Skyrim creator, Todd Howard, getting Lifetime Achievement Award

Yesssss. Todd Howard. My dude. Getting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

As far as I'm concerned, this has been a long time coming. Under Todd Howard's watch, he blew the doors off open-world creation with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Gaming Nexus score: 8.8/10) back in 2002. Then he walked away with armfuls of awards for Oblivion (GN score: 9.1/10)—though, I'll admit, that's a thematically low point in the series for me. Then he took Fallout 3 (GN score: 9.1/10) and turned it from a quaint PC throwback into a global phenomenon. More armfuls of awards. Then Skyrim (GN score: 9/10). Boom: awards. Good heavens, my daughter was born only a few months before Skyrim, and I still play Skyrim more than I play with my own child, to this day. Heck, if you're going to hear somebody in Gaming Nexus Slack talk about reloading a game, four out of five times it'll be Skyrim. Oh, and then Fallout 4 (GN score: 9.8/10). Todd Howard knocked it out of the park again—though, I'll also admit, this was a divisive one among our crew. The dissenters have all been handed their walking papers, though.

It's crazy how much awesome Todd Howard brings to video gaming. Amidst the other legends that've received Lifetime Achievement Awards—Spector, Kutaragi, Molyneux, the BioWare Doctors, etc.—Todd Howard is my number one. I'm on the verge of deifying this guy, which is dangerous ground, but I don't care.

Congratulations, sir. The Choice Awards ceremony will be held immediately following the Independent Games Festival, which takes place on Wednesday, March 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Moscone Convention Center during the 2016 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.