I am extremely proud and excited to announce the institution of the Gamers Choice Awards, a set of awards which will recognize outstanding games, designers and service to our hobby. These awards are being sponsored by the Strategy Gaming Society, the oldest continuos gaming organization in the United States. The SGS serves to bring together people from all over the world in mutual enjoyment of our small but intensely-lived hobby. Working extremely closely with many knowledgeable, dedicated and prominent individuals in our hobby, the following categories of awards have been developed and will be presented:

A) OUTSTANDING GAME

This award will recognize the outstanding game in several categories:

1) General Strategy Game
a) Multiplayer
b) 2-Player

2) Historical Simulation Board Game: For 2001, we plan on expanding the awards to include Desk-Top Publishing, Miniatures and perhaps Children's Games. Eligible games will be those released on January 1st or after of the preceding calendar year up until the time of the actual voting.

B) OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE HOBBY

This award will be given to an individual for rendering outstanding service to the gaming hobby.

C) OUTSTANDING DESIGNER

This award will be given to a game designer who has contributed a unique or outstanding game to our hobby, or has a history of producing high quality games. We have two separate committees handling the respective awards, each being comprised of knowledgeable, respected and prominent members of our hobby. We have tapped a wide variety of individuals from several different countries, giving a broad perspective into games and the gaming hobby. Of particular interest was selecting individuals who are already active in the reviewing of games and have their finger on the pulse of the gaming hobby.

Serving on the General Strategy Games committee are Mik Svellov (Brett und Board), Herb Levy (Gamers Alliance), Mike Siggins (SUMO Magazine), Stuart Dagger (Counter Magazine), Alan How (Counter Magazine), Andreas Keirat (experienced reviewer), Greg Aleknevicus (experienced reviewer), Steffan O’Sullivan (experienced reviewer), Ben Baldanza (experienced re-viewer), Peter Sarrett (The Game Re-port), Mike Clifford (Counter Magazine), Frank Branham (The Games Dumpster) and Greg Schloesser (The Westbank Gamers).

The Historical Simulation Board Games committee is still being formed, but currently boasts Alan Poulter (Web-Grognards), Eric Pass (Web-Grognards) and Jim Werbaneth (Line of Departure). For a detailed look at the Committee members and their qualifications, please visit the SGS website at: http://pages.about.com/strategygames. A direct link to the Gamers Choice Awards Page is: http://pages.about. com/strategygames/wizze.html The award recipients will be announced on June 1st of each year, with the awards being presented at the appropriate conventions (Essen, Origins, etc.). The voting procedure being used is considered extremely fair and unbiased, avoiding the pitfalls of most other voting methods.

The Gamers Choice awards will be heavily publicized in many forums, including magazines, press releases, internet forums, webpages, etc.. Game manufacturers are also being notified of these awards and encouraged to actively promote the winners, where applicable. Everyone involved has great hopes and plans for the Gamers Choice Awards. We envision that, over time, these awards will be greatly coveted and respected by gamers and the public alike.

With the impressive list of committee members assembled, we are well on our way to achieving this goal. I ask that each of you help support these awards by spreading the news via your websites and other forums in which you participate. It can only help our hobby to grow and proper, and spread the news about our wonderful world of gaming.