Wario Ware Wins Media Award
The Japanese government praises the power of Wario.
By David Smith
Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs today announced the prize winners in its eighth annual Media Art Festival, and Nintendo has walked away with the grand prize. Mawaru Made In Wario, the new mini-game collection powered by the Game Boy Advance tilt-sensor cartridge, took a top honor in the Entertainment category.
"Entertainment" is a catch-all grouping for anything that doesn't fit in the competition's other three categories, which cover comics, animation, and more traditional artforms. The new Wario game beat out some 202 submissions in the category, ranging from games to music videos to websites.
The Agency praised the game's innovative design and ability to appeal to a wide range of players. Mawaru (coming stateside next spring as Wario Ware Twisted) features a broad selection of quick mini-games that are controlled solely by moving, spinning, and tilting the GBA.
This isn't the first time Nintendo has won an award in the annual festival. Last year, it split a grand prize with Square Enix, for their collaboration on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube.
Two other gaming creations snagged awards for excellence in the same category -- Nintendo's PictoChat communication software for the DS, and the Robot-crafted opening movie to Capcom's PlayStation 2 adventure Onimusha 3. Taito's Rakugaki Oukoku 2 for the PS2, the sequel to the game released stateside as Magic Pengel, was also recognized as a special selection of the screening committee.
