This doesn’t come as much of a surprise since Nintendo basically come owns the term “innovation,” but it’s always nice when people are honored for their achievements and The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has decided that Nintendo deserves a big fat pat on the back for Phantom Hourglass and Super Mario Galaxy. Both are excellent games, of course.

As a side note: OBNOXIOUS GIF OF DANCING NINTENDO EXECS

Go Miyamoto, go.

PR Email Ahoy:

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has honored Nintendo with two Interactive Achievement Awards, including Handheld Game of the Year for The Legend of Zelda®: Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS™ and Adventure Game of the Year for Super Mario Galaxy™ for Wii™. Both games have also enjoyed strong momentum, with more than 2.5 million copies of Super Mario Galaxy sold since its Nov. 12, 2007, debut and more than 1.1 million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass sold since its Oct. 1, 2007, release.

Nintendo received nine nominations in eight gaming categories. The awards were presented the night of Feb. 7, 2008, at the Academy’s annual Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain conference in Las Vegas. The awards are among the most respected in the interactive entertainment community.