Nominations Now Open For The Gaming Genius Awards

Online, May 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The year 2011 marks the inauguration of the Gaming Genius Awards.

These awards are an innovation in the hobby game industry, since they cover every aspect of the industry, including independent products and fan achievements. The Gaming Genius Awards (also called "The Golden Pawns"), although new, are intended to be in line with how awards outside the hobby game industry are given out and representing the industry as a whole.

The Gaming Genius Awards recognize genius, creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity in developing products and ideas that have enhanced the game hobby market in one or all ways, whether it be in a niche or some area more expansive.

The Gaming Genius Awards are divided into Pro Awards and Fan Awards. The Pro Awards are for commercial products. However, they also recognize achievements in writing, artwork, game design, and commentary. These are voted upon by a panel of industry experts selected by the GGA Central Committee. The Fan Awards are for achievements by individual, rank-and-file enthusiasts of the game hobby. These are voted upon by members of the general public.

The many categories of Gaming Genius Awards cover everything from roleplaying games, miniatures, game-play aids, wargames, boardgames, card games, LARPs, play-by-mail games, and conventions in the Pro category. The Fan category recognizes genius in gamemastering, costume design for LARPs, miniatures painting, organizing local conventions, and blogging. A complete list of the categories these awards cover can be found on the award's web site.

Nominations are now open and will remain open until August 15th (2011) at midnight.

The Gaming Genius Awards or the "Golden Pawns" will be awarded at a ceremony at FanExpo 2011 at the end of August 2011.

Nominations are done by a process of self-nomination that is open to all publishers, manufacturers, designers, and freelancers who had a majority contribution in the creation of game related product that was completed and put to market between August 1, 2010 and the closing date of the nomination period. All nominees can only nominate their own products. The procedure for nominating a product or the voting process can be found on the Gaming Genius Awards web site.

We welcome everyone to participate and hope to see you at the awards ceremony later this summer.

The Gaming Genius Awards website is www.thegoldenpawns.org.