All your votes are in and counted. So who were the winners of the Game Hub Games of the Year Awards 2009? There are a few surprises amongst the obvious ones.  Fortunately for all the nominees, nobody got zero votes (somebody got one though). So here are the Top 3 for each of the 13 categories:

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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has surpassed 1 million sales worldwide since its release on October 13, according to publisher Sony.

In the face of the day one sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (7 million according to Activision), this might seem small, but Infinity Wards’ shooter is something of an anomaly

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Brendan Griffiths takes a look at some of the best upcoming games at the Leeds leg of the Eurogamer Expo including: Aliens Vs Predator, Avatar, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno, Dark Void, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Saboteur and Split/Second.

It’s not often that UK gamers get to go to an expo; it’s even less often that a show manages to climb its way north of London, so it’s no surprise that the Eurogamer Leeds Expo sold out in advance for its two dates at Saviles Royal Armouries Square for the 27^th/28^th October.

While the queue went around the building it didn’t take long to get in once the doors opened and despite the event being sold out it never seemed overcrowded in the two halls used. The gaming areas were made up of stools in front of TVs or playing stands like you might see in shops like Game and HMV. There was a mix of HD screens for each game. Some medium sized, others 50 inch monsters. Although, sitting on a stool two feet in front of 50 inches of brightly coloured Ratchet & Clank was a bit overkill, I had to lean back to avoid my face melting.

But on to the games I managed to get a bit of extensive time with.

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Ten years ago, turn based RPG action ruled the gaming world. Titles such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest had gamers craving multiple discs, turn based battles and logic defying haircuts. Not only were these games massively popular with both their fan boy audience and casual gamers but, in the case of Final Fantasy, were some the best games of their generation. Due to the fact that the majority of these games originated from Japan and shared similar themes, the genre was affectionately crowned the ‘JRPG’. Hours were chalked up, bosses were beaten and potions were thrown, all in the name of this eccentric and engrossing brand of gaming.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in its golden age, the JRPG really was the most popular gaming genre of its time. There’s not a gamer in their twenties that hasn’t at least heard of Final Fantasy VII and almost ten million of those gamers bought the game.  This giant fan base has inspired everything, from the standard geek fare of cosplay, to the big budget heights of films and energy drinks. This success allowed other JRPGs to break into the mainstream, with Pokémon becoming a global Gameboy phenomenon and Square going on to release a host of other Final Fantasy titles, each gaining commercial and critical success.

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The monkeys once again return to Wii. Sega has revealed today Super Monkey Ball Step and Roll...

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Recent monthly sales figures now show that the Playstation3 has outsold the Wii in Japan for the first time in just under eighteen months with the PS3 achieving individual sales figures of 146,948 compared to the 99,335 units sold by Nintendo.
 
Is this a downward spiral for the Wii in Japan?
 
In my opinion no. It was recently announced that the Wii was now the fastest selling games console in history, outstripping the previous record held by Sony's Playstation2. The Wii has now clocked up unit sales of over 50 million consoles which is a staggering amount of units sold in such a relatively short space of time and amply demonstrates the appeal of the Wii across the consumer spectrum, a point alluded to by Nintendo. The family and friends orientated appeal of the Wii is something that the PS3 and Xbox360 cannot seem to compete with and with the release of the new DSi looking to set new sales records across the globe, I don't see this as anything but a market blip and nothing connected to a potential downfall for Nintendo. In fact, recent software releases are seen as the driving force behind this upturn in sales of the PS3 with Capcom's Resident Evil 5 being cited as a main reason.
 

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Here are the results from the BAFTA video games awards 2009:
 
Game play: Call of Duty 4
Casual: Boom Blox
Sports: Race Driver: Grid
Story and Character: Call of Duty 4
Strategy: Civilisation Revolution
Best use of Audio: Dead Space
New Talent: Boro Toro
Multi-player: Left 4 Dead
Best Technical Achievement: Spore
Original Score: Dead Space
Hand held: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
People's Choice: Call of Duty 4
Artistic Achievement: Little Big Planet
Best Action and Adventure: Fable II
Best Game: Super Mario Galaxy
 

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While it may not seem very obvious point blank, the women that are featured in video games have a large affect on the gaming business. Afterall, would the Dead or Alive games ever sell if it weren't for the girls' scant outfits? Why was Tomb Raider able to crank out so many sequels? Wasn't it Chun-li who forced hordes of gamers to spend loads of quarters in the arcade? These pixelated vixens hold a lot more weight in game sales than most gamers take note of. So, the question isn't their importance in games, but their portrayal. Would games sell if the girls were in normal outfits? Would the Mario have had nearly as much success if the roles were reversed? In this an analyzation of women's roles in games as well as their affect on the industry, we will see how they have come, and if they really do help sell games...
 
PART 2
 
The 90's is when women really started to get more exposure. The Final Fantasy games allowed for strong characters such as Terra, Rydia, and Celes to make a name for themselves; however they always played second fiddle to the male characters. In a bold step for fighting games, Chun-Li stepped into the fray in Street Fighter: World Warrior, showing the gaming community that she could take Ryu and just how powerful her thighs of steel really are. The awesome thing: both of the series' maintained staying power. Chun-Li is still one of the most easily recognizable characters in gaming, and any Final Fantasy game is a high profile release.
 

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With the news that Activision and Neversoft are to release Guitar Hero: Metallica, its a good time to look at how close the music and video game industries are now intrinsically linked. Its a win win relationship for both industries; the video game gets signed bands for background, menu music etc, many familiar, many not so familiar and retrospectively the bands, whether globe conquering metal gods like Metallica (this is me being biased as I am a rather big Metallica fan......) or newly signed bands, both get exposed to people that wouldn't ordinarily listen to certain genres of music and thus new fans are made, more albums bought, more gigs filled to capacity. The advent of games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band has taken this symbiotic relationship to further heights – the music isn't just in the background anymore as you thunder round streets in supercharged race cars or while creating a formation in the Fifa series, now the music is the game and you are, to a degree, making that music.
Throughout both Guitar Hero and Rock Band editions, you get to play hundreds of songs, many that you wouldn't ordinarily go out of your way to listen to yet having to conquer those songs to continue and beat the game means more and more exposure for the bands concerned as you get further and further into the game, more songs are unlocked, and yet more exposure for the bands featured. Even guitar brands themselves are now getting in on the action with many replicas of famous guitar brands now available for the Guitar Hero/Rock Band series, Guitar Hero 3 actually comes with a replica Gibson and you can also purchase guitars in-game for your guitar wielding avatars to play.

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While it may not seem very obvious point blank, the women that are featured in video games have a large affect on the gaming business. Afterall, would the Dead or Alive games ever sell if it weren't for the girls' scant outfits? Why was Tomb Raider able to crank out so many sequels? Wasn't it Chun-li who forced hordes of gamers to spend loads of quarters in the arcade? These pixelated vixens hold a lot more weight in game sales than most gamers take note of. So, the question isn't their importance in games, but their portrayal. Would games sell if the girls were in normal outfits? Would the Mario have had nearly as much success if the roles were reversed? In this an analyzation of women's roles in games as well as their affect on the industry, we will see how they have come, and if they really do help sell games .
 
The typical idea of women in games is that they are objectified, used as sexual objects. I used to feel this way too, and I always used to question things like why Jill Valentine would be fighting zombies and Nemesis in a tube top and mini skirt. I mean, the more skin she shows, the more likely she is to get bitten, right?? Yes, this is the thing you often hear feminist gamers talking about, and although I do agree with them for the most part, I don't think women in games are treated nearly as poorly as made out. A look at gaming history over the past twenty-five years, the female counterparts of games have really come a long way from what they were to begin with. Although they are still used as a ploy to sell games (Rumble Roses anyone), there has been a definite increase in the usage of females in games, almost to the point where lack of a main female character may result in a loss of sales.
 

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Square Enix Inc., the creator of huge franchises such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest, has announced that they have entered a new partnership with another company. Gas Powered Games Corp. and Square Enix are entering what they are calling a "strategic partnership".
To consummate their joining, the companies are working on a sequel to the Supreme Commander, an award winning strategy-based series. The partnership is one of the first steps in hopes to increase western development efforts for the global market. Considering how Enix has exclusively worked with only Japanese based companies before this, a location outside of Japan comes as a bit of a shock. However, working with western companies is the going to be one of the "cornerstones" in creating games geared toward North American and European markets.
"We see great opportunities in North American and European markets, both of which are expected to be maintaining sustainable growth over these coming years," said Yoichi Wada, president and a representative of Square Enix Ltd. "Therefore, it is crucial we create alliances with proven developers such as Gas Powered Games in order to serve these significant markets better by providing products and services in tune with customer tastes."
John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix and Square Enix Ltd., Square Enix's sister company in U.K., says that, "We are extremely excited to begin working with Gas Powered Games' talented personnel and see this strategic partnership as a significant step in our efforts to bring Square Enix titles to a broader global audience."

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In their latest press release, Blizzard has announced that they broken the sales record for a PC game once again, a title that they already held. Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies in its first twenty-four hours of availability. This number crushes the number the last World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, set in January 2007 of 2.4 million.
The latest expansion was released in North America, Europe, Chile, Argentina and Russia on November 13th. On November 14th, citizens of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were able to purchase Lich King, then on the 18th in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. More than 15,000 stores around the world had midnight releases in celebration of the game for the thousands of gamers in wait. Several of these locations had surprise appearances by Blizzard representatives, who signed copies for gamers.
"We're grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft," says Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we've created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead."
Blizzard's success obviously comes from their dedication to players to give them the best they have to offer. From first hand experience, Blizzard has top notch customer service as well as an easy user interface. The massively popular MMO had over eleven million subscribers prior to the release of the Wrath of the Lich King, a number that is expected to grow. WoW is easily the most popular MMO right now, if not of all time. Blizzard is by far one of the biggest companies in the industry, becoming a worldwide gaming powerhouse.
More on the latest expansion can be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath, or on blizzard.com.
 

 
 
........but not necessarily in the right order.

They often say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in a market already near dominated with the Guitar Hero and Rock Band game series, it seems that Wii Music, the latest 'big' release from Nintendo, isn't doing itself any favours by imitating its bigger and far more successful cousins. Despite an intensive advertising assault to promote Wii Music, just under 81,000 units had been sold by the end of October, a mere drop in the ocean when compared to the initial figures of both Wii Fit and Wii Sports in their first month of sale.
 
So what's behind this poor start of sales? Well, for a bit of a chuckle, head to Youtube and see for yourself the E3 video of Wii Music's introduction........the end 'symphony' sounds very much like a cat being neutered with nothing but a rusty cheese grater and a book on DIY cat surgery, its painful to say the least yet highly amusing.

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Looks like digital "pirates" aren't the only form of piracy plaguing the video game industry. By Pirates I mean the people of the whole guns, eye patches, "arrr matey" variety. The rumor mill has it that pirates around Somalia have been increasing attacks from once every couple of weeks to multiple times a day. The attacks are being focused on trade ships beyond the Horn of Africa, entering the areas of The Red Sea and The Gulf of Aden, jeopardizing access the Suez Canal. What does this mean? Well, that European gamers might have difficulty getting their Wii's and Xbox 360's for the holiday season.
According the pcworld.com, the attacks have gotten so severe that companies are starting to reorganize their trade route to go around the Cape of Good Hope. The reroute would almost double the length of the trip, and add another three weeks onto the total time of the trip. The extra distance would totally alter shipping schedules and greatly increase the fuel needed to make the shipments. These companies that are thinking about doing the reroutes ship products such as oil, coal, and toys. The "toys" in these shipments include the ever awesome and necessary games we all need.
 
The main part of the world that this will affect is Europe, possibly meaning that there might me a shortage of gaming supplies this holiday season. However, it could have a more worldwide effect, possibly even messing with the US's delicate and already weakened economy. It should be noted that October was a great month for gaming sales, due to several high profile releases such as Fallout 3 and Fable 2, which gave gaming an increase of last October's numbers.
 
Regardless, this situation answers the ever pressing question that has plagued gamers' minds for ages: Are Pirates or Ninjas cooler? Well, clearly the Ninja is now superior since they don't mess with gaming shipments.

Nintendo really can't seem to catch a break. Who could forget last May when they had to pay up 21 million USD due to a patent infringement on a "3D controller with vibration." Well, looks like the Wii-mote is following in the Waverbird's footsteps. Yet again, the company is being sued for copyright infringement, this time by an Ohio based company, Motiva. They are alleging that Nintendo is violating their patent on a "Human Movement Measurement System' comprising a hand-held tracking device in communication with a base station that can be used to create an interactive gaming experience."
 
Motiva filed their patent in July 2004 and finally had it granted in November 2007 (the patent can be read here http://www.google.com/patents?id=ctCRAAAAEBAJ&dq=7,292,151). However, an outsider has to wonder if the Wii-mote would even be an issue if the Wii wasn't such a success. Not that Nintendo cares; with Wii's and the Wii Fit flying off the shelves, and the upcoming holiday season, they have deep enough pockets to survive a few lawsuits. The Law Firm representing Motiva is Lanier Law firm, with Mr.Lanier himself making several comments. Perhaps the most comical being, "Nintendo makes video games where you get to play a thief, but that doesn't give them the right to be one." He also stated that, "Using someone else's technology without permission is theft." It should be noted that although the patent was approved in November 2007, the Wii came out in late 2006.
 
Nintendo fans everywhere probably could care less about patent infringements and lawsuits as long as they get to play their games. The Wii has skyrocketed to success and is making gaming become more main stream by appealing to casual gamers.