BAFTA had an awards bash, celebrating what’s great in the world of gaming. Here’s their official sounding press release that was under embargo until after the awards actually happened.

Today, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the winners of the brand new British Academy Video Games Awards. Once home to the legendary Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, the newly renovated Roundhouse lit up to celebrate the fastest-growing entertainment art form of the 21st century – the video game.

Hosted by games aficionado Vernon Kay and due to be broadcast on E4 and repeated on C4, these new Awards signalled the latest incarnation of the Academy’s mission to support, develop and promote all art forms of the moving image and the winners reflected the very best in artistic, creative and technical innovation. Attendees included Andy Serkis, Alexander Armstrong, Paul Gambaccini, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, Alesha Dixon, Colin Salmon and Jon Culshaw.

The winners of The British Academy Video Games Awards demonstrated the real breadth of games being made today, with winners as diverse as the groundbreaking Guitar Hero for Soundtrack, Dr Kawashima’s BRAIN TRAINING: How Old Is Your Brian? for Innovation, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy in the Gameplay category, The Movies for Simulation, and Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, in the Multiplayer category.

The highly creative LocoRoco, featuring a musical jelly-like world won in the Character and Children’s categories. The epic Shadow of the Colossus was also a double winner, receiving the BAFTA mask for Artistic Achievement and for Action and Adventure. The Tom Clancy franchise – Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter won for Technical Achievement and also collected the mask for the coveted Game Award.

The one public Award of the night – The Gamers’ Award sponsored by Nokia N-Gage and voted for by readers of The Sun’s Something For The Weekend section, was received by 24:The Mobile Game.