http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Williams
Briefly, she and her husband Ken were the most prominent people at Sierra for most of its history. Her main contributions have come with the King's Quest series, on which she and Ken were the designers, though she apparently designed a few other titles as well (such as Phantasmagoria, which is a bit surprising - apparently Phantasmagoria is a true horror game, which is very dark, and even includes a rape scene). I mention her because the King's Quest series, which I played two of, was one of the few game series I've played that completely, totally immersed me, and so far these are the only games on my "short list" of really immersive titles that were designed primarily by a woman. One of the things I really liked about the King's Quest games is that the storyline in each was far, far more than an excuse for a fun game; it was integrated tightly with the puzzles and gameplay and made for a really great experience.
The rest of the immersive short list for me would probably include Mario 64, most Zelda games, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid 1, and the Ultima series, though I may be missing one or two. I love all these games to death, but Miyamoto, Tetsuya Nomura, Hideo Kojima, and Richard Garriott are all men; Roberta is the only woman that I'd consider even putting in this category.
What I don't understand is why there aren't more women designers - programming is a traditionally male field, but Miyamoto doesn't program even a bit, I don't think, and there are great stories to be told and games to be made from both men and women. I would looooove to see another Roberta Williams rise up in the game industry and tell some great stories, using games as a medium.
What do you all think?
Briefly, she and her husband Ken were the most prominent people at Sierra for most of its history. Her main contributions have come with the King's Quest series, on which she and Ken were the designers, though she apparently designed a few other titles as well (such as Phantasmagoria, which is a bit surprising - apparently Phantasmagoria is a true horror game, which is very dark, and even includes a rape scene). I mention her because the King's Quest series, which I played two of, was one of the few game series I've played that completely, totally immersed me, and so far these are the only games on my "short list" of really immersive titles that were designed primarily by a woman. One of the things I really liked about the King's Quest games is that the storyline in each was far, far more than an excuse for a fun game; it was integrated tightly with the puzzles and gameplay and made for a really great experience.
The rest of the immersive short list for me would probably include Mario 64, most Zelda games, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid 1, and the Ultima series, though I may be missing one or two. I love all these games to death, but Miyamoto, Tetsuya Nomura, Hideo Kojima, and Richard Garriott are all men; Roberta is the only woman that I'd consider even putting in this category.
What I don't understand is why there aren't more women designers - programming is a traditionally male field, but Miyamoto doesn't program even a bit, I don't think, and there are great stories to be told and games to be made from both men and women. I would looooove to see another Roberta Williams rise up in the game industry and tell some great stories, using games as a medium.
What do you all think?
