Nominees for the fourth annual Canadian Videogame Awards have been announced, and, evidently, it's a good year to be an indie.

Mark of the Ninja was named in 11 categories -- more than any other game this year -- including a nod in the Game of the Year category, while Sound Shapes (7 nominations), Papa & Yo (6 nominations), Waveform (4 nominations) and Shank 2 (3 nominations) also featured prominently in the nominee list.

Of course, it's still a little early to sound the death knell for AAA games from major studios. For Game of the Year, for example, Mark of the Ninja and Papa & Yo are up against Assassin's Creed III (which received 9 nominations in total), Far Cry 3 (which also got 9 nods) and Mass Effect 3 (a relatively paltry 7 nominations). Sleeping Dogs and Prototype 2 were also among the big name games that were nominated in multiple categories. A complete list of nominees is available on the CVA website.

The Awards take place on Saturday, April 20th in Vancouver as part of that city's Fan Expo, but if you can't make it, don't worry: they'll also be broadcast on City TV and G4 Canada. Last year's host David Hayter -- who apparently just can't catch a break these days -- is out, replaced by Elias (voice of Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: Human Revolution) Toufexis.