VANCOUVER — It was ‘game on’ Friday night in Vancouver as video game developers, animators, studio reps and digital art students turned out for the second annual Elan awards for Canadian games and animation.

Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, hosted the black-tux affair which, though billed as a glitzy, glamorous night, will probably be remembered more for the technical glitches than glam, and for his irreverent routines. (‘What? Is it too soon to make Heath Ledger jokes?’)

Mass Effect, Bioware’s sci-fi epic, cleaned up in the video game categories, practically shutting out local talent such as Electronic Arts, picking up hardware for game of the year, best art direction, game design, writing, and best character.

‘People realize that video games are more than a diversion — they are an art form,’ said head game writer Drew Karpyshyn. With six Elan noms, EA’s Skate snagged only two game awards: best sound design and movie/casual/arcade game of the year.

New this year, the Elans added international awards, attracting companies including Microsoft, DreamWorks SKG and MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions, which bagged best international animated television production for Family Guy.

Nick Fletcher of DreamWorks’ The Bee Movie flew in from Los Angeles to take home best animated feature. Rainmaker picked up best feature-length animated production and best direction for Barbie as the Island Princess; Studio B Productions picked up a prize for George of the Jungle.

The Elans also carved out room on the stage for seven student awards.

‘New talent is of great importance to both the animation and VG worlds — they’re short on talent,’ said Elans producer Holly Carcini. ‘So although it looks like we’re doing a great service to the ‘kids,’ we’re actually providing an even better one for the pros.’

See www.theelans.com for all the winners.