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Will Wright's 'Spore'.
- Thread starter xabre
- Start date
It's Will Wright's game not Peter Molyneux or however you spell his last name. I have a hope at least Will won't overpromis, under deliever and pretend post launch that everything is doing well only to later issue and apology to fans for letting them down.
Just to prove how good Maxis can be, Sim City 4 was made without Will and it turned out fanatastic.
Just to prove how good Maxis can be, Sim City 4 was made without Will and it turned out fanatastic.
Open Source
Banned
From what I understand, the game is essentially 5 games in 1. Won't that make it hard to make all 5 of them compelling? Or even 1 of them?
WordAssassin
Member
Is this game gonna actually come out? It sounds, from that article, like it's really far along. All the editors and things....is this gonna be a tech demo ala 100 Marios, or is it gonna be released? I want Evo II!
Cold-Steel
Member
Agreed, Will Wright is the only person who could possibly pull this off.
I'm all for it.
I'm all for it.
you just dont know how to use it!
http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=39111
posted 15th march
Open Source
Banned
Why the hero worship for Will Wright?
I mean, Simcity was great for its time and all, and the Sims sold a lot of units...
But let's not pretend that the Sims Online never happened, and let's not forget that the Sims is the video game equivalent of playing with Barbie and Ken dolls.
I don't go around saying that Paul Reiche III is one of the all-time great designers just because he made Archon and Star Control II (which are both better than anything Wright's done).
I mean, Simcity was great for its time and all, and the Sims sold a lot of units...
But let's not pretend that the Sims Online never happened, and let's not forget that the Sims is the video game equivalent of playing with Barbie and Ken dolls.
I don't go around saying that Paul Reiche III is one of the all-time great designers just because he made Archon and Star Control II (which are both better than anything Wright's done).
Open Source said:
The Sims Online does not erase a career in game design - almost obscenely successful games, mind you - that spans back into the 80s. Arguably, Wright's got more talent in his left pinky than most people calling themselves game designers today.
You may as well ask, "Who the hell is this Richard Garriott guy?"
Things is Will Wright *created* the sandbox game genre with SimCity and then recreated and revitalised it with The Sims. That's two phenomena in one career, with the first being a work of pure innovation.
Really the man can only be compared to Sid Meier (Civ) and Peter Molyneux (Populous) as a giant and pioneer. And he's still dreaming big and implementing his ideas unlike Meier (who hasn't done anything in a long while) and he hasn't squandered any of his earned reputation and good will by making loudmouth claims that his demonstrations (and final games) can't back up unlike Molyneux.
I mean jeezus if Molyneux had been working on Spores, he woulda screeched things like 'Play the entire history of a species!!' to everybody in earshot as soon as he thought of it (which woulda been I dunno, around 2002?). Wright on the other hand had a concrete working demo from ALL STAGES of his ambitious game (from single celled to space exploration) before he even revealed it and he still hasn't desceneded to Molyneux's type of hyperbolic pap.
Wright +100.
Really the man can only be compared to Sid Meier (Civ) and Peter Molyneux (Populous) as a giant and pioneer. And he's still dreaming big and implementing his ideas unlike Meier (who hasn't done anything in a long while) and he hasn't squandered any of his earned reputation and good will by making loudmouth claims that his demonstrations (and final games) can't back up unlike Molyneux.
I mean jeezus if Molyneux had been working on Spores, he woulda screeched things like 'Play the entire history of a species!!' to everybody in earshot as soon as he thought of it (which woulda been I dunno, around 2002?). Wright on the other hand had a concrete working demo from ALL STAGES of his ambitious game (from single celled to space exploration) before he even revealed it and he still hasn't desceneded to Molyneux's type of hyperbolic pap.
Wright +100.
inpHilltr8r
Member
Big sexy exciting demo at GDC. Cynical jaded developers gave several standing ovations. EA imposed blackout till E3.
Open Source
Banned
Lots of people created genres. Lots of people designed games that sold a lot of copies.
I don't know of many who have turned $25mil+ into an utter failure.
I mean, the simple fact is that he hasn't made a game I enjoyed for what, 15 years? And if you didn't enjoy the Sims, that's probably true for you, too.
Being around for a long time and having lots of money to burn on development doesn't make you a great designer.
Well, at least Spore can't be any worse than its predecessor, SimEarth.
I don't know of many who have turned $25mil+ into an utter failure.
I mean, the simple fact is that he hasn't made a game I enjoyed for what, 15 years? And if you didn't enjoy the Sims, that's probably true for you, too.
Being around for a long time and having lots of money to burn on development doesn't make you a great designer.
Well, at least Spore can't be any worse than its predecessor, SimEarth.
Open Source
Banned
Millions of people have also bought Barbie games. And Enter the Matrix.
Erm. the Sims is (next to GTA) one of the greatest video game success stories of our time.
Just because he hasn't created a game that has been entertaining for yourself (or perhaps many others that didn't enjoy the Sims) I wouldn't say that he was a failure! :lol
He's got to be doing something right to have designed and produced something that has sold so many units (and to the mainstream demographic as well).
Just because he hasn't created a game that has been entertaining for yourself (or perhaps many others that didn't enjoy the Sims) I wouldn't say that he was a failure! :lol
He's got to be doing something right to have designed and produced something that has sold so many units (and to the mainstream demographic as well).
Mike Works
Member
You're right, we shouldn't just the success of games on their sales, profit margins, awards, or franchise expansion potential, it should be whether or not Open Source liked them.Open Source said:
Dr.Guru of Peru
played the long game
Open Source said:
Where the puking rolleyes when you need it?
Open Source
Banned
Sims Online got a Developer's Choice award. So what? It's still a crappy game. It's quite expandable, but no one is foolish enough to expand it.
The games that make the most profit %wise are the PC shovelware games at Walmart, and silly cellphone games.
Why don't we all kiss the bottocks of the designer of Windows Solitare and Freecell, since so many people have been entertained by those games?
Or let us all talk about how ingenious and sophisticated Black & White is, even if there's not really much of a game there, per se. It was such a clever idea that we must acknowledge how clever the designer was to come up with it
Or let us sing the praises of Brad McQuaid, who took an interesting idea (advancing a persistent character in a 3d world) and designed a horrible--yet quite profitable and popular--game around it.
I don't consider Wright or McQuaid or Molyneaux great game designers, in the same way that I don't consider 50 Cent or Britney Spears great musicians.
The games that make the most profit %wise are the PC shovelware games at Walmart, and silly cellphone games.
Why don't we all kiss the bottocks of the designer of Windows Solitare and Freecell, since so many people have been entertained by those games?
Or let us all talk about how ingenious and sophisticated Black & White is, even if there's not really much of a game there, per se. It was such a clever idea that we must acknowledge how clever the designer was to come up with it
Or let us sing the praises of Brad McQuaid, who took an interesting idea (advancing a persistent character in a 3d world) and designed a horrible--yet quite profitable and popular--game around it.
I don't consider Wright or McQuaid or Molyneaux great game designers, in the same way that I don't consider 50 Cent or Britney Spears great musicians.
Open Source
Banned
My other handle is "The Game"
Mike Works
Member
So a game sells millions of copies, spawns a bunch of successful expansions, wins numerous awards from multiple sources, gets great reviews... but we're not supposed to judge it on that.Open Source said:
How are we supposed to judge what makes a game universally good? You're the one who came in here and attacked Wright and everyone who praised him as a great developer, so please enlighten us as to the correct way to judge a developer's talent.
Open Source said:
Utterly ridiculous.
You hear him Will Wright, start making games this kids enjoys or you're a total fucking failure!
Utter failure? Are you kidding me? Do you know what the word failure means? Seriously.
I don't even like the Sims, but to think that Will Wright is a failure is completely insane.
Open Source
Banned
Reading comprehension: the Sims Online cost $25mil. The Sims Online is an utter failure. Will Wright designed the Sims Online. Therefore, Will Wright turned $25mil into an utter failure. He isn't an utter failure.
He's a good designer. He had a good game recently, a good game a long time ago, several mediocre ones, and a bad one. He comes up with very creative ideas, even if he doesn't have the attention to detail that a top-flight designer should have.
What a great designer needs to have is the ability to come up with a high concept ("playing with dolls", "evolve a customized race from start to finish", "create and run a city", etc.) and the ability to nail down all the little details and mechanics that make the game enjoyable for a long time. Wright (and Molyneaux) come up with great concepts, but often something in the finished game is lacking (it was in the Sims, too, but the expansions did a good job of filling things in). On the flip side of that are designers like Paul Reiche III who are great at making the moment-to-moment gameplay enjoyable (Archon, Star Control 1+2, Unholy War, Pandemonium, etc.), but who don't come up with particularly appealing or original high concepts.
There are people who do both, but they are not "rock stars" in the industry because their titles don't necessarily sell millions of units, and they don't have millions of dollars to play around with making gee-whiz demos. I'm not going to name names, but if you look for the best games that have been made and see who made them, you'll come up with a few people that you probably haven't even heard of.
He's a good designer. He had a good game recently, a good game a long time ago, several mediocre ones, and a bad one. He comes up with very creative ideas, even if he doesn't have the attention to detail that a top-flight designer should have.
What a great designer needs to have is the ability to come up with a high concept ("playing with dolls", "evolve a customized race from start to finish", "create and run a city", etc.) and the ability to nail down all the little details and mechanics that make the game enjoyable for a long time. Wright (and Molyneaux) come up with great concepts, but often something in the finished game is lacking (it was in the Sims, too, but the expansions did a good job of filling things in). On the flip side of that are designers like Paul Reiche III who are great at making the moment-to-moment gameplay enjoyable (Archon, Star Control 1+2, Unholy War, Pandemonium, etc.), but who don't come up with particularly appealing or original high concepts.
There are people who do both, but they are not "rock stars" in the industry because their titles don't necessarily sell millions of units, and they don't have millions of dollars to play around with making gee-whiz demos. I'm not going to name names, but if you look for the best games that have been made and see who made them, you'll come up with a few people that you probably haven't even heard of.
Open Source
Banned
Julian Gollop
Steve Barcia
Sid Meier (and no, he hasn't done anything great lately)
Shigeru Miyamoto (admittedly, I don't personally care for his games, but they are well-designed nonetheless)
are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Steve Barcia
Sid Meier (and no, he hasn't done anything great lately)
Shigeru Miyamoto (admittedly, I don't personally care for his games, but they are well-designed nonetheless)
are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.