Molyneux mulls over the gaming greats

Old favourite, and gaming guru, Peter Molyneux was wheeled out last week to address the great and the good for the BAFTA lecture in London, UK. I'm a big fan and was on the brink of grabbing a ticket but couldn't make it in the end... thankfully, the guys over at the Guardian Games Blog have very kindly printed a transcript of his speech (click for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).

I've loved pretty much all of his creations at Bullfrog and Lionhead, from land-shifting God game Populous through to Theme Park, the absolutely awesome Syndicate and more recently Fable II (Black & White wasn't much good, mind).

Anyways, it's great to see that he took a few moments to give a well-deserved nod to some landmark titles that broke new ground and shifted the boundaries of game design...

Dune II (1992) - the RTS from Westwood Studios sapped hours of my life. Without it we wouldn't have seen the likes of Command & Conquer. Good choice, Molyneux!

Super Mario (1985) - Nintendo's classic platformer. Still brings back fond memories. Alex Kidd and Sonic have a lot to thank Mario for. Still good for a few hours gaming some two decades later.

Tomb Raider (1996) - having a buxom female character as the protagonist was certainly a shift in the gaming world and Lara Croft went on to become a gaming icon - and the dream girl of many a young lad. Sad but true.

World of Warcraft (2004) - one of the biggest online games ever, with a huge cult following. It's even in the Guinness Book of Records for being the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Many gamers have been treated for World of Warcraft addiction!

Halo (2001) - still one of the main selling points of Microsoft's Xbox consoles, with countless sequels and spin-offs. Any game with Halo in the title is sure to sell well.

(Photo credit: FT Techfeed)