The 27th annual Golden Joysticks Awards were announced in London earlier today, giving props to the games that shaped the industry in the past year. Sitting on top of them is Fallout 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) receiving top honors as the Ultimate Game of the Year. Read up and find out who else made it big in the awards.

Games may often get a bad rap in the court room, what with guys like Jack Thompson running around, but  this time it got some positive recognition from the UK House of Commons.

Details in the full article.

The nominations are in, the tallying's over, and the GDC 09 Developers' Choice Awards have come and gone. The big winners this year were Fallout 3, which got the Game of the Year award, and LittleBigPlanet, which won in 4 different categories. The tail-end of the awards ceremony even had a little surprise in the form of a trailer for one of the most highly-anticipated sequels in recent years. Details after the jump!

Mario games have always been popular in the UK, and Super Mario Galaxy proves it by beating out the likes of Fallout 3, Fable II, and even GTA IV for BAFTA's Best Game Award. The GAME Award this year goes to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as voted on by gamers.

Full list of winners after the link.

Outlining the future of the Spore franchise, Maxis has now revealed that new titles will be heading out. Four new installments are confirmed. If all DNA replication goes well, they may be out by this year. Other than that, there's also the possibility of eventually seeing Spore hit the PS3 and 360 - and the good thing is, if ever they do, they're definitely veering away from the "oh just port it from the PC version" scenario.

This is it, Game of the Year. No quantifiers, no excuses. Our team looks at the year gone by and decides which games they feel stood head and shoulders above the rest. Considering '08 has been a banner year for gaming, it wasn't easy.

Every classic was once a new IP, they're the life blood of the industry, and yet they're extremely risky propositions for developers and publishers.

We vote on the year's best.

This is a category that's especially close to my heart, kudos to those who dared to risk all, who colored outside the lines and put the extra thinkin' effort into giving us something fresh.

Once again, a lot of our editors agreed on one very special title... Unreal Tournament III... just kidding!

It's time recognise those developers that really helped make this year something special for all of us gamers. A lot of hard work, sweat, dedication and long hours go into making the games we play, so here are a few words from us at QJ to say thanks, and keep up the good work.

So who made the list? Who makes your list? Let us know after the jump.

Before, gamers were criticizing studios for influencing game reviews in order to sell more games. Recently though, it seems there's a growing trend for gamers to try and influence game reviews and scores themselves out of loyalty to their own platforms.

Edge Online recently got flamed for their 6/10 review of Resistance 2. In response, they ask, "What are reviews for?"