Voting opens for the Golden Joystick Awards 2006

13/06/06 - Gamers across the UK can now have their say on the best video games of the last 12 months as voting opens for the annual Golden Joystick Awards.

Officially the world's oldest and most respected games ceremony, the Golden Joystick Awards were first held back in 1982, when Atari, Commodore and Spectrum ruled the earth and Sony were still best known for the Walkman.

Promising to be bigger than ever, the Golden Joystick Awards 2006 will feature 17 award categories and are the only UK gaming awards to be voted for by those who matter - gamers themselves! Last year, almost 200,000 UK gamers had their say on what deserved a prestigious Golden Joystick, and now organisers want YOU to help smash the 250,000 votes mark.

Visit www.goldenjoystick.co.uk, where you can vote in as many or as few of the categories as you like. Each award category has a huge selection of games you can choose on. By having your say now, you can directly influence the shortlists for the final stage of voting, which begins on Tuesday, 1st August.

Golden Joystick Awards 2006

• Ultimate Game of The Year
• Publisher of The Year
• The One to Watch For 2007
• Editor's Choice Award
• Retailer of The Year
• Soundtrack Award
• Online Game of The Year
• PC Game of The Year
• PlayStation Game of The Year
• Xbox Game of The Year
• Nintendo Game of The Year
• Handheld Game of The Year
• Innovation Award
• Kids Game of The Year
• Favourite Character Award
• Girls Choice Award
• Multiplay Game of The Year

The final results of the Golden Joystick Awards will be announced at a glitzy award ceremony, held at
London's Park Lane Hilton on Friday, 27th October. This year, the Golden Joystick Awards get their first TV show, hosted by MTV babe, Emma Griffiths and will also be webcast live, on the computerandvideogames.com website.

Don't delay, have your say now - www.goldenjoystick.co.uk

ENDS

This year's Golden Joystick Awards will be screened by the ITV network, as part of a special-themed evening of games programming on Thursday 24th November. Future would be interested to hear from you if you are planning a game launch or event you would like to be filmed for the Golden Joysticks TV show, screened as part of a themed gaming event on ITV4 this November. Please contact Ricky Claydon on 0207 042 4055 or email ricky.claydon@futurenet.co.uk.

About Future
Future plc is an international special-interest media group with offices in the UK, US, France and Italy. Founded in 1985 with one UK magazine, today it creates over 150 special-interest publications, websites and events, with strong portfolios in the computing, games, music, automotive, sports, crafts and leisure sectors. Over 100 international editions of Future's magazines are also published under licence in 30 other countries across the world. Future employs over 1,500 people worldwide. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR).

For more information:
Will Guyatt, Media Relations Manager, 01225 822517.