Rockstar stole my Joystick

Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto III (GTA III) has clearly stolen the hearts and minds of the UK's games-buying public, as the game has picked up no less than three of the awards on offer at today's Golden Joystick Awards, which were presented by Jonathan Ross at a star-studded event at London's Dorchester Hotel.

In addition to GTA III's three awards – 'PlayStation 2 Game of the Year', 'Game Innovation of the Year' and overall 'Game of the Year' – there were also awards for the game's developer, Edinburgh-based Rockstar North, and even an accolade for the game's eagerly-awaited sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was voted 'Most Wanted Game for Christmas'.

The Golden Joystick Awards, the UK's premier awards for interactive entertainment, are hosted by Dennis Publishing, a leading publisher of magazines in the computer and video games sector. The awards have been voted for by more than 30,000 readers of Dennis' magazines and visitors to its consumer websites.

"After all of the hard work and effort which has gone into staging these awards, we are delighted that today's ceremony has been such an unqualified success," says Tara Leathers, Games Division Publisher for Dennis Publishing. "That said, we have no intention of resting on our laurels and we look forward to an even bigger Golden Joystick Awards for 2003."

Other big winners in today's ceremony were Electronic Arts, which won 'PC Game of the Year' (for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault) and 'Publisher of the Year'; and Vivendi Universal Games, which walked away with 'Online Game of the Year' (for Counter-Strike) and 'Best Use of a Film Licence' (for The Thing).

Microsoft's Xbox beat off competition from Nintendo and AMD to claim the 'Hardware of the Year' prize, while the 'Sports Game of the Year' title went to Konami's acclaimed Pro Evolution Soccer, which also took the Dennis Publishing 'Editors' Award'.

This year's Golden Joystick Awards were sponsored by Jungle.com, Vivendi Universal Games, Electronic Arts and Macrovision.

The full list of winners and runners-up is as follows:

Xbox Game of the Year
Winner: Halo (Microsoft Game Studios)
Runners-up: Dead or Alive 3 (Tecmo), Max Payne (Take 2 Interactive)

GameCube Game of the Year
Winner: Resident Evil (Capcom)
Runners-up: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (LucasArts), Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo)

Handheld Game of the Year
Winner: Golden Sun (Nintendo)
Runners-up: Mario Kart: Super Circuit (Nintendo), Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (Nintendo)

PS2 Game of the Year
Winner: Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games)
Runners-up: Final Fantasy X (SCEE), Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Konami)

Online Game of the Year
Winner: Counter-Strike (Vivendi Universal Games)
Runners-up: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (EA Games), Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (Vivendi Universal Games)

PC Game of the Year
Winner: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (EA Games)
Runners-up: Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games), Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (Vivendi Universal Games)

Best Use of a Film Licence
Winner: The Thing (Vivendi Universal Games)
Runners-up: Spider-Man (Activision), The Sum of all Fears (Ubi Soft Entertainment)

Sports Game of the Year (voted for by listeners to Radio 1's breakfast show)
Winner: Pro Evolution Soccer (Konami)
Runners-up: Championship Manager (Eidos), FIFA 2002 (EA Sports)

Game Innovation of the Year
Winner: 'Open-ended play' in Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games)
Runners-up: 'Bullet time' in Max Payne (Take 2 Interactive), The D-Day landing in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (EA Games)

Hardware of the Year (sponsored by Vivendi)
Winner: Microsoft Xbox
Runners-up: AMD Athlon XP Processor, Nintendo GameCube

British Developer of the Year
Winner: Rockstar North
Runners-up: Electronic Arts, Rare

Publisher of the Year (sponsored by Macrovision)
Winner: Electronic Arts
Runners-up: Activision/LucasArts, Microsoft Game Studios

Retailer of the Year (sponsored by Electronic Arts)
Winner: Gameplay.com
Runners-up: GAME, Amazon.co.uk

Most Wanted Game for Christmas (voted for by readers of The Sun and The Sun Online)
Winner: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar Games)
Runners-up: Splinter Cell (Ubi Soft), Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo)

Editors' Award (voted for by the editorial staff at Dennis Publishing)
Winner: Pro Evolution Soccer (Konami)
Runners-up: Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games), Halo (Microsoft Game Studios)

Game of the Year (sponsored by Jungle.com)
Winner: Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar Games)
Runners-up: Halo (Microsoft Game Studios), Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (EA Games)