Molyneux getting lifetime achievement award at GDCAs

What is the award for..., breaking promises he didnt keep :(

Nice! I have known him since the release of Populous on the Atari ST. He stretched the world of gaming several times. Populous (2), Powermonger, Syndicate, Theme Park, Theme Hospital, Magic Carpet (2), Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, Fable (2/3). Yes, there are others and some are just as deserving (Sid Meijer and Richard Garriot for example). Of those three only Peter remains fully active. The amount of Game Makers from the 80's was small, very small. Companies outside of Europe refused to take gaming seriously. Only in the 90's would some come forward. Peter also reset the bar on game standards three times. Populous 2 (OK, there was hardly any standard then), Black & White (mouse move interface) and Fable. I agree 'Chickenchaser' was annoying to hear, but a game that shaped on choices to that effect was a new thing. And apart from that a decent RPG on the XBox was pretty much a no no. So, yes, Peter has deserved the award (IMHO).

i could think of many others deserving of recognition, as many others have said. but it has to be good for uk gaming. i played populous and black n white years ago but must admit i've not got into fable. hopefully his team will do something different next time and not fable 4. as a wolves fan anything with molyneux is fine by me.. i know stretching things a bit and spelt different, but never mind

I just don't understand why people keep giving this guy's projects second chances. He fails to deliver on everything, probably because he's either a pathological liar, has no idea what's being created under his name, or both.

Well he's certainly done a lot in his lifetime. But to win an actual award for it? Nah.

does he really deserve it? I mean, there are better developers, like Tim Schafer, Gabe Newell, Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami, Shigeru Miyamoto,...

His words "The actual truth of the matter is I never know the game that I've truly made until the very end" It is obvious that he (or the rest of the management) never played Fable 3 before it was released. Giving him this award only stokes his ego and encourages him to live in his own fantasy. What a douche.

I continue to be baffled at the praise this guy gets.

How could this man win an award for anything other than Hype Master? He promises the moon and give you a pebble.

@hyttenhoof They should hype him up with a reward and then not give it to him as promised last second, maybe something will click in his brain, lol.

But In his younger days yes. But over the last few years his efforts have been mediocre. He doesn't deserve it in my opinion.

@PerkJo I respect plenty of devoplers and voice actors. Bioware and their team have always delivered on what they say they will. Bungie, Rockstar, Naughty Dog, the list goes on for great development teams. However Peter M doesn't give half of what he says he does. Go back to the games he has made and read all the previews. More then half of the things the game gets hyped for never sees the light of day. Really it would be like if Halo 2 showed their single player and MP, and then cut the MP from the game. Thats what this guy does, over and over again.

Peter Molyneux. He isn't a dev, he's a creator of hype, and he's so good at it, he deserves a reward or two.

I don't know much about him ... have heard/read his name here and there, and just got to know Fable 1 and 2 last year. At first, Fable looked weird to me, personally speaking, it looked like mature content with children's cartoon looking characters (big heads, small bodies), which really made me feel uncomfortable, but after a while I started to appreciate Fable and loved playing it to the end (especially after stopping NPCs from calling me "chicken chaser" haha). But once I played Fable 2, everything was good until one frustration led to another, and another, ... gosh, why hasn't this game's "frankenstein's Mansion little side quest" been fixed after 2 years of release, the glitch is still there, and I have to play from the start all over again, not that I don't like replaying it, but what guarantee do I have that I won't run into the very same glitch again, and be left out from a good portion of the game: the gargoyle's treasure? Now if he fixed those glitches, then I'd be happy and say yeah, give him the award :P (hope he reads this and fixes it, haha)

I wonder if the voters realize that his games have gotten worse and worse over time?

@PerkJo Uhm, you sound like someone who has never even actually bought one of Molyneux's games, being a passionate game maker is one thing, being a fantastic game maker is something totally different, sure he dreams big and tries to deliver even bigger, but Molyneux's funding can only extend him so far on his projects and each time that's failed us all. Aside from anything that happened in Fable 3, I sorely dislike it when I pre-order someones Collection edition of a game (Fable 2) hoping for everything promised from the start, but once realizing that their mouth again was bigger than their funding, Instead of getting all these goodies.. Would you like to know what I got? Halo junk... I paid all that extra money, for Halo... Crap... Granted, this guys made plenty of amazing games, but I think he's still got a ways to go before he gets a lifetime achievement award, unless you just wanna look at how he's going about moving up in the ranks with Microsoft, then i'd totally agree.

Man, why is everybody hating on Molyneux? It's a good thing game developers are choosing and not all of the players. I have a feeling that game developers probably view each other in a different light than we gamers see them. Games shouldn't be rated based solely on the amount they sell. It's sad to be a gamer when they don't respect anybody else.

Bleh...the only thing this guy should be given is a award for running his mouth and removing the best features from his games. I mean cmon he said black and white was going to be like a 7 part game, got two. Fable was supposed to change games forever... righhhhhhht. And lets not forget Milo, a Pedophiles dream game. Seriously nothing for the guys who make Mass Effect, God of War, Heavy Rain, Little Big Planet, Red Dead, Assassins Creed. REALLY??? This Doucher.

Lifetime award for promising the best game ever and then publicly slamming the game as a pile of garbage a year after it ships? I will say the first half of his career was great, second half has been good on ideas and not so good on execution.

I like that he always think outside the box with new ideas, unlike the people responsible for the large quantity of generic titles out there. Its just a shame a lot of those ideas never come to being. I mean did he really expect gamers would be able to feel "genuine love" for the dog in Fable 2? Got to love his eccentricities.

When i think of this guy i think of the opposite of Bioware. Doesn't keep promises and hypes everything that's not even in a game. loved Fable, didn't really like the 2nd that much and didn't buy fable 3 for obvious reasons.

The Hype Beast is getting an award!

Why??!! For promising gamers something Revolutionary 3 times in a row and falling short everytime?! Fable was good, but they should have been called Fable, Fable 1.5 and Fable 2.0. Fable 2.0...err Fable 3 sucked btw. Most anti-climatic piece of rubbish to date. Not even John Cleese could save that mess. I mean come on! There isn't even a pause screen!!

Does he deserve it? Maybe. He's certainly an icon within the gaming industry...though most likely for his silver tongue. Here's hoping Fable 4 isn't a steaming pile of poo like Fable 3 was.

Lifetime achievement means throughout your career you have made significant contributions to your chosen field. Peter may have started strong but later in his career he is crashing and burning bad thus undeserving of this award.

He's winning this for Populous alone. I hate then the game industry does that, pretend someone is more than a 1 trick pony when they really aren't. Molyneux always talks a lot and fails to deliver. I stopped hearing him after my frustration with Fable 1.

@DKant: I TOTALLY agree with you. The GDCAs are the closest thing to the Oscars the video game world has and it's always the awards I watch closest.

Molyneux's games are always just about average. Why does he get such praise for making mediocre titles? Besides Fable (which sucks) what has he done in the last 6 years? Nothing.

I wonder how much coverage a 'legit' event like this would receive in mainstream media.... :/ The reason for my wonderment is not-so-fond memories of Spike and of TIME last year calling Modern Warfare 2 - what were those words? I forget, but basically implying that it was trying to raise the bar for games to get closer to art or something. I see news about an event like this and I think "THIS is what they should be talking about, THIS is what they should look at before even thinking of writing a story". Yet they yap on about whatever marketing departments and snazzy advertising campaigns feed them.....numbnuts. Anyway, unrelated rant. Let's just celebrate real achievers!

Go here and watch Gamespot's video about Peter Molyneux' career. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/populous/video/6262400/video-game-history-month--peter-molyneux?hd=1 He deserves it.

So much so-called gamers here that only remember this guy for "fable". Ehm.. hello? "Black & White", "Populous", "Syndicate" and "Dungeon Keeper" anyone??. First check on the internet what projects he is responsible (appart from "Fable") and you'll understand why he deserves this.

He totally deserves one. A lifetime achievement for being the master of hype and delivering false promises. Fable 3 was such a silly mess.

imo: his games need more development time. If he had that then his games would go a lot further.

Not really sure Molyneux deserves this one. He did great games and he was rewarded, as he should have, many times for those. But since his last round of lifetime awards (I remember one being given to him in France) the only games he released were Fable 2 and Fable 3.They are "good games" that's all but certainly not deserving big awards.

Peter Molyneux needs to get new developers...a staff that can add some substance in his visions. The premise in his games are awesome, but they lack depth, and they are often over before you know it. Here are some executive pointers: Hire a veteran fantasy writer or whatever. Make an actual encyclopedia and per say, bible for games like Fable. In fable, the writing is good, but the plot events, twists, conclusions, and consequences need much work, often feel empty and unfulfilling. Make the gameplay more precise, I don't care if it is harder to make polished, accurate, and responsive gameplay while making it "casual" --make it work! Play more Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, and other games with interesting boss fights, gameplay curve--learning new strategies and techniques as the game progresses, and immersive gameplay. If everything fails, get MSFT to pay for temporary contracts a few people who have worked on such games, so they can work on a project and leave after completion if there's such a need.

Peter Molyneux receiving an award from someone with 500X more creative imagination and sense than himself. The gods of Irony must be working overtime...

Not a big Molyneux fan, but he has been in the business for a long time. I think he deserves it.

achievement unlocked haha

Great congratulation ,but will this game going to be release for PC ? and when?

I agree with the nay-sayers here. This guy really doesn't deserve this award.

I just admire how Moly is committed to his ideas, he is not willing to pump out generic crap just to launch a game every year. He may make promises that are never fully realized but it still brings new ideas out in the open, broadens imaginations and impacts the industry.

Wow this guy doesn't deserve this, the Pokemon creators, Halo, or even Rockstar Games but not this guy. Fable 2 and Fable 3 were garbage and they kept taking more away and giving less back every sequel. Fable 1 and games before Fable 2 and 3 might be good but as it is now this guy should be given a "lifetime of failure to improve" as no game in the past years have been worth praise that he's had a hand in making. This is wrong and sadly Fable will be even worse the next game as its nearly barebones as it is currently.

Doesn't deserve it, F3 was total crap. He never delivers on his promises, that's a serious flaw.

Reward for a job well done. Maybe it more produce, more will be recognized for job accomplishments, better games will be made and we all will be happier.

Say what you will, Fable 2&3 had crazy amounts of consumer generated hype behind them and for what they where (a hack and slash in an RPG market) they did quite well. The guy has achieved a lot in his lifetime and I think that's the point of the award. Besides, maybe this award will encourage him to do more great work.

Legend.

He might've made some good games back before the last Fables, but I still believe there are many others in the game industry that deserve this award more then him.

A lot of the posts on here aren't looking back past the Fable series. Although those games are a steaming pile of....this guy has still worked on some good games and paved the way for the gaming industry. Magic Carpet 2 paved the way (strangely) for FPS games and the spell interface used in games like WoW. Plus, it had amazing level design and a story that one can't forget. Either his devs were the real masterminds and he got off easy, or he knew his stuff back then and is losing it now. Nonetheless, I'd say it's...valid that he's receiving this.

Magic Carpet 2 continues to be one of my favorite games. Too bad I can't pop in that old disc anymore.

He deserved it even before he began Fable series. His contribution with his Bullfrog team can't be ignored. Black & White, Dungeon Keeper and even Fable at times are wonderfully entertaining series.