At this year's CEDEC (CESA Developers Conference), on behalf of the entire team, Fumito Ueda, Junichi Hosono and Hajime Sugiyama were presented with a special award for Visual Arts for their contribution to the video game industry.
ICO won the award, surpassing other better-known titles like Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid. The game was praised for its atmosphere and presentation of contrasting light and shadow. Ueda had a few lines ready for the occasion:
"Thank you for this award. When we started working on ICO ten years ago, we faced many challenges because we wanted to create something which did not exist. We are now facing a similar challenge with our new project. Please wait a little more, we are sure you'll like it very much. Thank you again."
