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Trip Hawkins Inducted Into AIAS Hall Of Fame
Voodoo Extreme has the news that game development veteran Trip Hawkins has been inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame. Previous inductees have included luminaries such as Peter Molyneux, Will Wright, and Sid Meier. Individuals are inducted for "pioneering a new game genre; changing the face of the art form through new technology; influencing other designers and products; demonstrating the highest level of creativity and innovation; and consistent product success at a level that helps expand the industry."
I'm very surprised that he is being inducted with all of the EA stuff going on all around us. Also, he ran 3D0 into bankrupcy with a terribly over-priced console.
I don't think anyone can claim that the founder of Electronic Arts has not had a signficant impact on the video game industry. That being said I am weathering my house for the flame storm I am predicting not far down the road.
Truely though, he left EA in what, 1991? To found 3DO of all companies, a company which really didn't have much impact on the industry. Now he is trying another venu, Digital Chocolate.. A Pocket-Computer game developer.. Considering that EA wasn't really that big a deal back in 1991, how much effect did this man really have. I hate to sound like I am trying to cheapen his award (because, thats exactly what I sound like), but I think there are a number of developers out there who are more deserving of this award.
One can not help but wonder what the industry would be like if he was still running EA. Considering his success with 3DO, I will speculate that the face of the industry would be much different.
--- "End Of Line" - MCP
From the AIAS qualification list for induction:
[C]onsistent product success at a level that helps expand the industry.
Perhaps they glossed over that requirement in this case? After all, running a company into the ground by selling a console 7x more expensive than their competitors (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_Hawkins) isn't exactly product success.
Trip Hawkins is an interesting choice, in that the other inductees were all heavily involved in game development, whereas he was more of a facilitator. There's also a great deal of debate on whether Hawkins is to be villified or celebrated. I'll throw in with the latter category, because he pulled together the "electronic artists" who created my favorite games of the early '80s.
An article written by the Dot Eaters does a good job of describing how I think of Electronic Arts when it was just a small studio. I'm still fond of those LP-style packages. And their toolbox-titles, such as Adventure Construction Set, Pinball Construction Set and Racing Destruction Set brought about my own interest in creating games with a strong building component to them. There was nothing in the world like M.U.L.E. before Dan Bunten/Danielle Bunten Berry created it. And I think it was Hawkins that made these things possible.
He may deserve the harsh scrutiny he receives -- and, certainly, he's not going to win any points with anyone for his comments earlier this year. But somehow I can't hate the fellow who brought together so many bright folks under one roof. Electronic Arts has recently published some of my favorite games, but it's the early ones I remember best.
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