Sid Meier

Infobox Person
name = Sid Meier


birth_date =birth date and age|1954|02|24
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Game designer
spouse = Susan Meier
children = Ryan Meier

Sidney K. Meier (born February 24, 1954, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada [http://www.examiner.com/a-1518783~One_of_gaming_s_biggest_stars_shies_away_from_spotlight.html] ) is an American programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games who has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry. Meier is a Director of Creative Development for computer game developer Firaxis Games, which he co-founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996.

Career

Sid Meier founded MicroProse together with Bill Stealey in 1982. At MicroProse, Meier developed the game series for which he is most widely recognized, "Civilization", although he designed only the first installment. Meier eventually left MicroProse and in 1996 founded Firaxis Games along with veteran designer and gaming executive Jeff Briggs. Today Firaxis makes strategy games, many of which are follow-ups to Meier titles, such as "Civilization IV" and "Pirates!".

In 1999, Meier became the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. The first to receive that honor was Shigeru Miyamoto from Nintendo.

Meier is not always the main designer on titles that carry his name. For instance, Brian Reynolds has been credited as the primary designer behind "Civilization 2", "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri", and "Sid Meier's Colonization", [ [http://archive.gamespy.com/e32002/special/reynolds/ Interview with Brian Reynolds] from "GameSpy"] [ [http://www.gamespot.com/features/sidlegacy/colon.html "The Sid Meier Legacy: "Sid Meier's Colonization"] from "GameSpot"] while Jeff Briggs designed "Civilization III" and Soren Johnson led "Sid Meier's Civilization IV". Currently Meier's role appears to be that of a creative director, simultaneously contributing to multiple projects.

Meier worked with a team on a dinosaur themed game starting early 2000, but announced in an online development diary on January 24, 2001 that the game had been shelved. Despite trying various approaches, including turn-based and real-time gameplay, he said he found no way to make the concept fun enough. In August 2005, Meier said "We've been nonstop busy making other games over the past several years, so the dinosaur game remains on the shelf. However, I do love the idea of a dinosaur game and would like to revisit it when I have some time." [ [http://www.firaxis.com/community/asksid_archive.php?n_id=1 Firaxis Games: Community: Ask Sid] from [http://www.firaxis.com/ Firaxis' official website] ]

In January 2008, CMP Game Group announced that Meier would be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Game Developer's Conference.

Meier currently lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland with his wife, Susan, and son, Ryan.He met his wife at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cockeysville, where they both sing in the choir. [ [http://www.joabj.com/Balt/GameBoy.html "Game Boy"] article about Meier from "Baltimore" magazine ( [http://www.joabj.com/Balt/Sid.pdf Typeset version] in PDF)]

References to Sid Meier in games

* Sid Meier's likeness is used in "Sid Meier's Civilization" and "Sid Meier's Civilization III" for the game's science advisor.
* The gameplay tutorial in "Civilization IV" is presented by a character modeled after Sid Meier and voiced by the man himself. In "" he performs the narration for the six new technologies.
* In "Civilization IV", Sid Meier is "leader" of the barbarians.
* Civilization III has the hardest difficulty listed as 'Sid'.
* Several of Sid Meier's most acclaimed games were inspired by board games designed by Francis Tresham of Hartland Trefoil Ltd. The earliest editions of "Railroad Tycoon" and "Civilization" contained acknowledgements of these inspirations: Railroad Tycoon was inspired by a rail building board game "1829" by Tresham (the start of the 18xx series), and "Civilization" by a board game of the same name also by Tresham. Tresham also designed a board game called "Spanish Main" which could have been an inspiration for "Pirates!", but there seems to be no written evidence for that. In 1998, MicroProse purchased Hartland Trefoil Ltd., eliminating any risk of copyright conflicts.
* There is a hidden faction named Firaxis in "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" and the leader is Sid Meier, unlockable by opening a file with the faction editor.
* There is a hidden faction named Firaxians in "Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire" and the leader is Sid Meier or Brian Reynolds, unlockable by opening a file with the faction editor.
* In the baseball video game "Major League Baseball 2K7", there is a fielding coach named Sid Meier.
* In "Sid Meier's Pirates!", he can be seen on some occasions instead of the mysterious trader in the corner of the tavern.

Games

Games that have been developed by Meier span three decades. Some of the more notable titles are listed below in chronological order.

References

*cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162633.html?q=Civilization |title=Q&A: Sid Meier chronicles Civilization |last=Torsen |first=Tor |work=GameSpot |month=December 1, |year=2006 |accessmonthday=February 28 |accessyear=2007
*cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/15most/html/mi_01.html |title=The Most Influential People in Video Gaming of All Time |publisher=GameSpot |accessdate=2007-06-09

See also

* Will Wright

External links

* [http://www.firaxis.com/company/bios.php?bioid=56 Sid Meier's biography and his games history at Firaxis.com]
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* [http://www.gamespot.com/features/sidlegacy/ "The Sid Meier Legacy"] from "GameSpot"

Persondata
NAME=Meier, Sid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Meier, Sidney K
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Game programmer and designer
DATE OF BIRTH=1954
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sarnia, Ontario, Canada