Takeda has been at the forefront in shaping the video games hardware industry in his career-long tenure at Nintendo with the development of the Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube and the Wii system.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented by Don James, AIAS Board Member and Executive Vice President of Operations at Nintendo of America at the 21st D.I.C.E. Awards on Thursday, Feb. 22nd, 2018 in Las Vegas. The Awards show will be co-hosted by Greg Miller, co-founder of internet video show and podcast Kinda Funny, and Jessica Chobot of Nerdist News and live streamed by returning media partner IGN Entertainment beginning at 8:00 pm PT/11:00 pm ET.
“I’ve seen the impact that Takeda-san had on Nintendo having worked with him on multiple hardware launches,” said James. “As a Board Member of the AIAS, I’ve seen the impact he’s had on thousands of producers and programmers as they have brought their creative visions to life on the systems he helped create. He looked at his own designs through the lens of always helping game developers. That approach to his life’s work is a great gift he gave the development community, and ultimately gamers everywhere.”
Takeda was born in Osaka, Japan and graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Shizuoka University in March 1971. Shortly afterwards in July 1972 he began his life-long career at Nintendo.
Takeda’s lasting influence is attributed to the development of some of the most well-loved Nintendo hardware systems in the past two decades. In December 1980 Takeda was announced as General Manager, Research & Development Department No. 3 in the Nintendo Manufacturing Division where he helped create the arcade and NES versions of Punch-Out!! and led the development of the Nintendo 64 system. As Director and General Manager of the Integrated Research & Development Division and Representative Director and Senior Managing Director, Takeda was responsible for creating the Wii system.
Takeda next served as the Representative Director and Technology Fellow, and most recently served as Special Corporate Adviser after his announced retirement from Nintendo in 2017.
“Technologists are lucky if they are able to make one landmark piece of hardware in their lifetime, Takeda-san was responsible for multiple pieces of hardware that helped shape generations of players,” said Meggan Scavio, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “Hardware has been an important element of game design and has influenced so much of the realm of possibility for game development. On behalf of the Academy’s Board of Directors, we are looking forward to paying homage to this important aspect of video game history with Takeda-san’s induction as our Lifetime Achievement recipient.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for individuals whose accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry. Recipients are typically individuals distinguished for their business leadership and are not necessarily involved in development or the creative process. Through their leadership and ideology, these individuals have driven significant and positive change across the industry.
Previous AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award inductees include Doug Lowenstein, Howard Lincoln, Minoru Arakawa, Ken Kutaragi, Bing Gordon and Satoru Iwata.