If there's one thing we love, it's Indie games, so we're proud to announce the ten finalists in the 3rd Annual Indie Game Challenge hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University and GameStop.

Please join me in congratulating the following ten indie game companies and games:

• Blendo Games - Atom Zombie Smasher
• Eyebrow Interactive - Closure
• Zeroscale -- Demolition, Inc.
• Team Nitronic - Nitronic Rush
• Paradox Shift - Paradox Shift
• Empty Clip Studios, Inc. - Symphony
• Ty Taylor and Mario Castaneda - The Bridge
• Team Dream - The Dream Machine
• The Fourth Team - The Fourth Wall
• Facepalm Games - The Swapper

The winners of the contest will divvy up $250,000 in cash and prizes. Winners will be announced Feb. 10 at the 2012 D.I.C.E.(TM) (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit at the Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. G4, as always, will be all over D.I.C.E., bringing you all kinds of game previews, news and surprises from the event.

Along with cash, the members of each team will be rewarded with the opportunity to pitch their games face-to-face with publishers like Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Microsoft, NAMCO Bandai, THQ and Ubisoft among others.

The actual awards will be hosted by G4's own Adam Sessler, who said, "Hosting the Indie Game Challenge is one of the highlights of the year for me -- I get to geek out with the next generation of budding game makers and talk games with them for a couple hours."

"Coming out of the Indie Game Challenge, I always feel that once again the future of the industry is safe in the hands of these young talented designers," Sessler added.