AWARDED GAMESMinister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award
The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award goes to the Pokémon GO Project Team
The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award is given to individuals who have contributed to the development of the computer game industry and thus to the Pokémon GO Project Team was selected for the award.
This game swept the world along on a tide of enthusiasm and surpassed more than 500 million downloads around the world only in around 2 months.
It shaped up to be one of the biggest social phenomena in Japan, too. Not only game fans but also many others from children to adults played the game.
Towns were filled with such players.
The game uses AR technology to merge with the real world and provide a new fun to a game, greatly enhances the range of game users, and contributes to the development of the industry.
Furthermore, the game shows new possibilities of game contents such as local revitalization and recovery of disaster area and indicates the superiority. These are recognized and the award was given.
Objective of indroducing the METI Award
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) understands computer entertainment software as a cultural form and is holding this event since 1996 to celebrate the 21th anniversary this year for the purposes to vitalize and contribute to development of the computer entertainment software industry.
The Japan Game Awards have been selecting and awarding excellent videogame software in three categories of "Game of the Year Division", "Future Division" and "Amateur Division".
While the awards were formerly given only to videogame software, the "METI Award" was introduced last year which is to be awarded both to videogame software and persons/group of persons which and who are supporting the videogame industry to make the system "more open and meaningful award system".
Selection Criteria for the METI Award
The prize is awarded to those who have contributed to the development of the videogame industry through creation of excellent products or expanded the scope of the videogame industry using a new expression, technology, etc.Persons and group of persons are eligible to receive the award.