Golden Joysticks 2013 Noms In - FIGHT!

There's much to fight about in this year's Golden Joystick nominations, not least of which being why the bloody hell are so many things nominated? Surely not to keep the industry under-chin tickled?

Not according to the Golden Joysticks (aka Future Publishing, which has been struggling some to make its video gaming output relevant in the modern day and age). In a stab at other awards, we're told that the Golden Joystick Awards are, "The world’s most popular and credible games awards..." Have at you Spike TV with your Video Game awards. Anyway, who has the nod in this years Credible Awards Noms?

Game of the Year
Borderlands 2 (2K Games)
Dishonored (Bethesda)
Forza Horizon (Microsoft)
Halo 4 (Microsoft)
The Last of Us (Sony)
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)
Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
BioShock Infinite (2K Games)
The Walking Dead (TellTale)
Pikmin 3 (Nintendo)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Activision)
Guild Wars 2 (NCsoft)
Fire Emblem Awakening (Nintendo)
Hotline Miami (Devolver Digital)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Namco Bandai)
Saints Row IV (Deep Silver)
Splinter Cell Blacklist (Ubisoft)

Most Wanted
Xbox One (Microsoft)
PlayStation 4 (Sony)
The Elder Scrolls Online (Bethesda)
Thief (Square Enix)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Konami)
Destiny (Activision)
Battlefield 4 (EA)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (Activision)
Super Smash Bros. Wii U (Nintendo)
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Namco Bandai)
The Division (Ubisoft)
Titanfall (EA)
Dark Souls II (Namco Bandai)
Need for Speed: Rivals (EA)
Batman: Arkham Origins (Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

Best Indie Game
Hotline Miami (Devolver Digital)
Gunpoint (Suspicious Developments)
Mark of the Ninja (Klei)
State of Decay (Undead Labs)
Guacamelee! (Drinkbox Studios)
The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow)
Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)
Super Hexagon (Terry Cavanagh)

Best Newcomer
The Last of Us (Sony)
The Walking Dead (TellTale)
Dishonored (Bethesda)
Hotline Miami (Devolver Digital)
DUST 514 (CCP)
Forza Horizon (Microsoft)
ZombiU (Ubisoft)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Namco Bandai)
Remember Me (Capcom)
State of Decay (Microsoft)
Injustice: Gods Among Us (Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)
DayZ (Dean ‘Rocket’ Hall/Bohemia Interactive)

Best Handheld Game
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (Nintendo)
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Capcom)
LittleBigPlanet PSVita (Sony)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (Nintendo)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (Nintendo)
Assassin's Creed III Liberation (Ubisoft)
Soul Sacrifice (Sony)
Persona 4 Golden (Square Enix)
Hotline Miami (Devolver Digital)

Best Gaming Platform in association with Digital Spy
Steam (Valve)
Wii U (Nintendo)
Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo)
Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
PlayStation 3 (Sony)
PS Vita (Sony)
Gog.com (CD Projekt RED)
Google Play (Google)
iOS App Store (Apple)

Best Storytelling
The Last of Us (Sony)
BioShock Infinite (2K Games)
Metro: Last Light (Deep Silver)
The Walking Dead (TellTale)
Halo 4 (Microsoft)
Dishonored (Bethesda)
LEGO City: Undercover (Nintendo)
Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (Ubisoft)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (505)
COD: Black Ops II (Activision)
Virtue's Last Reward (Rising Star Games)

Best Mobile/Tablet Game of the Year
XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2K Games)
Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
Super Hexagon (Terry Cavanagh)
Deus Ex: The Fall (Square Enix)
Rayman Jungle Run (Ubisoft)
Total War Battles: Shogun (Sega)
Joe Danger Touch (Hello Games)
Year Walk (Simogo)
Punch Quest (Rocketcat)

Best Online Game
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (Blizzard)
ShootMania Storm (Ubisoft)
Firefall (Red 5)
PlanetSide 2 (Sony Online Entertainment)
SimCity (EA)
DayZ (Dean ‘Rocket’ Hall/Bohemia Interactive)
Curiosity – What’s Inside the Cube? (22Cans)
Defiance (Trion Worlds)
World of Tanks (Wargaming.net)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
Dota 2 (Valve)
Eve Online – Odyssey (CCP)
Guild Wars 2 (NCsoft)
Runescape 3 (Jagex)
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (EA)
Disney Infinity (Disney Interactive)
The Secret World (EA/Funcom)
Rift (Trion Worlds)
Aion (Gameforge)

Best Multiplayer
FIFA 13 (EA)
PES 2013 (Konami)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Activision)
Nintendo Land (Nintendo)
Halo 4 (Microsoft)
Borderlands 2 (2K Games)
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Sega)
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (Blizzard)
Company of Heroes 2 (Sega)
F1 2012 (Codemasters)
Battlefield 3 End Game Expansion (EA)
Payday 2 (505 Games)

Innovation of the Year in association with T3
Ouya
Twitch.tv
Nintendo Direct (Nintendo)
Miiverse (Nintendo)
Wonderbook (Sony)
SmartGlass (Microsoft)
Oculus Rift (Oculus)
Defiance (Trion Worlds)
Curiosity – What’s Inside the Cube? (22Cans)
Earforce XP510 headset (Turtle Beach)

Studio of the Year
TellTale Games
Ubisoft Montreal
Naughty Dog
343 Industries
EA Canada
Irrational Games
Nintendo Intelligent Systems
Ninja Theory
Playground Games
Riot Games
DICE
Arkane Studios
The Creative Assembly
Sports Interactive

Best Visual Design
BioShock Infinite (2K Games)
Dishonored (Bethesda)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (Namco Bandai)
Hotline Miami (Devolver Digital)
The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow)
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Ubisoft)
Borderlands 2 (2K Games)
Pikmin 3 (Nintendo)
DMC (Capcom)
The Last of Us (Sony
Metro: Last Light (Deep Silver)
Halo 4 (Microsoft)
God of War: Ascension (Sony)

Best Gaming Moment in association with Absolute Radio
Trying Oculus Rift for the first time. (Oculus)
MGS Revengeance - Senator boss fight (Capcom)
Bioshock Infinite - Hallelujah (2K)
Mass Effect 3 - Citadel DLC party (EA)
DMC - Bob Barbas boss fight (Capcom)
Dishonored - Lady Boyle's Last Party (Bethesda)
Far Cry 3 - The Definition of Insanity (Ubisoft)
Hotline Miami - Chapter 8 (disco) (Devolver Digital)
The Walking Dead - The boy in the attic (Telltale)
Assassin’s Creed III - The Templar Twist (Ubisoft)
The Unfinished Swan - The King’s Dream (Giant Sparrow)
The Last of Us – Joel’s loss (Sony)
Tomb Raider - Radio Tower climb (Square Enix)
Dead Space 3 – A surprising death (EA)
Halo 4 – Cortana’s fate (Microsoft)

The YouTube Gamer Award
Yogscast
Ali A
Smooth McGroove
Francis
Fitzthislewitz
Tam McGleish (Gamewank)
Bitsocket

What do you reckon? Tell us in Comments or over on the main forum.

In terms of the mechanics:

Comedian Ed Byrne will host the event to be held at on Friday 25th October 2013 at The Westminster Park Plaza down in that London. Of course, we'd hope that the entire thing will be live-streamed so we can see what the chicken being eaten by all the game journoes and studio middle management is like... but that's not going to happen.

Voting now open at www.goldenjoystick.com

More info here.