John Carmack Gets Lifetime Achievement Award

John Carmack, one of the geniuses in 3D gaming technology will be recognized in March at 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards for his lifetime of achievement.

Carmack's involvement in the design of game engines led to the Doom and Quake franchises as well as the numerous games based off of his engine code.

The announcement from GDC reads:

John Carmack and his team at id Software, the company he co-founded in 1991, pioneered real-time 3D graphics in game, setting the pace and the standard for other developers to follow. Carmack and his colleagues at id are credited with essentially creating the modern-day first-person shooter (FPS) genre with the PC game Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, and helping to popularize networked multiplayer gaming on PCs with the release of Doom in 1993.

id has gone on to create other major FPS and action game franchises such as Quake, and Carmack and id Software are currently in development of a number of projects, including the free-to-play, web-based title Quake Live, the upcoming new franchise RAGE, and DOOM 4.

As a largely self-taught technology purist, Carmack has devoted himself to pushing the limits of hardware and software. He's helped to set the technical and gameplay standard for modern 3D gaming - and in the process, created some of the most popular video game franchises in history, which is why he's being honored by the Game Developers Choice Awards this year.

Former Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Sid Meier, Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright - who will be presenting the award to Carmack at the ceremony on March 11, 2010 during Game Developers Conference 2010 in San Francisco - and other legendary game creators.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • JohnnyLucky
    A very bright and talented individual.

    Looking at the list of previous recipients I noticed Sid Meier of "Civilization" fame. That brings back a lot of memories from a long long time ago.
    Reply
  • brendano257
    Gratz! Idk what I would do without my FPS games :)
    Reply
  • blarger
    So ... afterwards they shoot him?

    Carmack has life left in him. If he gets a hair cut he might even get laid before the end.
    Reply
  • overclockingrocks
    well deserved imho. The man created some of the most popular computer games ever written. Wolf 3D, the Doom series and Quake are all under this man's belt. Hats off to you Mr Carmack you are a pioneer in this industry and produced the greatest FPS games known to date. Here's to more success
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    JohnnyLuckyA very bright and talented individual.Looking at the list of previous recipients I noticed Sid Meier of "Civilization" fame. That brings back a lot of memories from a long long time ago.+1. Too bad they don't make games like games like Wolfenstien, Quake,etc any more. All we have now are cr@ppy console ports.
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    blargerf he gets a hair cut he might even get laid before the end.Fail. He already has a wife and a kid.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Carmack
    Reply
  • gsacks
    brendano257Gratz! Idk what I would do without my FPS gamesIt is called the outdoors. I kid.
    Reply
  • matt87_50
    we miss you man.

    all those years ago when you showed Nintendo what gaming could really look like, on the family PC no less.

    wish you would do it again now...
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    gsacksIt is called the outdoors. I kid.buy a console lol
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    This guy deserves a freaking Emmy, Oscar, Nobel Peace Prize (really Obama, you kidding me?), and a moat of sharks with fricking lasers on their heads!

    Even then, we wouldn't be doing the man justice.
    Reply