Armin Gessert, the coder of “The Great Giana Sisters” died of a heart attack last Sunday (8th November 2009). It’s a really sad day and many of us will miss his genius mind. People may say “The Great Giana Sisters” is a Mario rip-off, who cares – fact is this game brought many of us a great time!
Thank you Armin! Thank you forever! We will try to make Giana’s Return even better, to show our appreciation!
Here is the official German message from Andreas Speer, Studio Manager at Gessert’s company Spellbound:
Liebe Freunde und Kollegen,
leider habe ich eine sehr traurige Nachricht zu verkünden: Armin Gessert ist in der Nacht von Samstag auf Sonntag völlig unerwartet, auch für alle die ihm nahe standen, an einem Herzinfarkt gestorben.
Kondolenzbekundungen, die mir zugeschickt werden, werde ich an seine Familie weiterleiten.
Viele Grüße
Andreas Speer
Studio Manager
Here is a more detailed announcement, in German once again: http://www.spellbound.de/?idcat=10&idart=284
Strange how these things happen, out of the blue. He gave us The Great Giana Sisters and for that he deserves respect. My condolences to the family and friends.
Comment by Christian Krabbe
November 10, 2009 @ 19:03
My condolences to the whole family and all his friends, and to all of us who were inspired by the Gianna Sisters back in the day. I can’t count the number of times I started a remake of this game, and the number of times I played through the full original game with my friends. He brought us, with his creation, enjoyment and inspiration and it’s always sad to hear someone has died so unexpectedly. A good friend of mine has died the same way, last year. It’s hard. Thanks, Armin, and I hope his family knows how many people know him, at least via his games.
Comment by Tijn
November 10, 2009 @ 20:14
Terrible news. My condolences to his family.
Strange, this was a spectacular year for Giana, an official and an unofficial sequel have been released, one in the waiting. And in the same year the father of the sisters passed away.
Thanks for him for the original game, I spent many times playing with it. And the DS sequel is equally brilliant, a very faithful sequel. At least he died after releasing that great game, after ending the infamous Nintendo scandal with releasing it on their consoles.
Comment by T.Nandi
November 10, 2009 @ 22:17
Very sad to read that Armin Gessert is gone , I was a lil against the Remake of The Great Giana Sisters. I play Commodore 64 everyday , I love Old Classic games , but a lil Against Remake.
I played the game when I was a kid, for the first time I played The Great Giana Sisters. The game still hold for the most fungameplay ever.I can’t Count how many times I finished the game.
I use a C64 today , and I hope more people do that and Play The Great Giana sisters on Amiga or C64 to feel the real Feeling of True ! jump’n Run Game 2D scrolling :-)
Thanx ! for the work of the THE GREAT GIANA SISTERS ! Armin Gessert , Rest in peace.
I fix this Picture for us, to memory of Armin Gessert. for his great work of Giana Sisters. -> http://i34.tinypic.com/etfmdz.jpg
Comment by Night_Creature
November 10, 2009 @ 23:05
The whole Giana’s Return team is very sad about Armin leaving us too early. It’s always difficult to put such a situation into words, but Armin will be missed by many people. We will never forget the games of Armin’s early days and keep them alive by playing them again and again.
Armin, you’ll be always in our heart! Our deepest condolences to your family and friends – Rest in peace.
Comment by Gianas-Return Team
November 11, 2009 @ 01:31
Really a sad news. I loved Great Giana Sisters on the Commodore 64 (I still have the original big, plastic package) and what can I say? Thanks for all the fun you gave to us, and enjoy the heaven of best coders.
Comment by paolo besser
November 11, 2009 @ 12:08
Really sad to read this. Giana Sisters was never boring, it was one of my favourite games on the C64. And yes, his work has been so popular that I am confident that Armin’s creation will live on and remembered as one of the best games in the early history of computer games. No one deserves to be forgotten after his death, but with Armin we are sure he will be remembered even in the far future because of his creation.
Comment by Daniël Mantione
November 13, 2009 @ 14:22
so sad to read that Armin has passed…
Comment by Paul
November 14, 2009 @ 12:28
It’s ashamed that he died of suffering with heart attack. As an owner of Giana Sisters.TK, We want to thank him for bringing these memories to everyone, including the game. Without Mario Bros., Giana Sisters wouldn’t been born. Because Mario was the father of Giana and Maria, the games itself was fun.
I will give prayers to his family and friends and wish him luck with his next life.
Comment by Girla PurpleHeart
November 25, 2009 @ 21:30
Oh man…, I always play Giana sisters on my old C-64 and my Amiga, even today. There’s so much love and enthusiasm in this game – it’s simply MY fav. game since I was a kid!
I’m really sad for him and his family… such a great gamedesigner just passed away.
He’ll do so in his former life again, – and then even better – , I’m sure! And in our hearts, he’ll never die!
Comment by Darkhound
December 11, 2009 @ 15:52
:((
ARMIN will live forever!
Comment by GIUSEPPE
January 4, 2010 @ 03:21
R.I.P. Your genius got me hooked on computer games. The day I first played Giana Sisters on my C64 was a big highlight in my youth. Respect for releasing the next gen DS version, who would have thought Nintendo would have come full circle? Respect.
Comment by Andre
June 15, 2010 @ 21:35