Zoe Mode and SEGA are celebrating today after innovative PSP puzzler CRUSH picked up an award for Best New Handheld IP. And SEGA, it turns out, is a hero.

Around 500 UK games industry bigwigs gathered at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton last night to cheer on their comrades at the fifth annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Intended to recognise the achievements of the raw talent behind the country’s ever-ambitious games development community, the Develop Awards are amongst the most coveted of the industry’s gongs.

Which makes the selection of SEGA’s singular PSP title CRUSH as the year’s best new handheld IP (intellectual property, if you were wondering) all the more gratifying. Conceived and developed by Zoe Mode (formerly Kuju Brighton), CRUSH collected shining plaudits from the games press on its release and has been widely heralded as one of the most unique and original games to emerge in years.

We’re all very proud. If you’ve played it and agree with the judges, this is the place to let Zoe Mode know what you think.

SEGA is also wearing a bit of a smug grin today, after picking up the award for Publisher Hero. We’re pushing out our chests and pulling our pants on outside our jeans as we speak…