The CESA announced the winners of its annual Japan Game Awards at a ceremony at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS 2006). Over half the winners were from handheld gaming systems! Japan really loves handhelds as you can see. This is good news for the DS and PSP.

Grand Award
Dr Kawashima' s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (NDS, Nintendo)
Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix)

Award for Excellence
Animal Crossing: Wild World (NDS, Nintendo)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2, Square Enix)
Tamagotchi Corner Shop (NDS, Namco Bandai)
Tales of the Abyss (PS2, Bandai Namco)
Nintendogs (Dachshund, Shiba & Chihuahua) (NDS, Nintendo)
Mario Kart DS (NDS, Nintendo)
Monster Hunter 2 (PS2, Capcom)
Rryu-ga-gotoku [Yakuza] (PS2, Sega)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, Sony)

Best Sales Award
Animal Crossing: Wild World (NDS, Nintendo)

Global Award: Japanese Product
Nintendogs (Dachshund, Shiba & Chihuahua) (NDS, Nintendo)

Global Award: Foreign Product
World of Warcraft (PC, Blizzard)

Special Awards
Monster Hunter Portable (PSP, Capcom)
English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills (NDS, Nintendo)

The DS and PS2 were the big winners at the awards show. The PSP and PC also made it on the list. Blizzard in particular must be glad to see that their game is making such a splash in a market that's regarded as almost impossible to crack by Western developers. Congrats to all the winners!