Prince Filipe of Asturias presents eight 2012 Prince of Asturias awards at a ceremony in Oviedo in October. Shigeru Miyamoto, considered the father of the modern video game, American author Philip Roth and the Red Cross are among the winners. There were 188 nominees from 48 countries for the 2012 prizes. Winners receive a EUR 50,000 prize and a reproduction of a statuette designed by Joan Miró.

Miyamoto is the author of the Mario Bros. series, which has become one of the most marketed video games in history. According to the Oviedo-based Prince of Asturias Foundation, he won the Award for Communication and Humanities for converting “"the video game into a social revolution and has managed to popularize it among a sector of the population that had not previously accessed this kind of entertainment, while also making it a medium capable of bringing people together regardless of sex, age or social or cultural status."