Year End Lists

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Officially I am on vacation today, as I have been all week. But I am also back to my computer which has led me to lurking among news sites and other interesting bits and pieces. As it is nearing the close of the year this means lists of top 25's in the game industry, in education and in games of course.

My sister, Mary DeMarle, pointed me to the Next Generation—Top 25 People of 2007 list. This list is intriguing due to the diversity of individual impacts on the industry. This year Saturo Iwata claimed number 1 spot for his leadership at Nintendo. I believe what was written about him last year when he placed second says it all "But what has made Iwata special in 2006 has been his ability to inspire and lead not only great people, but also the rest of us."

I thoroughly love that Peter Raad made it to the list because of his work creating the Guildhall at SMU. Congrats Peter! We first met 6 years ago at GDC while in the conceptual development stage of our respective programs. It is wonderful to see solid higher ed programs progress and begin to cast their influence. 

Also during this time I have been fortunate to see Montreal grow as a game capital and begin to impact industry. It is quite a gift (and a lot of hard work) to have our new campus, Champlain College du Montreal, there where the students have access to vibrant people with emergent ideas. People like Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the IGDA. Jason spoke with the students early in the Fall term and now I see he will be receiving the 2008 Game Developer's Choice Award. Congrats Jason! Among the studios in Montreal the new Eidos campus is getting a bunch of press. General Manager Stephane D'Astous seems like a leader to watch in Montreal. He appears to have that special leadership ability that leads and inspires.

But back to my vacation, Christmas is a holiday for me that is all about family and play. The top list of play from my family this year would be the following:

1. Guitar Hero for the teen and pre-teen set (of course).
   
2. Apples to Apples—a card-based community discussion game for all (they can't seem to keep this game in stores).
   
3. Bunco—a traditional holiday favorite across the female generations.
4. Playing the piano—the sound of live music.
   
5. My little pony played between the little nieces and my adult brothers.
   
6. The dragon game my niece Becca received.
   
7. Tinker Toys for five year old Christopher.
8. Stealing of adult shoes from under the Christmas Eve table by the five and under set, Macey and Savannah.
9. Dominos for Jim—multiple colors and set variations.
10. Make believe and the sound of reindeer bells.