Giles Goddard (video game programmer)

Giles Goddard (born March 30, 1971) is an English video game programmer. He was one of the first Western employees at Nintendo[1], programming the Mario face in Super Mario 64, and working on titles such as Star Fox, 1080° Snowboarding, and Steel Diver. In 2002, he founded Vitei, a video game developer based in Kyoto, Japan, for which he serves as CEO.

This article is about the video game programmer. For the priest, see Giles Goddard.
Giles Goddard
Born (1971-03-30) March 30, 1971
England, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish, Japanese
OccupationVideo game programmer, CEO of Vitei

Career

Argonaut Games

Giles Goddard's interest in computers began when he was a teenager, when he used his ZX Spectrum, and later his Commodore Amiga, to create demoscene works in his spare time.[2][3] In his Amiga demos, he experimented with 3D wireframe graphics with filled polygons. During this time, Argonaut Software released Starglider 2, one of the first computer games to use filled polygons.[4] Goddard soon left school before finishing his A-levels and joined Argonaut Games, where his first task was porting Starglider 2 to the Macintosh SE. Argonaut would develop a reputation for creating cutting-edge, 3D games. They produced a 3D graphics demo for Nintendo Entertainment System and collaborated with Nintendo to produce the Game Boy title X, one of the few Game Boy games to feature 3D graphics.[4][3]

Nintendo

When Goddard was 18[5] or 19,[3] he moved to Kyoto to work for Nintendo, where he, alongside fellow Argonaut employee Dylan Cuthbert, helped develop Star Fox[6] and Stunt Race FX. Goddard remained with Nintendo during the Nintendo 64 era. He assisted with the demo of Link fighting an enemy, which would be shown at the Shoshinkai 1995 trade show.[4] To show off skinning, he programmed the interactive Mario face in Super Mario 64 by attaching painted ping-pong balls to his face and using an Indy camera to track movement.[7] His next project, 1080° Snowboarding, saw him as one of the two lead programmers, alongside fellow Argonaut colleague Collin Reed. This game used frame interpolation and inverse kinematics to make character movement feel more realistic.[8]

Vitei

Afterwards, Goddard left Nintendo and became a freelancer, porting Doshin the Giant from the Nintendo 64DD to the Nintendo GameCube.[9] In 2002, Goddard founded the Japanese video game developer Vitei, Inc.,[5] which produced its first game, the Japan-exclusive Nintendo DS title Theta, in 2007,[4] and the WiiWare title Rock N' Roll Climber in 2009, both published by Nintendo.[10] He served as the head programmer for Steel Diver, and Vitei would also develop its sequel, Steel Diver: Sub Wars,[11] as well as Tank Troopers. Vitei is currently developing a virtual reality-focused spiritual successor to 1080° Snowboarding.[12]

References
  1. PushDustin (July 2, 2017). "Straight from the Source: Giles Goddard (Former Nintendo Employee, Vitei Games CEO)". Source Gaming. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  2. IGN Staff (February 9, 2001). "From 1080 Snowboarding to GameCube". IGN. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  3. Martin Robinson (April 27, 2018). "Tales from inside 90s Nintendo - from the man who made Mario's face". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  4. Damien McFerran (May 4, 2011). "Feature: Lads of the Rising Sun". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  5. "1. Ever Since the Original Star Fox". Nintendo.
  6. "Message From God – Developer Interview". GlitterBerri's Game Translations. March 17, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  7. . Full interview. "The Making of Mario 64: Giles Goddard Interview". NGC Magazine. Future Publishing (61). December 2001.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. IGN Staff (March 19, 1998). "1080 Snowboarding Interview". Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  9. "Page 4 — N64DD, Doshin and Prototypes".
  10. "Page 5 — Rock n' Roll Wii and VR".
  11. Thomas Whitehead (April 25, 2014). "Interview: A Look Through the Periscope at Steel Diver: Sub Wars". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  12. Martin Robinson (April 19, 2019). "The man behind 1080° Snowboarding is working on a spiritual successor". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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