Sure, there are plenty of gaming awards kicking around, but the Golden Joysticks are the ones to be voted by you, the guys and girls who actually buy and play the games. There are no committees of journos and games industry execs deciding who wins, just a giant online ballot box where gamers cast their votes and a piece of software spits out the final counts. So in a nutshell, that’s why you should care about the Joysticks and head to www.goldenjoystick.com to vote. Now!
There are 16 different categories open for the 2010 Joysticks, ranging from best Action/Adventure, RPG and Shooter to best Puzzle, Download and Portable. You can vote in as many or as few categories as you want.
But which games are eligible, we hear you cry? Well, every game that was released between 25 May 2009 and 25 May 2010 (UK release dates) went into a ‘longlist’. After a month or so of voting, the ten games with the most votes in each category were shovelled into a shortlist, which is what you can see on the website when you go to vote. Voting closes in late October, and the winners will be announced on 29 October at a ceremony in London.
Just a couple more points of interest: the Joysticks have been going for 28 years, making them gaming’s longest running gongs. They are also the world’s most popular videogame awards, with over 1.2 million votes cast last year. They’ve got a Guinness World Record certificate to prove it and everything.
So get to voting and make your voice heard!
Aug 26, 2010
