Former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who died in 2015, will be posthumously presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award during DICE 2016. The award has only been presented four times since 1998 and it is the second time it has gone to Nintendo.
The American Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences annually organizes the DICE Summit, where the abbreviation stands for Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain. The members of the academy choose the best game of the past year. In addition to the overall Game of the Year, winners are also designated in various genres. In addition, every year someone is inducted into the Hall of Fame. That spot is reserved for a game developer and this year’s prize is for Hideo Kojima, the great man behind the many Metal Gear games. Kojima has been in the news a lot in the past year. Not only because Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released, but also because Kojima left Konami, the publisher that released all Metal Gear games.
From time to time, the AIAS also presents a Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that is intended for people who do not necessarily make games themselves, but who mean or have meant a lot to the game industry. Satoru Iwata, who served as Nintendo’s president from 2002 until his death in 2015, has now been added to the short list of people who have received such an Award. Under his leadership, Nintendo introduced such successes as the DS and the Wii. He died of cancer at the age of 55. Since the award’s inception in 1998, the Lifetime Achievement Award has only been awarded four times. The first prize also went to Nintendo in 2007; Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln jointly received the award for founding Nintendo of America. Satoru Iwata is the first to receive the award posthumously.
The Game of the Year has not yet been announced. The AIAS has nominated games. The battle will be between Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3. The prize will be presented on February 18, at an Award Show in Las Vegas.