The closest thing the ever expanding world of computer and video games has to the Oscars, the Golden Joystick Awards is a ceremony that has been running since the days of Commodore and Atari in 1982. Today we finally have the shortlist of potential winners for 2006.
The 16 categories range from "Girls Choice Award" to "Soundtrack of the Year" and climax with the highly respected "Ultimate Game of 2006" award.
In the runnings for that most prestigious title this year include the obvious choice of most-talked about games including: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Half-Life 2, GTA: San Andreas and Pro Evolution Soccer 5. There's also a few surprise contenders including 50 Cent's Bulletproof, Animal Crossing: Wild World and Harry Potter's latest outing.
The "big three" each have their own categories, as do handheld games, family games and those worthy of being "all nighters". As usual innovation is praised, as are online games, publishers and retailers. The vaguest of categories is of course the "One to Watch 2007" award - fronted by the Nintendo Wii, GTA4 and Final Fantasy XII.
There's loads more games nominated, so why not check them out for yourself?
We'll know the winners on October 27 after the award ceremony in London.
Download: 2006 Golden Joystick Awards - the shortlist (MS Word .DOC)
