That's right, when Gamescom premieres in Cologne in two weeks they won't just have their very own awards, they'll also be looking for possible contenders out of the possibly extinct Gameboy market.
The Gamescom Award for best games at the trade fair will hand out honors in a number of categories with the help of a panel of six experts.
All companies exhibiting at gamescom are eligible to participate and can submit their games for the gamescom Award. Exhibitors can choose from four categories: PC games, console games (PS2, PS3, Xbox, Wii), mobile games (Gameboy, PSP, PSP Go, NDS, NDSi, iPhone, mobile phones) and online games. In addition, a platform-independent "best of gamescom" award will be announced. All entries must be full products.
The 2009 jury comprises Michael Trier, Editor in Chief, IDG Entertainment Media; Petra Fröhlich, Project Manager, Computec Media; Christian Bigge, Deputy Editor in Chief, Computer Bild Spiele; Jürgen Hilse, Permanent Representative of the Oberste Landesjugendbehörden [Supreme Youth Authorities of the Federal States], Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) [German Self-Monitoring of Entertainment Software]; Oliver Hartmann, Project Manager, spieletipps.de (Brot und Spiele); and Bernhard Schneider, Central Buyer, Multi Media Müller.
I await with bated breath to see if a Gameboy title makes the cut.