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David Sirlin

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David Sirlin
OccupationWriter/Game Designer
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
GenreVideo games
Game design
Website
sirlin.net

David Sirlinis an Americangame designerandfighting gameplayer.

He featured in and narrated[1][2]much ofBang the Machine,a 2002 documentary by Tamara Katepoo about aStreet Fighter"exhibition tournament in Japan showing the difference between American and Japanese gaming cultures" that starred other notable competitive fighting game players who were part of "Team USA."[3][4]

He balanced thevideo gamesSuper Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD RemixandSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.He designed the physical and online card gamesYomi,Flash Duel,Codex,andPuzzle Strike.

Early in his career, Sirlin was an assistant game designer at 3DO,[5]but now works primarily for his own company, Sirlin Games. Sirlin has been described as a "renowned game theory author" byForbesmagazine,[6]and as an "arcade guru" and "internet-renownedStreet Fightertournament player "byArs Technica.[7][8]

Writing

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Sirlin maintains ablogwhere he writes primarily on the subject of game design. A frequent contributor toGamasutra,he is relatively infamous for his sometimes unpopular opinions towards the way companies choose to enforce rules in their games,[9]as well as for his articles on Playing to Win.[10]Sirlin's website, Sirlin.net, was profiled inKatie Salen'sRules of Play(2004), which commended the site for its "surprising amount of thoughtful commentary and analysis".[11]

In addition to this, he has published a book calledPlaying to Win: Becoming The Champion,a book that explores the concept ofcompetitive gamingand the mindset of actively playing to win, also drawing examples from the different kinds of gamers that exist by selectively choosing and analyzing bothchessandStreet Fighterplayers.[12]Physical copies of this book were initially available fromLulubefore the book was released for free to the general public on his website. The book was cited by scholarDavid Myersin his paper "Self and selfishness in online social play".[13]

Sirlin has become critical of many mainstream competitive games for what he perceives to be manipulative business practices and other 'anti-competitive' elements. He has particularly condemnedcollectible card gamessuch asMagic: The Gatheringfor hiding strategically critical components behind therandom distributionofbooster packsand popularmultiplayer online battle arena(MOBA) gameLeague of Legendsfor its "forced grinding," calling it "fraudulent" and disrespectful to players.[14][15]

Career

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Backbone

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While employed atBackbone Entertainment,Sirlin was lead designer behindSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix,aremakeofSuper Street Fighter II Turbo.He was also in deliberation withCapcomin an attempt to acquire permission to use theStreet Fightercharacters in addition to original characters from his Fantasy Strike universe for his current project,Yomi,but was not granted it.

During development ofSuper Street Fighter II HD Remix,many interviews[16]as well as a number of blog posts on Capcom Unity[17][18]chronicle Sirlin's involvement in both the game's development as well the major design choices and changes made to the game itself.

Kongregate

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Sirlin designed the online card gameKongaifor the gaming website,Kongregate.

Sirlin Games

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More recently Sirlin has been involved in the design and production of his own games—particularly, a range of tabletop games, most taking place in and featuring characters from theFantasy Strikefictional universe he created.[19]Two of these games (YomiandFlash Duel) attempt to recreate some of the game concepts found in the fighting games he is familiar with. The third game,Puzzle Strike,attempts to recreate theSuper Puzzle Fighter II Turboexperience. Another game,Pandante,is similar to Texas holdem poker, andChess 2is a redesigned,asymmetricversion ofChess.

His most recently published game is Codex, a turn based game with elements from Magic: The Gathering and themes from RTS (real time strategy) games such asStarCraft.

TheMagic: The Gatheringcard "Master of Predicaments" contains the flavor text "Designed by David Sirlin".[20]

In January 2015 Sirlin created a podcast on his Patreon page discussing the possibility of creating a simple, accessible fighting game,[21]and in June 2015, Sirlin announced that he would begin creating a fighting game set in and featuring characters from hisFantasy Strikeuniverse.[22]The resultingFantasy Strikewas released inEarly AccessonSteamin September 2017.[23]

Speaking engagements

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Game Developers Conference (2009,2017)

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In 2009, Sirlin was one of the speakers at theGame Developers Conference,the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers.[24][25]His one-hour lecture was about balancing multiplayer competitive games.[26]In 2017, Sirlin gave a design talk discussingPuzzle Strikespecifically.[27]

Montreal International Game Summit

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In 2009, Sirlin spoke at theMontreal International Game Summitabout the subject of omitting unnecessary clicks from games.[28]The talk was entitledEvery Click Counts.[29]

Personal life

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Sirlin grew up inSacramento,Californiaand graduated fromRio Americano High School.[30]He is the son of Ted (1923-2009) and Thela Sirlin. His father was a photographer and owner of Sirlin Photography Studios for over 40 years. David Sirlin currently lives inEmeryville,California. He has obtained degrees inmathematicsandbusinessfrom theMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyandMIT Sloan School of Management.[12]

Sirlin married[31]Lina Jemili[32]in 2023.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Sirlin, David (18 August 2014)."Street Fighter HD Remix Design Overview".Sirlin.net.Retrieved15 July2015.
  2. ^"Behind-the-Scenes: Rebalancing Super Street Fight".Capcom Unity.5 November 2007.Retrieved15 July2015.
  3. ^"Bang the Machine (2002)".IMDB.Retrieved15 July2015.
  4. ^Sirlin, David.Playing to Win.p. back cover.
  5. ^"HatchetJob interview, 72m50s"(Interview).Retrieved2012-02-07.
  6. ^"Kongregate Secures $3 Million Investment From Bezos Expeditions".Forbes.May 1, 2008.
  7. ^Caron, Frank (April 17, 2008)."SFII HD Remix change log documented".Ars Technica.Retrieved2008-11-20.
  8. ^Caron, Frank (November 12, 2007)."Arcade guru helps Capcom tweak Super Street Fighter".Ars Technica.Retrieved2008-11-20.
  9. ^"World of Warcraft Teaches the Wrong Things"- David Sirlin (2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
  10. ^"Playing to Win".
  11. ^Salen, Katie (2004).Rules of Play.Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 603.ISBN0-262-24045-9.
  12. ^abMongello, Dennis (February 9, 2007)."Video game superstar publishes book to win".The Triangle.Archived fromthe originalon May 11, 2009.Retrieved2008-11-20.
  13. ^Myers, David.Self and selfishness in online social play(PDF).Digital Games Research Association.
  14. ^Sirlin, David."The Psychology of Learning".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-02-14.Retrieved2014-02-11.
  15. ^Sirlin, David."Heroes of the Storm".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-02-21.Retrieved2014-02-11.
  16. ^"Q&A: Backbone's Sirlin Talks Remi xing Street Fighter II"-Brandon Sheffield(2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
  17. ^"Behind-the-Scenes: Rebalancing Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (part 1)"- David Sirlin (2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
  18. ^"Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix FAQ"Archived2008-07-15 at theWayback Machine- Seth Killian (2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
  19. ^"Sirlin Games Website".
  20. ^"Master of Predicaments (Magic 2015 Core Set) - Gatherer - Magic: The Gathering".
  21. ^"Raw Game Design podcast, Episode 6: Fantasy Strike Simple Fighting Game".January 18, 2015.
  22. ^"Become a Patron on Patreon?".June 13, 2015.Speaking of fighting games, let's make one. I talked about an idea for a simple fighting game in this podcast and now I'll start making it.
  23. ^Wong, Alistair (September 23, 2017)."Fantasy Strike Special Moves Are Tied To One Button Inputs For Easier Fighting".Siliconera.RetrievedNovember 11,2019.
  24. ^Sirlin, David (2009)."Balancing Multiplayer Competitive Games".GDC Vault.Game Developers Conference.Retrieved18 July2015.
  25. ^"Game Developers Conference 2009 Speakers"[permanent dead link]- GDC website (2009). Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
  26. ^"Handout from my GDC Lecture"Archived2009-04-02 at theWayback Machine- David Sirlin (2009). Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
  27. ^Sirlin, David (2017)."Board Game Design Day: 'Puzzle Strike': A Design Diary".GDC Vault.Game Developers Conference.Retrieved15 March2018.
  28. ^David Sirlin: Keep Interface Design Simple, Concise, Efficient,November 17, 2009, Chris Remo
  29. ^MIGS: Every Click Counts,NOVEMBER 20, 2009, David Sirlin
  30. ^"Late photographer Ted Sirlin's son finally gets nsme recognition of his own".Sacbee.October 26, 2013.RetrievedJune 22,2015.
  31. ^Sirlin, David."Wacky Prisoner's Dilemma Solutions (Game Theory)".YouTube.Sirlin on Design.Retrieved5 April2024.
  32. ^"Game of Thrones Predictions from a Game Designer".Sirlin.April 26, 2019.RetrievedOctober 4,2019.
  33. ^"Lina & David Wedding Registry".Honeyfund.Retrieved5 April2024.
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