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Creatures
Adventures wins Family Award at the 2000 International EMMA Awards
Creatures
Adventures, Cambridge-based developer Creature Labs’ first foray into
artificial intelligence learning games aimed at children has picked up an EMMA
in the Family Entertainment Category at the 2000 International EMMA Awards.
The other two nominees for the Family Award included – Bible Journey 2000
(Magic APS) and The Dynamic Origami Master (Eklectica International Co Ltd).
Creature Adventures was originally released in Europe during October 1999.
"This
EMMA is very special to us because the original Creatures title won an EMMA in
1996," says Chris McKee, CEO of Creature Labs. "Creatures Adventures
was our first venture into learning games for children and has paved the way
for the latest title in the series, Creatures Playground. We’ve been delighted
by the incredible response we’ve had to our kids products, which is very
encouraging."
Sponsored
by AMD and Macromedia, the 2000 International EMMA Awards received a record
number of entries from over 40 countries, a full list of which can be found on
www.emma-foundation.org. The 40-strong jury includes representatives from
Germany, Austria, the UK, Denmark, Australia, France, Italy, Switzerland,
Canada, USA, the Netherlands and Belgium. The judging process took place over
three days (October 20-22nd) at "De Wagg" (Amsterdam’s Society for
New and Old Media).
The
EMMA Awards are managed by The EMMA Foundation, a non profit company, whose
primary responsibility is to encourage the creative, technical and
professional development of digital media on a global basis. Designed to
support individuals and organisations who think and act globally, the
Foundation provides an environment for developing Networks, sharing knowledge
and creating partnerships across all branches of the interactive digital
industry.
Now
in their 9th year, The International EMMA Awards are respected for their
independence and impartiality, and are widely recognised as the most
prestigious interactive media awards. The EMMAs are organised in conjunction
with an international panel of experts representing all sectors of the
industry. The sole objective of the competition is to reward excellence in
interactive media. In line with this policy a single award is presented in
each category, but only where the high standards, which have become synonymous
with the EMMA name, have been achieved, thus making an EMMA award a prize
coveted by developers worldwide.
EMMA
Jury Chairman and Executive Director of the EMMA Foundation Roderic Leigh
said, "2000 has proved a groundbreaking year for the EMMAs. They now have
the widest reach of any digital media award event. We have confirmed our
mission to encourage the creative, technical and professional development of
the industry on a worldwide basis. In the end it’s about making our business a
better place to be – by rewarding quality and innovation and sharing insights
and experience with like-minded professionals."
Notes
to Editors:
About
The EMMA Foundation The EMMAs are an independent awards competition created by
the industry, for the industry and is supported by key international
companies. The international panel of judges is drawn from the music industry,
television and book publishing, design, traditional arts, education and the
digital media industry. The panel’s primary interest is to see how media and
technology enhance the user’s experiences giving consideration to creative
interface design, appropriate and interesting content, intuitive interaction
and production quality.
The
EMMA Foundation web site is a single source of information for anyone
interested in the digital media industry – whether as a customer, corporation,
participant or commentator. Members and non-members alike can access the
following services:
key
industry contacts, such as national and international new media associations
an online directory listing members’ contact details and area of activity news
and press releases from member companies a digital diary of events (which will
be available shortly) Masterclass information and booking service EMMA Awards
winners’ showcase EMMA Awards entry details
Members
of the EMMA Foundation have the following additional benefits:
their
own profile entry in the online directory access to industry forums and
bulletin boards
opportunity
to submit press releases for distribution to the international press discount
on entries to the International EMMA Awards
jury
feedback on entry submissions priority booking for the EMMA Masterclass T
he
EMMA Foundation has been established as a not for profit company which:
funds
educational programmes, activities and scholarships
builds
a networking community for the digital media industry promotes the creation of
high quality digital products and services acts as a resource centre for
international digital content creators.
About
Creature Labs / Creatures Adventures
Creatures
Adventures is one of a whole new breed of Creatures products, all using the
remarkable CyberLife artificial life technology. Creature Labs (formerly
CyberLife Technology Ltd) is the world’s leading developer of artificial life
software. As CyberLife, they originally developed and released the very first
Creatures during November 1996. The game was followed by Creatures 2 in 1998
and Creatures 3 in 1999.
Creatures
came about as a result of research into modelling biological systems during
the early ’90s. CyberLife was born from the belief that if you want to get the
properties of real living systems inside computers, you should copy Mother
Nature. As research continued, it became clear that computers were rapidly
becoming powerful enough to create animals that behaved as though they really
were alive. Developers at Creature Labs expected the animal to behave like a
cross between a toddler, a cat, and a dog — a sort of virtual pet. The result
was the engaging and personable Norns.
Just
like nurturing real-life pets, people enjoy taking care of and raising their
virtual pets. Creatures Adventures is a huge living playground for kids aged 4
to 6 where both the player and their Norn can experience everything virtual
life has to offer.
Exciting
features in Creatures Adventures include:
Bold,
colorful graphics
Four
different Norn breeds, each with their distinctive characteristics. They’ll
pass these on to their children but develop their own, individual
personalities
Fifteen
themed areas where your Norns can play and explore
Dynamic
living environment where the weather and seasons change
Creatures
Adventures is 100% intuitive. There are no menus or keyboard commands to learn
— just point and click. Timer settings allow the PC user to put his or her
Norns to sleep whenever they want. Norns will mate and have babies, and when
they die, they’ll have a special corner of the garden where players can place
a remembrance.
Web
Links:
Creature
Labs.
Tel:
+44 (0)1223 727000
www.creaturelabs.com
www.creaturesvillage.com
EMMA
Foundation.
Tel:
01457 870 855
www.emma-foundation.org/awards.asp
For
further information please contact:
Peter
Noble @ Peter Noble PR
Melinda
Mackay @ Peter Noble PR Graphic House
2A
Sumatra Road London
NW6
1PU
Tel:
020 7794 2302
Fax:
020 7431 9984
E-mail:
peter@noblepr.co.uk melinda@noblepr.co.uk
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