Best Games Designer Ever?

[skuzgib]

Shigeru Miyamoto

Word.

[bertie]

Don't think anyone could argue with that.
Others may have made more significant single contributions but no-one has been able to match that clever Japanese man

[ekundo]

i can honestly say i couldnt name a single game designer, i'm too busy playing the things to know their names :S

[Agent]

Does CliffyB count as a designer?

I wouldn’t say an all out games designer, but level and graphics designer, yes.
He has created some cracking content. As he's doing what im at uni for, I have a lot of respect for him.

[Swafe]

Word.

Excel to that, brother !

[Deadlight]

Word.

WTF?

[Aaron]

Derek Smart, PhD gets my vote!

[Odc]

Kojima FTW!

[Stewart]

But not originality obviously.

Although you are clearly ignorant of the many inovations to game design made by Miyamoto in the Mario games, I should point out that not including the Mario and Zelda series, Miyamoto also had a role in: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Donkey Kong 3, Wave Race, Earthbound, F-Zero, Starfox, 1080 Snowboarding, Animal Forrest, F-Zero X, Star Fox 64, Wave Race 64, Yoshi's Story, 1080 Avalanche, Animal Crossing, Donkey Konga, Doshin the Giant, Geist, Kirbys Air Ride, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Pacman Vs, Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Wario World, Wave Race: Blue Storm, and many, many more.

As well as that, at Nintendo he was invovled in the design choices that gave us shoulder buttons on control pads and analog control sticks on game pads; original game music, 2D-to-3D game play, and a load of other inovations all owe some of their success in some part to Miyamoto.

In fact, the sheer amount of inovations and little touches in the Mario series alone is a match for any games designers libary of 'originality'. Add Zelda and his other titles, and it is by far the most original and important body of work by any games designer ever.

Apart from that, everything you said was correct. Oh, that's all you said...

[DavidM]

PrivatePyle did mention Jeff Minter... now he is certainly a great character

[BEANFro Elite]

Nope, Miyamoto all the way, he does more than design games, it was him who got me into games in the first place, Darwinia's concept was shamelessly yoinked, Pic-Min anyone? there you have it...

Bow down to the true king of gaming!!

As for the guy who said Oleg Maddox, per-lease!! As much as I love the IL-2 games and believe me I LOVE them, there isn't much scope in Oleg's porfolio to make him worthy of the title of Best Games Designer Ever? Oleg is good, but Miyamoto is THE best

[Stewart]

Nope, Miyamoto all the way, he does more than design games, it was him who got me into games in the first place

As a fellow brother, I knew I could rely on your support.

Did someone seriously suggest that the bloke who designed the IL-2 games has done more for video game design than Miyamoto?

I hope he's done about 30 other games, all of which have sold in the millions, all of which were released to mass critical acclaim, all of which introduced new features which became standards in their type of game. (Miyamoto has done far more, but his main body of 'famous' work is about this size)

I hope he is regarded as a creative genius in the industry without exception.

I hope people other designers say things like "To me, Miyamoto is like God." about him, like Toshihiro Nagoshi said at a recent E3.

I hope his games are the yardstick to which all other games (of a certain genre) are aiming for.

I hope you could make a credable Top 10 games of all time list using only games he is responsible for.

I hope there is hardly a gamer in the world who hasn't played one of his games.

If not, that claim is looking as thin as Posh Spice on the Atkins diet.

[shiato storm]

Who do you reckon?

In this thread I'll make the case for who I think it is, then you can agree, or disagree and make a case for someone else.

Right, lets get on with it then: Its Shigeru Miyamoto. No ifs, no buts. End of thread.

agreed. the man's a legend.

no more need be said. no one else consistantly churns out fantastic games that not only look good but play brilliantly.

[axis09]

ahh mario kart......still the most fun i have had without a naked chick

[Stewart]

ahh mario kart......still the most fun i have had without a naked chick

Exactly. The excitment, pressing the right buttons, wondering if you are going to come second or first... Mario Kart is pretty good as well.

What is most amazing is how is consistently comes back with a game that completely blows the previous effort away, when the previous effort was considered unbelivably good.

Mario Bros comes out, everyone raves about it, its *the* game to play. By the time you get to Mario Bros 3, the original Mario Bros looks like something he knocked together in 10 minutes during a coffee break.

Then comes Mario World, which improves on the gameplay again and you think even someone like Miyamoto has done all he can do, then along comes Mario 64, and it blows everyone away again.

The Zelda series is the same; I mean, the man has taken 2 of the best games ever in their 2D form, and taken both of them into the 3D world, and in doing so creates 2 of the finest video game achivments ever. Both games are crafted to perfection, as if there were several previous 3D Mario and Zelda games to learn from.

This is why I will buy the Revolution. What genuine gamer doesn't want to play the next Mario or the next Zelda?

[yamangman]

Nope, Miyamoto all the way, he does more than design games, it was him who got me into games in the first place, Darwinia's concept was shamelessly yoinked, Pic-Min anyone? there you have it...

Bow down to the true king of gaming!!

As for the guy who said Oleg Maddox, per-lease!! As much as I love the IL-2 games and believe me I LOVE them, there isn't much scope in Oleg's porfolio to make him worthy of the title of Best Games Designer Ever? Oleg is good, but Miyamoto is THE best

Nah have to disagree, I have no time for any japanese titles, the entire mario/zelda series, metal gear, final fantasy. All entirely boring repetitive nonsense.