Golden Joystick Awards break voting record
More gamers than ever before are having their say in this year's Golden Joystick Awards.
The
Golden Joystick Awards are officially the world's oldest and most
respected gaming awards show and have taken place since 1982, when Sony
was famous for the Walkman and the Commodore 64 was a mere infant. This
year, the awards are announced at a glitzy award ceremony on Friday,
27th October at the Park Lane Hilton, London and for the first time,
will be streamed live at www.computerandvideogames.com.
Smashing
organisers' expectations, almost 400,000 votes have already been
received across 17 award categories, almost doubling last year's total.
With voting open until Friday, 12th October – there are still no clear
winners, with potential receivers of the time-honoured Golden Joysticks
changing on an hourly basis.
For the first time in living
memory, a handheld game could potentially scoop "Ultimate Game of the
Year" with New Super Mario Brothers leading the charge. Axe-fans are
backing Red Octane's Guitar Heroes to win the "Innovation Award",
whilst Halo 3 is out in front in the "One to Watch" category, beating
both the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.
In the
hotly-contested "Retailer of the Year" award, as five-way scrap has
broken out, with Amazon.co.uk, Gameplay.com and Play.com battling it
out with high street giants Game and GameStation, for gamers hearts,
minds and wallets. In the "Publisher of the Year" category, EA Games,
Rockstar and Ubisoft are currently neck and neck for the winning
position, with both Nintendo and Microsoft Game Studios recording a
massive surge in recent weeks.
John Houlihan, editor of
computerandvideogames.com, says: "The record number of votes,
especially in a difficult year between major console launches is great
news for the Joysticks and the games industry as a whole. It just shows
gamers are extremely passionate people and thousands are taking the
opportunity to have their say and select the worthy winners of gaming's
ultimate accolade, a Golden Joystick Award."
For more information visit www.goldenjoystick.co.uk.
Golden Joystick Awards 2006 - Current Top Five Rankings
Ultimate Game of the Year
- New Super Mario Brothers
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Call of Duty 2
- Half Life 2
- Pro Evolution Soccer 5
One to Watch
- Halo 3
- Nintendo Wii
- Sony PlayStation 3
- Spore
- Crysis
Innovation Award in association with T3 Magazine
- Guitar Hero
- Xbox Live Marketplace
- Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect
- Prof Kawashima's Brain Training
- Nintendo DS Lite
Retailer of the Year in association with Vivendi Games
- Game
- Amazon.co.uk
- Play.com
- GameStation
- Gameplay.com
Publisher of the Year in association with Sonopress
- Ubisoft
- RockStar
- EA Games
- Nintendo
- Microsoft Game Studios
Source:
Gameplanet