Golden Joystick awards 2003 - winners revealed

Posted on 1 Dec 2003 at 11:21

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City claimed the top honour at Friday's Golden Joystick Awards - the gaming awards determined by public votes - ensuring publisher Rockstar walked away with Ultimate Game of the Year for the second year running.

The event, which took place at the Park Lane Hotel, was hosted by comedian Phil Jupitus and caught on film by MTV.

GTA Vice City just pipped finalists Zelda: The Wind Waker and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to the title of Ultimate Game, also picking up a second award for PS2 game of the year. Eidos also enjoyed success with Championship Manager 4 securing two awards, for PC Game of the Year as well as the Daily Mirror Best of British Award.

But Nintendo was the big winner overall, scooping a massive six awards, including Publisher of the Year and Most Wanted Game for Christmas (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!). Other notable winners included EA's The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, which took the MTV Film Adaptation of the Year, while Capcom's criminally overlooked Viewtiful Joe took the Unsung Hero Award in crowd pleasing fashion. However, it was a special appearance from Shigeru Miyamoto, accepting an award for industry personality (via a special videotaped interview) that really stole the show.

Without further ado, those results in full:

PS2 Game of the Year
Winner: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar)
Finalists: EyeToy: Play (SCEE), Pro Evolution Soccer 2 (Konami)

GameCube Game of the Year
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo)
Finalists: Metroid Prime (Nintendo), Resident Evil Zero (Capcom)

Handheld Game of the Year
Winner: Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (Nintendo)
Finalists: Pok?n Ruby & Sapphire (Nintendo), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo)

Xbox Game of the Year
Winner: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Activision/LucasArts)
Finalists: Soul Calibur II (EA), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Ubisoft)

PC Game of the Year
Winner: Championship Manager 4 (Eidos)
Finalists: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar), Battlefield 1942 (Electronic Arts)

Online Game of the Year
Winner: Battlefield 1942 (Electronic Arts)
Finalists: Phantasy Star Online I & II (Sega), Unreal Championship (Atari)

MTV Film Adaptation of the Year
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Electronic Arts)
Finalists: Enter the Matrix (Atari), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Electronic Arts)

The Daily Mirror Award: Best of British
Winner: Championship Manager 4 (Eidos)
Finalists: Conflict Desert Storm II (SCi) Republic: The Revolution (Eidos)

Publisher of the Year
Winner: Nintendo
Finalists: Electronic Arts, Rockstar Games

Retailer of the Year
Winner: GAME
Finalists: Amazon.co.uk, Gameplay.com

Hardware of the Year
Winner: Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP
Finalists: SCEE EyeToy, Microsoft Xbox Live!

Unsung Hero Game of the Year
Winner: Viewtiful Joe
Finalists: No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.S Way, Steel Battalion

Hall of Fame Industry Personality of the Year
Winner: Shigeru Miyamoto

Editor's Award: Game of the Year
Winner: Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (Konami)
Finalists: Call of Duty (Activision), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo)

Most Wanted Game for Christmas
Winner: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo)
Finalists: Pro Evolution Soccer 3 (Konami), WWE Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain (THQ)

Most Anticipated Game for 2004
Winner: Half-Life 2 (VU games)