Sid Meier getting Lifetime Achievement Award at GDC

[bapenguin]

This year at GDC one of the all time great developers, Sid Meier, will be getting a lifetime achievement award.

“Sid Meier has served as one of our industry’s greatest role models for more than 25 years, creating fun and intelligent games for a diverse public long before it was popular,” said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference. “Now that the rest of the industry is actively targeting the broader audience, it’s fitting to honor him with our highest award and thank him for his continuing example of inspiration for the video game community.”

Meier began his career as a founding partner of MicroProse Software. Recognized around the world as the "Father of Computer Gaming," Meier has been honored with virtually every award in the industry. Sid's legacy IP such as F-19, Sid Meier's Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and Sid Meier's Pirates! are revered as some of the greatest games ever made.


Source: Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16873)

I still say Civilization 2 is in the top 3 greatest games of all time.

[YoungAlCapone]

That is good news as it is well deserved.

[Citizen Philip]

That is good news as it is well deserved.

Agreed. Make it so!

[absolut taco]

I spent countless hour playing Pirates on my C128 in the late 80s. I'm glad he's getting the award.

[Heretic Machine]

No one deserves it more.

[Metal Khaos]

I can't even imagine how many hours I've racked up on Civilization 1 & 2. When we finally got a "family computer", all that it would run was Sim City and Civilization.

[Nighthawk]

It certainly is. I have probably spent more of my time engrossed in his games than any other single developer. My favs are Civ1-4, Colonization, Pirates, Railroad Tycoon, SimGolf, and Alpha Centauri.

I would put him easily in the top 5 with Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto, John Romero, and Peter Molyneux.

[Telefrog]

My only question would be why did this take so long?

Congrats to Sid! It's well earned.

[YoungAlCapone]

It certainly is. I have probably spent more of my time engrossed in his games than any other single developer. My favs are Civ1-4, Colonization, Pirates, Railroad Tycoon, SimGolf, and Alpha Centauri.

I would put him easily in the top 5 with Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto, John Romero, and Peter Molyneux.

Replace Molyneux with Warren Spector and that is a pretty decent list. Everyone only remembers Romero for Diakatana, but I still think that his previous achievements outweigh that incident.

[SilentScreams]

Replace Molyneux with Warren Spector and that is a pretty decent list. Everyone only remembers Romero for Diakatana, but I still think that his previous achievements outweigh that incident.

Agreed on Romero.
I think Molyneux needs to spend less time making grandiose claims and more time working towards achieving them. He's talented, but is yet to get it right in my book. Fable was good, but not great. Everything else has been awful.

As for Sid Meier, I agree with everyone else here. Nobody deserves the award more. I just wish he'd make another Alpha Centauri.

[KingGorilla]

And GameCock rushes the stage...

[Nighthawk]

With Molyneux I was mainly going on Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper, Fable, and Black & White (yea it wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it was fun for me).

As for Warren, I liked Wing Commander and I LOVED Thief, but I never got into Ultima, System Shock, or Deus Ex. So I really haven't grown to love his games out of sheer nonexposure. Theme Park was a fun game that to my mind kicked off the whole Rollercoaster Tycoon/Park management game genre. And Dungeon Keeper I blew a LOT of time playing. So I personally have been exposed to Peter much moreso than to Warren. It was still a toss up, and he'd certainly be in a Top 6 or 8.

[YoungAlCapone]

Wow, I thought Dungeon keeper was a Chris Taylor gem, I have been giving that fucker too much credit.

I just agree with the sentiment that Molyneux really just need to learn to shut up, his games usually turn out decent enough, but he is just too ambitious and too vocal about it.

On Topic: I just realized that I have bought and owned Pirates 3 times for three different systems, and probably spent about a hojillion hours playing that game. It has been essentially the same game for 20 + years only with a facelift and a port and the gameplay still feels fresh.

[agentgray]

I just started playing Civ IV two nights ago.

I concur.

[Azereki]

Well deserved! That man is a genius of game design. Congratulations.

[Flatpicker]

It certainly is. I have probably spent more of my time engrossed in his games than any other single developer. My favs are Civ1-4, Colonization, Pirates, Railroad Tycoon, SimGolf, and Alpha Centauri.

I would put him easily in the top 5 with Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto, John Romero, and Peter Molyneux.

I'd probably put him above the top 5 you mention there.
His games have a timeless quality about them while having a variety of play choices.

I have adored his work since Spitfire Ace.

[BabyJesus]

Sid rules. One of the true greats.

[KingGorilla]

I just started playing Civ IV two nights ago.

I concur.

I hear that the expansion really improves upon the game. You may want to pick it up.

[YoungAlCapone]

I hear that the expansion really improves upon the game. You may want to pick it up.


Oh, the good agent wants Beyond the Sword, though he may not be aware of it yet. He also does not want to wait until he feels like he has exhausted enough of the content from the original to pick up the expansion, as the expasnion rebalances and add many aspects to/of the game making it even betterer.

[absolut taco]

Fable was good, but not great. Everything else has been awful.
Are you serious? Ever play Populous? Syndicate? Peter is a genious just like Sid.