• Battlefield 3
• Binary Domain
• Modern Warfare 3
• Gears of War 3
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
• Halo Anniversary
• Max Payne 3
• Rage
• Resistance 3
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Starhawk
• Syndicate
• Darkness II
• Tribes Ascend.

Winner: Max Payne 3

Though it was a long time coming since Remedy released Max Payne 2 in 2003, Rockstar’s take on the Noire inspired ramblings of the ever tortured Max Payne managed to up the production values of the Remedy classics whilst maintaining the series’ trademark narrative flourishes. Featuring snappy dialogue, memorable set-pieces and the glorious return of the surprisingly relevant reliance on bullet time, Max Payne 3 is arguably the greatest action game of the past few years.

Last year’s most prestigious award, the Ultimate Game of the Year deservedly went to Portal 2, and this year looks even more hotly contested. Be it Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Journey, Mass Effect 3, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 or one of the others, there are going to be some very happy and very unhappy people.

This year also sees 16 user-voted categories, the most of any Golden Joystick Awards to date, and users who vote in every category have a chance of winning a lovely prize courtesy of sponsors HMV, worth around £4000. The prize includes a PlayStation Vita, 3DS XL, iPad and other things.

To vote, visit the website and to chart the awards from head to toe, visit the Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Oh, and here’s comedian Ed Byrne being very Irish:

http://www.goldenjoystick.com/

Red Dead Redemption won the Spike Video Game Awards 2010 Game of the Year title, beating Mass Effect 2, which was the runners up title- what the hell.

However, Mass Effect 2 did manage to scoop up Best Xbox 360 Game and Best RPG, while BioWare was touted as the Studio of the Year.

God of War III became the PS3 Game of the Year, God of War: Ghost of Sparta the Handheld Game of the Year, Super Mario Galaxy 2 the Wii Game of the Year and StarCraft II the PC Game of the Year. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood managed to beat heavyweights such as God of War III, and won the title of the Action/Adventure Video Game of the Year. Halo: Reach became Multiplayer Game of the Year, and Black Ops was announced Best Shooter.

Here is the full list of winners:

Studio of the Year

• BioWare

Best Wii Game

• Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Xbox 360 Game

• Mass Effect 2

Best PS3 Game

• God of War III

Best PC Game

• StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

Best Handheld Game

• God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Best Shooter

• Call of Duty: Black Ops

Best Action-Adventure Game

• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Best RPG

• Mass Effect 2

Best Multiplayer Game

• Halo: Reach

Best Individual Sports Game

• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Best Team Sports Game

• NBA 2K11

Best Driving Game

• Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Best Music Game

• Rock Band 3

Best Soundtrack

• DJ Hero 2

Best Song in a Game

• Far Away by José González

Best Original Score

• Red Dead Redemption

Best Graphics

• God of War III

Best Adapted Video Game

• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

Best Performance by a Human Male

• Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man

Best Performance by a Human Female

• Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan

Best Downloadable Game

• Costume Quest

Best DLC

• Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare

Best Independent Game

• Limbo

Most Anticipated Game

• Portal 2

Game of the Year

• Red Dead Redemption

There have been some awfully close ones, and some incredible white-washes, so, with no further ado, I present to you YOUR Game Of the Year Awards.

Game of the Year

Uncharted 2 won by over 160 votes in a landslide!

Best Shooter

Perhaps surprisingly, Killzone 2 easily stole the trophy from Modern Warfare 2.

Best Action Adventure Game

Uncharted 2 takes the biscuit yet again.

Best Strategy Game

Empire Total War won easily.

Best Sports Game

Fifa 10 scraped past MLB 09 The Show.

Best Role Playing Game

Demon's Souls beat out Dragon Age Origins by a solid 40 votes.

Best Racing Game

Forza 3 reflected our Editor's Choice as Racing GOTY.

Best Fighting Game

That's a KO for Street Fighter 4.

Best New Male Protagonist

The 'InFamous' Cole McGrath.

Best New Female Protagonist

Chloe Frazer starred in Uncharted 2.

Best Story

Uncharted 2, with all its glitz and glamourous Hollywood plot wost voted top in the polls.

Best Visuals

Well waddya' know? Uncharted reigns top dog!

Best Voice Acting

Naughty Dog, at this point I would like to remind you that bribing our voters is not acceptable.

Best Cutscenes

Well look what we have here. Uncharted 2!

Biggest Flop

It was a close thing, competing with AC: Bloodlines, but we always knew Stormrise was crap.

Best Developer

Naughty Dog, quite rightfully, took top spot, with only Rocksteady attemping an opposition.

Best Handheld Game

Little Big Planet a comfortable 28 votes clear of FF: Dissidia.

Best Console Game

Look who's back...back again....

Best PC Game

A comfortable win for the folks behind Empire Total War.

Best PSN/XBLA Game

Flower secures No.1 position.

Biggest ‘Oh Snap’ Moment

Now this is gettings silly. Even the GB editors didn't give UC2 this many awards...And if you are wondering what part of the game won, it's the whole game. Yeah.

Best DLC

The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Best Sequel

In the words of our very own Chris Vogt, 'You can't say you didn't see this coming''.

Most Underacheived Game

Ninga Gaiden Sigma 2 had potential. 'Had.'

Best Original Score

That makes No 11.

Best Soundtrack

Brutal Ledgend narrowly beat The Beatles Rock Band.

Best Multiplayer

In a surprising turnaround at the polls, Modern Warfare 2 was beaten by, yep, you guessed it, Uncharted 2.

Well that just about wraps it up for the Community GOTY awards. And what an award ceremony it has been. We at GB thank everyone who voted.

Now, I think I know which game to play next!

Borderlands

Very few games this year managed to keep me coming back like Borderlands did. Having beaten the game nearly four times and having reached level 50 with two characters I still feel the need to go back and keep playing. It leaves the sense that you have unfinished business with the world of Pandora as long as bandits still roam the badlands and while the Crimson Lance still control Old Haven. Borderlands is one of the few games from 2009 that I fully intend to invest even more time into in 2010.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

A Crack in Time was the first time I looked at the back of the game case and found everything it said to be true. The game looked great and had a compelling and emotional story that left me satisfied as well as a bit choked up. ACIT is the best game Insomniac has put out on the PS3 and is the best game they have released since Up Your Arsenal. In a year where the PS3 had one great exclusive after another Ratchet and Clank manages to be one of the best.

DJ Hero

There is no denying that the market is now flooded with music games and originality has been thrown out the window in exchange for quick cash. That is what makes DJ Hero stand out above its competition. The mixes are great and the venues are flashy and give off a real club feel. DJ Hero is like playing Guitar Hero for the first time and you will lose yourself in the game unlike any other music game out there.

Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST was one of only a few big name 360 exclusives this year and it delivered a great experience. Many looked at it as DLC with a $60 price tag; however, those who took the time to look deeper found a fantastic campaign along with a fun new survival mode called Firefight. ODST proved that you could do Halo without the ring world and without the Master Chief. If you missed ODST because you thought it was overpriced DLC, I highly recommend you take the time to give this game a shot, you may be surprised.

Demon’s Souls

Demon’s Souls was one of the top RPGs released this year. It was a nod to old school style games with its sometimes-brutal difficulty and unforgiving nature. This one definitely will not hold your hand like most games today. That old school feel made the game so good as well as its fantastic multiplayer design. Demon’s Souls is not for the faint of heart, but those willing to rise to the challenge will find it to be one of the best games released this year.

InFamous

InFamous was a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns that made an otherwise lacking story into something special. It managed to capture the human aspect of having superpowers and gave you choices that for the most part felt reasonable and not too extreme in either direction. Cole was a person first and the powers were simply a means for him to return his life to normal or create a world where he reigned supreme. InFamous is a game you have to experience to truly appreciate.

2009 will undoubtedly go down as a great year for the industry thanks to many strong releases over the year. In past years there has always been one game that seemed to trump all others, but 2009 proved to be a very competitive year with many titles worthy of the recognition. We here at Gaming Bolt hope you enjoyed 2009 and that you enjoyed both our nominees and our honorable mentions. Check back here on December 31^st for the results of the user voting and as always keep it here on Gaming Bolt!

Game of the Year:

Uncharted 2

Best Shooter:

Killzone 2

Best Action Adventure Game:

Uncharted 2

Best Strategy Game:

Empire Total War

Best Sports Game:

Fifa 10

Best Role-Playing Game:

Dragon Age Origins

Best Racing Game:

Forza 3

Best Fighting Game:

Tekken 6

Best New Male Protagonist:

Cole McGrath

Best New Female Protagonist:

Chloe Frazer

Best Story/Plot:

Uncharted 2

Best Visuals:

Uncharted 2

Best Voice Acting:

Uncharted 2...I'm detecting a recurring theme here

Best Cutscenes:

Ok so maybe we liked Uncharted 2...a lot

Biggest Flop:

Stormrise, you can't tell me you expected Uncharted 2 again

Best Developer:

Were you expecting someone else?

Best Handheld Game:

Final Fantasy Dissidia

Best Console Game (Console Exclusive):

...

Best PC Game (PC Exclusive):

Empire Total War

Best PSN/XBLA Game:

Battlefield 1943

Biggest “Oh Snap!” Moment of 2009:

Modern Warfare 2 Sells 7 Million Worldwide Day 1

Best DLC:

Grand Theft Auto IV The Ballad of Gay Tony

Best Sequel:

You can't say you didn't see this coming

Most Underachieved Game:

Halo Wars

Best Original Score:

Demigod

Best Soundtrack:

DJ Hero

Best Multiplayer Game:

Modern Warfare 2

Well that’s all for the Editor’s Choice winners. Remember to keep voting for your favorites in the user voting. Polls close on December 30th and User’s Choice winners will be announced on December 31st, the perfect way to close out the year. As always keep it here on Gaming Bolt!

Welcome to the First Annual Gaming Bolt Game of the Year awards. Here you can see our nominees for all of our 27 different categories (along with a handy Hit or Miss rating for the likelihood of winning from the editors perspective). So lets get right to it guys.

Note: Voting closes on 31st December 2009.

Click on various categories below to vote for the games.

Game of the Year & Best Shooter

Best Action Adeventure & Best Strategy Game

Best Sports Game & Best Role Playing Game

Best Racing Game & Best Fighting

Best New Male Protagonist & Best New Female Protagonist

Best Story/Plot & Best Visuals

Best Voice Acting & Best Cutscenes

Biggest Flop of 2009 & Best Developer

Best Handheld Game & Best Console Game

Best PC Game & Best PSN/XBLA Game

Best OH! Snape Moment of 2009 & Best DLC

Best Sequel & Most Under Achieved Game

Best Original Score & Best Sound Track & Best Multiplayer Game