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.

The much-anticipated NPD software sales for June 2009 have finally been released, but while it's easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers in the thousands, they are, actually, underwhelming. in fact, the analysts have been proven right in their prediction that it will see the fourth consecutive sales decline -- and more. The newly-released sales numbers are now described as the "largest drop in nine years."

If the analysts turn out right, then we just might see the fourth consecutive sales decline in the June results of NPD, and then we'll see that price cut happen. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan and Jesse Divinich of EEDAR are synonymous in saying that sales will most likely be down by around 20-23%.

Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith has revealed that they have now set their sights on breaking into the action genre with a brand new IP. Details about the IP are still scarce, but Griffith did share with Develop why Activision, which has become decidedly restrictive when it comes to new IP, made the decision. I bet you guys can guess why.

We have some good news this time for Metallica fans in Europe. Activision Blizzard has announced a new bundle for Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) that's exclusive to the territory.

Now we've got a release window for the next iteration in the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 2. Activision Blizzard has revealed, in their fourth quarter financial conference call on Wednesday, that the game will be due this holiday season.

E3 is back and bigger than ever! ... is what I want to say. But you get the next best thing. E3 is back and it's bigger than last year! Restrictions on attendance will be lessened this year, and Activision Blizzard, the company that started the studio exodus from the ESA, is back.

More details after the link.

For so long now, it's been rumored about. Everyone keeps talking about it "yeah, so there's this new DJ Hero spinoff supposedly in the works, yada yada yada," but ever since, nothing has been officially confirmed by Activision Blizzard. That changes now, care of ActiBliz boss Robert Kotick. He drops some tiny details about the game, but more importantly, is eying a release this year already!

Activision Blizzard confirmed during the Massive Inc upfront that they will be making Guitar Hero 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and that the rumors about the upcoming Tony Hawk being "different" were true. Admittedly, nothing terribly surprising, but it's good to know all the same.

Mabie A. will surely go ballistic when she hears about this bit of news.The latest whispers about that never-set-in-stone DJ Hero title just notched two big details to its name: DJ Tiesto and a Summer 2009 release.