Peter Molyneux to be given OBE

JonMurphy

I'm glad to hear this. No matter what you think of his games, I found him a very approachable and open person to talk to, and still has a genuine passion for games.

Nice to have a positive story for the UK games industry, too

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4135453.stm

Toomas

He makes the games he wants to make, not many of hes kind left
And he deserves the award for sure.

ShadoKat

Yeah, could you give an EAD on your TLA for us NRE types?

KDR_11k

"Officer of the British Empre" or something like that. Some honor title.

Soul_Reaper

It's "Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire" and it's awarded by the queen herself for exemplary service to the British Empire in one form or another.

It's actually part of several awards the Queen can bestow, and they're all highly honored and revered world wide. The top two awards confer knighthood and allow you to use 'Sir' instead of 'Mr' if you're a British citizen.

Starting from the top:

Knight Grand Cross Order of the British Empire (GBE)
Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)

Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire (CBE)
Officer Of The Order Of The British Empire (OBE)
Member Of The British Empire. (MBE)

Basically, it means that the Queen herself recognises Peter Molyneux's contributions and achievements to the computer game industry and is a serious recognition of the cultural importance of video games.

Congratulations to Peter Molyneux, I can't think of many in this industry more deserving of the award than him.

sundance

yeah, congrats, like soul said, this is a major recognition of the impact of ALL games really, but since he's the leading light in the british industry it's hardly surprising he's got the award.

these awards are given to people who do a lot to contribute to society in britain or the commonwealth and sports people often get them as do veteran celebrities. roger daltry got one this year for his contribution to music and our olympic 4-time gold medal winning rower got knighted and our runner kelly holmes who got 2 golds got the female equivalent of knight - dame. they've also honarily knighted steven speilberg and norman schwarzkopf in the past for different things.

Toomas

Just out of curiosity do these titles carry over to children?

sundance

nope. strictly life-time only. although you can get 'promoted', an MBE can become an OBE, an OBE can become a CBE, a CBE can become a knight.

the only hereditary titles are things like lordships, dukedoms, earl-ships (whatever) and barons. and we don't have a hell of a lot of them. the royal family have a lot of titles themselvees. prince charles, the prince of wales, is also the duke of cornwall for example, and andrew is duke of york and edward is earl of wessex.

there are also life peers who are not given hereditary titles, they're only a lord or lady for their life.

thnom

I think an OBE and any such lark means jack shit nowadays. There is less flies around in England. This is a good thing, but I don't see it as anything, if you get me. Plus who's the queen? Taxpayers money's worth, thats all she is.

Snowfly

I have not had a lot of exposure to Peter Molyneux, but I played Black & White, and if his vision is what went through to the game's delivery and presentation, then I am a huge fan.

This is great, now he is slightly less honorable than Sir Elton John!

Kevin Johnstone

I respected Peter a lot more before I actually worked for him and realised that, like most bosses, his success was borne off the backs of others.

That said, I think the OBE is an attempt to recognize that video games and their creators are as much an important part of our society as the other arts such as music.

On that basis, when I try to think of other names in the UK that stand out in the public eye, there are few.
I don't think Peter is anything special though, he's all mouth and no trousers imo.

I still love him for populous, it played such a big part in my childhood and he'll always own my respect for that.
I think people often get these sorts of rewards long after these cease deserving them though, maybe thats the way its meant to be.

I wonder what Daz thinks, he worked with Peter also in the past.

thnom

..still waiting for 'The Movies'

Daz

Ror, I think he's an attention seeking baby who doesn't put his money behind the bar.

*EDIT* But I wholeheartedly agree that this can only be a good thing for the games industry in the UK.