Shigeru Miyamoto Enters Hall of Fame

28 November 2003

MIYAMOTO ENTERS ‘GOLDEN HALLS’

Mario creator becomes the first entrant to
the Computer and Video Games Golden Joystick Hall of Fame at today’s awards
ceremony.

The creator of the World’s most famous
plumber, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, has become the first entrant
to the Golden Joystick Hall of Fame. This announcement was one of the highlights
of today’s Computer and Video Games Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, which were
presented by TV comedian Phill Jupitus at a glittering awards ceremony at
London’s Park Lane Sheraton Hotel.

In a videotaped acceptance speech, Mr.
Miyamoto said: "I’m honoured to become the first recipient of the Golden
Joystick Hall of Fame award. I would like to thank all of the game fans and game
media in Europe who are helping to energise the video game industry. For more
than 20 years I have been fortunate enough to work with very talented people
with amazing foresight from the early Donkey Kong days to our most recent, Mario
Kart: Double Dash!! I really have enjoyed every minute. It’s an amazing industry
to work in."

Mr. Miyamoto’s induction to the hall of Fame
wasn’t Nintendo’s only reason to celebrate at today’s awards, as the company
also picked up the coveted ‘Publisher of the Year’ award, while two of its games
also received recognition: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube Game of the
Year) and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Most Wanted Game for Xmas 2003). In
addition, the company’s handheld games machine, the Game Boy Advance SP, beat
off strong competition from Sony’s Eye Toy and Microsoft’s Xbox Live! to be
named Hardware of the Year.

The Golden Joystick Awards, the UK’s premier
awards for interactive entertainment, are presented by Dennis Publishing, a
leading publisher of magazines in the computer and video games and men’s
lifestyle sectors. The awards are voted for by readers of Dennis’ magazines and
visitors to its consumer websites.

“The success of today’s event has underlined
that the Golden Joysticks are the definitive UK awards for computer and video
gaming,” says Tara Leathers, Games Division Publisher for Dennis Publishing.
“The 88,000 votes which we received from the general public and the fact that
all 480 seats for today’s ceremony were sold out well in advance go together to
prove that these awards are not only the people’s choice, they’re the industry’s
too.”

Nintendo’s success was almost matched by
games reflecting two of modern man’s greatest obsessions – fast cars and
football – as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and CM4 claimed two awards each.

CM4, the latest incarnation of the
best-selling football management game (developed by Sports Interactive and
published by Eidos) collected the ‘PC Game of the Year’ and ‘Best of British’
awards, while Rockstar Games’ orgy of motor-based crime and action set to an
eighties soundtrack, Grand Theft

Auto: Vice City, was named as both ‘PS2 Game
of the Year’ and ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’.

“It’s always nice to win awards, but it’s
especially good when, like the Golden Joysticks, they are voted for by members
of the public,” says Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive.
“We’re particularly pleased that one of our awards was voted for by readers of
The Mirror and the other by readers of Computer & Video Games, which shows how
wide the appeal of computer and video gaming is becoming.”

Highlights of today’s ceremony, which was
attended by 480 members of the UK games industry, will be broadcast in a special
edition of MTV’s movie and games programme, Screenplay (www.mtv.co.uk/screenplay)
on Friday, December 5th.

The Golden Joystick Awards 2003 were
sponsored by Electronic Arts (Retailer of the Year), GAME (Most Wanted Game for
Xmas 2003), Macrovision (Publisher of the Year), Nokia N-Gage (After-show
Party), Sonopress (Xbox Game of the Year) and Vivendi Universal Games and Crash
Nitro (Best New Hardware).

The full list of winners and finalists is as
follows…

PS2 Game of the Year

Winner:

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Finalists:

• Eye Toy: Play

• Pro Evolution Soccer 2

• GameCube Game of the Year

Winner:

• Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Finalists:

• Metroid Prime

• Resident Evil Zero

• Handheld Game of the Year

Winner:

• Advance Wars 2

Finalists:

• Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Xbox Game of the Year

Winner:

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Finalists:

• Soul Calibur II

• Splinter Cell

PC Game of the Year

Winner:

• CM4

Finalists:

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

• Battlefield 1942

Online Game of the Year

Winner:

• Battlefield 1942

Finalists:

• Phantasy Star Online

• Unreal Championship

• MTV Film to Game of the Year

Winner:

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Finalists:

• Enter the Matrix

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

• The Mirror: The Best of British

Winner:

• CM4

Finalists:

• Conflict Desert Storm 2

• Republic: The Revolution

Publisher of the Year

Winner:

• Nintendo

Finalists:

• Electronic Arts

• Rockstar

Retailer of the Year

Winner:

• GAME

Finalists:

• Amazon.co.uk

• Gameplay.com

Hardware of the Year

Winner:

• Game Boy Advance SP

Finalists:

• Eye Toy

• Xbox Live!

Unsung Hero Game of the Year

Winner:

• Viewtiful Joe

Finalists:

• No One Lives Forever

• Steel Battalion

Hall of Fame Industry Personality of the Year

• Shigeru Miyamoto

Editor’s Award: Game of the Year

Winner:

• Pro Evolution Soccer 3

Finalists:

• Call of Duty

• Legend of Zelda: The Wind Maker

• Metroid Prime

Most Wanted Game for Xmas

Winner:

• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Finalists:

• Pro Evolution Soccer 3

• WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain

Most Anticipated Game for 2004

Winner:

• Half Life 2

Finalists:

• Doom 3

• Halo 2

Ultimate Game of the Year

Winner:

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Finalists:

• Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic