'Dungeons & Dragons' Creator Gygax Dies
Gaming pioneer Gary Gygax has died. In the 1970s, he helped create the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons — a $1 billion merchandising success that later influenced a wave of video games. He was 69.
STEVEN INSKEEP, host:
And today's last word in business goes out to millions of Dungeons & Dragons fans. The word is game over. Gary Gygax, co-creator of the legendary game, died yesterday. He was 69 and had suffered a variety of health problems.
He was one of two men who came up with Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. It was a role playing game. You'd create a character for yourself. You'd play by intricate rules involving wizards, elves and dwarves. And if you were a teenager who didn't fit in, you might escape from the real roles that you had to play in school.
In a 2004 interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, Gygax said word of mouth, not marketing, made the game popular.
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Mr. GARY GYGAX (Co-creator, Dungeons & Dragons): What it is is that it strikes a chord. It enables people to experience what Joseph Campbell called the heroic quest. And it's got all those elements, so that's why it's there. And it sure is fun to play with those people, for those people who enjoy using their imaginations and love fantasy.
INSKEEP: In later years, Gary Gygax was sometimes visited at home in Wisconsin by some of the game's 20 million fans.
And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
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