Gary Gygax dies at 69

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:52 am

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archi ... at_69.html

This was surprisingly upsetting for me. Before I discovered sex and guitar feedback, I whiled away many an hour playing Dungeons and Dragons. While he officially retired some 24 years ago, I'm sure he will be sadly missed.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:06 pm

Most obviously, the fathers of the Japanese RPG genre took the foundations laid down by Gygax - elements such as character customisation, inventories, turn-based combat and powering-up - and used them to craft series' like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Legend of Zelda.

This is all wrong.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:18 pm

u got ur ff mixd wih my dnd!1!

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:48 pm

Welcome to five months ago.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:21 pm

in b4 Gary Gygax diej-

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:41 pm

May he find his head of Vecna.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:05 pm

Stormwatch wrote:Welcome to five months ago.

Lol, whoops. His obituary was in the latest issue of Fortean Times to be posted through my door, so I assumed this happened recently. Oh well. The guy's still dead.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:07 pm

JoshF wrote:
Most obviously, the fathers of the Japanese RPG genre took the foundations laid down by Gygax - elements such as character customisation, inventories, turn-based combat and powering-up - and used them to craft series' like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Legend of Zelda.
This is all wrong.

'splain

(I don't really know much about this cross pollination: I always thought it was that bloke from Bullet Proof Software who introduced RPG's to Japan?)

TLDragoon · Post by **TLDragoon** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:40 am

From my recollection, J-RPG's arose form western Western RPG's like Ultima and Wizardry when they made their way over to Japan. Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, took his inspiration from the Western based games. You can see a lot of similarities between J-RPGS and corresponding Western RPG's from the same period; although, the J-RPGS do tend to be more simplified in their approach.

Over time, the branches of the tree grew further apart in style as Western games sought to replicate the Pen-'n-Paper or "sandbox" style play while J-RPG's focused more on a linear narrative.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:35 am

MX7 wrote:
JoshF wrote:
Most obviously, the fathers of the Japanese RPG genre took the foundations laid down by Gygax - elements such as character customisation, inventories, turn-based combat and powering-up - and used them to craft series' like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Legend of Zelda.
This is all wrong.
'splain

(I don't really know much about this cross pollination: I always thought it was that bloke from Bullet Proof Software who introduced RPG's to Japan?)

Heretic and Hexen have as much to do with D&D as JRPGs do.

Macaw · Post by **Macaw** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:16 am

MX7 wrote:
JoshF wrote:
Most obviously, the fathers of the Japanese RPG genre took the foundations laid down by Gygax - elements such as character customisation, inventories, turn-based combat and powering-up - and used them to craft series' like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Legend of Zelda.
This is all wrong.
'splain

(I don't really know much about this cross pollination: I always thought it was that bloke from Bullet Proof Software who introduced RPG's to Japan?)

Yes. Henk Rogers went to Japan, developed a game called 'The Black Onyx' for PC88 computers, it became a gigantic success and he made millions. Stuff like wizardry and the ultima series were then picked up by Japanese companies and localized to cash in on the rpg craze.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:27 pm

it is a. . .

*rolls die*

pleasure to meet you!

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:39 pm

Macaw wrote:
MX7 wrote:
JoshF wrote: This is all wrong.
'splain

(I don't really know much about this cross pollination: I always thought it was that bloke from Bullet Proof Software who introduced RPG's to Japan?)

Yes. Henk Rogers went to Japan, developed a game called 'The Black Onyx' for PC88 computers, it became a gigantic success and he made millions. Stuff like wizardry and the ultima series were then picked up by Japanese companies and localized to cash in on the rpg craze.

That's the bloke. There was an interview with him regarding the brith of the Japanese RPG scene in a recent issue of Retro Gamer. It was really facinating.