����ý

Valve's Portal 2 has been named best game at the British Academy Video Game Awards.

The first-person puzzle-platform title also won the awards for best design and best story.

Dice's Battlefield 3 secured a prize voted for by the public, as well as for the best online multiplayer game.

Other award winners included Batman: Arkham City for action, Little Big Planet 2 for game innovation and LA Noire for best original music.

Josh Weier, Portal 2's project leader, seemed slightly startled to follow up his team's victory at October's Golden Joystick awards.

"I've had about three hours of sleep and a whole lot of jet lag so I'm going to try to be brief before I go off the rails," he said.

"It was a real pleasure working on this game and it's just amazing to be here tonight and win this award."

Markus "Notch" Persson - the creator of Minecraft - was also honoured with a special award.

His unique environment-building title has generated more than five million sales despite lacking a third-party publisher and marketing campaign.

"Wow," the 32-year old said on taking to the stage.

"This is obviously huge. To have such a serious thing like this [event] celebrating games is very good - who else would do it but the British."

The ceremony included a total of 19 prizes, including four new categories: debut game, online-browser, online-multiplayer and performer.

Game's struggle

The troubled financial state of Game Group - the awards' sponsor - hung over the event.

Game confirmed on Monday that a number of its suppliers were refusing to provide it with stock.

Games publishers were apparently worried that the size of Game Group's debt might prove unsustainable and they would not be paid for stock delivered.

As a result Game had been unable to offer popular titles such as Mass Effect 3 and Mario Party 9.

In a statement, the company admitted that it was, and told investors that their shares might become worthless.

However, the Financial Times reported on Thursday about a possible rescue. It said that the private equity group, OpCapita, hadfrom its lenders.

Game Group has 1,300 stores worldwide, including 600 in the UK.

It also trades online under the brand names Game, Gamestation and Gameplay.

It has struggled against competition from the supermarkets, other e-retailers including Amazon and a shift towards digital downloads.

The fact that the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii are all seen as coming towards the end of their life-spans has also put its hardware sales under pressure.