Video Game Sound Category to Debut at 2007 TEC Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

::News From the TEC Awards::

Annual ceremony dedicated to excellence in audio to be held in New York, Saturday October 6, 2007

March 12, 2007 Walnut Creek, CA The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio has announced the debut of a new category: Creative Achievement in Sound Production for Interactive Entertainment. The new category will debut at their 23rd Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards to be held on Saturday, October 6, at the Marriott Marquis, on the second night of the 123rd AES Convention. Inclusion in the TEC awards is further proof that the science and creativity behind video game sound has come of age. Finalists for the award will be announced in June 2007. The TEC Awards, sponsored by Mix magazine, is the world's most prominent forum honoring outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design.

"The recognition of sound production for the video game genre is overdue," says Hillel Resner, president of the Mix Foundation and executive producer of the TEC Awards. "The immense popularity of interactive entertainment and the increasing sophistication of both the sound and music components of games demand that interactive sound be accorded the same respect that other genres in the world of professional audio receive."

Past winners of TEC Award for Lifetime Achievement include George Martin, George Lucas, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Steve Wonder, Arif Mardin, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and many more.

"Interactive entertainment is no longer simply about fun and games," points out game sound veteran Gene Semel of High Moon Studios (Carlsbad, CA), chair of the steering committee for the category. "Sound in interactive entertainment is both a legitimate big business and a huge part of the video game experience. This new award validates all of the hard work audio professionals put into bringing new worlds to life through sound, and we commend the TEC Awards for helping to give it wider recognition."

Composed of respected professionals in the field, the steering committee has taken the lead in soliciting entries for this year's awards. Entries will then be submitted to the TEC Awards Nominating Panel, consisting of nearly 200 audio professionals. Nominations occur in April with finalists announced in June. Subscribers to Mix magazine will vote to decide the winners in 24 categories of Technical and Creative Achievement in August.

Names of the Steering Committee for the Interactive Entertainment Sound Production TEC Awards can be found at http://www.mixfoundation.org/interactive.html

Monies raised by the TEC Awards support programs that educate audio professionals and the general public about hearing health, and also endow scholarship funds for students of the audio arts and sciences at major colleges and universities.

The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio is a 501 ®(3) charity headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. The TEC Awards is sponsored by Mix, the pro audio industry's leading international monthly, published by Penton Media. For information, contact Karen Dunn at (925) 939-6149 or KarenTEC@aol.com or visit www.mixfoundation.org.

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