[game_preservation] Arthur C. Clarke dies, aged 90

[Dyson, Jon-Paul]

This has been a fascinating discussion and I think an important one to have early on. My vote as well would be not to include Arthur C. Clarke--while clearly influential it does seem like his direct involvement in the gaming industry was tangential. For the sake of keeping the memorials focused I think it would be better to concentrate those with very direct influence on the gaming industry. Gygax invented a game-playing system that in a sense became the game-play engine for a vast number of electronic games so I would make an exception for him. Clarke did not invent science fiction even if he did much to popularize it. On the other hand if this were an encyclopedia project (similar to John Clute's Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Encyclopedia of Science Fiction) I would include Clarke in an entry on science fiction and its influence on video games.

Thanks to all who are working on these memorials--they're very important.

Best,
J.P. 



Jon-Paul C. Dyson, Ph.D.
Vice President for Exhibit Research and Development and
Associate Curator for Electronic Games
Strong National Museum of Play
One Manhattan Square
Rochester, NY 14607
Direct line: 585-410-6341
Fax: 585-263-2493
Email: jpdyson at museumofplay.org
Website: http://museumofplay.org



-----Original Message-----
From: game_preservation-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Alan Au
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 1:43 AM
To: game_preservation at igda.org
Subject: Re: [game_preservation] Arthur C. Clarke dies, aged 90

Arthur Clarke did indeed do quite a bit of work on the Rama game, but I would suggest that (to my knowledge) he isn't famous because of game-related work or advocacy.  Therefore, I think it's kind of a stretch to include him as a well-known games industry insider.  That is, if I had to draw a line somewhere, he would fall below it.  Just my $.02.

- Alan