Koji Kondo, the Nintendo composer and sound director best known for his work on The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series, will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ (AIAS) Hall of Fame during the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards.
The AIAS Hall of Fame honor is given to members of the games industry who’ve made a significant impact on the development of influential games, and have helped move forward particular genres of games. As such, the existing list of Hall of Fame recipients is full of iconic names, such as Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Kojima Productions founder Hideo Kojima, and Skyrim and Starfield director Todd Howard.
“I am deeply thankful for being selected by D.I.C.E. for this important award. It is a true honor to be recognized in this way, and I am extremely humbled,” Kondo said in a statement.
“Thanks to the help from the many people surrounding me and the support from our customers and fans, I was fortunate enough to be involved in game music development for decades,” he continued. “I am grateful for everyone who helped and supported me. I will continue my efforts in the music and sound aspects of development to hopefully make everyone’s game experience even more enjoyable in the years to come.”
If you’re a fan of Nintendo games, there’s little doubt that you’ll have heard some of Kondo’s work before. His work can be heard in classics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario Bros. Sunshine, as well as newer games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Kondo is now a senior officer of Nintendo’s entertainment planning and development division.
In a statement shared in a press release, AIAS president Meggan Scavio called Kondo’s musical work “timeless and powerful.” She added: “For over 39 years, he has delighted all of us in the industry with sounds and songs that are recognized by so many fans and became a pop culture phenomenon. We are honored to be able to induct Kondo-san into the Hall of Fame.”
The 27th annual D.I.C.E. (Design Innovate Communicate Entertain) Awards will be held on February 15 in Las Vegas. It was previously announced that across 23 categories, a total of 56 different 2023 games had been nominated for awards, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 receiving the most nominations (nine), followed by Alan Wake 2 (eight), Baldur’s Gate 3 (seven), and Cocoon (six).
Be sure to check out our list of the best Nintendo Switch games for our recommendations of the top titles to play on Nintendo’s console, as well as our roundup of upcoming Switch games for more to look forward to.
