Fallout 3: Game Of The Year - about time!

It's official, Fallout 3 is Game Of The Year. Not too much of a surprise to anyone really - and neither is the fact that Gears of War 2, LittleBigPlanet and Call of Duty: World at War were among the other titles scooping accolades at the Golden Joysticks gaming awards.

What does surprise me, however, (as is always the case with these awards ceremonies) is that these games were released recently enough to qualify.

The winners always seem to have been around for ages, don't you think?

LittleBigPlanet was big news what seems like years ago; I remember friends discussing how they were going to decorate their sackboy, and reviewers waxing lyrical about the cutesy graphics and simple but engrossing gameplay.

And what about Call of Duty? That's been around forever too, surely? And Gears 2, for that matter!

Always strikes me as slightly confusing that games released well over a year ago are only now receiving the trophies and rosettes! By now, they've now probably undergone countless updates and facelifts, or been enhanced by a multitude of user-generated levels and expensive DLC map packs. In most cases, I can bearly remember what the original game was like before all these add-ons.

Maybe it's just me but shouldn't the criteria make it necessary for the game to be released in the same calendar year or something? At least then all the shortlisted games would still be fresh in my memory.

Still, Fallout 3 is a worthy winner - although it's so long since I played it, I may have to dust of the disk to remind myself why!

(Photo credit: p liu)