Gaming Forums => General Gaming => Topic started by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2013, 10:20:30 PM
Title: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2013, 10:20:30 PM
I asked this on Twitter and now I'll ask it here. Since Shigeru Miyamoto is the definitive game designer in the history of the medium, I'd like to know who you'd all pick as number two.
Personally, I'd have to go with Sid Meier. He's actually a lot like Miyamoto, in that he basically invented several genres of games, and is probably his equivalent on the PC side of things. He revolutionized gaming, and has made a number of great games with great variety.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Luigi Dude on February 11, 2013, 10:52:55 PM
Takashi Tezuka
Dude was involved in nearly every game Miyamoto made and responsible for several things people give Miyamoto credit for. Without Tezuka, most of the games Miyamoto made wouldn't have been nearly as good. If Miyamoto is considered number one, then his partner Tezuka should be number two.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2013, 11:21:53 PM
Tezuka's a good pick. If I were staying within Nintendo, he would definitely be on the shortlist.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: shingi_70 on February 12, 2013, 12:00:08 AM
Peter Molyneux (LOL)
Seriously its a hard question. As far as a few of my favorite I love ,most of what Suda51 puts out and his games ooze style from all over.
Tim Shafer I guess.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Stogi on February 12, 2013, 12:13:49 AM
The director of Superman 64.
But seriously, that Indian bastard that invented chess.
I like chess.
Real answer: Gunpei Yokoi. Super Metriod is a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: azeke on February 12, 2013, 12:42:28 AM
Real answer: Gunpei Yokoi. Super Metriod is a masterpiece.
Gunpei Yokoi had nothing to do with Super Metriod. Yokoi was busy working on the Virtual Boy at the time, so Makoto Kanoh was the producer overlooking that games development, which Sakamoto directed. I know people love Yokoi and he does deserve a lot of that praise, but Super Metriod isn't one of them.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: TJ Spyke on February 12, 2013, 01:57:04 AM
Real answer: Gunpei Yokoi. Super Metriod is a masterpiece.
Gunpei Yokoi had nothing to do with Super Metriod. Yokoi was busy working on the Virtual Boy at the time, so Makoto Kanoh was the producer overlooking that games development, which Sakamoto directed. I know people love Yokoi and he does deserve a lot of that praise, but Super Metriod isn't one of them.
Yokoi was still General Manager on the game. How much involvement that meant is debatable, but he did still work on the game.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: alegoicoe on February 12, 2013, 02:09:01 AM
Probably has something to do with Kojima's over-reliance of cutscenes for storytelling purposes. Ignoring that, he's a talented game designer.
Not sure I can pick one. I wanted to say Koji Igarashi for inventing Symphony of the Night style gameplay just see if Luigi Dude's head would explode. IGA is largely responsible for making Castlevania relevant then returning it to irrelevance by refusing to evolve the series. I enjoyed all of those Castlevania games, but no subsequent title reached the brilliance of SotN (Aria of Sorrow came close).
Maybe Shinji Mikami. Despite some duds, his impact on game design is undeniable. Hideki Kamiya probably doesn't get enough credit for his contributions to the industry.
Also, John Carmack. I can't even play his games, but I know who he is and the games he's known for. There are more who deserve mention, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: pokepal148 on February 12, 2013, 07:41:41 AM
nintendo, pick up warren spector and put him with a more competent team he seems like a genius and disney failed to harness that
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Ymeegod on February 12, 2013, 07:53:08 AM
Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy Creator).
Yu Suzuki (Sega).
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Khushrenada on February 12, 2013, 11:29:20 AM
Oh man. That is one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile. Sadly, it seems to have gone unnoticed by everyone else posting. I congratulate you torum ferrorist for your subtle yet genius attack.
As for this thread, Insanolord and I seem to have the same gaming tastes because I pretty much agreed with what he said in the one genre of gaming only thread and Sid Meier would be a top choice for me also but to provide some variety, I'll go with Masahiro Sakurai create of Kirby, my favorite video game character.
Besides creating one of the all-time great characters, Sakurai has the guts to stand up to Miyamoto when he thought Kirby should be yellow and Sakurai wanted it pink. He won out on that battle. He helped create the Smash Bros. franchise. Then when his Kirby racing game was ruined because of another weird Miyamoto idea of only using one button, Sakurai said, "Enough of this crap" and left Nintendo and made his own gaming company and then publicly criticised Nintendo about their interference in that game. Normally such a developer and Nintendo would be done and neither would work with the other again, right? Not so. Nintendo begged Sakurai to come back and make Brawl for them since they had no idea how to do it except add online to the Melee version. Sakurai accepted their apology and made it so. He helms one of the largest cash cow franchises in the Nintendo brand and even helped revitalize Kid Icarus to further show his greatness. In addition, he writes a weekly column for Famitsu magazine and posts cat pictures on the internet. He is what every hardcore fanboy wishes they were in real life except he has the talent to actually do it.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Louieturkey on February 12, 2013, 01:26:25 PM
Oh man. That is one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile. Sadly, it seems to have gone unnoticed by everyone else posting. I congratulate you torum ferrorist for your subtle yet genius attack.
I saw it.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: ShyGuy on February 12, 2013, 02:39:37 PM
Oh man. That is one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile. Sadly, it seems to have gone unnoticed by everyone else posting. I congratulate you torum ferrorist for your subtle yet genius attack.
That's a *roll your eyes* at best when coming from IGN.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Ian Sane on February 12, 2013, 07:05:40 PM
In my childhood Miyamoto was the king of consoles but that was just a small piece of the typical gaming experience at the time. Arcades were heaven for kids without money as scournging up a quarter or two was a lot easier than the $70 Canadian that a new console game cost. This was even assuming your parents bought you a console at all. The arcade was a big part of our lives and Yu Suzuki is the king of arcades. Also since most kids owned an NES, the arcade was the most common way to experience Sega games until Sonic came out.
Of course it wasn't just console and arcade games but also computer games. So I'll throw John Carnack out there as well. Going with the "kids having no money theme" Shareware was a blessing and id Software made Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. EVERY kid I knew with a PC played the **** out of those three.
I wasn't really planning on making this a nostalgia thing but how do I properly rate a dev that's only been around for a few years. To truly have a worthwhile track record I feel I have to go back 20 years.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: ThePerm on February 13, 2013, 11:31:37 AM
I won't make positions. Just a short list
Miyamoto-mario, Zelda, Pikmin, and Donkey kong Yu Suzuki- Virtual Fighter and Shemue Gumpei Yokoi-Metroid, Gameboy Yuji Naka-Sonic the Hedgehog Shinji Mikami-Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, Hideo Kojima- Metal Gear John Carmack-wolfenstein, Doom, Quake The Stamper Bros.-Rareware David Doak- Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Time Splitters Sid Meier-Civilization, Pirates! Peter Moleneux-fable, Black and White Wiil Wright-SimCity, The Sims, Spore Keiji Inafune-Megaman, Dead Rising Ed Boon and John Tobias- Mortal Kombat Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda.-Street Fighter
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: Morari on February 13, 2013, 12:51:48 PM
Most modern games wouldn't even exist without the work of John Carmack and John Romero. While Carmack is still pumping out some of the best looking engines around, the actual design work at Id has suffered since Romero's departure.
I think you could argue for Sid Meier or Will Wright as third place though. Their products are more niche, but almost always polished to perfection. Furthermore, both seem to try something significantly different with each game.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 13, 2013, 01:01:52 PM
Carmack and Romero were certainly influential, but the way I see it all of id's games combined aren't half as good as Alpha Centauri.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: ShyGuy on February 13, 2013, 11:04:30 PM
Good list from Perm. Peter Moleneux - did Populous Miyamoto also played a big part in Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Nintendogs.
edit:
Michel Ancel - Rayman, Beyond Good and Evil, Rabbids.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: SixthAngel on February 14, 2013, 01:30:43 AM
The challenge is to pick a second best designer and you guys just make lists. Suck it up and pick one.
It's hard to pick one but do it and give reasons. Don't worry, you can change your mind later and you will still be invited to Moleneux's birthday party.
I narrowed it down to Tim Schafer and Yu Suzuki. I like nearly all of Schafer's games and how he puts a quirky uniqueness in them all. I also like that he has the balls and talent to start a whole new company doing lower budget games.
Despite that I've got to go with Yu Suzuki as my number 1. Besides his hugely influential arcade games the guy pretty much made the entire 3d fighting game category. Shenmue was way ahead of its time too and I can't think any other games that were so ambitious and actually hit the mark. What that guy could have done with a company that was fiscally sound. I still think Nintendo should have poached the hell out of the big guys like him from Sega if they would have accepted.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: alegoicoe on February 14, 2013, 01:43:13 AM
I think the designer behind the Deus Ex Human Revolution, Francois Lapikas did a hell of a job rebooting the franchise, I also read part of the team of that game moved to crystal dynamics to help with the new Tomb raider.
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: pokepal148 on February 14, 2013, 07:43:02 AM
didn't kojima do that boktai series as well
but i say Sakurai,
Title: Re: Second-best Game Designer
Post by: NdIGiTy on February 16, 2013, 10:34:44 AM
I'll go with Sid Meier, if only because he's a Michigan man.
