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Miyamoto, Garfield, Church To Talk At Smithsonian

Posted by simoniker on from the famous-people dept.

tripmaster writes "I'm lucky enough to have been asked to assemble and moderate a panel at the Smithsonian on May 16th; so I asked myself, who can I ask, given the cachet of an invite to speak at the Smithsonian (prior speakers: Berners-Lee, Cerf, Gates, Streep, Albright, etc.)? We ended up choosing Shigeru Miyamoto for console gaming, Richard Garfield for pen and paper games, Doug Church for PC games. /.-ers in the DC area (or on the East coast) should come see the panel, which will be a meaty 2-3 hours. I'm looking forward to asking questions and getting out of the way -- I think their cross-talk could be especially interesting. It's the weekend after the E3 Expo, which is probably the only time Miyamoto's in the States and available -- hopefully he'll also bring his E3 demos to show." Although a little pricey at $40, this is certainly a rare chance to see game design legends, particularly Miyamoto, in a roundtable.

7 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Why Richard Garfield? by Pluvius · · Score: 3, Insightful

    MtG isn't really a PnP RPG at all. Couldn't you have invited Steve Jackson or one of the White Wolf people?

    The other two are fine, though you might have been better off going with a legend in PC gaming (Will Wright, Sid Meier) considering your choice of Miyamoto in the console field.

    Rob

    1. Re:Why Richard Garfield? by tripmaster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yah, but personally, I think Church's contributions -- first 1st person 2.5D game (Underworld before Wolfenstein), first true 3D first person game (System Shock, 13 months b4 Quake) and Thief (pioneered stealth game play) give him content cred (vs. sales cred). And SS and Thief helped pioneer 'emergent gameplay'. He's a great programmer and designer, and often Warren Spector gets (unwilling) cred for projects Doug has led... Hopefully I can persuade Sid to come and say hi. I may see if I can grab Will and someone else for another panel, if this one's well-received.

  2. price... by reluctantengineer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'd like to be there, but at $40 I'd rather buy a video game than listen to people talk about them.

    1. Re:price... by L7_ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Some people like to discuss game design, criticize and point out flaws in current games and discuss the artwork of said games on web forums (like this one), in IRC or even IRL moreso than they actually like to play the games themselves.

      So for $40, if they can post on slashdot or wherever saying that "when I saw Miyamoto talk about that, he said etc etc" then $40 is small potatoes.

    2. Re:price... by Lewisham · · Score: 4, Interesting

      About 25 quid (by my very quick reckoning) is peanuts to watch Miyamoto's translator talk about games :) The decomposition of games is fun, and is important to people who just want to buy games. If you understand what you enjoy, you can see why you preferred Unreal Tournament over Quake III (I know I did), when, to all intents and purposes, they are the same game.

      Miyamoto is a games genius not through divine intervention but through a unique understanding of what makes games great. Although actually expressing his views is very difficult, it is definitely worth the money to see him. I wish I could be there, and hear exactly what he has to say. I've only ever heard snippits of his ideas, but he once said that the way games control is one of the most important aspects. Prince of Persia was an astonishing game built solely on that aspect, that could probably have been a lot longer coming had it not been for Super Mario 64. That game was so groundbreaking because of control in a 3D environment, not because of the 3D itself. The thinking needed to design such a system is not easy, and the industry is better off with visionaries like him.

      I once went to a roundtable of an American female games journalist, the head of Rockstar in the UK, Dene Carter (of Fable fame), Miles Jacobson (of Championship Manager fame) and David Brabham (I have absolutely no intention of filling you in if you don't know ;) ). Games encompass so much, marketing, psychology, art, that listening to these people's differing views was quite eye-opening.

      Of note: The American female journalist was discussing how empowering Lara Croft was as a female superhero, and throwing up explanations as to why males could identify her. Dene Carter was sat out of peripheral vision, making large breast gesticulations.

      Fair point, well made.

      And hey, if you don't like watching people speaking about games, go and buy the latest tat from EA. There isn't much innovation to deconstruct there ;)

  3. No love for Miyamoto by An'Desha+Danin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From the article:
    Doug Church, chief technology director, Eidos North America, is the game designer of Ultima Underworld (I & II), System Shock, and Thief: The Dark Project, three games in the top 20 of PC Gamers' recent list.
    ...
    Shigeru Miyamoto, senior managing director, Entertainment Analysis and Development Division, Nintendo Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, is the inventor of     Donkey Kong.
    ... They give Doug Church credit for three of his biggest projects and all they can up with for freaking Shigeru Miyamoto is "he made Donkey Kong"? Where's the love?
    --
    Anything you might ever need to say about anything has already been said better by Penny Arcade.
  4. Re:No love for Miyamoto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seeing as how you're going to be moderating this thing, here's a friendly tip.

    Please DON'T refer to Miyamoto-san directly as "Miyamoto-sama." It is far too reverential, and would be sure to cause him a little bit of embarrassment (which is a definite no-no for Japanese guests of honor, even in a purely Japanese setting).

    Some people in the industry call him "Miyamoto-sensei," because he is considered by these people a master from whom they take direct inspiration. But these industry people are typically game designers, not journalists or anyone else outside of actual game development.

    In all cases, "Miyamoto-san" is very appropriate, as well as respectful. You're probably aware of these as well, but other terms to avoid are "Shigeru," "Shigeru-san," "Shigga Man," and perhaps even the more elaborate "Snoop Shiggy Shigg."

    And while I'm at it, "MIYAMOTO Shigeru-san," in the full, is probably the best way to introduce him at first, but it would be perfectly appropriate to just call him "Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto."

    Can't wait to read or hear what he has to say! Here's hoping that it's as fun for you being a part of the discussion.