[game_preservation] Arthur C. Clarke dies, aged 90

[Andrew Armstrong]

Billy, great point - which is why I brought up Gary Gygax as an example 
counterpoint for having "influence" via. the medium of credits - but 
this is a much better example!

At the moment, the SIG won't be documenting influential people who are 
still alive (I know that sounds really bad, sorry), because we don't 
have a suitable website for this (Wikipedia isn't suitable at all, and 
Mobygames can't provide the depth needed, and I have no idea how it 
handles uncredited people), but keep this kind of thing in mind, and 
we'll come back to it later.

For now and on the current issue, I'm still on the fence a bit about 
Arthur C. Clarke, but am edging towards adding him since Billy says he's 
more an influence then the credits presume. If you are influenced by him 
yourself Billy, and are willing to write a short 
obituary/biography/influence piece, I'd be happy to sort it onto a 
memorial page.

Andrew

Billy Cain wrote:

>

> Hey,

>

>  

>

> Speaking of Gygax, where's Dave Arneson in MobyGames (pretty poor 

> showing -- you'll see)?

>

>  

>

> Dave Arneson is currently actually teaching game design at Full Sail, 

> which one could argue is far more broad-reaching for the game industry.

>

>  

>

> Read more here and read between the lines of "Blackmoor": 

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Arneson

>

>  

>

> So... I would argue that it's damn hard to use MobyGames as a true 

> sample of who is really doing what in the game industry.

>

>  

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Billy Cain

>

>  

>

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> *From:* game_preservation-bounces at igda.org 

> [mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Andrew 

> Armstrong

> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 18, 2008 6:32 PM

> *To:* IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* Re: [game_preservation] Arthur C. Clarke dies, aged 90

>

>  

>

> Since the project isn't finalised, I'm going to be asking about much 

> more fringe memorials then this ;-) people die all the time, and you 

> are practically the lead on this project Devin!

>

> You might also be interested to know Gary Gygax was worse for 

> Mobygames credits! Perhaps not a good indicator of influence or 

> whatever, since Gygax surely was more important then 3 "thank you" 

> credits right?

>

> http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,44862/

>

> If more of Arthur C. Clarke's books were made into games (of one sort 

> or another), or he wrote any game scripts, it might have been worth 

> adding him I think. He wasn't that kind of author however, and his 

> books don't readily make good game material (on the other hand, as 

> concepts for action packed films...).

>

> I am happy to see a rebuttal of this evidence from Devin ;-) since 

> Arthur C. Clarke did have one game made from a book of his (Rendezvous 

> with Rama), which means I'm still on the fence, although I won't add 

> him by myself.

>

> Andrew

>

> Captain Commando wrote:

>

> Andrew,

>

> While Arthur C Clark is referenced in a few videogames and some of his 

> books have been made into games, he's not really been part of the 

> credits of them:

>

> http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,2889/

>

> Some of these say 'special thanks to' but it seems more like they are 

> saying 'he's been a big influence on us!' rather than 'Arthur C. Clark 

> consulted for our game and told us how to design part of it.' The one 

> reference where he's listed as an actor sounds as if it's an 

> interview, but without the game I can't tell if it's an interview 

> about the book, about the science, or about the game.

>

> So while Clark was an important part of the science and science 

> fiction community I don't think he can really be said to have an 

> influence on game design other than through the narratives of the 

> universes he created. Sadly, I think we have to draw a line there.

>

> -DM

>

>

> On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 3:27 PM, Andrew Armstrong 

> <andrew at aarmstrong.org <mailto:andrew at aarmstrong.org>> wrote:

>

> I was wondering if we wanted to put a memorial page for a great Sci Fi

> author in the memorial project - if we do, say, and I'll put one up.

>

> In any case, I'm sure people here might be interested in knowing he's

> passed away: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7304004.stm

>

> Andrew

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>

>

> -- 

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

> "Until next time..."

> Captain Commando

>

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