There are many ways to celebrate the major contributors to video game history. Every year, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences holds the DICE Awards to celebrate outstanding games from the previous year.

Since 1998, they’ve been recognizing the innovation and creativity that come with this incredible hobby, and every year they add one person to a growing list of people who have changed the landscape of video gaming.

This year, they added Koji Kondo to that list. If you’re not familiar with the name, that’s fine. You certainly know his work, though. In fact, I’d say just about everyone in the world knows his work.

This is the man responsible for many of Nintendo’s classic soundtracks, but most notably, he was the sound designer for the original Super Mario Bros.

Koji Kondo started with Nintendo in 1984 and was the first person there to specialize in sound design. He started with Punch Out, which is a classic in its own right, but moved on to create some of the most recognizable sounds in video game history. His hands have touched nearly every Super Mario and Zelda game, as well as most other Nintendo games, new and old.

The “Ground Theme,” which is the first thing you hear when you boot up Super Mario Bros., is so iconic that it was added to the National Recording Registry, which is reserved for sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.” It is the first piece of video game history added, and currently it is the only one on the list.

Koji Kondo is also the first sound designer to be added to DICE’s Hall of Fame. Before him, the inductees were almost exclusively developer founders, presidents, or creative leads.

This seemingly minor distinction demonstrates the academy’s deep respect for his work. Despite being predominantly comprised of those same developer founders, presidents, or creative leads, they chose to induct someone outside that circle. It says a lot.

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When we think about video games, especially the classics and major titles, it’s hard to remember that the people who made those games are, in fact, people. While Koji’s induction won’t affect the way we play or interact with the medium, it is a pleasant reminder that a person is responsible for all of those memories.