Every Golden Joystick winner right here

Xbox Game of the Year

Winner: Gears of War 2
First runner-up: Fallout 3
Second runner-up: Call of Duty: World At War

We say: Who says 360 owners are obsessed with shooting thi… oh. Even though you should feel guilty about overlooking the incredible, brain-buggering Braid, you’re forgiven. Especially, seeing as Gears 2 is utterly amazing. Really, you’ve simply not lived until you’ve f*cked up an entire Locust army while riding one seriously brassed off Brumak.

PC Game of the Year

Winner: Fallout 3
First runner-up: Left 4 Dead
Second runner-up: Call of Duty: World at War

We say: Wow, you lot really love murdering stuff, huh? Fallout 3 is a total triumph, though, so we’ve got zero problem with it scooping this Joystick. It’s just a pity it’s bringing back so many guilt-ridden memories of blowing up Megaton. Look, our finger slipped, alright?

Amiqus Games UK Developer of the Year

Winner: Jagex
First runner-up: Rockstar North
Second runner-up: Lionhead

We say: Just give us a minute here … ah, Jagex, of course. In fairness, RuneScape is a mighty fine MMORPG. And anything that can stand against the juggernaut that is WoW deserves credit and a shiny award.Our money's currently onRocksteady as a frontrunner for this award next year, thanks to their stellar work on Arkham Asylum.

PlayStation Game of the Year

Winner: Killzone 2
First runner-up: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots
Second runner-up: LittleBigPlanet

We say: Such is the time period over which votes are cast, Snake actually won this award last year (so second place is a decent return). Anyway, well done to Killzone and Guerrilla. Its win cements the undisputable fact that any FPS that lets you shoot men’s helmets off is 37.2% better than anything else. Possibly.

Publisher of the Year

Winner: Activision Blizzard
First runner-up: Valve
Second runner-up: Bethesda

We say: Well done Activision Blizzard. We can’t stress this enough. Honestly. After all, it’s such a ridiculously-sized behemoth we’re sure they could strike us down from orbit with a satellite/come death laser of destruction if they really wanted to. But considering they’re just about to give us Modern Warfare 2, we’re all for them winning this.

Online Game of the Year

Winner: Left4Dead
First runner-up: Call of Duty: World At War
Second runner-up: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

We say: After being caught up in a sh*t storm of Uncharted 2multiplayer awesomeness for the past fortnight, we’re struggling to remember any other online game from the past 12 months. Better give us another second…. ah, L4D. That’s the zombie one, right? We seem to vaguely remember losing a fair chunk of our lives - 200 hours at the last count - in the versus mode of Valve’s apocalyptic, ace shooter. More hearty congrats for COD’s Nazi Zombies, too.

ShortList One to Watch

Winner: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
First runner-up: Assassin’s Creed 2
Second runner-up: Final Fantasy XIII

We say: Mod…ern… War…fare? We think we might have heard of that one. By all accounts it’s shaping up to be pretty tasty. It might even shift a few copies, we suppose.

Ultimate Game of the Year, together with Zavvi.co.uk

Winner: Fallout 3
First runner-up: Call of Duty: World At War
Second runner-up: Left 4 Dead

We say: A big, Cloverfield-monster-sized win for Bethesda and Fallout 3. The bridesmaid in the Xbox round, the nuclear-tinted adventure has stormed its way to the front of the pack to grab the bouquet. It really is one of the best games of recent times. And any title that features an indestructible, Terminator-esque Liam Neeson is alright by us.

Oct 30, 2009