FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 22, 2008

San Francisco, CA – Seattle’s own video game audio legend, Brian Schmidt, took home the Lifetime Achievement Award last Thursday night at the Guild Audio Network’s Annual Award Ceremony held during the Game Developers Conference at the Mascone Center in San Francisco.

"Brian embodies the highest ideals of our industry, and has been a leader and innovator for over twenty years" said Paul Lipson, President of the Game Audio Network Guild.  "We are thrilled to honor him as he continues his career, and we value his leadership as a GANG Board Member and industry visionary".

Brian spent the last 10 of his 21-year career as head of the Audio Division for Microsoft’s Xbox setting the direction for game audio technologies for Windows and Xbox. During his tenure, he was the driving force behind bringing Dolby Digital to video games, and setting a new bar for game audio. He was also the primary architect of the Xbox Audio Creation Tool and was responsible for the Xbox 360 audio system. Technical Guru? Yes. Composer and Musician? Absolutely.

"Brian is a game audio industry legend and icon” said Tommy Tallarico, Founder and CEO of Game Audio Network Guild. “The first 10 years of his career was spent helping to spearhead the creative and independent contracting community. He was very much ahead of his time. Without him, we would still be many years behind."

Brian has composed over 120 arcade and console games, including JOHN MADDEN FOOTBALL, DESERT STRIKE, JURRASIC PARK, STAR WARS TRILOGY and the award-winning CRUE BALL. He’s composed for noteable personalities such as Aaron Spelling, Michael Jordan, and Joel Silver, and his songs have been covered by artists like the Pixies.

“Music and audio design is an essential element to video games” said Kristina Hudson, Interactive Media Business Development Manager at enterpriseSeattle. “The music must reflect the mood and story of the visuals that will create an immersive environment that engages and entertains the player. The audio guys are often overlooked, and I am thrilled that one of our own, who has contributed so much to the advancement of this medium, has received this incredible honor.” said Hudson.

Audio design and composition for video games is a part of our local video game community which brought $4.2 billion in direct revenue in 2006 to our local economy, according to the enterpriseSeattle’s Economic Impact Study conducted by Community Attributes at the end of 2007. Seattle’s strength in music is well known across the world, and Brian Schmidt carries on our reputation into the medium of the future.

About enterpriseSeattle

enterpriseSeattle is a 37-year old public-private economic development partnership charged with the mission of building a competitive, world-class economy in King County and its 39 cities by retaining and expanding existing businesses and recruiting new businesses to the region. Funded through a combination of public and private investment, the organization is the first point of contact for site selection consultants and company analysts reviewing the region. enterpriseSeattle assists businesses by identifying possible sites and facilities and providing demographic and economic statistical information. For more information, visit www.enterpriseSeattle.org or call (206) 389-8650.

About G.A.N.G.

The Game Audio Network (G.A.N.G.) is a non-profit organization established to educate the masses in regards to interactive audio by providing information, instruction, resources, guidance and enlightenment not only to its members, but to content providers and listeners throughout the world. G.A.N.G. empowers its members by establishing resources for education, business, technical issues, community, publicity and recognition. G.A.N.G. also supports career development for aspiring game audio professionals, publishers, developers and students. www.audiogang.org

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