[game_preservation] Armin Gessert, Giana Sisters creator, passed away

[Stuart Feldhamer]

Sorry for the late reply, but I would question the assertion that the Great
Giana Sisters “became an instant classic”. I had a C64 back in the day and I
never even heard of that game until a couple of years ago. I think it’s more
of one of those things that became a cult classic over time, more for the
plagiarism than for anything else.

 

Does anyone else agree/disagree?

 

Stuart

 

From: game_preservation-bounces at igda.org
[mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Devin Monnens
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 12:53 PM
To: IGDA Game Preservation SIG; women_dev at igda.org
Subject: [game_preservation] Armin Gessert, Giana Sisters creator, passed
away

 

Armin Gessert (1963 - November 9, 2009)

 

Armin Gessert, creator of The Great Giana Sisters (Commodore 64, 1987),
passed away on November 9 from a heart attack.

 

With a career spanning 25 years in the industry, Gessert began designing
games for Rainbow Arts, starting with Street Gang for Rainbow Arts
(Commodore 64, 1984). He later created The Great Giana Sisters (1987), which
became an instant classic. Shortly after, he began freelance work for
Gütersloh to Kehl until joining Blue Byte in 1988, where he produced the
highly successful Great Court (1989). In 1994, he went independent after
founding Spellbound Studios with his friend Jean-Marc Haessig. Spellbound
produced many strategy games such as Robin Hood - Legend of Sherwood (2002)
and Airline Tycoon (1998), along with other action titles such as Extreme
Assault (1997).

 

Gessert's most famous title is The Great Giana Sisters, which he produced
with Chris Huelsbeck and Manfred Trenz for the Commodore 64. The Great Giana
Sisters was an instant classic for the C64 and developed a strong following
among fans. However, the game's similarities with Super Mario Bros. caused
Nintendo to force the game to be pulled from store shelves, but illegal
copying quickly vaulted the title to cult status. Gessert had been working
on a Nintendo DS version of the game when he passed away.

 

Gessert and The Great Giana Sisters had a strong following, and his passing
was marked by many websites, both fan-based and industry.


http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=26008 - Gamasutra

http://www.spellbound.de/?idcat=10
<http://www.spellbound.de/?idcat=10&idart=284> &idart=284 - Spellbound's
official announcement (German)

http://www.develop-online.net/news/33226/Industry-veteran-Gessert-dies-after
-fatal-heart-attack - Develop, who first published the news in English

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/industry_news/26008/giana_sisters_cocreator_a
rmin_.php - Gamasutra article mirror 

http://www.remix64.com/armin_gessert_deceased.html - Remix 64

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36443/Veteran-dev-Armin-Gessert-dies - MCV

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,699174/Armin-Gessert-Spellbound-Schoepfer-
der-Great-Giana-Sisters-verstorben/Spiele/News/ - PC Games Hardware (German)

http://www.metafilter.com/86532/Armin-Gessert-passed-away - MetaFilter

http://www.pouet.net/topic.php?which=6945- Pouet user comments

 

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,35317/ - MobyGames
Profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Gessert - Armin Gessert's article on
Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Giana_Sisters - Article on The Great
Giana Sisters
-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

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