This year’s Golden Joystick Awards broke voting records, with 1.54 million votes tallied over the 200 day voting period (a 26% increase from previous years). From over 4000 games, only a few series managed to net one of the ceremony’s coveted awards.You can find the list of winners, and partial list of the nominees, after the jump.
Simon Maxwell, an organizer from Future, the awards organizer, was quoted as saying, “It is a testament to the creativity and diversity of the industry that games are booming. Games that are playable anytime, anyplace, anywhere across social networks and communications devices are delighting new players. At the same time, winners like Mass Effect 2 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have taken storytelling and production values to the next level for committed gamers.”
The Winners:
Action/Adventure Game Of The Year: Assassin’s Creed II
Download Game Of The Year: Plants Vs Zombies
Fighting Game Of The Year: Super Street Fighter IV
Music Game Of The Year: Guitar Hero 5
One To Watch: Call of Duty: Black Ops
Online Game Of The Year: League Of Legend
Portable Game Of The Year: Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
Puzzle Game Of The Year: World Of Goo
RPG Of The Year: Mass Effect 2
Racing Game Of The Year: Forza 3
Shooter Of The Year: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Soundtrack Of The Year: Final Fantasy XIII
Sports Game Of The Year: FIFA10
Strategy Game Of The Year: Plants Vs Zombies
UK Developer Of The Year: Jagex
Ultimate Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2
Selected Nominees
Downloadable – ‘splosion Man, Assassin’s Creed 2: Bonfire of the Vanities, Battlefield 1943, Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies, FIFA 10, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Little Big Planet, Plants vs. Zombies, Shadow Complex and Trials HD.
Fighting – BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Fight Night Round 4, Punch Out!!, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, Super Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All Stars, Tekken 6, UFC 2009 Undisputed and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010.
Music – Band Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero on Tour: Modern Hits, Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Just Dance, Lego Rock Band and The Beatles Rock Band.
One to Watch – Brink, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Crysis 2, Dead Space 2, F1 2010, Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas, Final Fantasy XIV, Gears of War 3, Halo: Reach, Mafia 2, Medal of Honor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and The Legend of Zelda Wii.
Online – 2029 Online, Aion: The Tower Of Eternity, Allods Online, Bejeweled Blitz, Champions Online, Dragonica, Fallen Earth, Farmville, Gangster City, Global Agenda, League of Legends, Need for Speed: World, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood and Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online.
Portable – Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines, Assassin’s Creed: Discovery, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Mobilised, Call of Duty: World at War: ZOMBIES, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Little Big Planet, Plants vs Zombies, Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver, Professor Layton and Pandora and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
Puzzle – 3D Pictocross, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth , Arkanoid Plus!, Brain Exercises with Dr Kawashima, Katamari Forever, LUXOR: Mah Jong, Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box, Scribblenauts, Super Monkey Ball: Step and Roll and World of Goo.
When did their polling start? Back in last November? It just seems too early to see a best of the year awards on November second. Middle of next month is when I expect to see these kinds of lists.
Some of those picks are weird, like how Starcraft II should probably get Strategy game of the year, since it is a great sp game, as well as awesome multiplayer, and the user created modes, allow you to play as many different tower defense games you want.