Bleszinski Appeals To Phil Fish: Get Back In The Game

[Fox12]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I think he deserves the hate, because I don't believe perpetuating hate ever helps anyone. Rather, he can't reasonably behave a certain way than expect any other kind of feedback than what he is receiving. He may be the nicest person in history, but if what most people see of him is his angry outbursts and negative twitter rants than that's going to affect how the public perceives him. All I'm really trying to say is that he's responsible for his own image.

Have you seen "Indie Game: The Movie"? I'm legitimately asking, because there's this interesting bit in it where Johnathan Blow, the creator of Braid, notes how as the reviews of his game started coming out, the public's perception of him morphed into that of the "artsy fartsy pretentious indie dev", despite nothing really to truly support this at the beginning.

A person's public image is not as in control as you might think. This isn't to say I disagree with you, I do understand the point of Fish's behavior contributing to it, but at the same time Fish's actions have received an exorbitant amount of scrutiny whether what he does is big or small. It's a more cyclical problem than I think you're giving credit for, and it's not like Fish only receives hate when his mouth opens up, as Jim Sterling just said in his recent video here on the Escapist, it's a constant thing that builds up.

Please understand I don't hate the guy, I've never met him, I just think he was a willing participant in a lot of the controversy that surrounds him. I hope, whatever he does, he finds a rewarding career, whether that be in gaming or somewhere else. Furthermore, if he's really as troubled as people say, than I'm actually glad he's taking a break from game development. It may be healthy for him to separate himself from the situation, take some time off, away from all the hate, and look at the situation from the outside. Getting a fresh perspective is probably the best thing for him. I also hope he comes back, and if he doesn't, than I hope he's happy wherever he is.

Again, I heavily recommend watching "Indie Game: The Movie" to really get an idea over what he's been going through, and also for a really good insight into what indie devs go through in creating their games. You could probably find it somewhere on the interwebs.

Just think of it like this; Fish was basically completely unknown before the documentary, and even then he was still getting flak for taking his time with the game. Multiply that by 100x, becoming an overnight internet celebrity afterwards, all in the middle of really messy legal troubles with a former coworker, and at the very least I guarantee you will understand some parts of Fish's more aggressive psyche. Again, I'm not saying he's some "misunderstood genius", but there is, at the very least, an interesting person behind that running mouth of his.

I admit I haven't seen that film, though my friends tell me it's quite interesting. I'm willing to take the benefit of the doubt considering Fisher, despite his sometimes pompous public statements, and I can agree that taking statements out of context can mislead you about a person. You can now tell your friends and family that you are the first person in history to actually win an internet debate (loud applause).

http://www.twogag.com/archives/2518

That's actually surprising to me, that the creator of Braid received so much hate, but I think maybe that's just part of putting yourself out there on the internet. Not saying that's right of course. Regardless of whether you make COD and HALO, or small critically acclaimed games like Braid and FEZ, a sizable chunk of the internet is going to deride you for it. I love Indie games though, so I'd rather play them than more spunkgargleweewee any day.

 

[Jumplion]

I admit I haven't seen that film, though my friends tell me it's quite interesting. I'm willing to take the benefit of the doubt considering Fisher, despite his sometimes pompous public statements, and I can agree that taking statements out of context can mislead you about a person. You can now tell your friends and family that you are the first person in history to actually win an internet debate (loud applause).

http://www.twogag.com/archives/2518

Oh how you make me blush, senpai. I don't really think it was really much of an argument, I did agree with some of what you were saying, it's just that some aspects I found problematic and systematic of the whole situation and how people are reacting to it.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Uh... gotta disagree there. Unreal brought us the Unreal Engine, which to this day is one of the most used engine in video games. Period. A lot of franchises like Mass Effect and BioShock would not be here if it weren't for the Unreal Engine.

Or they could have, you know, just [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech_5] used [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LithTech] a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunia_Engine] different [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_(game_engine)] game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryEngine] engine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDengine]. I like UE3 as much as the next guy, but it's not like it's the only engine available.

This is true, but the UE3 engine is as popular as it is for a reason. It's extremely easy to use. (How Silicon Knights fucked up with Too Human is beyond me and most people).

Its an extremely malleable engine. More so than most, which is the reason its used so often.

 

[Darkness665]

Says the one to exit first. Ah Cliffy B. we never missed you. But you won't shut up!

 

[Nihilisthete]

"The industry needs people like you to speak with their hearts before their brains,"

Actually, what this industry probably needs is proper journalistic method and trained professionals to report on and write about games. The personal tone present in most examples of game blogging and reporting is refreshing, but also opens the floodgates for vitriolic sentiments. In contrast, the pretend (and highly practised) objectivity of modern news reporting and critical journalism exists partially to prevent a discourse such as the one between Fish and Beer, and often does.