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Denver, 9:31 AM
Fri Dec 4
51 posts in the last 24 hours
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/30/09
11/30/09
And in this case, as mentioned in the article, the developer is actually Splash Damage (an independently owned studio) not BGS.
11/30/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
I wonder what happened really.
11/30/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
I mean look at SOCOM
12/01/09
08/20/09
(Not coincidentally, that was also the touted trio for Chrono Trigger.)
Anyway, I think more and more gamers are becoming aware of who worked on a game. Is it to the point that an "all-star cast" can be promoted and recognized? Not quite. But I think we will eventually get there.
I, for one, would buy - or at least have a serious interest in - a game by a crew consisting of Shuyo Murata, Norihiko Hibino, and Yoji Shinkawa (all from ZOE2).
P.S. - Little King's Story was acknowledged for its wide array of game talent from all over the Japan game industry.
08/20/09
like I intend to see James Cameron's Avatar
but if it was just some dude's Avatar very few actors would make me go OMG must see (Bruce Campbell and Simon Pegg perhaps)
08/20/09
It's the same thing in film - the people who have the most visible presence get the most credit. Directors, producers, and actors are, generally speaking, the people who sell films. Their influence is the most visible to the public at large, and so they get the most credit whether they deserve it or not.
Same for gaming - it's why we have the Carmack's, Kojima's, Miyamoto's, and Molyneux's of the industry. They aren't the only ones involved in development (well, maybe Carmack in the old days) but they take a directing role and control the direction of the project.
It's also easier, from a marketing perspective, to sell a team than individuals. While the turnover rate for gaming is low compared to other tech fields, people do move around. And it's easier for a publisher to sell a game on the name "Infinity Ward" or "Tri-Ace" or "Team ICO" regardless of whether the original members of the team are still there are not. Come to think of it, this is probably the primary reason we don't see games, or films either, marketed this way. It's far easier to hold onto the name of a group while individual members fluctuate than to hold onto one individual.
While there's nothing wrong with recognizing the individuals who make up development teams, your average gamer doesn't care enough to make the effort to understand the positions. Any specific knowledge of them then becomes rather irrelevant, as they're just being told "this person is good" with no understanding of why. Combine that with publishers desire to use name dropping to sell games, and I don't really see individual programmers, artists, or sound engineers getting acknowledgment outside of the credits anytime soon.
08/20/09
08/20/09
Not that I'm defending it, just pointing out that considering how late in the development cycle games are announced these days (comparatively) something like that probably won't happen again.
08/20/09
I'm refering to the ad that said ...."John Romero will make you his bitch."
The fact that the game was mediocre made the bitch be Romero. I personally saw it as karma for his unbridled arrogance.
08/20/09
08/20/09
That said, I think the main difference between video games and film studios is that film studios can often produce all kinds of films while it's not uncommon for a lot of developers in the video game industry to stick to a particular genre.
Hell, look at Bungie. They're most famous for their first person shooters. Blizzard? RTS and RPG. Bioware? RPG. Square Enix? RPG. Treasure? When was the last time they DIDN'T make an action game?
Thus, someone who is a fan of a game will pay a lot of attention to the developer, who will, in all likelihood, continue to make similar games. Meanwhile, employees who are hired generally for a particular project may very well drift from company to company. They make take their particular style of game development with them, but the company itself will make products almost exactly like it.
08/20/09
Also, I'd prefer to forget Peter Molyneux.
08/20/09
08/20/09
Sega also branches into many different genres. Sonic, NiGHTS, Shenmue, Virtua Fighter, Skies of Arcadia, Condemned, Mad World, etc.
The point is that MOST developers stick by this because it's what they know and programming for one kind of game is nothing like programming for another.
Er, Stephen, what did this guy say that was wrong?
08/20/09
No, I'm pretty sure I created Commander Shepard.
08/20/09
Not a huge fan of metal but his name alone get's my panties wet.
....And.I.Don't.Wear.Under.Pants.
08/20/09