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

[Andrew Armstrong]

Might be localised importance? I am sure some regional differences are 
true of that era, and country differences of course.

Could do with some experts in certain systems fact-checking these 
memorials (or putting up any relevant information) but quite honestly I 
don't know any to ask myself, haha :)

Andrew

Devin Monnens wrote:

> I was going by what Wikipedia said. You'd have to find someone who 

> knows more about C64 than I do...

>

> On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 11:13 AM, Stuart Feldhamer 

> <stuart.feldhamer at gmail.com <mailto:stuart.feldhamer at gmail.com>> wrote:

>

>     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>

>     [mailto: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

>     <mailto: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&idart=284

>     <http://www.spellbound.de/?idcat=10&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_armin_.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 <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

>     The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

>

>     _______________________________________________

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>

>

>

>

> -- 

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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