Think Services Game Group today announced that Valve co-founder Gabe Newell will be honored at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards. The award Newell will receive is the Pioneer Award, which is given to individuals "responsible for developing a vital technology or game design at a crucial juncture in video game history, paving the way for the many who followed them."

Newell is being given the award "for his work in co-creating the PC key digital download service Steam, and helping to make possible some of the most important video games of the past two decades - from the Half-Life series through Portal to Team Fortress and beyond." He will collect his award in March at GDC 2010.

PETA has recognized Sims 3 as the "most animal-friendly game" of 2009. "In the latest version of the biggest-selling gaming franchise ever, Electronic Arts allows players to choose a vegetarian lifestyle," PETA wrote on its blog. "According to game testers, vegetarian Sims, like their real-life counterparts, live longer, age more slowly, and feast on cruelty-free delights—from tofu dogs to ratatouille. And, like all great art, The Sims 3 imitates life—if your Sim eats meat, it will get sick."

Last year, the prestigious award went out to Fable II for its use of fruits and vegetables, which give players purity points whereas meat corrupts players.