The Golden Joystick Awards is proud to announce a new team of media partners for 2009.

MSN, ShortList and Bliss are all partnering with the event, reflecting the increasingly mainstream appeal of the video games industry in 2009. The only UK industry accolades voted for by the the gamers themselves, The Golden Joystick Awards approaches its 27th year with each of the partner’s readers and subscribers being encouraged to vote for their favourite games of 2009.

2009’s Golden Joystick Award for the multiplayer category will be renamed ‘The MSN Multiplayer Game of the Year’. Microsoft’s portal is involved in the awards for the very first time this year and will be supporting the event by showcasing the nominated categories by creating a rich range of content editorial features to complement it’s impressive existing gaming coverage and MSN will also be hosting a voting mechanic. MSN will take the Golden Joysticks Awards to a whole new audience this year and will be providing live content from the awards event.

“MSN is delighted to sponsor the Multiplayer Game of the Year award,” said Alastair Bruce, MSN Tech & Gadgets manager. “Our involvement with the Golden Joystick Awards goes hand-in-hand with our comprehensive coverage of the video games scene at MSN Tech & Gadgets. With so many great titles having been released over the past year, we’re sure the awards will be a huge success.”

ShortList are also partners with the awards for the first time. The UK’s biggest mens lifestyle magazine is on the rise with a circulation of 510,720* representing a 6.1% rise in circulation year on year. Voting for ‘The ShortList One to Watch Award’ will be hosted on www.shortlist.com and the weekly magazine’s involvement reflects their increasingly strong gaming coverage.

“ShortList is proud to be a media partner for this year’s Golden Joysticks Awards. ShortList celebrates all that’s most important in a man’s life – climbing the career ladder, forming a lasting meaningful relationship and scoring a 20-yard screamer from the safety of your own sofa.” said Terri White, editor of ShortList

The Golden Joystick Awards are delighted to welcome Bliss as the girls lifestyle magazine media partners for the third year running. Bliss is a leading lifestyle magazine for sassy 13-17 year old girls offering them a fantastic fix of fashion and beauty, exclusive celebrity gossip, and jaw-dropping real-life stories. The new-look monthly Bliss launched in April 2009 to rave reviews and continues to be the most exciting and relevant magazine in the sector due to it’s understanding of the evolving trends in girl’s lifestyles.

“We are delighted to partner with The Golden Joystick Awards again on the Bliss Handheld Game of the Year. The universal appeal and accessibility of handheld consoles means that more and more teenage girls are playing games. The interest in gaming amongst teenage girls continues to grow and Bliss aims to provide its readers with varied content on some of the hottest games that are in the market” said Jess Tadmor, Marketing Manager at Panini UK

“The Golden Joysticks continue to grow and we are delighted to welcome readers from MSN, ShortList and Bliss to have their say on the games they believe made the last year and the ones set to occupy the nation’s living rooms in the months ahead. They form the strongest media partnerships we have had in place for the awards to date. We look forward to announcing additional sponsors and partners over the coming weeks” said Emma Parkinson, Publisher at Future UK and organiser of the Golden Joystick Awards.

The Golden Joysticks are the games industry’s most-loved awards and the industry’s acceptance as a mass market form of entertainment looks set to be reflected in the popularity of 2009’s event – a record-breaking 700,000 votes having already been cast by gaming enthusiasts.

Featuring 15 gamer-voted categories, the event is the world’s longest-running video games awards, first held back in 1982. Votes cast now at www.goldenjoystick.com will directly decide who scoops a prestigious Golden Joystick when the winners are announced in London on Friday, 30th October.