Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto and Spore have each received a Jim Henson Honors award, acknowledging their “commitment to creativity and innovative application of art and technology.”
Miyamoto took the Jim Henson Celebration Honor, the evening’s highest award that goes to “an individual, organization or product that makes the world a better place by inspiring people to celebrate life.” The famed designer was noted for his ground-breaking work at Nintendo in games ranging from Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. to the more recent phenomenon of the Wii Fit, which goes beyond mere entertainment by encouraging people to become physically active, and has even begun to see use as a physical rehabilitation tool.
The Jim Henson Technology Honor went to Spore, the 2008 life-simulation videogame from EA. “The game is meticulously conceived and executed with infinite detail, allowing a gamer to design and create his own character – a digital alter ego – providing for an unprecedented level of user creativity as his being evolves from a single-cell organism to a galactic god over hundreds of millions of years,” the Henson Company said in the award announcements.
“The recipients of this year’s Jim Henson Honors demonstrate true creativity and commitment to innovation,” said Brian Henson, co-CEO of the Jim Henson Company. “They have raised the bar in their respective fields.” Fellow co-CEO Lisa Henson described Spore as an “incredibly imaginative and provocative world.”
Founded in 1958 by the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, the company is now run by his five children and continues to be involved in the creation of family-oriented entertainment, largely through the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop division, which has created elaborate puppets for films and television shows including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Doctor Dolittle, Babe and Farscape. The Jim Henson Honors were established in 2005 to acknowledge people and project “that reflect the core values and philosophy of the legendary Jim Henson and the company he founded.”
When informed of the awards, Will Wright broke into a wistful song about the nature of life while Miyamoto reportedly went berserk, throwing objects around the room and demanding cookies.
via: What They Play
