{"74003":{"#nid":"74003","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ivan Allen College Honors Video Games Pioneer","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEach year the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech presents the \u003Cem\u003EIvan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service \u003C\/em\u003Eto an individual demonstrating exemplary contributions to a discipline related to the College\u0027s academic mission. On \u003Cstrong\u003EMarch 15 \u003C\/strong\u003Eat \u003Cstrong\u003E1 p.m.\u003C\/strong\u003E, the College will honor Will Wright, designer of some of the most popular video games, including \u003Cem\u003EThe Sims\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003ESimCity\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003ESimEarth\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003ESimAnt\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the award presentation, Wright will give a keynote address. Wright joins past distinguished recipients of the Prize: Senator Zell Miller in 2001, President Jimmy Carter in 2002, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins in 2003, and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn in 2004. The program takes place at \u003Cstrong\u003EThe Biltmore\u003C\/strong\u003E in the Georgian Ballroom on West Peachtree near Technology Square. Doors will open at 12:50 p.m.; the public is invited to attend. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWright\u0027s selection to receive the 2005 \u003Cem\u003EIvan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service\u003C\/em\u003E reflects the robust digital media program in the College\u0027s School of Literature, Communication and Culture (LCC). The school offers several undergraduate and graduate degrees in digital media, including the nation\u0027s first doctoral program. The LCC faculty collaborates extensively with faculty in the College of Computing and the interdisciplinary Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center (GVU).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Will Wright was selected because his life and his work reflect the values of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service,\u0022 says Janet Murray, professor and director of graduate studies in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture. \u0022Will is a child of Atlanta who grew up to make a landmark game in which the player\u0027s role is to serve as a mayor-engineer. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022His games use sophisticated computing techniques to advance our understanding of the world. He exemplifies creativity in digital media, using the powerful affordances of computation to make complex games that help us to better understand a complex world. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022He has said that he would rather create communities than games, by which he means that he is constantly trying to give players more powerful tools for making their own places, their own characters, their own story worlds, and then sharing them with one another.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe celebration continues on Wednesday, \u003Cstrong\u003EMarch 16 \u003C\/strong\u003Ewith an all day symposium - \u003Cem\u003ELiving Games World \u003C\/em\u003E- honoring Will Wright and the tenth anniversary of digital media degree programs at Georgia Tech. Wright will participate in several sessions, and panels will feature experts from industry and academia discussing issues such as the future of entertainment, creativity and narrative and game worlds. Representatives from industry include Electronic Arts (EA), Turner Broadcasting, Academy of Machinima Arts \u0026amp; Sciences, Klaus Entertainment, Schematic and more. The day closes with demos and exhibits. The detailed agenda is available online at \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/gameworlds.gatech.edu\u0027\u003Ehttp:\/\/gameworlds.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWill Wright, Chief Designer and Founder, Maxis\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWill Wright co-founded Maxis in 1987. Wright began working on what would become \u003Cem\u003ESimCity-The City Simulator\u003C\/em\u003E in 1985. \u003Cem\u003ESimCity\u003C\/em\u003E was released in 1989, and has since won 24 domestic and international awards. Wright co-designed \u003Cem\u003ESimEarth-The Living Planet \u003C\/em\u003Ein 1990. In 1991, Wright co-designed \u003Cem\u003ESimAnt-The Electronic Ant Colony\u003C\/em\u003E. \u003Cem\u003ESimCity 2000 \u003C\/em\u003Eand \u003Cem\u003ESimCopter\u003C\/em\u003E are also part of Wright\u0027s recent repertoire. \u003Cem\u003ESimCity 3000 Unlimited\u003C\/em\u003E, the definitive version of 1999\u0027s best-selling game \u003Cem\u003ESimCity 3000\u003C\/em\u003E, continued in the tradition. The long-awaited 4th generation, \u003Cem\u003ESimCity 4\u003C\/em\u003E, was released in January 2003. SimCity 4\u0027s first expansion pack, SimCity 4 Rush Hour, and SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition were shipped in September 2003. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWright\u0027s groundbreaking game, \u003Cem\u003EThe Sims\u003C\/em\u003E, puts players in charge of the lives of a neighborhood of simulated people. Released in February of 2000, this wildly popular title has become a cultural phenomenon. \u003Cem\u003EThe Sims \u003C\/em\u003Ehas inspired six expansion packs. Livin\u0027 Large, House Party, Vacation, Unleashed and Superstar allow players to put their simulated families into new extreme situations and settings. The final expansion pack, Makin\u0027 Magic, was released in October 2003. Taking its bow in December 2002 was Wright\u0027s much anticipated \u003Cem\u003EThe Sims Online\u003C\/em\u003E, which was featured in a cover story in \u003Cem\u003ENewsweek Magazine\u003C\/em\u003E. The next generation of The Sims PC products debuted in September 2004 with \u003Cem\u003EThe Sims 2\u003C\/em\u003E, which became the fastest selling PC game ever selling more than a million copies in the first ten days worldwide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1999, Wright was included in \u003Cem\u003EEntertainment Weekly\u003C\/em\u003E\u0027s \u0022It List\u0022 of \u0022the 100 most creative people in entertainment\u0022 as well as Time Digital\u0027s \u0022Digital 50,\u0022 a listing of \u0022the most important people shaping technology today.\u0022 In 2002, he was #35 on \u003Cem\u003EEntertainment Weekly\u003C\/em\u003E\u0027s Power List and was also inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences\u0027 Hall of Fame. In 2003, Wright was featured in Game Informer\u0027s \u0027Top 10 Developer List of 2003.\u0027 Each year Wright, along with his daughter Cassidy, takes part in the annual Battlebot competition, which was broadcast nationally on Comedy Central. His interest in plastic models of ships and airplanes during his childhood in Georgia eventually led to his designing computer models of cities, ecosystems and ant colonies. In fact, Wright lived in Atlanta until he was 9, when his father - William R. Wright, a chemical engineer and 1954 graduate of Georgia Tech - died at an untimely young age. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Ivan Allen College is named for the late Ivan Allen Jr., who represented the essence of \u0022the new South\u0022 and, among other achievements, is credited with helping ease racial tension in Atlanta during his two terms as mayor. Each year in March - coinciding with Mayor Allen\u0027s birthday - the College honors its namesake by presenting the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service to a distinguished public figure.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"2005 Ivan Allen Prize for Progress and Service to Creator of The Sims and SimCity"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts will present the 2005 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service to Will Wright, designer of several of the most popular video games, including The Sims, SimCity, SimEarth and SimAnt.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Will Wright, creator of The Sims, SimCity \u0026 SimAnt"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2005-03-08 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:59","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2005-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"74004":{"id":"74004","type":"image","title":"Will Wright","body":null,"created":"1449178037","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:17","changed":"1475894683","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:43"}},"media_ids":["74004"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gameworlds.gatech.edu\/","title":"Living Game Worlds IV"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.foundersday.iac.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"Ivan Allen College Founder\\\u0027s Day"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}