U.K.'s 2007 Golden Joystick Awards Results Released

The winners of the 25th Annual Golden Joystick Awards have been announced overnight in the U.K. Following in the footsteps of gaming awards shows around the world, Gears of War, the Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero II were all big winners. The awards ceremony took place in London last night, again in the Hilton at Park Lane. This year, many awards feature conspicuous corporate sponsorship, as well as a range of categories. The biggest winner was Epic and Microsoft's Gears of War, which took four awards: O2 Ultimate Game of the Year, The Sonopress Xbox Game of the Year, Nuts All-Nighter Award, and the Editors' Choice award. Gamer votes increased briskly year-on-year, with nearly 750,000 votes cast as compared to last year's 540,000. The awards are decided entirely by the fans who vote. Any game released in the U.K. between July 31, 2006 and August 1, 2007 is eligible. Guitar Hero II won soundtrack and girls' choice awards, reflecting its excellent music and broad appeal, while the Wii won the innovation award as Wii Sports captured The Sun's Family Game of the Year. In a progressive move, this year a mobile developer, Tom Dowding, was presented by Channel 4 with a £2,500 check and a job with EA Mobile for his game concept Let it Grow, after pitching it to a panel of "industry experts", beating eight other contestants. The complete list of awards is printed below: The bliss Girls’ Choice Game of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II The Sun Family Game of the Year 2007: Wii Sports The GamesRadar Handheld Game of the Year 2007: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories The 4Talent Mobile Game of the Year 2007: Final Fantasy The T3 Innovation of the Year 2007: Nintendo Wii The BBC 1Xtra Soundtrack of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II The Nuts All-Nighter award 2007: Gears of War The GameTribe Online Game of the Year 2007: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade The Next-Gen.biz UK Developer of the Year 2007: Codemasters The Total Film One to Watch 2007: Assassin's Creed The Vivendi Retailer of the Year 2007: Game Publisher of the Year 2007 - sponsored by Future: Nintendo Editor’s Choice Award 2007: Gears of War Official Nintendo Magazine’s Nintendo Game of the Year 2007: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Official PlayStation Magazine’s PlayStation Game of the Year 2007: God of War II The PC Gamer PC Game of the Year 2007: The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar The Sonopress Xbox Game of the Year 2007: Gears of War The O2 Ultimate Game of the Year 2007: Gears of War