Nominations announced for 'gaming Oscars'

Organisers of The Golden Joystick Awards, known as the 'Oscars of the gaming world', have announced the nominations for the 17 categories ahead of this year's ceremony in October.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, gamers have been voting in each category via the www.goldenjoystick.com website since July 1 with the organisers claiming more votes have being cast this year than ever before.

Now the second round of voting has begun and the final results will be unveiled at a glitzy award ceremony to be held at the Hilton Hotel in London's Park Lane on Friday, October 26.

The night will be hosted by Channel 4's Peep Show comedian David Mitchell with the cream of the British videogame industry in attendance.

The main categories and nominations are listed below:-

Handheld Game of the Year

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories


• Pokémon Diamond/Pearl


• Final Fantasy III


• Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops


• Killzone: Liberation


• Pro Evolution Soccer 6


• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All


• Tekken: Dark Resurrection


• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords


• Chili Con Carnage

Innovation Award

• The Nintendo Wii


• PlayStation 3


• DirectX 10


• Wii Sports


• Halo 3 Beta


• Steam


• Xbox Box Live Arcade


• The PlayStation Network


• Wii Play


• Crackdown

Mobile Game of the Year

• Final Fantasy


• Lemmings Return


• Sims 2 Pets


• 3D Space Invaders


• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition


• Transformers


• UEFA Champions League 2006-2007


• Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII


• World Series of Poker Texas Hold'em


• Orcs & Elves

Nintendo Game of the Year

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess


• Wii Sports


• Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition


• Pokémon Diamond/Pearl


• Call of Duty 3


• Final Fantasy III


• Mario Strikers: Charged Football


• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy


• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2


• Red Steel

Ones To Watch Award

• Grand Theft Auto IV


• Assassin's Creed


• Crysis


• Halo 3


• Super Smash Bros. Brawl


• Metal Gear Solid 4


• Super Mario Galaxy


• Fallout 3


• Bioshock


• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Online Game of the Year

• EVE Online: The Path to Kali


• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade


• Gears of War


• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar


• Resistance: Fall of Man


• Mario Strikers Charged Football


• Guild Wars: Nightfall


• Battlefield 2142


• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories


• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas

PC Game of the Year

• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade


• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar


• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars


• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl


• Company of Heroes


• Football Manager 2007


• Guild Wars Nightfall


• Battlefield 2142


• Test Drive Unlimited


• The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


• Medieval II: Total War


• Supreme Commander


• Gothic 3


• Neverwinter Nights 2

PlayStation Game of the Year

• God of War II


• Final Fantasy XII


• Resistance: Fall of Man


• Okami


• MotorStorm


• Guitar Hero II


• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories


• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy


• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion


• Call of Duty 3


• Pro Evolution Soccer 6


• Killzone: Liberation


• Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence


• F.E.A.R.


• Canis Canem Edit

Xbox Game of the Year

• Gears of War


• Guitar Hero II


• Forza Motorsport 2


• Crackdown


• The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


• Call of Duty 3


• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas


• F.E.A.R.


• Viva Piñata


• Test Drive Unlimited


• Saints Row


• The Darkness


• Virtua Tennis 3


• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition


• Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Publisher of the Year

• Nintendo


• Ubisoft


• Rockstar Games


• Electronic Arts


• Microsoft Game Studios


• Sony


• Codemasters


• THQ


• Square Enix


• Konami


• Capcom


• Atari


• Take Two Interactive / 2K Games


• Activision


• Sega

Retailer of the Year

• Amazon.co.uk


• Play.com


• Game


• Gamestation


• Gameplay


• HMV


• EB Games


• Virgin Megastores


• Gameseek

UK Developer of the Year

• Rockstar North


• Codemasters


• Lionhead


• Rare


• Team 17


• Free Radical


• Criterion


• Sony London


• Bizarre Creations


• Traveller's Tales


• Evolution Studios


• Realtime Worlds


• Sports Interactive


• FireFly Studios


• Llamasoft

Ultimate Game of the Year

• Gears of War


• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade


• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar


• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess


• God of War II


• Final Fantasy XII


• Resistance: Fall of Man


• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories


• MotorStorm


• Guitar Hero II


• Wii Sports


• Guild Wars Nightfall


• Okami


• Test Drive Unlimited


• Company of Heroes