David Sirlin
Encyclopedia
David Sirlin is a game design
er from California
. He balanced the popular video games Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
. His self-granted nickname is "Low Strong," but he is known primarily by his surname in the gaming community at large.
He has obtained degrees in mathematics
and business
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and MIT Sloan School of Management
. Sirlin has been described as a "renowned game theory author" by Forbes
magazine, and as an "[a]rcade guru" and "internet-renowned Street Fighter tournament player" by Ars Technica
.
, he is relatively infamous for his sometimes unpopular opinions towards the way companies choose to enforce rules in their games, as well as for his articles on Playing to Win. Sirlin's website, Sirlin.net, was profiled in Katie Salen's
Rules of Play (2004), which commended the site for its "surprising amount of thoughtful commentary and analysis".
In addition to this, he has published a book called Playing to Win: Becoming The Champion, a book that explores the concept of competitive gaming and the mindset of actively playing to win, also drawing examples of the different kinds of gamers that exist by selectively choosing and analyzing both chess
and Street Fighter
players. Physical copies of this book were initially available from Lulu.com
before the book was released for free to the general public on his website. The book was cited by scholar David Myers in his paper "Self and selfishness in online social play".
, Sirlin was lead designer behind Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
, a remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo
. He designed the online card game Kongai for Kongregate
. He was also in deliberation with Capcom
in an attempt to acquire permission to use the Street Fighter
characters for his current project, Yomi, but was not granted it, leading the game design to instead use his own personal IP.
During development of Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, a large amount of interviews as well as a number of blog posts on Capcom Unity chronicle Sirlin's involvement in both the game's development as well the major design choices and changes made to the game itself.
In 2009 Sirlin was one of the speakers at the Game Developers Conference
, the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers. His 1-hour lecture was about balancing multiplayer competitive games.
More recently Sirlin has been involved in the design and production of his own line of card games. These games all take place in his Fantasy Strike universe. Two of these games (Yomi and Flash 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 the Super Puzzle Fighter II experience.
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
er from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He balanced the popular video games Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services...
. His self-granted nickname is "Low Strong," but he is known primarily by his surname in the gaming community at large.
He has obtained degrees in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and MIT Sloan School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
. Sirlin has been described as a "renowned game theory author" by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine, and as an "[a]rcade guru" and "internet-renowned Street Fighter tournament player" by Ars Technica
Ars Technica
Ars Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
.
Writing
Sirlin maintains a blog where he writes primarily on the subject of game design. A frequent contributor to GamasutraGamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
, he is relatively infamous for his sometimes unpopular opinions towards the way companies choose to enforce rules in their games, as well as for his articles on Playing to Win. Sirlin's website, Sirlin.net, was profiled in Katie Salen's
Katie Salen
Katie Salen is a game designer, animator, and design educator. She is a professor in the DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media. She has taught at Parsons The New School for Design the University of Texas at Austin, New York University, and the Rhode Island School of Design...
Rules of Play (2004), which commended the site for its "surprising amount of thoughtful commentary and analysis".
In addition to this, he has published a book called Playing to Win: Becoming The Champion, a book that explores the concept of competitive gaming and the mindset of actively playing to win, also drawing examples of the different kinds of gamers that exist by selectively choosing and analyzing both chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
players. Physical copies of this book were initially available from Lulu.com
Lulu.com
Lulu is a company offering publishing, printing, and distribution services with headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since their founding in 2002, Lulu has published over 1.1 million titles by creators in over 200 countries and territories and adds 20,000 new titles to their catalogue a month...
before the book was released for free to the general public on his website. The book was cited by scholar David Myers in his paper "Self and selfishness in online social play".
Game design
While employed at Backbone EntertainmentBackbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment is an independent video game development company located in Emeryville, California.Backbone Entertainment is the result of a 2003 merger between Digital Eclipse Software and ImaginEngine...
, Sirlin was lead designer behind Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services...
, a remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II...
. He designed the online card game Kongai for Kongregate
Kongregate
Kongregate is an online games hosting website owned by Gamestop Corporation, which allows users to upload user-created Adobe Flash or Unity3D games. It features an API that Flash and Unity developers can integrate into their games which allows users to submit high scores and in some games, earn...
. He was also in deliberation with Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
in an attempt to acquire permission to use the Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
characters for his current project, Yomi, but was not granted it, leading the game design to instead use his own personal IP.
During development of Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, a large amount of interviews as well as a number of blog posts on Capcom Unity chronicle Sirlin's involvement in both the game's development as well the major design choices and changes made to the game itself.
In 2009 Sirlin was one of the speakers at the Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers. His 1-hour lecture was about balancing multiplayer competitive games.
More recently Sirlin has been involved in the design and production of his own line of card games. These games all take place in his Fantasy Strike universe. Two of these games (Yomi and Flash 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 the Super Puzzle Fighter II experience.
See also
- Capcom Classics CollectionCapcom Classics CollectionCapcom Classics Collection is a compilation of arcade games released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 27, 2005. It was developed by Digital Eclipse Software . A second volume, Capcom Classics Collection Vol...
- Kongai
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD RemixSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD RemixSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services...