excite players, then the game idea should be set aside before too much effort is put into it. Once the decision is made to move forward on the game, then Cerny recommends by the Method that the typical use of scheduled milestones and deliverables to keep the project on track. Personal life While working under Sega in Japan during the 1980s and 1990s, Cerny learned Japanese. He met his future wife in Japan, who helped him to establish Cerny Games, which she continues to manage to this day. Accolades The International Game Developers Association awarded Cerny with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards (IGDA) in 2004. IGDA stated, "It's rare to find a 'jack-of-all-trades' who not only has the high-level vision for great game design but can act as the glue to adhere all the pieces together. His unusual but highly effective methodology has brought us some of the most entertaining games in history." He was described as "a master collaborator". His Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon games have collectively sold more than 30 million units. In 2010, at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Mark Cerny was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. "Mark Cerny is the closest we have come to a modern-day Da Vinci," said Joseph Olin, then-president of the AIAS. "What he does isn't restricted to a single aspect of game creation, he really is a Renaissance man. He is a diversely accomplished game designer, producer, programmer and technologist, fluent in Japanese and one of the foremost Western experts on the Japanese game market. He is also one of the only top-level independents in a business dominated by institutions." Games Notes References External links Cerny Games, Inc. GameIndustry.com: Cerny interview Marble Madness plus Cerny interview Mark Cerny in Conversation with Rich Hilleman at the Computer History Museum 1964 births Living people Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame inductees American consultants American video game designers American video game programmers American video game producers Atari people Place of birth missing (living people) Computer hardware researchers Sony Interactive Entertainment people Video game businesspeople People from San Francisco People from San Mateo, California People from Burbank, California Sega people Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipients