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It seems rare for there to be famous personalities as 'in the background' as game developers are. The exceptions I can think of tend to have their name in huge

It seems rare for there to be famous personalities as 'in the background' as game developers are. The exceptions I can think of tend to have their name in huge letters on the covers of things (book authors, movie directors). But most famous people have their face or at least their voices directly in front of people at least a good portion of the time. One exception I can think of is influential business people like CEOs and founders of large companies.

tonymillion 3y ago
To extend on your point, and to brain dump something that went through my mind about the parent comment: I can tell you the name of (most of) the characters of the Avengers movies. I can also tell you the name of some of the actors who play those characters. I have absolutely no idea who directed them (nor do I really care that much). I can't tell you the names of anyone involved in the production (art/music/cgi etc). I can tell you it came from Marvell Studios via Disney. I can tell you the names of the characters of HalfLife series. I can't tell you the names of the voice actors (apart from the fact nobody voiced Gordon (lol)). I can't tell you the name of the guy who wrote the story, other than he left Valve and published a story outline for HalfLife 3. I can't tell you the name of a single programmer, visual or level designer, artist, musician etc. I can tell you Valve made it. So yeah, unless your character also shares your name, and as you point out, unless the game is titled "John Smith presents a John Smith game directed by and starring John Smith: JOHN SMITH THE GAME" you can all but forget about me knowing your name.
- BlueTemplar 3y ago
  This guy might be familiar to you :p https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Favreau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Favreau
guestbest 3y ago
It is telling that game developers are not storytellers like those who write novels or even performers in a niche like like opera singers. It looks like after all these years, computer games have been around since the 1970s, they don’t have not only don’t have the cultural cache of writing but also music.
- adamrezich 3y ago
  the nature of the medium allows one to create games that don't have "writing", per se—where the "narrative" is the emergently-developing narrative you the player are telling yourself as you play. in this way, games have the potential to be fundamentally different than all other forms of linear storytelling. I still enjoy story-centric games, but as time goes on, I find myself looking more and more for something different and better. some of my best and most meaningful experiences with games have been these emergent narratives. it would be nice if more people tried to make games like this, because it's really something you can't get anywhere else, aside from a tabletop RPG (but even then, that's different, too).
- vkou 3y ago
  There's a reason the 'storytellers' in games aren't getting star billing. Games are a hugely collaborative effort, unlike books (which are just a collaborative effort). Music is also collaborative, but there's way more people involved in making most games, than the people whose names end up on an album cover. Movies are also a highly collaborative effort, but even there, there's usually one 'czar' - often the director, that gets to stand behind nearly every creative decision made in the film (Even if they weren't the one who made it). Again, no such thing usually exists with games. There's just too many parts to them, no one person owns all of them, and the costs of making 'cuts' preclude a single opinionated personality from doing an eleventh-hour pass on it in post-production.

tonymillion 3y ago

To extend on your point, and to brain dump something that went through my mind about the parent comment: I can tell you the name of (most of) the characters of the Avengers movies. I can also tell you the name of some of the actors who play those characters. I have absolutely no idea who directed them (nor do I really care that much). I can't tell you the names of anyone involved in the production (art/music/cgi etc). I can tell you it came from Marvell Studios via Disney. I can tell you the names of the characters of HalfLife series. I can't tell you the names of the voice actors (apart from the fact nobody voiced Gordon (lol)). I can't tell you the name of the guy who wrote the story, other than he left Valve and published a story outline for HalfLife 3. I can't tell you the name of a single programmer, visual or level designer, artist, musician etc. I can tell you Valve made it. So yeah, unless your character also shares your name, and as you point out, unless the game is titled "John Smith presents a John Smith game directed by and starring John Smith: JOHN SMITH THE GAME" you can all but forget about me knowing your name.

BlueTemplar 3y ago
This guy might be familiar to you :p https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Favreau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Favreau

guestbest 3y ago

It is telling that game developers are not storytellers like those who write novels or even performers in a niche like like opera singers. It looks like after all these years, computer games have been around since the 1970s, they don’t have not only don’t have the cultural cache of writing but also music.

adamrezich 3y ago
the nature of the medium allows one to create games that don't have "writing", per se—where the "narrative" is the emergently-developing narrative you the player are telling yourself as you play. in this way, games have the potential to be fundamentally different than all other forms of linear storytelling. I still enjoy story-centric games, but as time goes on, I find myself looking more and more for something different and better. some of my best and most meaningful experiences with games have been these emergent narratives. it would be nice if more people tried to make games like this, because it's really something you can't get anywhere else, aside from a tabletop RPG (but even then, that's different, too).
vkou 3y ago
There's a reason the 'storytellers' in games aren't getting star billing. Games are a hugely collaborative effort, unlike books (which are just a collaborative effort). Music is also collaborative, but there's way more people involved in making most games, than the people whose names end up on an album cover. Movies are also a highly collaborative effort, but even there, there's usually one 'czar' - often the director, that gets to stand behind nearly every creative decision made in the film (Even if they weren't the one who made it). Again, no such thing usually exists with games. There's just too many parts to them, no one person owns all of them, and the costs of making 'cuts' preclude a single opinionated personality from doing an eleventh-hour pass on it in post-production.