Game designers you should know
Cody Bozarth
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
David Jaffe: Jaffe is definitely Sony's western market golden boy, if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, the PSX era and PS2 era had a lot of things going on. In fact, one of the reasons the PS2 is still selling is because of its massive library of stellar games. But Jaffe has really inspired me and changed the way I think about video games.
He is most widely known as the creator of the "Twisted Metal" series and the "God of War" series. Right now, "God of War 3" is set to be one of the PS3's triple-A games coming within the next year.
"Twisted Metal 2" is one of my favorite memories as a gamer and seemed akin to the battle mode of "Mario Kart" with much more mature themes. "God of War" just blew me away. After playing so many games where you start off as a guy with hardly any talents or skills and evolve into a hero, it was really awesome to start a game with some incredibly beautiful moves and evolve into a literal deity.
Jaffe continues to influence the current climate of game design because of the innovative thinking he brings to the table. That's why you should know him. All hail Calypso!
Peter Molyneux: I don't think I've really made any effort to hide my raging man-crush for Molyneux. This guy, despite his criticisms, is the leading orator for inspired game design. Molyneux has been making PC games for a long time, including classics like "Populous" and "Good and Evil," as well as tycoon games like "The Movies" and "Theme Park." Currently he's the head of development house Lionhead Studios and working on the second game in his "Fable" franchise.
As a man, though, he's known for pronouncing some very lofty declarations about his games, their ambitions and the art of it all. If there were ever to be a formal debate for "games as art," I would want Molyneux taking the stand for art. Of course, many people don't think his games live up to his words. But as a thinker, an innovator and designer I don't think he can be beat. Then again, I'm constantly writing his name on all my notebooks and book covers, so it is fair to say I'm biased.
He is most widely known as the creator of the "Twisted Metal" series and the "God of War" series. Right now, "God of War 3" is set to be one of the PS3's triple-A games coming within the next year.
"Twisted Metal 2" is one of my favorite memories as a gamer and seemed akin to the battle mode of "Mario Kart" with much more mature themes. "God of War" just blew me away. After playing so many games where you start off as a guy with hardly any talents or skills and evolve into a hero, it was really awesome to start a game with some incredibly beautiful moves and evolve into a literal deity.
Jaffe continues to influence the current climate of game design because of the innovative thinking he brings to the table. That's why you should know him. All hail Calypso!
Peter Molyneux: I don't think I've really made any effort to hide my raging man-crush for Molyneux. This guy, despite his criticisms, is the leading orator for inspired game design. Molyneux has been making PC games for a long time, including classics like "Populous" and "Good and Evil," as well as tycoon games like "The Movies" and "Theme Park." Currently he's the head of development house Lionhead Studios and working on the second game in his "Fable" franchise.
As a man, though, he's known for pronouncing some very lofty declarations about his games, their ambitions and the art of it all. If there were ever to be a formal debate for "games as art," I would want Molyneux taking the stand for art. Of course, many people don't think his games live up to his words. But as a thinker, an innovator and designer I don't think he can be beat. Then again, I'm constantly writing his name on all my notebooks and book covers, so it is fair to say I'm biased.
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