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Sir Peter Molyneux?
KBV writes "It seems that for the first time in history a games developer has been granted an OBE (Order Of the British Empire) by the Queen of England. When Peter Molyneux - the creator of Black & White, Fable, Populous and many other games - was asked by BBC News about the honor he simply said "It's come completely out of the blue, I never would have guessed that I'd have that kind of honour." For the games industry as a whole, this is very much a good thing. It's great that developers are being recognized for their hard work and cultural impact on the world."
That's a Knighthood or KBE for overseas, I believe.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Steven Spielberg, but just Peter M OBE, here.
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For us non-Brits, what exactly does being knighted confer on you? What are the benefits if any?
How selective is it? How many people are knighted, and how often?
-- Samir Gupta, Ph. D. Head, New Technology Research Group, Nintendo Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.
Now, it's not unusual for "celebrities of the moment" getting awards from the PM, but a games designer is rarely considered a celebrity. And Populus is hardly a current game.
Don't get me wrong - I think this is a good trend, and I'd like to see Ian Bell and David Braben also get awards for their contributions. It's just very surprising - it goes against the usual way these things work.
Mind you, Britain's current Prime Minister is a former Heavy Metal guitarist, so I guess unusual things can be expected to happen from time to time.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
You know, the Queen has got to be the biggest moron in the entire world.
Much as I hate the Royal Family, you can blame the government for the poor choice of candidates. Remember, it's Tony Blair's behind you have to kiss if you want a knighthood. (David Blunkett will probably get something to cheer him up now he's out of a job).
Besides, scientists do 'controversial' things that millions of registered voters might object to, so no awards for them.
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Only knighted British subjects get the title Sir. Certainly not Americans, that's what you get for tossing the tea.
The relevant Constitutional clause reads:
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
This only prohibits those who "hold any office of profit or trust under [the United States]" from accepting titles, which I think has been interpreted to mean those who hold a position in government (although I could be wrong there).
As a bit of trivia, Canada also has a prohibition (the Nickle Resolution) against its citizens accepting foreign titles, including British peerage titles---even though it recognizes the Queen as titular head of state. I believe several other Commonwealth countries (Australia and New Zealand?) have similar prohibitions on British honors.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Gates is in fact playing both sides of the table and donates to both the Republican party and the Democratic party. This is common practice in the business world.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
That and we don't have to be subjects.
The Commander-in-Chief can anytime he wants to call you an "enemy combatant" and toss you into a naval brig in Carolina, but at least you are not a "subject", right? The words are all important aren't they?
Well deserved award. Not only was Populus an stroke of pure, unadulterated genious (and helped create an entire game genre), but to my knowledge, Populus was one of the few games that was never successfully cracked. I recall a slew of irritating patches that *never* worked.
a) A problem with royalty (Benjamin Zephania or however you spell it turned it down for this reason).
Actually, Benjamin Zephaniah's reasons were a bit more complicated. The long and short of it is what the 'E' in the OBE stands for, and its history. More details in this article, from the man's own mouth.