GMAs: Mainstream Media Finalists

The Games Media Awards have been created to reward the very best in games journalism – specialist and mainstream, in print and online.

The winners will be unveiled and celebrated at the Soho Revue Bar on the evening of Thursday October 11th. The finalists, listed over the next few pages, represent the games industry’s most important links to the consumer.

Here’s a closer look at the nominations for the Mainstream Media category:

GAMES WRITER ON A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER

Greg Howson
(The Guardian)

Howson has been writing for The Guardian, both paper and online, since 1999 and has been editing the Yahoo! UK games channel since 2006. He told MCV that that getting nominated for the GMAs is one of his proudest achievements.

Steve Boxer
(The Guardian)

Boxer has been a freelance games writer for longer than anyone can remember. He currently writes for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Spong, Touch, Three Speech, MCV and several other publications and websites.

Jonathan Weinberg
(The Sun)

Weinberg has been writing the regular Friday games column for The Sun since 2004. Jonathan left in May to pursue freelance opportunities but continues to write for the Wapping-based institution.

Nigel Kendall
(The Times)

Kendall’s regular contributions to The Times in print and online have earned him a GMA nomination. After sending in his bonkers picture, he said: I’m as pleased as punch to figure on such a forward-thinking shortlist.”

Rebecca Armstrong
(Independent)

Armstrong has become a regular contributor to the technology pages of The Independent’s ‘Extra’ section and has shot guns, flown planes and bobsleighed, all in the name of games journalism.

GAMES WRITER ON A LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Chris Burke
(Loaded)

Burke has worked on Loaded for ten years in print and online, and recently left his position as associate editor, but he continues to edit its games pages as a freelancer. He also writes about games for the Daily Telegraph and Threespeech.com.

Rob Waugh
(Live Magazine)

Waugh has been writing a well-respected weekly games and technology column for the Mail on Sunday’s Live Magazine for three years, and told MCV that he is very flattered to be nominated for this award”.

Simon Munk
(FHM)

For the last three years Munk has been the games reviewer for FHM, but he has been writing about video games in general for over ten years. This year he’s helped FHM through its recent redesign, and also worked on Zoo.

Tony Horgan
(Stuff)

Horgan got his first professional gig for Commodore Computing International at the age of 16. He has also worked on CU Amiga, launched Xbox World and edited Xbox Gamer before moving onto gadget mag Stuff.

Daniel Booth
(Nuts)

Booth and Nuts have been clever enough to know that lads like games almost as much as they like girls ‘n’ goals. Booth has helped forge gaming’s status as a truly mainstream proposition.

GAMES WRITER ON A MAINSTREAM WEBSITE

David Clack,
(FHM)

Somewhat spookily, the date of the GMAs coincides with the start of Clack’s second year as an FHM.com writer. He says: Whilst heavily flattered by my nomination, I’ll eat every hat I own if I actually pull this mother off.”

David McComb
(Empire Online)

McComb has been a journalist for 12 years, ten of those in the games industry. A former editor of Nintendo Official Magazine, David is now managing editor of Bizarre and writes game reviews for Empire in print and online.

Mark Gilbert
(News Of The World)

A big believer in the importance of games coverage in the nationals, Gilbert has been involved in technology and games writing for three years and has most recently been writing for News of the World’s GadgiTs page.

Stephen Daultrey
(Maxim)

A well-known scribe for Maxim, Daultrey oversees the ‘entertainment’ and ‘fun’ sections of maximmag.co.uk, and also contributes to Eurogamer, CVG, Official Xbox 360 Magazine and many others.

Darren Waters
(BBC)

In his role as technology editor at the BBC, Waters writes regularly for the corporation’s ‘interactive culture magazine’ The Collective, as well as writing across a wide range of the Beeb’s media portfolio.

REGIONAL GAMES COLUMN

Steve Lawson
(Daily Record)

Lawson thanks his son Jack for his nomination, saying: It’s a great surprise to even be nominated – don’t mind now if I don’t win. Big shout to my co-tester, seven-year-old Jack ‘The Pokemon Master’ Lawson.”

David Crookes,
(Bolton Evening News)

Crookes hopes that his popular weekly games column is part of a growing interest in games by the mainstream press. Having introduced the column himself, he is chuffed that he now gets loads of free games.

Ewan Ross
(Liverpool Echo)

Ross started writing his games column last year to provide a local view on the world of games. This also had the added bonus of being able to play games in the office, look his boss in the eye and tell him he was working.

Steve Wollaston
(Midland Weekly Media)

As multimedia editor for Midland Weekly Media, Wollaston insists he is no games expert but ‘a keen consumer’ and has introduced family-themed gaming content into the newspaper and online.

Steven Fox
(Metro)

Fox has quickly made a name for himself since taking up the reins of Metro’s games reviewer spot last year. His Friday round-up has gained a reputation for being entertaining in commuter-friendly bitesize chunks.

BEST GAMES-DEDICATED BROADCAST ON MAINSTREAM TV OR RADIO

Re:Loaded
(Channel M)

Re:Loaded started life less than a year ago with a production team of just four. Since then the team has broacast 26 episodes and a number of one-off web only reviews. To see it take shape and now be nominated for an award is fantastic,” say the team.

Gamer TV
(Bravo)

Gamer TV is Europe’s longest running and probably the world’s best watched weekly TV show dedicated to video games. It will celebrate its 250th episode in September 2007, marking nearly five years of continuous production.

Johnny Minkley on Jo Whiley
(Radio One)

As well as presenting a monthly games segment on Radio 1, Minkley is editor of Eurogamer TV. He also spent two years as editor of MCV and two years as editor of CVG Online.

Gamers
(Rapture/ITV1)

Matt Cuttle has produced and presented Gamers for Rapture TV and ITV1, Game Over for [.tv], Gamezville for Sky One and PXG for Jetix. Cuttle also presents the gamesweasel podcast, among other projects.

Game On
(BBC Five Live)

Adam Rosser produces his Game On slot for Five Live’s Up All Night, giving the industry a regular voice on air. He says: ”Being nominated for the first GMAs, and amid such distinguished company, is a real pleasure.”