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

[Henry Lowood]

So the problem here is with the term "instant classic," which is used 
twice.   I doubt there is any problem with the facts of the obit, Devin 
is pretty careful.   My suggestion would be to delete the phrase; it 
doesn't add much to the content and it seems to be a comment magnet.    
Also, with all respect, I'm not sure what "instant classic" means; seems 
like an oxymoron to me.

By the way, it may not have been an instant classic, but there is now a 
DS version of Giana Sisters, so that must make it a "classic" of some 
sort -- or at least an Evergreen.

And, btw, the cover art for the original C64 version probably deserves 
some commentary (cf. Mobygames).

Henry




Stuart Feldhamer 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] *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&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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>   


-- 
Henry Lowood
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;
     Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall, Stanford University Libraries
Stanford CA 94305-6004 USA
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood
lowood at stanford.edu; 650-723-4602

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