Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences selects Ultima creator Richard Garriott as latest honoree.
Richard "Lord British" Garriott, creator of the famed Ultima series of role-playing games and founder of gone-but-not-forgotten developer Origin Systems, is being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame.

In conjunction with its Interactive Achievement Awards, the AIAS inducts one person into its Hall of Fame every year. This year the AIAS board unanimously selected Garriott for the honor. AIAS president and executive director Joseph Olin praised Garriott's development track record, and labeled him "one of the game industry's creative pioneers… credited as a 'father' of the MMOG and persistent world genre."

According to the AIAS official Web site, "Criteria considered by the Academy Board include: pioneering a new genre, or redefining an existing genre with a significant advance (i.e. changing the face of the art form); influencing other designers and products; demonstrating the highest level of creativity and innovation which results in on-going cultural significance and influence; consistent product success of a scale that expands the scope of the industry."

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was the original AIAS Hall of Fame inductee in 1998, and has since been joined by Civilization developer Sid Meier, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Doom designer John Carmack, Sim-everything creator Will Wright, Sega luminary Yu Suzuki, ambitious Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux, and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins.

By Brendan Sinclair -- GameSpot