7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2007)
Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese electronic game designer. He is the creator of the Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Wave Race, and Pikmin video game series for Nintendo game systems.
He is one of the world’s most celebrated game designers, and is often called one of the fathers of modern video gaming. His titles are characterized by refined control-mechanics and imaginative worlds in which the players are encouraged to discover things for themselves, as well as basic storylines, which had been almost unheard of before he introduced one of the first, featuring Mario. Employed by Nintendo (then a Hanafuda manufacturer) as an artist, in 1980 he was given the task of designing one of their first coin-op arcade games. The resulting title Donkey Kong was a huge success and the game’s lead character, Jump Man – later renamed Mario – has become Nintendo’s mascot. Miyamoto quickly became Nintendo’s star producer designing many franchises for the company, most of which are still active and very well-regarded.
6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2006)
Richard Garriott
Born in Cambridge, England and raised in Houston, Texas, Richard Garriott is the son of astronaut Owen K. Garriott. In high school, Garriott developed an interest in computers and began self-directed courses in programming in which he created fantasy computer games. He also gained his "Lord British" nickname from older students who thought he spoke with a British accent.
Richard continued programming many games, often just offering them to friends for free. He produced his first published game, AKALABETH, at the age of 19, earning enough money to pay for his education. In the fall of 1980, he entered the University of Texas at Austin.
In the early '80s, Garriott developed the Ultima role-playing game franchise. The first Ultima, published by California Pacific Computers, was originally programmed for the Apple II and sold in ziplock plastic bags to interested parties. UltimaII was published by Sierra On-Line. By the time he developed his third installment, the ULTIMA games had such a large following that Garriott co-founded Origin Systems along with his brother, Robert.
Origin handled the publishing and distribution of all Ultima games, now available on several platforms and went on to become one of the most influential developers in video game history.
Garriott sold Origin to Electronic Arts in 1992 and launched Ultima Online, the first commercially viable massively multiplayer game. In April 2000, he left EA and formed Destination Games with his brother and Starr Long (the producer of Ultima Online). A year later, Destination partnered with NCsoft, where Garriott currently produces and designs MMORPGs.
Now a multi-millionaire, Garriott built his residence, a "haunted house"/museum called Britannia Manor in Austin, Texas. There, he is known for his Halloween parties almost as well as he is for his magnificent video games. An avid adventurer, Garriott has explored the bottom of the ocean in a research submarine and has ventured to Antarctica. He promotes private space flight as vice-chairman of the board of directors for Space Adventures and as a trustee of the X-Prize.
Garriott has changed the videogame world forever with the introduction of MMO games. Now, the industry eagerly awaits TABULA RASA, Garriott's upcoming sci-fi RPG.
5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2005)
Eugene Jarvis
Eugene Jarvis received his first big break from Nolan Bushnell at Atari in 1977, signing on as a pinball game programmer. His debut video game was the smash hit Defender (1980). Defender's pioneering scrolling playfields, multi-planar graphics, particle effects, artificially intelligent enemies, and mindnumbing action helped seduce an entire generation to video games. Defender sold over 60,000 arcade games and 7,000,000 Atari 2600 cartridges.
Robotron: 2084 (1982), featured a revolutionary dual joystick control, and remains a classic action title. Robotron's record for adrenaline pumping action, and enemy body count has yet to be matched. NARC (1988) debuted digitized live-action actors, backgrounds, and flying body parts, and hi resolution graphics.
In 1990's, Eugene jump started the adventure driving genre with Cruis'n USA (1994), Cruis'n World (1996), and Cruis'n Exotica (2000)featuring photo-realistic 3-D texture mapping and modeling, and real world locations. The Cruis'n series is the all time highest grossing arcade driving series with over 65,000 arcade games sold worldwide. Cruis'n USA was a launch title for the Nintendo 64, and the series sold over 3,000,000 console games.
In 2001, Eugene founded the boutique design studio, Raw Thrills, dedicated to arcade game design. In 2004 Raw Thrills released its first two titles, the action shooter thriller "Target: Terror", and "The Fast and the Furious", a street racing title inspired by the Universal Studios hit movie. Both games debuted at the top of the arcade charts and are currently in worldwide release. Currently in development is Target: Terror 2, and a full motion motorcycle racer.
4th annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2004)
Mark Cerny
Known internationally as a master collaborator, Mark Cerny has served in a number of functions from creator and producer to programmer, designer, and publishing executive. He is respected by many in the industry for his ability to bring together the key people and necessary elements to develop and market consistently successful games. In his career achievements, Mark has indelibly changed the way games are made and those who make them.
Mark has been praised for his unique production method, an unconventional but highly successful approach to bringing games to market. The "Cerny Method" emphasizes an explorative risk-taking pre-production period, based on the belief that the best ideas require a period of creative freedom free from rigidly scheduled deadlines. He eschews the schedule-driven model that many people believe to be a common-sense approach to game development and further believes that that the ultimate success or failure of a game can be determined by its first playable level.
His influence is not limited to the teams and titles he has been involved with over the years. Through his talks at the Game Developers Conference (US and in Europe) and contributions to Game Developer Magazine his unique production method is known to many.
To merit a lifetime achievement award at such a young age one must begin early. Even before the age of twenty, Mark was team leader, designer and graphics programmer for Atari's Marble Madness, an early arcade classic. After Atari, he then spent several years with Sega in Japan, Mark founded and managed the Sega Technical Institute, where he oversaw the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Kid Chameleon . He later joined Universal Interactive Studios as vice president, becoming its president two years later. Serving also as Executive Producer on Universal's titles, Mark made significant creative contributions to the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series, which collectively sold over 30 million units.
As founder of Cerny Games, a game design consultancy, Mark continues to offer his expertise in the areas of production, design and technology.
3rd annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2003)
Gunpei Yokoi, creator, GameBoy
Born in Kyoto Japan in 1941, Gunpei Yokoi had always expressed an interest in gadgets and tinkering. Gunpei began his career in the game business when in 1965 Hiroshi Yamauchi hired Yokoi to maintain the heavy machinery on the assembly line of Nintendo. In 1969, as Nintendo expanded into the toy industry, Yamauchi asked Yokoi to develop a toy for the Christmas season. The next day Yokoi unveiled an invention developed in his spare time called Ultra Hand (a claw on an accordion arm that kids could extend by squeezing two handles). In its first year the Ultra series sold 1.2 million units worldwide.
Yokoi spent the next few years in toy development for Nintendo. After the US success of Pong, a new form of entertainment caught the attention of Mr. Yamauchi and Yokoi. At the request of Yamauchi, Yokoi and his Research & Development section (RD1) began to experiment with a new electronics technology. Yokoi designed a line of games called Game & Watch, a credit-card sized video game with inexpensive liquid-crystal display. To accommodate the small platform Yokoi created the pervasive and patented + shaped directional pad in which players had to move in four directions.
In 1980, as Nintendo entered the arcade business, Yamauchi assigned Yokoi to mentor young prodigy Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto designed the game and Yokoi built the hardware and the arcade world received the first product of this genius collaboration -- Donkey Kong. The two went on to create other arcade classics, including Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros. and Metroid.
In 1989, under Yokoi's direction, RD1 created the most popular and successful hand-held games console ever, the Game Boy. Yokoi later updated Game Boy to the Game Boy Pocket by making it smaller and adding a higher -resolution screen. After 10 years, the Game Boy and its successors have sold over 140 million units worldwide. In 1995 Yokoi was onto his next venture, the Virtual Boy, a huge product risk for both Yokio and Nintendo.
Although Yokoi resigned from Nintendo in August 1996, he continued to consult for his former employer as he started his new venture, Koto Company, best known for the production of Wonder Swan. Yokoi planned to produce hand-held games for children.
On October 4, 1997 , at the age of 56, Gunpei Yokoi was tragically killed in an automobile accident, abbreviating a brilliant career and life of a wonderful man.
Tonight we honor him with the Game Developers Choice Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Among Yokoi's credits are: Ultra Hand (1966), Ultra Machine (1968), Love Tester (1969), Light Ray Gun SP Series (1970), Erekonga (1970), NB Block Crater (1970), Ultra Scope (1971), Light Ray Telephone LT (1971), Lefty RX (1972), Time Shock (1972), Laser Kure Clay Shooting System (1973), Wild Gunman (1974), Shooting Trainer (1974), Light Ray Gun Custom Series (1976), Duck Hunt (1977), The Chilean Tree (1979), Game & Watch Series (1980), Donkey Kong [arcade] -producer- (1981), Game & Watch Wide Screen (1981), Game & Watch Multiple Screen (1982), Computer Mah-jong (1982), Famicom Controller (1983), Donkey Kong Jr. -producer- (1983), Game & Watch Color Screen (1984), Mario Bros. -producer- (1984), ROB Robot (1985), Metroid -producer- (1985), Kid Icarus -producer- (1985), Game Boy (1989), Metroid 2 -producer- (1990), Dr. Mario (1990), Super Scope (1992), Super Metroid -producer- (1993), Virtual Boy (1995), Tetris Attack (1995), Game Boy Pocket (1996)
2nd annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2002)
Yuji Naka, Sega
The IGDA is proud to honor Yuji Naka of Sega®'s SonicTeam with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Yuji Naka, is one of Sega's leading video game developers and is recognized worldwide for his contributions to the interactive entertainment industry. Creator of video game industry icon and Sega mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog®, Yuji Naka is president of the world-renown Sonic Team, the group behind such innovative titles as Phantasy Star OnlineT, ChuChu Rocket!T, Samba de Amigo NightsT and the Sonic series.
Yuji Naka joined Sega as a programmer in 1984 and shortly thereafter, led in the development of the highly regarded F16 Fighting FalconT and original Phantasy StarT games. He continued on as an integral part in the creation of classic Sega titles OutrunT and Space HarrierT.
In 1991, Naka was named president of the forming SonicTeam, created to focus on development of titles starring Sega's Sonic. Yuji Naka led in the creation of the worldwide top-seller Sonic The Hedgehog® for GenesisT, and went on to create the smash hit Sonic AdventureT and Sonic Adventure 2T for Sega DreamcastT.
1st annual Game Developers Choice Awards (2001)
Will Wright, Maxis
Will Wright, Maxis' Chief Designer, co-founded Maxis with Jeff Braun in 1987. Will began working on what would become SimCity - The City Simulator in 1985. Using a complex technique, he found a way to bring realistic simulations to desktop PCs.
SimCity was released in 1989, and within a few months became a hit. The game has since won 24 domestic and international awards. With Fred Haslem, Will co-designed SimEarth - The Living Planet in 1990, a simulation of a planet based on the Gaia theory of James Lovelock. In 1991, Will and Justin McCormick designed SimAnt - The Electronic Ant Colony, a scientifically-accurate simulation of an ant colony. SimCity 2000, and SimCopter, a helicopter flight game, are also part of Will's recent repertoire. The latest incarnation of SimCity, SimCity 3000 Unlimited, the definitive version of 1999's best-selling game SimCity 3000, has continued in the tradition.
Taking computer entertainment to its most personal level yet, Will's newest game The Sims, puts players in charge of the lives of a neighborhood of simulated people. Released in February of 2000, this wildly popular title has become a cultural phenomenon, sold over 3 million copies worldwide and has received numerous "Game of The Years" accolades. It inspired an expansion pack, Livin' Large, which allows players to put their simulated families from The Sims into new extreme situations and settings.
Will has become one of the most successful designers of interactive entertainment in the world. In 1999 he was included in Entertainment Weekly's "It List" of "the 100 most creative people in entertainment" as well as Time Digital's "Digital 50," a listing of "the most important people shaping technology today."
The Game Developers Choice Awards evolved from the previous "Spotlight Awards" that were hosted by the CGDC and CGDA during the mid-late nineties. Althought vastly different in approach, fundamentally the Spotlight Awards served the same purpose of recognizing excellence in games. Lifetime Achievement Awards were similarly bestowed as part of the Spotlight Awards.
1999 Spotlight Awards
Louis Castle, Westwood
1998 Spotlight Awards
Dani Bunten Berry
Designer and director of development for 12 original computer games, including such classics as Command HQ, Seven Cities of Gold, and M.U.L.E. She was instrumental in bringing multiplayer games to the world.