The man is clearly a complete pleb, who puts pictures of themselves in their games?
You've never beaten Quake 2!
but I just can't agree with his ADD-riddled head when he dismisses anything that doesn't let you shoot something every 30 seconds.
To each their own. I can see where his own perspective is from, and naturally he designs games around his own tastes and interests.
However, not every developer is going to agree with him, either, and that's where we get to make a difference in games and game development.
You don't have to agree with a developer to like them.
I know what you mean I am a pretty mild mannered gamer but something about this guy drives me up the wall. The cliffyB nickname, the GDC entrance, the fact that anyone cares what car he drives or how old his girlfriend is, everything just makes him look like a complete tit.
It also irritates me how i even know his name other designers had to produce consistantly awesome games to get that kind of recognition ie Peter Molyneux or SId Meier, will we remember Gears 1 and 2 in 5 years except as a footnote?
Well, it's really going to vary on a lot of things. I mean, why do people know Miyamoto's name? Because it's on just about every Nintendo game, even if it is as a producer. What do we know of Miyamoto's personality? Well, I've learned that I disagree with a lot of his game design ideas and choices, and that's about it since he keeps every interview rather professional and polite. Oh, and he smiles a lot. But really, you don't know him outside of being a businessman.
CliffyB has gotten a name with not only other developers, but with Journalists as well, as simply being a really fun guy that likes to talk about a lot of things and do a lot of things. Yeah, people first know him for his work, but he makes it a point to be more than just a game designer. His entrance into GDC was a pure example. "Well, any other businessman would just walk on stage and start reading off the cards, but I'm going to do something that makes people remember me".
I've also read his blog [http://www.cliffyb.com/], which I'm disappointed hasn't updated in a while, and he's honestly got interesting thoughts on a lot of different things.
Basically, people like CliffyB. because he has given people a personality to like, an actual person, instead of a guy with a suit and a name. If I were to be offered a chance to meet a developer, Cliffy B. would probably be at the top of the list, even if I don't agree with everything he says. The fact of the matter is he has done enough that I have an idea of what kind of discussion I could have with him.
Second would probably be Peter Molyneux, since I'd love to wax intellectual on the artistic side of game development.
As for all those small little details in the UT games (that mostly aren't noticed unless you look for them), well, I dunno what kind of games you play, but little easter eggs like that are just part of what I expect and even hope to see in games. It's how you know the developers are having just as much fun making the game as you are playing it.
