Topic: Second-best Game Designer

[NWR_insanolord]

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.

[Luigi Dude]

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.

[NWR_insanolord]

Tezuka's a good pick. If I were staying within Nintendo, he would definitely be on the shortlist.

[shingi_70]

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.

[Stogi]

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.

[azeke]

Peter Molyneux (LOL)

You're laughing now, but in 90s Bullfrog made amazing games.

[TrueNerd]

Real answer: Gunpei Yokoi. Super Metriod is a masterpiece.

See, who gets credit for that? Does Gunpei or does Yoshio Sakamoto? Cuz I was gonna nominate Sakamoto for the exact same reason.

[ShyGuy]

Will Wright. Sim City and The Sims were industry-changing games.

Close third is John Carmack. Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake. iD software introduced a ton of things we take for granted now.

Fourth is probably Gunpei Yokoi. Heck, may it should be a three way tie for second?

[azeke]

See, who gets credit for that? Does Gunpei or does Yoshio Sakamoto? Cuz I was gonna nominate Sakamoto for the exact same reason.

... and the thread is ruined.

Sakamoto is cool by me for his WarioWare/Rhythm Heaven series.

[alegoicoe]

Hideo Kojima, for blending gameplay with cinema, although some of his cut scenes are way too long.

[Stogi]

Hideo Kojima, for blending gameplay with cinema, although some of his cut scenes are way too long.

I hate you so much right now.

[Luigi Dude]

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.

[TJ Spyke]

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.

[alegoicoe]

Hideo Kojima, for blending gameplay with cinema, although some of his cut scenes are way too long.

I hate you so much right now.

LOL, can I know the reason, or you hate Kojima?

[S-U-P-E-R]

Nobody

[Adrock]

LOL, can I know the reason, or you hate Kojima?

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.

[pokepal148]

nintendo, pick up warren spector and put him with a more competent team
he seems like a genius and disney failed to harness that

[Ymeegod]

Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy Creator).

Yu Suzuki (Sega).

[Khushrenada]

Nobody

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.

[Louieturkey]

nintendo, pick up warren spector and put him with a more competent team
he seems like a genius and disney failed to harness that

Epic Mario confirmed?

[Do_What]

What about space invaders dude?
Or who made Ultimata?

[Ceric]

Nobody

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.

[ShyGuy]

What about space invaders dude?
Or who made Ultimata?

Richard Garriot?

[Stogi]

Nobody

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.

[Ian Sane]

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.