Last year's inexplicable granting of an Emmy Award to practically every game system ever invented apparently went so well that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) decided to dip its toes into gaming again this year. Last night's Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony at CES included a bevy of awards for "Engineering & Technology for Creation and Implementation of Video Games and Platforms." Just trips off the tongue, doesn't it?The most notable winner was Nintendo, which got a coveted "game controller innovation" Emmy for its Wii and DS systems (because, really, why narrow it down to one? Since when have awards been about exclusivity?). Nintendo won a similar award for the NES d-pad last year, and used the repeat performance to talk up "even more exciting control innovations from Nintendo in 2008," such as Wii Balance Board and the Wii Wheel, in a press release. Color us skeptical that either of these will have the impact of the d-pad, but still ...
The other game-related awards given were notable mainly for their expansive view of video game history. Recent games like Second Life and World of Warcraft shared billing in their wins with classics like Quake and Pinball Construction Set in this year's awards. That's cool and all, but ATAS really showed its old-school gamer cred by giving a "Handheld Game Device Display Screen Innovation" award to the Atari Lynx, of all things. Way to keep up with the times, TV industry. Hey, how about, at our next awards show, we return the favor by giving special awards to All in The Family and "Color TV," the latter for "outstanding use of color in a cathode ray tube device." Wouldn't you all feel special then?
We'd also like to call out "The Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Best Use of Commercial Advertising on Stand-Alone Broadband Devices (Personal Computers)," which should win its own award for "most amazingly specific award category in the history of mankind."
A complete list of 2007's game-related Emmy's below the break.
The Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Creation of Non-Traditional Programs or Platforms:
MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach
MTV Networks
The Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Best Use of Commercial Advertising on Stand-Alone Broadband Devices (Personal Computers):
The L Word in Second Life
Showtime Networks/Electric Sheep Company
The Awards for Game Controller Innovation:
Nintendo DS
Nintendo
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo
The Awards for Handheld Game Device Display Screen Innovation:
Football & Auto Race
Mattel
Atari Lynx
Atari
Nintendo DS
Nintendo
The Awards for User Generated Content - Game Modification:
Pinball Construction
Electronic Arts (EA)
Quake
id Software
Second Life
Linden Lab
The Awards for Physics Engines:
Havok
The Awards for Development of Massively Multiplayer Online Graphical
Role Playing Games:
Neverwinter Nights
AOL-Time Warner/Stormfront/Ubisoft/TSR-Wizards of the Coast
Everquest
Sony Online Entertainment
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
The Awards for Visual Digital Content Creation Tools and their Impact:
Autodesk Maya
Autodesk
Autodesk 3ds Max
Autodesk
