The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) honored Stormfront Studios at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony for creating Neverwinter Nights, the first graphical Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). The Emmy event was held at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 7 in Las Vegas.
Don Daglow, who led the design of Neverwinter Nights, accepted the award for Stormfront and its publishers, AOL and Wizards of the Coast. "These games are not just entertainment," Daglow said. "They build new kinds of communities and create deep people-to-people relationships. They influence people's lives in the same way as great books, inspiring movies and iconic television shows, and we're grateful to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for this honor."
Also honored at the ceremony for developing this new genre of entertainment were Sony Online Entertainment for Everquest, and Blizzard Entertainment for World of Warcraft.
Among the presenters at the evening ceremony were Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and Peter Price, president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
The Technology & Engineering Awards honor excellence in advances in the use, creativity and adaptation of technology that enhances or improves the consumer experience with media across multiple platforms.
Stormfront began development on Neverwinter Nights in 1989, and the game was offered on AOL from 1991-97. Its success inspired the creation of a series of hit computer games of the same name from BioWare.