D.I.C.E. Speakers, Pioneer Award Recipient Announced

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) today announced that David Crane has been named as the first Pioneer Award recipient. Crane started his work at Atari before helping to co-found Activision and developing Pitfall! and later founding NES developer Absolute Entertainment and casual game maker Skyworks Technologies with Garry Kitchen, who will present him with the award during the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs).

"The Pioneer Award recognizes contributions made by the original men and women whose efforts helped to create the interactive entertainment industry that we know today," said Joseph Olin, president of the AIAS. "For most of these people, their work is done and they have retired from the industry."

Additionally, the final speakers for 2010 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit have been announced. Among them are John Schappert, chief operating officer of Electronic Arts and founder of Tiburon Studios, Joe Madureira & David Adams, co-founders of Vigil Games, Randy Pitchford, CEO and president of Gearbox Games, and Greg Short & Geoffrey Zatkin, CEO and COO respectively of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR).

"The 2010 Summit truly offers an incredible range of perspectives from all aspects of the games industry," added Olin. "The Hot Topics segments feature some of the medium's most accomplished voices debating single issues moderated by G4-TV's Adam Sessler. John Schappert, now chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, has incredible insights into the business of games. Randy Pitchford, Joe Maduriera and Dave Adams have different takes on the challenges of bringing original ideas to life. EEDAR's Greg Short and Geoffrey Zatkin conclude the sessions with observations on consumers' reactions to games today. I'm thrilled to have so many senior members of the game community share their thoughts this year.”