2006 Robbie Awards
I'd just like to announce my victory and acceptence of the 2006 Robbie award for
Most interesting Video Game Industry Personality Robbie: David Sirlin.
If you haven't heard of this award, it's because it's "A fictional non-award from a person with no pull in any industry whatsoever," according to award-giver Rob Howard. Howard goes on to say:
In an industry that is still more about "team" than "stars," Sirlin is becoming the first real divisive figure. His articles in Gamasutra.com and other places usual stir up tremendous discussion in the industry (a good thing). Obviously, Mr. Sirlin is quite the self congratulatory fellow, and his bravado (honed while dominating Street Fighter II tournaments before he became a game designer) will lead him in either one of two directions: The Will Wright direction: Gamers become so enamored for his design skills, they will literally allow him to release pong with SNES graphics and call it great. The John Romero direction: Folks will eventually tire of his ego, and wait for their first opportunity to pounce. His career will then be nothing like it was.
(Author's note: As of now, Sirlin is much more of a theoritician than a real designer at the moment, as he works for a studio that mainly seems to do small titles and arcade compilations. We'll see what he actually produces as his career grows.)
Award Winning Moment: His article dissing World of Warcraft (and social gaming in general), launching an excrement storm throughout the game development community.
I'm seriously trying to do something that will qualify me as a "real designer" for next year's Robbies. If only I could speak about what I've done so far at work that no one has seen or ever will see. Sigh. Seeing my fate decided by the whims of others is getting old. If I make a digital version of my awesome card game, will that qualify me as "real designer?" Or would contributing 0.5% to Starcraft 2 count for more?
--Sirlin
October 9th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Meh. Your job title and recognizable accomplishments don’t define you. And who knows? The things you’d do to become a “real” game designer might just make you less interesting as a game industry personality. ;)
October 10th, 2006 at 12:30 am
Congrats. I think it’s a bit silly how Rob only mentions your articles on Gamasutra, even though you’ve only written 2 articles (as far as I know) for it, and here there’s, what, 20-30 here?
I think you shouoldn’t worry too much for your reputation thing. Wether you want to be noticed or you think it overshadows you, as long as you know what you want, you just have to work for it.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:30 am
Well, before he wrote for Gamasutra, there wasn’t much to distinguish him from any other game blogger wank. That doesn’t mean his stuff wasn’t good, but unless you write for a “real” publication nobody will notice you.
October 10th, 2006 at 8:37 am
I think standing up to the MMO majority of games-as-passtimes, in favor of games-as-competition/test-of-skill, is a recognizable enough accomplishment. WoW’s success is only encouraging the release of more tedious timesink MMOs, so it was nice to see someone apply some low strong to the problems in WoW’s design.
November 16th, 2006 at 10:31 am
I like Sirlin cuz he does the low strong!
November 17th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
David, I’ve been following you on and off for years. I think you’re a genius. I think you’re ahead of your time. You have my admiration. No hyperbole.
November 29th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
gratz man only game design site i’ve found and kept reading even when i don’t need help with stuff