -- all in an authentic old-time arcade cabinet.

"G-Phoria -- The Award Show 4 Gamers" premieres on G4techTV on FRIDAY, AUGUST 6 at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT, with the pre-show broadcast starting at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT. The show is presented by EB Games and Jeep.

Celebrity event photos are available for press only at http://www.jpistudios.com.

About G4techTV: Formed by the May, 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV, G4techTV is the one and only 24-hour television network that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Available to more than 44 million cable and satellite homes nationwide, G4techTV airs 24 original series. To learn more log onto our Website, http://www.g4techtv.com.

                            G-PHORIA 2004 WINNERS

     Alt Sports Award Powered by Mountain Dew
          Tony Hawk's Underground (Activision)

     Best Adaptation
          Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts)

     Best Cinematic
          Final Fantasy X-2 (Square Enix USA)

     Best Easter Egg
          True Crime: Streets of L.A. -- Snoop Dogg Cheat (special missions)
          (Activision)

     Best Graphics
          Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo)

     Best Handheld Game
          Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Nintendo)

     Best Innovation
          Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Multi-player mode)
          (Ubisoft)

     Best Mobile Phone Game
          Bejeweled Multiplayer (JAMDAT)

     Best Multiplayer Game
          Unreal Tournament 2004 (Atari)

     Best New Franchise
          Call of Duty (Activision)

     Best Racing Game
          Need for Speed Underground (Electronic Arts)

     Best RPG
          Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts)

     Best Sound Design
          The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Electronic Arts)

     Best Soundtrack
          Tony Hawk's Underground (Activision)

     Best Traditional Sports Game
          Madden NFL 2004 (Electronic Arts)

     Best Voice Performance -- Female
          Enter the Matrix -- Jada Pinkett-Smith (likeness) (Atari)

     Best Voice Performance -- Male
          James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing -- Pierce Brosnan (likeness)
          (Electronic Arts)

     Favorite Character
          Ninja Gaiden -- Ryu Hayabusa (Temco)

     Game of the Year
          Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts)

     Hottest Character
          Final Fantasy X-2 -- Rikku (Square Enix USA)

     EB Gamers Choice
          Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (LucasArts)