Japanese Government Plans Awards

It was revealed today that the Japanese government will be creating a series of video game awards to bolster the flagging Japanese game industry.

According to a Gamespot translation,The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper in Japan carried an article about the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry's five year plan to revitalize the Japanese game industry. A big part of the initiative will be a government-sanctioned awards for achievements in game design. Rather than limit the awards to locals only, they will include nominations for games and designers outside of Japan. According to The Yomiuri Shimbun, the plan is to create the "Academy Awards of gaming" to raise worldwide awareness of the Japanese game market.

Judges for the awards will be pulled from hardware and software makers, as well as the press. The Minister will also have his own award to dole out.