Fallout 3 crowned 'game of year'

Fallout 3 has been named ultimate game of the year at the Golden Joysticks, one of the gaming industry's biggest awards.

The hugely popular Call of Duty series took home a hat-trick of awards including multiplayer game of the year and Nintendo game of the year for World At War.

Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 bagged the 'one to watch' award.

Soundtrack of the year went to Guitar Hero: World Tour while innovation platform game LittleBigPlanet scooped family game of the year.

Have Your Say: What's your video game of the year?

The awards themselves, now in their 27th year, also made it into the Guinness Record Books as the World's Most Popular Video Game Awards, with more than 1.2m votes cast.

The awards are split across 15 categories and are voted for by UK gamers.

Economic confidence

Activision Blizzard, who are responsible for Call of Duty and Guitar Hero, were named publisher of the year.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS won handheld game of the year.

Gamers in the UK spent £2.7bn on gaming in the past year, boosting an already growing confidence in the industry.

Organiser of the Golden Joystick Awards Emma Parkinson said: "The games industry remains innovative and vibrant despite economic pressures.

"Many of the winners at the Golden Joystick's demonstrate that UK talent remains crucial to the success of this industry across the globe and must be nurtured at all cost."

To qualify for an award games had to be released between May 2008 and May 2009.

The only exception is the 'one to watch' award which covers games released since then.

Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis handed out the first Golden Joystick awards in 1982.

At the video game Baftas in February, Super Mario Galaxy won the best game but Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the big winner, scooping three awards including people's choice and best gameplay.