Over 40,000 votes have already been recieved for this year's Golden Joystick awards, and with still over a month to go until voting closes, anything could still win!

More gamers than ever before are having their say in this year's Golden Joystick Awards � but there's still time for more to make their mark on the industry's most prestigious awards ceremony. The Golden Joystick Awards were founded in 1982, and are officially the world's oldest and most respected gaming awards show. This year, the awards are announced at a glitzy award ceremony on Friday, 27th October at the Park Lane Hilton, London and for the first time, will be streamed live online at www.computerandvideogames.com.

So far voting has smashed organisers' expectations, with almost 40,000 votes have already been received across 17 award categories, almost doubling last year's total. With voting open until Friday, 12th October there are apparently still no clear winners, with potential receivers of the time-honoured Golden Joysticks changing on an hourly basis.

For the first time in living memory, a handheld game could potentially scoop "Ultimate Game of the Year" with New Super Mario Bros. leading the charge. Axe-fans are backing Red Octane's Guitar Heroes to win the "Innovation Award", whilst Halo 3 is out in front in the "One to Watch" category, surprisingly beating both the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.

In the hotly-contested "Retailer of the Year" award, as five-way scrap has broken out, with Amazon.co.uk, Gameplay.com and Play.com battling it out with high street giants Game and GameStation, for gamers hearts, minds and wallets. In the "Publisher of the Year" category, EA Games, Rockstar and Ubisoft are currently neck and neck for the winning position, with both Nintendo and Microsoft Game Studios recording a massive surge in recent weeks.

Have your say now at www.goldenjoystick.co.uk!

Golden Joystick Awards 2006 - Current Top Five Rankings

Ultimate Game of the Year

• New Super Mario Brothers
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Call of Duty 2
• Half Life 2
• Pro Evolution Soccer 5

One to Watch

• Halo 3
• Nintendo Wii
• Sony PlayStation 3
• Spore
• Crysis

Innovation Award in association with T3 Magazine

• Guitar Hero
• Xbox Live Marketplace
• Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect
• Prof Kawashima's Brain Training
• Nintendo DS Lite

Retailer of the Year in association with Vivendi Games

• Game
• Amazon.co.uk
• Play.com
• GameStation
• Gameplay.com

Publisher of the Year in association with Sonopress

• Ubisoft
• RockStar
• EA Games
• Nintendo
• Microsoft Game Studios