Alan Smithee is a pseudonym generally used by those who, for one reason or another (usually due to a loss of creative control), do not want their given name attached to a product. Originally a nom de plume devised by the Directors Guild of America, some of the notable Alan Smithees in film are the directors of the extended version of David Lynch’s Dune, Dennis Hopper’s Catchfire and the pilot episode of MacGyver.
While the name has fallen out of use within the US film industry, it has spread to other industries, although without the particular guidelines previously maintained by the DGA and MPAA.
Alan Smithee is credited in the following games:
Equinox (1993, Sony Imagesoft, SNES) – Director
Ghosts N Goblins (1999, Capcom, Gameboy Color) – Producer
Huggly Saves the Turtles (2000, Scholastic, PC) – Animator
The Weakest Link (2001, Activision UK, PS1/PS2) – Additional Production
Where’s the Blanket Charlie Brown? (2002, Tivola, PC) – Robot
NHL Hitz 20-03 (2002, Midway, Xbox) – ColorCommentator Voice
1914: The Great War (2002, JoWooD, PC) – Texts
Future Boy (2004, GCCFP, PC) – Cast (Cop)
Fight Club (2004, Vivendi, PS2/Xbox) – Online Multiplayer Development
Eternal Sonata (2007, Namco Bandai, 360) – Additional Voices (English)
Know of any others?
From the Metal Gear 4 Wikipedia page…
“Hideo Kojima announced that he would be retiring as director of the Metal Gear series after Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and would leave his position open to another person for Metal Gear Solid 4, as he had announced he would after Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. As a joke, the new director was announced as “Alan Smithee”, but in R, a 400-page book bundled with Metal Gear Solid 3’s Japanese “Premium Package”, the director was revealed to be Shuyo Murata, co-writer of MGS3 and director of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner.”