2006 Inductees announced for Walk of Game
The voting has closed once again, as the latest genre defining videogames, iconic characters and industry pioneers are honoured with their very own star on the Walk of Game in San Francisco.
Yet more genre defining videogames, iconic characters and industry pioneers are to be honoured with their very own star on the Walk of Game in San Francisco, with the voting for next year's inductees now closed.
Lifetime Achievement Awards go to Id Software's co-founder and technological visionary, John Carmack and world renowned strategy game designer and industry veteran, Sid Meier. The pair join last year's inductees, Pong creator Nolan Bushnell and the father of Mario, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto.
Beginning his career in the early 1980's as a founding partner of one of the industry's most successful game companies, Microprose Software, Sid Meier has been credited with a vast number of 'industry firsts'. Meier's first combat flight simulator, F-15 Strike Eagle, sold over a million units worldwide. He has since gone on to create universally acclaimed strategy titles including Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon and the award winning, multi-million selling Civilization series.
Largely self-taught technological purist John Carmack has created some of the most intense and in-demand 3D graphical engines available today. Licensed by multiple game development companies, the engines are also at the very heart of some of the most compelling PC software titles available, developed by legendary Doom creators, Id Software. The Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake franchises have almost single-handedly defined the First Person shooter genre, continuing to innovate and push the boundaries on current and next generation platforms.
The gaming industry's infamous female icon, Lara Croft is honoured in 2006, having re-defined the 3D action adventure genre in 1996 with the first Tomb Raider title. The adventure seeking sex symbol has since spawned numerous sequels, two Hollywood movies, a book by Douglas Coupland and a multi-million dollar merchandising and sponsorship network. The latest game, Tomb Raider: Legend, is in development at Crystal Dynamics, and will be released in spring, 2006.
Other game inductees include Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi RTS title, StarCraft, which remains incredibly popular some seven years after its initial release on the market. Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest, the first 3D MMORPG is also honoured, as is the most popular console RPG ever created - SquareSoft's Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy has generated 11 main series releases (with the twelfth in production at present), numerous spin-offs on multiple platforms, and two acclaimed Computer Generated Animation movies.
Located at the 350,000 square feet Metreon entertainment complex in San Francisco, the Walk of Game is a unique landmark that celebrates the pioneers, icons and genre defining software of the gaming industry. Each year, a new set of inductees will receive a permanent steel star on the walkway in recognition of their contribution to the gaming industry.