[Mechanical R]

With over 1.5 million votes entered, the 28th Annual Golden Joystick Awards was held today in possibly the largest venue yet, with a ballroom packed with developers, press and more importantly gamers, it was time to get underway.

The actual event started a little earlier for the press however, much of my 6am get up was as unwelcome as a drill to the forehead but for press, we had a few hours of presentations for a couple of games for some games we can look forward to shortly.

The first was a presentation from a new company named 'Aliens Stole My Console'. Crazy as the name sounds, they weren’t actually promoting a game, more the consoles themselves. Aliens Stole My Console are actually a personalisation company which allows you to create the most intricate (or plain, if that’s your style) of designs, and then have them slapped all over your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, handhelds, controllers and the like in what every colours your in the mood for.

Its all very professionally done, and the company do work for individual buyers and industries looking to brand their company logo over everything video games related. But the first thing on all our lips was warranty. As the product sent to them is then dismantled to ensure a quality paint job, warranties on ALL consoles are immediately voided. Aliens response was that of they will match whatever warranty you have left on your product. Its nice of them to do, but who knows how Microsoft will act when a bright pink console comes sliding into their repairs room. We'll have to wait and see.

Check it out and design your own at: http://www.aliensstolemyconsole.com/

Next up was a quick demo of Def Jam Rapstar. Now, Ive had a fair chance to watch this game at Eurogamer, but this demo showed off the use of the vision camera/playstation eye as a recording device to keep hold of your 'best bits' and share them around the world. They also covered a variety of ways you can keep track of your best videos, best freestyles and generally best songs and other competitor info if your on your console, or even on your phone. Fortunately, none of the press were up for making tits of themselves, but the two PR's were more than happy!

Second game of the day was free to download PC game Big Match Striker. At first glances, this game appeared to be a well presented rewarding football game all for free, with the visual style of Fifa Street 3, but then we watched a 'match' being played.

Turns out this isn’t your normal football game. As the ball is passed around, scored and tackled by answering questions...wait, what?

That’s correct, Big Match Striker is actually a quiz game. The game features up to date questions on matches that happened 40 years ago, all the way to 2 hours ago, and will require no updates to download any new questions. There’s a surprising amount of things you can do involving earning money, gaining fans, catering for those fans by making bigger stadiums, creating you own kit. Its incredibly diverse for a free PC game. But the actual format of game play was surprising, and immediately puts off non hardcore football fans. I myself was actually interested alas my knowledge just doesnt span as far as others in this sort of field. The game is designed for playing right after some unsettled pub banter. But after the pub with some mates, what would you rather boot up? Big Match Striker. Or an actual game of Fifa?


Download the full game for free here: http://www.bigmatchonline.com/

Last but not least was a short demo from the E3 build of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Being the first main game play footage I've seen, I could say the visuals looked absolutely fantastic, one of the best I’ve seen for awhile. The game structures a Mass Effect 2 style of being able to converse with people in a free roam environment, whilst also switches to a more Sam Fisher style of thinking with multiple routes to achieve objectives. We saw both this side of the game, and the a combat section, and were reassured that there’s a number of ways the game can pan out. You can take a stealthy route, kill everyone on site or take a more pacifist take on combat with enemies. Deus Ex will most definitely reward those who go out of their way to try all the available options when it comes to completing their main objective, so here’s hoping for more from Deus Ex in the near future. Definitely a one to watch.


And so onto the event. With the massive ballroom packed and comedian Rich Hall well and truly warmed up, it was time for the awards.

The Action/Adventure Game Of The Year in association with Nuts
Third Place: Red Dead Redemption
Runners Up: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Winner: Assassin's Creed II

Fighting Game Of The Year in association with Official Nintendo Magazine
Third Place: Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
Runners Up: Tekken 6
Winner: Super Street Fighter IV

Download Game Of The Year in association with Green Man Gaming
Third Place: Call of Duty World at War Zombies
Runners Up: Battlefield 1943
Winner: Plants vs. Zombies

Music Game Of The Year in association with Total Film
Third Place: The Beatles: Rock Band
Runners Up: DJ Hero
Winner: Guitar Hero 5

Portable Game Of The Year in association with Habbo
Third Place: Plants vs. Zombies
Runners Up: Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
Winner: Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver

Racing Game Of The Year in association with T3
Third Place: Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Runners Up: Need For Speed: Shift
Winner: Forza Motorsport 3

Soundtrack Of The Year in association with Metal Hammer
Third Place: Assassin's Creed 2
Runners Up: Brutal Legend
Winner: Final Fantasy XIII

RPG Of The Year in association with GamesRadar
Third Place: Final Fantasy XIII
Runners Up: Fallout 3: Game Of The Year Edition
Winner: Mass Effect 2

Puzzle Game Of The Year in association with NGamer
Third Place: Scribblenauts
Runners Up: Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Winner: World of Goo

Sports Game Of The Year in association with Mousebreaker
Third Place: Skate 3
Runners Up: Wii Sports Resort
Winner: FIFA 10

Online Game Of The Year in association with CVG
Third Place: Farmville
Runners Up: Aion: The Tower Of Eternity
Winner: League of Legends


Strategy Game Of The Year in association with PC Gamer
Third Place: Age of Empires III: Collection
Runners Up: The Sims 3
Winner: Plants vs. Zombies

Shooter Of The Year in association with IGN Game On
Third Place: Left 4 Dead 2
Runners Up: Bad Company 2
Winner: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

UK Developer Of The Year in association with Edge
Third Place: Codemasters
Runners Up: Rockstar North
Winner: Jagex

The One To Watch in association with MSN
Third Place: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Runners Up: Fallout: New Vegas
Winner: Call of Duty: Black Ops

And finally, the Ultimate Game of The Year, in association with Games Master
Third Place: Assassins Creed II
Runner up: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Winner: Mass Effect 2


So guys, thats who YOU voted for as this years Golden Joysticks, agree with the turn out? Think there was some unserved justice? Let it be heard, and we hope to be able to give you all the latest coverage next year!

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[Mechanical R]