Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passes at 61

Another sad day has befallen the world of fantasy gaming today. Dave Arneson has passed away at the age of 61. A young age for a mind that helped create worlds millions have ventured to and enjoyed for decades.

Dave Arneson was the co-creator of the Dungeon & Dragons games. This one game has spawned several industries, and given geeks and jocks alike the chance to become uber-heroes. There is perhaps no other game I can think of that has been so directly responsible for creating and expanding the realm of entertainment ever.

Were it not for this simple game (ok, so the rules were never exactly simple – but they were fun and fluid if you had a good dungeon master) part of the initial growth of the internet would never have occurred (many colleges created M.U.D.’s based on similar ideas to D&D and other such games which then grew into the MMO’s of today). Movies delving into this type of realm would never have been created, countless books would never have been written, and more than a few television shows and cartoons could not have existed.

Truly the scope of this simple game is astounding. And it long ago passed from just a geek enterprise into the imagination, to something everyone can enjoy.

It is also sad to note that now both creative minds involved in the D & D phenom (Gary Gygax and Arneson) have passed from this world. It is a great loss. But their legacy continues to be a great inspiration.

My condolences to the Arneson family.

Dungeons & Dragons greatest Dungeon Master loses the ultimate battle - 3.4.2008.1

I have some very sad news to report today. While some of you may not recognize the name, others will be quite familiar with Gary Gygax. I hate to say it, but he has died at the age of 69.

Now I know gamers, most of us that are now a bit older and many are creating our own games, should be familiar with this man. For those that are not, he is one of the co-creators of the most popular gaming system possibly ever. Dungeons & Dragons. Along with JRR Tolkein he was responsible for sci-fantasy and RPG style gaming.

In fact I think you can draw a direct line from JRR Tolkein to Gary Gygax to Vampire: The Masquerade to The Witcher to MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer Online games). Without D&D there is no Everquest, or World of Warcraft. There is no Final Fantasy. There is no Resident Evil or any other game. And thus no movies either.

Some may think that D&D was simply a bad movie made by some Hollywood guy that was made into an MMO. In fact the universe of Dungeons & Dragons is enormous and highly profitable. From huge tomes regarding how to play in the 1980’s, a cartoon in the late 80’s, video games, trading cards, books, and movies the genre encompasses 3 decades and continuing.

The original game system was a real first. Before there were computers, groups of friends (yes some were a bit geeky, but it was hugely popular with the military too) would gather to pull out pieces of paper and become a Dwarven Thief or Elven Paladin or Human Mage for a few hours. Without the need of more than pencil paper and a set of 3-, 4-, 6-, 10-, and 20-sided dice entire worlds were created and enjoyed. Today those same types of worlds require years of programming and sometimes servers connected to the world.

The legacy of Gary Gygax is immense when you consider not only what he created for his friends to enjoy, but what became a multi-national conglomerate. You may not be a computer geek, but every time you play a FPS (First Person Shooter), RPG (Role Playing Game), or fantasy MMO you are living an extension of the mind of the greatest mage this side of Merlin.

Few are so creative, and touched so many. My condolences to his friends and family. He will be missed by this Dwarven Thief and many others I am sure.

Everquest the movie

**this can also be seen at Video Gaming Blog, where I am a contributing author.

Age has its benefits. Besides the wisdom, experience, and more than a few grey hairs there is the chance of plans working out. This is true in life and apparently in virtual life as well. When I say virtual life I mean MMO (massively multiplayer online), and in this case in particular I mean the granddaddy of the modern gaming systems, Everquest.

Now I’m sure that most any casual gamer has heard of Everquest. The first to create a stable, visual MMO which spawned a whole genre in video gaming. There were issues of course, dial-up was horrendous, you had to cue to kill virtually anything, trains were plentiful and devastating. Not to mention the occasional crash. But there was nothing else like it and millions had to play this new wonder.

Of course the genre matured, technology improved, and new themes were introduced. Books, comic books, and movies have all lead to newer MMO’s and several are planned for the near future. The leadership has changed from the original to the latest big thing, WoW (World of Warcraft). And a huge amount of respect has been garnered with this growth in interest and viability.

One of the benefits of this maturity is that other entertainment formats are now available. Rather than movies inspiring MMO’s the process is now going towards MMO’s inspiring a movie. And of course if there is going to be a movie, which game would be better to feature than… Everquest. Yep, not WoW but the granddaddy.

Sony seems to finally be looking seriously at developing an Everquest movie, targeting a 2009 or 2010 release date. They even have, reportedly, Avi Arad to produce. That would be a great sign since he was the man behind the recent transition from comic books to movies for several of the better Marvel comic book series. Add to that the fact that the writer from 300, Michael Gordon, may also be attached to this story and you can have a good movie.

The inherent problems are the lack of interest since Everquest stopped being the leader years ago, and the story as well. If this is done badly you can expect another version of Dungeons & Dragons the movie. Awful is to kind and glamorous a term for that dren.

But if it’s done right, like maybe the first X-Men movie or, if we were really lucky, the Lord of the Rings then we can see several other films and really get to enjoy the alternate lives in a grand scale. Now tell me that wouldn’t be of interest?

Expect to hear more soon. This isn’t over by a longshot.

Video games have grown up - 6.23.2007.2

It’s funny when you think about it. I read an article recently and I started to think back. When I was a teen, I collected comic books, played Dungeons & Dragons, and read the Lord of the Rings. Among most of my peers that set me apart somewhat. Not enough to be a geek, but definitely a bit nerdy.

Today, my comic book collection has a value of some high end sports cars, the original D&D books are a collector’s item, the LotR trilogy has become one of the most successful film series ever (with well over $1billion in sales), in addition to spawning several video games and an MMO (massive multiplayer online game).

Back in the day, when the Atari first came out and then the subsequent other systems, video games were called nothing more than a fad. With the advent of the Sony Playstation, video games became a ‘minor trend’ and those that played them were ‘geeks without a life’ in the general media.

Today a recent research report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, states that this will be the first year that video games will exceed the music sector. Not consoles, the games themselves. I’ve seen ads on television for higher learning to become a video game designer. More and more movies are being made based on sucessful game titles, and a successful game series sells faster than virtually any form of entertainment. The top action actors are all lining up to be considered for the leading roles in movies such as the reported Halo movie.

It’s just funny when you think about how things have changed.