Pinball Construction Set Creator Bill Budge To Receive AIAS Pioneer Award

Bill Budge, creator of classics including Raster Blaster and Pinball Construction Set, has been named the second recipient of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Pioneer Award. In choosing Budge, the academy cited his work on early computer game titles like Pinball Construction Set and 3-D Game Tool that allowed players to try their hand at game design. "From writing quality code to designing games that paved the way for future program designers, Bill Budge has been nothing less than an inspiration to everyone around him," said AIAS President Martin Rae in a statement. "Bill has had a huge influence on my career," said Stupid Fun Club CEO Will Wright. "Pinball Construction Set was the first game that introduced me to the idea of constructive games and systemic thinking. I doubt SimCity would have existed without it." In looking at the history of Pinball Construction Set for their book Vintage Games, Matt Barton and Bill Loguiduce showed how the title inspired a number of amateur-level game-creation utilities from publisher Electronic Arts and others, all the way up through Sony's recent LittleBigPlanet. After a brief retirement, Budge returned to the industry in 1992, working with 3DO, Electronic Arts and Sony. He currently works for Google, helping their efforts to improve web-based game development. Budge will receive the Pioneer Award from independent producer (and former Gamasutra expert blogger) Don Daglow on February 10 at the DICE Summit's Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony in Las Vegas. Pitfall creator David Crane won the academy's first Pioneer Award last year.