Game design superstars

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Gotta disagree bigtime here. Maybe you didn't notice it at the time, but there were definitely people who put a face on their company and games.

A few that were well-known by gamers in the 90s, and featured in gaming mags, off the top of my head:

Kojima got huge with MGS in '98
Dave Perry (Shiny Entertainment)
Yuji Naka
Boon & Tobias
Trip Hawkins (eh, I'm reaching here - he was more of an entrepreneur)
Kenji Eno
Shinji Mikami
Tommy Tallarico
Tim Schafer

If you didn't read gaming magazines at the time then of course you wouldn't know anything about the people who made the games, though.

I said "most people". Not everyone read video game magazines during the time, and even then I'll give you maybe Boon and Perry being people game-centric folks would know. Even then, they were not made to be rockstar like they are now. Also, Tallarico is a composer who's only famous because of his cousin.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

He probably made more money from that game than you've made in 10 years.

"Genius" by many definitions.

As flawed as it may be, its still something that takes a risk, its the only way to make something of worth, something stimulating that tries to actually say something with a particular point of view behind it
Blue Stinger, Illbleed, D2, all flawed but so brilliant partly because of and not in spite of this

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Nobody knew who Miyamoto or any of these guys were in the 90s, because most people were playing the games instead of obsessing over them. It wasn't until the mid 2000s when these games became "retro" and cool that people started worrying about this stuff.

~redacted because Lonesage said it better.

 

[LoneSage]

I said "most people". Not everyone read video game magazines during the time, and even then I'll give you maybe Boon and Perry being people game-centric folks would know. Even then, they were not made to be rockstar like they are now. Also, Tallarico is a composer who's only famous because of his cousin.

Naw man fuck that, Tallarico is a god.

edit: DR the other day I read, "Smart critiques, stupid creates." I have a big respect for people who take risks to make something, even if they fail.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Naw man fuck that, Tallarico is a god.

edit: DR the other day I read, "Smart critiques, stupid creates." I have a big respect for people who take risks to make something, even if they fail.

Absolutely! So many examples of this over time. You would never have that 0.01% that creates genius art if he/she wasn't amongst the other 99.9% trying and failing (failing in very relative terms).

Decepcicon, I'vs been playing videogames since around 1983, doesn't mean much in itself, but I have seen it go down and ate up all the gaming magazines.
Game developers where highly respected amongst journalists and the readership of all these publications.
Yu Suzuki was a made man by the 90s. And then the game makers for personal computers, Molyneux etc.
I don't mean these guys lived like rock stars but some did. I mean that they where esteemed.

Notch bought a mansion

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Absolutely! So many examples of this over time. You would never have that 0.01% that creates genius art if he/she wasn't amongst the other 99.9% trying and failing (failing in very relative terms).

Decepcicon, I'vs been playing videogames since around 1983, doesn't mean much in itself, but I have seen it go down and ate up all the gaming magazines.
Game developers where highly respected amongst journalists and the readership of all these publications.
Yu Suzuki was a made man by the 90s. And then the game makers for personal computers, Molyneux etc.
I don't mean these guys lived like rock stars but some did. I mean that they where esteemed.

Mojang bought a mansion.

I've been playing games since 86, so you have a few years on me. That being said, up until the 2000s your average person had no fucking clue who these people were. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to games we're not the "average person". However when video games became Pop Culture, all of these guys were dragged into the main stream and made to be stars. See Cliffy B for a better example.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I've been playing games since 86, so you have a few years on me. That being said, up until the 2000s your average person had no fucking clue who these people were. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to games we're not the "average person". However when video games became Pop Culture, all of these guys were dragged into the main stream and made to be stars. See Cliffy B for a better example.

Maybe you're right. As of the PS1 videogames became glamourous as did porn and they where on Mtv and stuff.
Yeah some of these gaming mags where for and about nerds.

 

[wataru330]

Remember the sales figures of Ocarina of Time grossing more than the Movie Titanic?

Late 90’s, games went mainstream.

Rockstar status for devs achievement, unlocked.

 

[Gaston]

I think there is truth to this topic. Modern game development is all about risk aversion which is understandable considering the monster investments that are required to make a game nowadays. But is also kills creativity in this segment. Lots of indie developers who craft exceptional games and experiences don't have the means to create AAA game and unique and offbeat AAA multi million $ games only seem to come from established names (death stranding is a good example). You could draw parallels to the movie industry where financial succes of trash like the Marvel movies eclipses everything else (Scorcese got shit for saying as much recently). Sign of the times I guess.
Ergo; today's climate doesn't allow for singular genius designers anymore

 

[100proof]

What's hilarious is when the so-called superstar leaves the company that's holding them back, forms their own company and then utterly fails to produce anything worthwhile ever again. Maybe they weren't the rockstars they thought they were.

lol I run into one of those at the bars in downtown Raleigh quite frequently. He's bought me shots a couple times though so I can't talk too much shit.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I think there is truth to this topic. Modern game development is all about risk aversion which is understandable considering the monster investments that are required to make a game nowadays. But is also kills creativity in this segment. Lots of indie developers who craft exceptional games and experiences don't have the means to create AAA game and unique and offbeat AAA multi million $ games only seem to come from established names (death stranding is a good example). You could draw parallels to the movie industry where financial succes of trash like the Marvel movies eclipses everything else (Scorcese got shit for saying as much recently). Sign of the times I guess.
Ergo; today's climate doesn't allow for singular genius designers anymore

Good post. I agree