Big Daddies

This week, I'm going to piggyback unashamedly on the millennium wave that seems to be going round at the moment, and do my own little "end of period" roundup. Although the computer games industry is still young, I think that it has still come far enough to warrant a millennium round-up. And as such I am going to finish up my computer game gurus series with my pick of the computer game industries all-stars. Now before you flame-mail me, can I make it clear that this is I am sure not a well-rounded selection. Remember (or discover if you have not read my bio!), I am a young guy. I have only had the pleasure of experiencing the last seven or so years (possibly slightly more) of this exciting journey, and as such I have a twisted perspective. Let's call this a "Modern Masters" lineup. These are the guys who will hopefully take us into the next generation of games (and indeed gamers!). So here we go:

Name: Richard Garriott. Games selected for: Ultima Series. Ultima Online. Ultima Underworld. His theme music: Slick Rick's "The Art of Storytelling". Summary: This guy paints masterpieces. The whole picture makes sense, but the genius is in the individual brush-strokes. He makes detailed, some would say overly so, game universes, set firmly in the "fantasy role-playing" genre, which aim to totally immerse people. And this will be one of the major areas in which gaming needs a spark - games can draw a parallel with TV shows and movies in this department - they must make people empathize with their characters and their worlds. And Garriott is "the best of the best of the best" at this. His only flaw is that he can seem overblown at times, and sometimes his canvases seem to be too big even for his prodigious talent to fill satisfyingly. His recent opus, the last in the Ultima series, Ascension, was eagerly awaited and now has been roundly criticized for being oblique, impenetrable and technically too demanding. But if, and hopefully once, he catches fire again, he should consolidate his position at the very top of the gaming tree.

Name: John Cash. Games selected for: Quake Series. His theme music: "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M. Summary: One of the holy grails of game design at the moment lies in the field of artificial intelligence. People are bored with wooden, predictable in-game opponents, and Cash should be the guy to deliver the 'intelligent' goods. This guy has gotta be one of the most underrated men in the history of gaming. I'd like you, the reader, to just think for a minute now. How many of you can recall in detail what he has achieved? Well, to enlighten those of you who didn't know, he designed most of the enemy artificial intelligence for the Quake series of games. Sure, it seems like all they had to do was in different measures be stupid, less stupid, and a d just occasionally shoot at you, but this was very difficult to achieve. As anyone who has played his latest masterwork, Quake 3, will know, his "bots" have now evolved to a point where they can run, turn, shoot and make smart-ass comments at the same time. He has stayed out of the ID spotlight, shielded by the brilliance of Carmack and the oh-so-large ego of Romero, and is probably happier that way. However, as the journey that was Quake nears its end, what will he do next?

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic