Golden Joystick Awards 2003

[smellslikenintendospirit]

News: Miyamoto Inducted into Golden Joystick Hall of Fame
http://n-philes.com/php/epzppfylpvezeppaauyl.php

Despite the numerous awards given out at this years Golden Joystick Awards, none were quite as exalted as becoming the event's first ever Hall of Fame inductee. And because of that, Nintendo had more reasons to celebrate than others, as none other than Shigeru Miyamoto himself, the brain child of franchises such as Mario and the Legend of Zelda, was given this highly esteemed honor. Indeed, this was the first year the Golden Joystick Awards bestowed such recognition, making Miyamoto's decoration even more coveted. Unfortunately Shigeru Miyamoto was unable to attend the awards ceremony, which was held in London, however he did provide a videotaped acceptance speech.

"I'm honored to become the first recipient of the Golden Joystick Hall of Fame award," said Miyamoto, "I would like to thank all of the game fans and game media in Europe who are helping to energize the video game industry. For more than 20 years I have been fortunate enough to work with very talented people with amazing foresight from the early Donkey Kong days to our most recent, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! I really have enjoyed every minute. It's an amazing industry to work in."

Along with Miyamoto's induction, Nintendo won several other awards to add to their already lengthy list. The biggest acknowledgement of Nintendo's abilities came from being named Publisher of the Year. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker beat out the competition to receive the GameCube Game of the Year, while Mario Kart: Double Dash! was also recognized as the most wanted game for Christmas 2003. The GBA SP outperformed in an arguably tougher contest by being named Hardware of the Year. As well, Nintendo received a truck load of runner-up recognitions. The following is a list of the awards and their winners.


GameCube Game of the Year
Winner:
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Finalists:
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil Zero

Handheld Game of the Year
Winner:
Advance Wars 2
Finalists:
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

PS2 Game of the Year
Winner:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Finalists:
Eye Toy: Play
Pro Evolution Soccer 2

Xbox Game of the Year
Winner:
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Finalists:
Soul Calibur II
Splinter Cell

PC Game of the Year
Winner:
CM4
Finalists:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Battlefield 1942

Online Game of the Year
Winner:
Battlefield 1942
Finalists:
Phantasy Star Online
Unreal Championship

MTV Film to Game of the Year
Winner:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Finalists:
Enter the Matrix
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Mirror: The Best of British
Winner:
CM4
Finalists:
Conflict Desert Storm 2
Republic: The Revolution

Publisher of the Year
Winner:
Nintendo
Finalists:
Electronic Arts
Rockstar

Retailer of the Year
Winner:
GAME
Finalists:
Amazon.co.uk
Gameplay.com

Hardware of the Year
Winner:
Game Boy Advance SP
Finalists:
Eye Toy
Xbox Live!

Unsung Hero Game of the Year
Winner:
Viewtiful Joe
Finalists:
No One Lives Forever
Steel Battalion

Hall of Fame Industry Personality of the Year
Shigeru Miyamoto

Editor's Award: Game of the Year
Winner:
Pro Evolution Soccer 3
Finalists:
Call of Duty
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Maker
Metroid Prime

Most Wanted Game for Xmas
Winner:
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Finalists:
Pro Evolution Soccer 3
WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain

Most Anticipated Game for 2004
Winner:
Half Life 2
Finalists:
Doom 3
Halo 2

Ultimate Game of the Year
Winner:
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Finalists:
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

If you wish to see highlights of the ceremony, MTV will be broadcasting a special edition of their movie and games program, Screenplay on Friday, December 5th.
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Personally, I think Ultimate GOTY should have gone to Zelda, but oh well.

[Jushiko]

Wow, I'm surprised the GBA won the handheld section, must have been tough competing against...neo geo?

Good news though

[orcus116]

Now when they say Vice City is GOTY they're talking about the computer version right? I've seen alot of places calling VC GOTY when they're referring to the PS2 version.

[Peter]

Nice. Im glad that Halflife2 won Most looked forward to game. Very pleasing results right there.

[Shayde]

Uhh...wasn't VC last year?

[smellslikenintendospirit]

Uhh...wasn't VC last year?

And so were a whole slew of those games, including Metroid, RE0, Unreal, Battlefield, Steel B, but this show is in LONDON, not America or Japan or Australia.

[Gunpei]

Soccer sucks.