Wii, Nintendo DS awarded tech Emmys

For the second year in a row, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has honoured Nintendo with an Emmy Award for excellence in engineering creativity.

The Academy recognised the Wii for its innovative motion-sensing controls and the Nintendo DS for its touch-screen control scheme and distinctive dual-screen display.

Atari and Mattel were also honoured alongside the DS for Handheld Game Device Display Screen Innovation, for the Lynx (Atari) and Football and Auto Race (Mattel).

The awards were presented in Las Vegas at the 59th annual Technological and Engineering Emmy Awards on January 7. This is the second year that the awards show was held during the International CES.

"The pioneering interfaces for Wii and Nintendo DS reflect our long tradition of seeking new ways to enhance the gaming experience for users at every level," said Don James, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of operations.

"We're grateful for this award and thank the academy for honoring us a second time."

Last year, Nintendo received an Emmy for the development of the D-pad and Sony was recognised for the XMB (Cross media bar) and DualShock controller.

Other game-related 2008 Emmy award winners included:

Development of MMO graphical role playing games:

Sony Online Entertainment for Everquest
Blizzard for World of Warcraft
AOL/Time Warner, Stormfront, Ubisoft and TSR-Wizards of the Coast for Neverwinter Nights

User Generated Content/Game Modification:

EA for Pinball Construction
Id Software for Quake
Linden Labs for Second Life

Physics Engines:

Havok