The electronic entertainment industry looks a little more like Hollywood with today's launch of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
The aim of the new industry group is to promote the common interests of its members, to recognize outstanding individual achievements and to conduct an annual awards show a la the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' annual Oscars bash, said Marc Teren, a former vice president of Walt Disney's interactive entertainment division who will serve as the academy's first president.
Other groups have organized Academy Award-style honors for video games, CD-ROMs and World Wide Web sites. But the new organization is in a good position to become the arbiter of achievement because it has the backing of the Washington-based Interactive Digital Software Assn. and many of the industry's leading companies. Members of the new academy's board will include representatives from Microsoft, Disney, Sony, Nintendo and Electronic Arts.
"Creating a mechanism to honor achievement in this industry is a way to further enhance the visibility and stature not only of the individuals, but of the art form itself," said Doug Lowenstein, president of the IDSA. It will also help draw artists and programmers to the industry, he said.
