Electronic Games was the first dedicated video game magazine published in the United States and ran from 1981 to 1997 under various titles. It was co-founded by Bill Kunkel, Joyce Worley and Arnie Katz. They were the first to host a "Game of the Year" award ceremony which they called the Arcade Awards or the Arkie Awards. The ceremony generally took place in January and covered games released the previous calendar year. The first awards were announced February 1980 and covered any game prior to January 1, 1980.
I have included the year of the award, the award title and the specific system in the notes.