Most Overated Game Designer?

Hi

The subject of overated games comes up a lot but what designer do you think is overated?
My personel pick is Will Wright.....I've never played any game by him that was even halfway compelling....The Sims was like a virtual toy..Sim City 3000..Got tired of it quick too.
ttomm1946

I'd say Peter Molyneux, but I think he's pretty much recognized as a has-been at this point. Nobody else really comes to mind.Alaris83

Yeh he brags about his games sooo much and then they release totally different to what he says and this has happened EVERY TIME. The only kool title which was a "demo" was this thing called "the room" which he announced would never be a game and it's like then why friggin show us it then?

No more lack luster ego titles from him please.


+ u ever notice he always says "I"     "I did this"       "me me me me me" and never "the team did this" and he always talks like he has no team working on these titles :

Also Will can't be overrated lol...

The Sims series is probally the biggest selling ever.

Will Wright is also my pick. I played the original Sim City on the Amiga like mad, 3000 on the PC a bit and that's it.

Out of the 3 designers mentioned so far I'd definitely pick Peter Molyneux. Since the slight disappointment of Black&White (even though I acknowledge it was a groundbreaking game and I had a lot of fun with the pet creature), and the utter letdown that was Fable (I tried to finish it twice, but each time uninstalled it in a hurry. I think Fable was an "rpg" for kids who are too young to play Wow), I have lost all faith in him. Like someone said above, he's kind of a has been now.

About Sid Meier's games: they all share the "Sid touch", which is the result of his unique way of developing games. The gameplay is extremely well polished (even if the graphics often aren't) and his games are mostly of the "easy to learn, hard to master" type, which is great by me.

Cheers,

Tom.

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]Hi

The subject of overated games comes up a lot but what designer do you think is overated?
My personel pick is Will Wright.....I've never played any game by him that was even halfway compelling....The Sims was like a virtual toy..Sim City 3000..Got tired of it quick too.
Krall

I agree.  Just seems like the Sim franchise just isnt for you, whether its building a city or building a home for a family.

As for me, I gotta say John Romero.  Alright, so he was lead designer on Quake, Doom, and Wolfenstein...does that mean he gets a free ride for the rest of his life?  And lets not forget Daikatana.  Last time I looked, he helps makes games for cell phones and is a chairman for the Cyberathlete League.

More of a developer, but they still have designers up at Rockstar. Their resume consists of repetition, repetition and some more repetition. They effectively stopped designing games after GTA3, and just let the name sell copies. San Andreas was the last straw. Who wants to spend their time learning how to swim in a video game, in order to be able to do a mission? Or having to have to eat every 20 minutes at Cluckin' Bell. Damn that game was stupid... And don't get me started on the graphics!monco59

1. Peter Molineux (Fable)

2. Chris Taylor (Supreme Commander)

3. Bill Gates (Vista)

Hi

The subject of overated games comes up a lot but what designer do you think is overated?
My personel pick is Will Wright.....I've never played any game by him that was even halfway compelling....The Sims was like a virtual toy..Sim City 3000..Got tired of it quick too.
ttomm1946

Peter Molyneux

Populous
Powermonger
Syndicate
Flood
Black & white
Dungeon keeper
Magic carpet
Fable
Movies

Its true Molyneux is very much a PR man, but the games he has helped to create are some of the most innovative and greatest games ever. Overrated?? I don't think so.
Will wright and Sid meier are also legends. The industry needs innovation not run and jump games. We have to admire these for even staying in the industry at a time when piracy is killing it.
ardylicious

Thank God for that, I was beginning to think I was the only person who still thought Peter Molyneux was ace! OK, he has over-promised in the past, but he has made some cast-iron solid-gold games, and if he can pull off what he's trying to do in Fable 2, then that could very well be his masterpiece.

As for who is over-rated? I don't know, although I've been a bit disappointed with id recently. Doom III was interesting and atmospheric, but it did feel sort of a step back in a way. I'd much rather they tried to do something different, rather than become an engine factory (and even then they don't seem to be as successful as the Unreal guys).

valve?Artosa

lol I will assume the question mark means youre being sarcastic.  What has Valve done that hasnt been short of amazing?  Nothing!

Halflife?  Brilliant
Halflife 2?  Almost as brilliant as Halflife 1
Episode 1? Short, yes, but very cool and fun game.
Steam?  The ideal model for every digital distribution system.  Mainstream games, independent games, mods, demos, automatic patches...sure, it takes an extra 30 seconds to start your game [and that MUST be a valid reason to hate Steam, right?] but wtf, it works great!

You may not like Valve, and thats fine, but they deserve every ounce of credit they get and more.

Spoken like a true fanboy, eh wot?

Sid Meier.Shut_Me_Up

I don't know if he's overrated but I haven't been able to connect with his games so far. And I must admit, I get tired of everyone kissing his butt and seemingly automatically giving AAA to any game that bears his name.

Oh by the way Shut_Me_Up, those are some great albums in your Sig.

[QUOTE="Artosa"]valve?mrbojangles25

lol I will assume the question mark means youre being sarcastic.  What has Valve done that hasnt been short of amazing?  Nothing!

Halflife?  Brilliant
Halflife 2?  Almost as brilliant as Halflife 1
Episode 1? Short, yes, but very cool and fun game.
Steam?  The ideal model for every digital distribution system.  Mainstream games, independent games, mods, demos, automatic patches...sure, it takes an extra 30 seconds to start your game [and that MUST be a valid reason to hate Steam, right?] but wtf, it works great!

You may not like Valve, and thats fine, but they deserve every ounce of credit they get and more.

Spoken like a true fanboy, eh wot?

[QUOTE="Shut_Me_Up"]Sid Meier.AFBrat77

And I must admit, I get tired of everyone kissing his butt and seemingly automatically giving AAA to any game that bears his name.

Oh by the way Shut_Me_Up, those are some great albums in your Sig.

Chris Taylor. His games are all unimaginative and full of cliches. I must admit he does break some grounds on the technological level, though

Total Annhiliation: Cyborg vs cyborgs and transfer of consciousness from flesh to machine! That's old even for 1997 standard. It's true it features 3D units but basically that's it. The resource gathering and almost identical arsenals for both sides mean the battle is guaranteed to fight to a stand still. And I find myself playing on the radar more than on the battlefield

Dungeon Siege: The bad guy got the bad weapon and now the good guy must stop him with the good weapon. Well, I don't think I need to talk too much about the story and setting of Dungeon Siege. The seamless world is cool, but graphics cast aside it's just a Diablo clone.

Supreme Commander: Same as TA, except this time we have extinct, green scaly aliens! "The way!" (Why not "the force"?)

I've played all of these games and all except Dungeon Siege are enjoyable, but I don't think they are that ground breaking as people claim. They are just... showy.

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="Shut_Me_Up"]Sid Meier.P_unit_131

And I must admit, I get tired of everyone kissing his butt and seemingly automatically giving AAA to any game that bears his name.

Oh by the way Shut_Me_Up, those are some great albums in your Sig.

I knew someone was gonna say er write that ;)

I forgot about Fable...It was a major letdown since a lot of the things like getting a cool name or tatoos and flirting had nothing to do with winning the game...I guess Peter is a good choice too..Never fully delivers what he says he will.
ttomm1946

   Yeah but he has had some great series.. Like Dungeon Keeper series..

I'd have to disagree that all Sid's games have the same feel..what about Gettysburg?..Totally different than the civ games.ttomm1946

Hi

The subject of overated games comes up a lot but what designer do you think is overated?
My personel pick is Will Wright.....I've never played any game by him that was even halfway compelling....The Sims was like a virtual toy..Sim City 3000..Got tired of it quick too.
ttomm1946

More of a developer, but they still have designers up at Rockstar. Their resume consists of repetition, repetition and some more repetition. They effectively stopped designing games after GTA3, and just let the name sell copies. San Andreas was the last straw. Who wants to spend their time learning how to swim in a video game, in order to be able to do a mission? Or having to have to eat every 20 minutes at Cluckin' Bell. Damn that game was stupid... And don't get me started on the graphics!monco59

Peter Molyneux

Populous
Powermonger
Syndicate
Flood
Black & white
Dungeon keeper
Magic carpet
Fable
Movies

Its true Molyneux is very much a PR man, but the games he has helped to create are some of the most innovative and greatest games ever. Overrated?? I don't think so.
Will wright and Sid meier are also legends. The industry needs innovation not run and jump games. We have to admire these for even staying in the industry at a time when piracy is killing it.

My overrated developers would be Blizzard.

Although they have created great game communities the games are multiplayer based. As for single player they can't hold up with TA and Baldurs gate.
When diablo and diablo 2 was released they only hit 70-80% back then... They have added nothing to creativity but endless linear mulitplayer games....


ardylicious

John D. Carmack II ChocoKat

Rofl the pc indistry isnt dead...There still great people making good games..We have as much developers if not more making games now..Than we did a few years back..Every one knows it takes 3-4 years to develope good pc games..Its why we dont get games like consoles every year...When we do get games though we get games like crysis,spore,hellgate london an a few others...

Also the pc indistry is changing...

Now shouldnt this topic be....What developer do you miss that is long dead?Who would you like to see back from the grave...

More of a developer, but they still have designers up at Rockstar. Their resume consists of repetition, repetition and some more repetition. They effectively stopped designing games after GTA3, and just let the name sell copies. San Andreas was the last straw. Who wants to spend their time learning how to swim in a video game, in order to be able to do a mission? Or having to have to eat every 20 minutes at Cluckin' Bell. Damn that game was stupid... And don't get me started on the graphics!monco59

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]I'd have to disagree that all Sid's games have the same feel..what about Gettysburg?..Totally different than the civ games.Krall

I though CivCity Rome wasnt developed by Sid Meier? Not even Firaxis? It was developed by Firefly, the studio behind Stronghold. I think the role of Firaxis in CivCity is kind of like that of ID in Quake 4 (so Firefly will be Raven), more like consultation and inspiration.

More of a developer, but they still have designers up at Rockstar. Their resume consists of repetition, repetition and some more repetition. They effectively stopped designing games after GTA3, and just let the name sell copies. San Andreas was the last straw. Who wants to spend their time learning how to swim in a video game, in order to be able to do a mission? Or having to have to eat every 20 minutes at Cluckin' Bell. Damn that game was stupid... And don't get me started on the graphics!monco59