Blow: Consoles Are Handicapped by Corporate Culture

[Scrustle]

I saw a Skype interview with Blow recently on Destructoid and he seemed like a really cool guy. Thoughtful and insightful. Not arrogant or sanctimonious like I've heard people say he is.

But I don't think he's right about everyone loving iOS. It's infamous for being a Wild West of rip offs, plagiarism, bad business models and lazy design. There are also a lot of problems with bugs too. It's not often that you see a game on iOS that, after a recent update, doesn't have at least some user reviews that complain about it crashing or what not. It's still a good platform which has some decent stuff on it, but it's far from a utopia for indie gaming releases.

What I don't get is if working for XBLA is such a pain in the arse why don't indie devs just give up on the platform and focus on PC? In recent times we keep hearing that when indie devs release their games on PC after a timed exclusive on XBLA they always find much more success on on PC. It's easier, cheaper and magnitudes more profitable. So why even bother with XBLA?

 

[RicoADF]

I don't see any issues with the PS3 dashboard, works fine for me and easy to use :S . I can't comment on xbox as I don't have one.
I can see where he's finding the validation process time consuming, expensive and frustrating. But then again, they know it's there before they go into it. If they don't like it then just stay on PC with Steam. It's their choice to port to the consoles.

 

[RA92]

These guys never shut up, do they, they complaint about Sony and Microsoft but still keep doing stuff for it. Just make a PC game, man.

If they don't voice out their concerns, how are they going to let the console manufacturers know what's wrong with the system? Also, his next game is coming out only for the PC and iPad (I think), so there's that. The guys who made Orcs Must Die is making the sequel a PC-exclusive as well, just because they didn't want to deal with all the MS crap. Hell, on top of Ron Carmel, Sean Murray and Derek Yu, even CliffyB tells indie devs to go for PC-exclusives because of the way Sony and MS treat indies.

CliffyB. Think about it.

 

[BrotherRool]

Oh wow no! Please don't listen to this guy MS and Sony, you get so many virusy buggy rubbish, I do not want my PS3 bricking. Heck the reason I bought a console was because I expect games to work.

No-one complains about ios quality (well actually all those quotes in the article have all been applied to ios in recent times) because everyone thinks ios games are almost worthless. A game that sells for £2 is considered pricey? Well in that case, yeah of course the quality will be lower. But if I pay £15 for a game I expect it to work and I like that the owners have checked it does.

 

[VanQ]

Can anyone look at the current 360 or PS3 dashboards and legitimately say that those are products of an entity that deeply cares about user experience?"

The 360? No, not in the slightest. The current dashboard is an ugly, clunky thing and I wish someone would give the designer a good, hard slap on the face.
The PS3 on the other hand? Yes, I can. It's sleek and minimalistic and an overall excellent UI for a games console. I will sorely miss it if they change it whenever the PS4 comes around, I may even mod the old UI into it.

 

[Narcogen]

"There is no public outcry for more testing and robustness of iOS software."

This strikes me as an odd thing. I own quite a few Macs and iOS devices, and generally I'm pleased with them and most of the software I've bought on them.

Still, there are a few purchases I regret, and when I'm looking at comments on apps before buying, the most common negative feedback I read is that an app just crashes silently and the developer can't or won't help solve it. In one recent case, the crash was with a free "lite" version app, and the developer claimed the paid version fixed the crash bug in the free version.

I'm not sure I buy the idea that there isn't, or perhaps that there shouldn't be, a call for certification on iOS. I'm also not at all sure that XBLA certification isn't generally doing a good thing by consumers. I've found most of my XBLA titles seem to crash less often-- which is to say, almost never-- compared to AAA disc titles (especially Skyrim, Fallout, Oblivion).

 

[Vivi22]

These guys never shut up, do they, they complaint about Sony and Microsoft but still keep doing stuff for it. Just make a PC game, man.

I don't think Blow has done anything since Braid. In fact, it appears that his next game will be on Windows and iOS, so he won't be making games for consoles. Even if he were making console ports though, just because you make a game for a specific system doesn't mean you should pretend to be blind, deaf, and dumb when it comes to the issues that system presents for developers. If developers and others just kept their mouths shut when they see an issue with a major player in the business then nothing would even stand a chance of improving.

And even then there is no need to cry over every single bad detail, Limbo was a better game then Braid and Fez and those guys havent complainted a thing.

So because one developer chooses not to speak out about problems they perceive in the industry everyone else should shut their pie holes? Sorry, no. That's not how the world actually works, nor should it ever work that way.

Learn how to be professional

Is that code for learn how to shut up and take it and pretend you like it?

I saw a Skype interview with Blow recently on Destructoid and he seemed like a really cool guy. Thoughtful and insightful. Not arrogant or sanctimonious like I've heard people say he is.

Yeah, from what I've seen of him I think he just comes of worse in print than in person actually speaking. He's an opinionated guy, has definite ideas about what he likes and doesn't like in gaming and game development, and he isn't afraid to talk about them without mincing too many words sometimes. People like that can tend to sound a bit harsher in print when you lose their tone and body language.

 

[Saviordd1]

He contradicts himself a bit, first he's saying that it's the certification process that's at fault, and then he says that it's the dashboard itself that's at fault.

Just what exactly is the problem, here?

Johnathan Blow, my good friend, is the problem here.

Every time he pokes his pretty, little, arrogant-ass head out from wherever the hell he lives (presumably in a world like braid, but instead with gigantic statues of himself everywhere that are constantly telling him how awesome he is for being one of the few who managed to rip off two completely different games and claim it's his own unique invention and that everyone else (especially anyone from the AAA industry) should piss off) I find myself sickened.

Yeah this, every time Blow's name shows up on a news article I prepare myself for arrogance and idiocy.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

"The edge that both Apple and Valve have going into the future is that they both genuinely care about the end-user experience and want to make it as good as possible," he said. "Which coincidentally seems to be the place that these consoles are handicapped due to their corporate culture. Can anyone look at the current 360 or PS3 dashboards and legitimately say that those are products of an entity that deeply cares about user experience?"

Anyone care to speculate on what he's waffling on about here, I've no idea what's so "anti-user" about XMB or the Dashboard?

If I had to guess, I'd say that it's the Xbox dashboard being covered in adverts and somewhat awkward to navigate (for me at least). Not sure about the XMB though. It seems fairly simple to use. Perhaps it's because there are 4 or 5 ways (if memory serves) to access the playstation store? I dunno.

 

[WeAreJimbo]

Can anyone look at the current 360 or PS3 dashboards and legitimately say that those are products of an entity that deeply cares about user experience?"

The 360? No, not in the slightest. The current dashboard is an ugly, clunky thing and I wish someone would give the designer a good, hard slap on the face.
The PS3 on the other hand? Yes, I can. It's sleek and minimalistic and an overall excellent UI for a games console. I will sorely miss it if they change it whenever the PS4 comes around, I may even mod the old UI into it.

Plus one in agreement. PS3 XMB works perfectly for what it was designed to do, which is getting you into the game/music/video of your choice in the quickest way possible. I wish they had used the XMB for Vita too. The new navigation system on Vita is clunky just like what you said about the 360. I still like my Vita, just not as much as I might have.

 

[The Random One]

He contradicts himself a bit, first he's saying that it's the certification process that's at fault, and then he says that it's the dashboard itself that's at fault.

Just what exactly is the problem, here?

No, what he said, put INCREDIBLY simply, is:

Microsoft and Sony say their certification process is needed for better user experience.
He believes that is not true.
He justifies his belief by saying that the dashboard is clearly not designed with user experience as its main priority. As both the dashboard and the certification are internal processes, it can be reasonably assumed that the two have similar priorities.

Oh St.TrueType, patron of reading comprehension, give me strength!

OT: He has a point, but I'm pretty sure there ain't gonna be a Live game that claims to be Pokemon and freezes when you try to play it. Then again, that's only a problem because Apple does have veto powers which they only use on apps that commit the grievous sin of acknowledging gay people exist. A completely free environment is always best, and I doubt anything other than the PC will have it, especially with stuff like SOPA showing the massive boner corporations have for control.

 

[WanderingFool]

Corporations don't have a culture anymore than deaf people do. What they have is severe disconnect from the rest of humanity. Only difference is that deaf people don't cut themselves off of their own free will (unless they're refusing cochlear implants).

How is refusing to recieve cochlear implants cutting one off from the world? I known deaf people without them that are more socialable than people who are perfectly fine.

Also, is it just me or does this guy seems awfully full of himself after he released Braid.

Besides the advertisements, I dont see whats so bad about either dashboards (well, I only have experience with the 360, so maybe the PS3, IDK. I think he is just blowing smoke out his ass...

 

[J Tyran]

"The edge that both Apple and Valve have going into the future..........."

If Valve made a console with a Steam like service I might as well just send them all money in one go and save myself the hassle.

 

[WashAran]

These guys never shut up, do they, they complaint about Sony and Microsoft but still keep doing stuff for it. Just make a PC game, man.

Thats what boggles my mind all the time. They approach MS/Soney, look at the contract, sign it and then complain. Like they dont even read the contract or are not aware who they doing business with.

 

[josemlopes]

Learn how to be professional

Is that code for learn how to shut up and take it and pretend you like it?

What I mean is that they had a contract or something that they had to agree with to make the game for XBLA or PSN, if they agreed with it now its not the time to cry about it. And the games that they did could very well be PC exclusives if they had so much problem with it in the first place.

It isnt about pretending to like it, its accepting the fact that you agreed to that treatment.

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

I wonder if anybody's mentioned the Ouya [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console] to him yet. Sounds like it'd be right up his alley, what with the whole "screw walled gardens" approach.

 

[Weaver]

Why indies even bother with console when there's a huge, open platform called the PC that allows you to do whatever you want and update whenever you want is beyond me.