Golden Joystick winners crowned

EA and BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 is the big winner of this year’s 28th Annual Golden Joystick Awards, claiming two prizes including the coveted Ultimate Game of the Year gong – at the expense of pre-event favourite Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Other winners include Assassin’s Creed II (action/adventure), Guitar Hero 5 (music), Forza 3 (racing), Street Fighter IV (fighting) and FIFA 10 (EA).

However, as is very much fitting with the modern face of digital gaming it was the casual sector that made a big breakthrough this year.

PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies was the only title apart from Mass Effect 2 to claim two awards – Download Game of the Year and Strategy Game of the Year. Indie favourite World of Goo claimed the Puzzle prize while Jagex beat off some high-profile competition to claim the best developer award.
Here are the winners in full:

* Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed II

* Download Game of the Year
Plants Vs Zombies

* Fighting Game of the Year
Super Street Fighter IV

* Music Game of the Year
Guitar Hero 5

* Online Game of the Year
League Of Legends

* Portable Game of the Year
Pokmon Heart Gold/Soul Silver

* Puzzle Game of the Year
World Of Goo

* RPG of the Year
Mass Effect 2

* FPS of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

* Racing Game of the Year
Forza 3

* Shooter of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

* Soundtrack of the Year
Final Fantasy XIII

* Sports Game of the Year
FIFA10

* Strategy Game of the Year

Plants Vs Zombies

* UK Developer of the Year
Jagex

* One to Watch
COD: Black Ops

* Ultimate Game of the Year
Mass Effect 2