Shawn Williams"There's obviously a huge problem in the gaming community, and it's the sort of problem that can only be solved by the judicious application of overwhelming force." Shawn Williams solves all the industry problems in one fell swoop.
Issue 31: Casual Friday - It's All Their Fault
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
Original Comment by: freemanX
As a game developer, I have to say that of course, it's the gamers' fault. The public wants what the public gets and if gamers would really prefer good and innovative gameplay over yet another WW2 shooter, the indie gaming scene would make a lot more money.
While everything in this article concerning gamers is true, the part about the game developers is clearly false. I don't drive a ferrari, I don't even have a car, because I can't afford the insurance rates. I've never seen any whores or drugs on developer parties and I've been to a few.
So, it's entirely legit to blame everything on the gamers. Even thinking about those lousy excuses for human beeings that are going to play my game is driving me crazy. If you've ever been to any sort of industry convention where consumers are alowed, you know what I mean. Most of them wouldn't even know what style is, if it hit them on the head. So the best solution would be for gamers to stop playing games, so that we, the developers can concentrate on making innovative, beautifull and artistic games that are only enjoyed by a small circle of people who are part of the intellectual elite. Of course, this would mean that all game development had to be state funded, but I could live with that.
As a game developer, I have to say that of course, it's the gamers' fault. The public wants what the public gets and if gamers would really prefer good and innovative gameplay over yet another WW2 shooter, the indie gaming scene would make a lot more money.
While everything in this article concerning gamers is true, the part about the game developers is clearly false. I don't drive a ferrari, I don't even have a car, because I can't afford the insurance rates. I've never seen any whores or drugs on developer parties and I've been to a few.
So, it's entirely legit to blame everything on the gamers. Even thinking about those lousy excuses for human beeings that are going to play my game is driving me crazy. If you've ever been to any sort of industry convention where consumers are alowed, you know what I mean. Most of them wouldn't even know what style is, if it hit them on the head. So the best solution would be for gamers to stop playing games, so that we, the developers can concentrate on making innovative, beautifull and artistic games that are only enjoyed by a small circle of people who are part of the intellectual elite. Of course, this would mean that all game development had to be state funded, but I could live with that.
Original Comment by: Seasought
The blame lies on both sides: idiotic, immature, spoiled players and elitist, self-infatuated developers. Game developers have taken on an aura of fame and fortune in many circles and both the aspiring fans and their idols have taken their respective roles of master and servant.
The idea that, as gamers, the developers actually care about our concepts, ideas, changes (no matter how well thought, or accurate they actually are) is a hopeless notion. We play by their rules and we give them money, either on a regular basis or at the time of purchase. Certainly the industry can shift into some sort of art fraction, full of those on the inside that vote for one another's products and write accolades in articles and reviews (see Hollywood) and a bulk of consumers will still buy into it.
Yet this is the side of both extremes. I believe and will continue to fight for those less vocal exceptions of great developers and players. Devs that seriously care about what the vocal gamers feel, and conversely, those gamers that can properly appreciate a game, play it maturely and make the gaming world a better place in general.
The blame lies on both sides: idiotic, immature, spoiled players and elitist, self-infatuated developers. Game developers have taken on an aura of fame and fortune in many circles and both the aspiring fans and their idols have taken their respective roles of master and servant.
The idea that, as gamers, the developers actually care about our concepts, ideas, changes (no matter how well thought, or accurate they actually are) is a hopeless notion. We play by their rules and we give them money, either on a regular basis or at the time of purchase. Certainly the industry can shift into some sort of art fraction, full of those on the inside that vote for one another's products and write accolades in articles and reviews (see Hollywood) and a bulk of consumers will still buy into it.
Yet this is the side of both extremes. I believe and will continue to fight for those less vocal exceptions of great developers and players. Devs that seriously care about what the vocal gamers feel, and conversely, those gamers that can properly appreciate a game, play it maturely and make the gaming world a better place in general.
Original Comment by: Slartibartfast
As an avid gamer, I have to say that the problem is the gamers.
Why are so many movie games made? Because gamers buy them. Why are so many sequels made? Because gamers buy them. Why are so many FPS's made? Because gamers buy them.
If the idiotic gamers would stop buying this crap, the publishers would take notice and stop forcing the poor developers to waste their lives creating shit games.
Of course, I also blame the publishers, for their complete lack of willingness to fund creative, different games. I mean, why wouldn't they want to take a risk, for gaming's sake?
Oh right, the gamers wouldn't buy it anyway.
As an avid gamer, I have to say that the problem is the gamers.
Why are so many movie games made? Because gamers buy them. Why are so many sequels made? Because gamers buy them. Why are so many FPS's made? Because gamers buy them.
If the idiotic gamers would stop buying this crap, the publishers would take notice and stop forcing the poor developers to waste their lives creating shit games.
Of course, I also blame the publishers, for their complete lack of willingness to fund creative, different games. I mean, why wouldn't they want to take a risk, for gaming's sake?
Oh right, the gamers wouldn't buy it anyway.
Original Comment by: Mitesh
http://forty-sixandtwo.blogspot.com/
Look at the big brains on Shaun! That was absolutely brilliant. Scathing, cynical and funny as all goddamn hell. I'd love to add something because I'm an egomanical know-it-all, but everything is covered. F-it! I'm gonna do it anyways. I'm sure there's room for the small, out of left field game to make an impact on a market saturated with mediocrity. Genuine word of mouth testimonials made a unique game like Katamari Damacy an addictive hit. I'm sure there's some long winded theory about a long tail or a cat in the hat or something. But maybe starting over is the best thing. Who really knows? And seriously, who really cares?
http://forty-sixandtwo.blogspot.com/
Look at the big brains on Shaun! That was absolutely brilliant. Scathing, cynical and funny as all goddamn hell. I'd love to add something because I'm an egomanical know-it-all, but everything is covered. F-it! I'm gonna do it anyways. I'm sure there's room for the small, out of left field game to make an impact on a market saturated with mediocrity. Genuine word of mouth testimonials made a unique game like Katamari Damacy an addictive hit. I'm sure there's some long winded theory about a long tail or a cat in the hat or something. But maybe starting over is the best thing. Who really knows? And seriously, who really cares?
Original Comment by: Cody K.
CAR!!!
Seriously though, this article is just a humorous stab at the videogaming in general. Whose to blame? Who cares. If people want to listen to Brittany Spears, more power to them. This industry is still very young and will continue to diversify it offerings, catering to more and more niche markets? despite whose ?fault? it is.
Now excuse me while I get back to playing my murder simulators. ;-)
GAME ON!!!
CAR!!!
Seriously though, this article is just a humorous stab at the videogaming in general. Whose to blame? Who cares. If people want to listen to Brittany Spears, more power to them. This industry is still very young and will continue to diversify it offerings, catering to more and more niche markets? despite whose ?fault? it is.
Now excuse me while I get back to playing my murder simulators. ;-)
GAME ON!!!
Original Comment by: Strabo
Why are there so many bad games?
Because making good games is hard. Duh.
Go on. Try to make a good game, I dare you. You'll fail, and then I'll laugh at your incompetance.
Also, if _every_ game was 'good'. We'd only play 'excellent' games, and demand to know why there weren't more 'excellent' games.
Why are there so many bad games?
Because making good games is hard. Duh.
Go on. Try to make a good game, I dare you. You'll fail, and then I'll laugh at your incompetance.
Also, if _every_ game was 'good'. We'd only play 'excellent' games, and demand to know why there weren't more 'excellent' games.
Original Comment by: Slartibartfast
Strabo:
But what if we're already playing "excellent" games!? Ooooh....
Strabo:
But what if we're already playing "excellent" games!? Ooooh....
Original Comment by: Patrick Dugan
http://www.kingludic.blogspot.com
Most Devs aren't thorwing down with hookers, I think when that kind of glam luxery is incumbent on succesful designers the industry will have made a big transition. Right now developers are working hard hours to deliver sub-par products.
While its almost standard for a succesful artist to have a self-infatuated egoplex, most designers I know (and I do know about a dozen, so I'm not talking out of my ass here) are very humble, gracious human beings. I suspect this is because the whole idea of sculpting human interaction lends one to facilitate interactions in everyday life, though designers typically go about this in an eccentric way. The exception to this exception is maybe Clifford Blezinski, who revels in self-infatuation while reinforcing old genre boundaries, I cite him with the bias that I e-mailed him a while back and he never responded.
As for the gamers, well I think I've written enough on that subject...
http://www.kingludic.blogspot.com
Most Devs aren't thorwing down with hookers, I think when that kind of glam luxery is incumbent on succesful designers the industry will have made a big transition. Right now developers are working hard hours to deliver sub-par products.
While its almost standard for a succesful artist to have a self-infatuated egoplex, most designers I know (and I do know about a dozen, so I'm not talking out of my ass here) are very humble, gracious human beings. I suspect this is because the whole idea of sculpting human interaction lends one to facilitate interactions in everyday life, though designers typically go about this in an eccentric way. The exception to this exception is maybe Clifford Blezinski, who revels in self-infatuation while reinforcing old genre boundaries, I cite him with the bias that I e-mailed him a while back and he never responded.
As for the gamers, well I think I've written enough on that subject...
Original Comment by: Mark
The market's too small. There aren't enough gamers to support games that can't sell to the majority of the market. If there are more people buying, then everybody's happy. The gamers can have their gory sequels, and the niche that buys artistic games will be big enough to make those titles profitable.
The market's too small. There aren't enough gamers to support games that can't sell to the majority of the market. If there are more people buying, then everybody's happy. The gamers can have their gory sequels, and the niche that buys artistic games will be big enough to make those titles profitable.
Original Comment by: Steve
I'm a game developer, and the problem is absolutely the gamers fault because they seem to think that all (or any, for that matter) developers drive their lambos to wild orgy parties instead of working on good games or responding to their thousands of posts a day on message boards. Hell, I wish being a game developer was that cool... its a fun job but its still a job. At the end of the day, it's a buyers market, and the products that gamers buy determine what is made tomorrow. You can blame the PUBLISHERS for that.
I'm a game developer, and the problem is absolutely the gamers fault because they seem to think that all (or any, for that matter) developers drive their lambos to wild orgy parties instead of working on good games or responding to their thousands of posts a day on message boards. Hell, I wish being a game developer was that cool... its a fun job but its still a job. At the end of the day, it's a buyers market, and the products that gamers buy determine what is made tomorrow. You can blame the PUBLISHERS for that.
Original Comment by: Cody K.
I know someone who is in GDA (Game Developers Anonymous) and the first stage is denial? ?Oh, we don?t drive Lamborghinis.? ?I snorted a line once, but I didn?t like it.? ?What?s an orgy?? ?these and other lies are just plain sad.
I know someone who is in GDA (Game Developers Anonymous) and the first stage is denial? ?Oh, we don?t drive Lamborghinis.? ?I snorted a line once, but I didn?t like it.? ?What?s an orgy?? ?these and other lies are just plain sad.
Original Comment by: BacksideNine
http://www.boardroomco.com
blame? blame god man.
I would lend a fist at hardware and expectations. I hear it takes like, at least 8 more hours to make a game nowadays. Thats like 90 dollars more to make the game. The veritable "knee to the financial groin". We expect games that plug into our buttholes and project a real game environment into out minds. People are losing sight of what games are all about. Fun.
well, nintendo isnt. Those bastards just sucked me back in with a DS after i abandoned them with no hope after the 'siddy fo'.
and hey, quit charging me 50 bucks for a game i baught a year ago with the same title and a slightly different story. Im over it.
http://www.boardroomco.com
blame? blame god man.
I would lend a fist at hardware and expectations. I hear it takes like, at least 8 more hours to make a game nowadays. Thats like 90 dollars more to make the game. The veritable "knee to the financial groin". We expect games that plug into our buttholes and project a real game environment into out minds. People are losing sight of what games are all about. Fun.
well, nintendo isnt. Those bastards just sucked me back in with a DS after i abandoned them with no hope after the 'siddy fo'.
and hey, quit charging me 50 bucks for a game i baught a year ago with the same title and a slightly different story. Im over it.
Original Comment by: Evil Timmy
http://10mbit.com
There are plenty of great indie games out there, ones that do new and interesting things or take an old concept and add new ideas to make it unique (Mount & Blade is a shining example of this). But truth be told, most people are happy with mediocrity, and can't be bothered to try a dozen games they won't like for the one that will truly satisfy them. The shiny box on the endcap holds more appeal than poring over gaming news sites and blogs for the off chance they'll find something keyed to their tastes. This is true of pretty much every form of saleable entertainment out there, it's simply that gaming doesn't have as large a market, meaning less cash to support those who create the entertainment, meaning there's simply less people producing new work.
If everyone out there had the motivation and time to really look for games they love, the market would be weighted towards what we now call indie devs, and small teams would be cropping up like grunge bands in thier parent's garages after Nevermind came out. More small teams could actually live off the work, meaning the quality of game assets could increase, but people would still be looking for the agility and broad spectrum covered by masses of teams motivated by their own half-mad ideas, not dozens-strong corporate devs who have their next title dictated by focus groups and marketing studies. But the consumer (you, me, and everyone else) keeps giving their money to the latter group, and thus the latter group has no reason to stop doing what they're doing. We're to blame.
http://10mbit.com
There are plenty of great indie games out there, ones that do new and interesting things or take an old concept and add new ideas to make it unique (Mount & Blade is a shining example of this). But truth be told, most people are happy with mediocrity, and can't be bothered to try a dozen games they won't like for the one that will truly satisfy them. The shiny box on the endcap holds more appeal than poring over gaming news sites and blogs for the off chance they'll find something keyed to their tastes. This is true of pretty much every form of saleable entertainment out there, it's simply that gaming doesn't have as large a market, meaning less cash to support those who create the entertainment, meaning there's simply less people producing new work.
If everyone out there had the motivation and time to really look for games they love, the market would be weighted towards what we now call indie devs, and small teams would be cropping up like grunge bands in thier parent's garages after Nevermind came out. More small teams could actually live off the work, meaning the quality of game assets could increase, but people would still be looking for the agility and broad spectrum covered by masses of teams motivated by their own half-mad ideas, not dozens-strong corporate devs who have their next title dictated by focus groups and marketing studies. But the consumer (you, me, and everyone else) keeps giving their money to the latter group, and thus the latter group has no reason to stop doing what they're doing. We're to blame.
Original Comment by: mofomojo
It is all the gamers' fault. Not all gamers are responsible, that's a rash generalization, but it's only the casual "Madden" console gamers who are to fault for this mess.
These type of people represent the majority of people who buy games. They play games as a past-time, they don't get to heavily involved and by and large are less caring and educating for what makes a good game.
This is a good example of where the educated and intellectual gamers get shafted since most people, the fairly un-educated and un-concerned gamers, don't really give a damn if they're buying a new version of Madden that they don't need.
Developers just make what sells for the most part, right now they're stretching themselves because they know that they're making shitty games, but they keep selling. I know that developers are the most hard-core gaming fanatics, the buggy games are not the developer's faults, it's the CEOs, Publishers and Managers who rush the schedules for the demanding audience so they don't get enough time to play-test the game fully and eliminate all glitches and bugs.
It's the fault of the casual gamer. It's their fault for looking at graphics when buying games, it's their fault no indie games are ever seen in blockbuster. It's their fault for this whole freaking mess.
If you've ever purchased more than one copy of Madden or any other franchise with more than three games with the same engine and gameplay, set yourself alight, now.
ie.
It is all the gamers' fault. Not all gamers are responsible, that's a rash generalization, but it's only the casual "Madden" console gamers who are to fault for this mess.
These type of people represent the majority of people who buy games. They play games as a past-time, they don't get to heavily involved and by and large are less caring and educating for what makes a good game.
This is a good example of where the educated and intellectual gamers get shafted since most people, the fairly un-educated and un-concerned gamers, don't really give a damn if they're buying a new version of Madden that they don't need.
Developers just make what sells for the most part, right now they're stretching themselves because they know that they're making shitty games, but they keep selling. I know that developers are the most hard-core gaming fanatics, the buggy games are not the developer's faults, it's the CEOs, Publishers and Managers who rush the schedules for the demanding audience so they don't get enough time to play-test the game fully and eliminate all glitches and bugs.
It's the fault of the casual gamer. It's their fault for looking at graphics when buying games, it's their fault no indie games are ever seen in blockbuster. It's their fault for this whole freaking mess.
If you've ever purchased more than one copy of Madden or any other franchise with more than three games with the same engine and gameplay, set yourself alight, now.
ie.
Original Comment by: Paul Jenkins
I feel stupider for having read this article. I appreciate your ability to be sarcastic and disengenuous... Now please go write something relevant to games and gaming culture. This article read like a blog entry from someone who couldn't be bothered to think of anything better to write about.
I feel stupider for having read this article. I appreciate your ability to be sarcastic and disengenuous... Now please go write something relevant to games and gaming culture. This article read like a blog entry from someone who couldn't be bothered to think of anything better to write about.
Original Comment by: Shawn Williams
http://www.neenerneener.net
Someone please tell me that's not Paul Jenkins the comic book writer...
http://www.neenerneener.net
Someone please tell me that's not Paul Jenkins the comic book writer...
Original Comment by: CrusherOfThings
I thought the article was well written, funny, and truthful. I guess sometimes the truth HURTS eh?
I thought the article was well written, funny, and truthful. I guess sometimes the truth HURTS eh?
Original Comment by: Phil Wilkins
Sorry, but I'm too busing driving to my ho's house in my Ferrari to say much, but it's definately those punk-ass gamers fault. Too many of them bought my last game, and now I have to make more of the same to keep them happy. Fortunately I'm a programmer, so can just get the other guys to use the code I wrote for the last one. Now excuse me while I chop a line out on the dash...
Sorry, but I'm too busing driving to my ho's house in my Ferrari to say much, but it's definately those punk-ass gamers fault. Too many of them bought my last game, and now I have to make more of the same to keep them happy. Fortunately I'm a programmer, so can just get the other guys to use the code I wrote for the last one. Now excuse me while I chop a line out on the dash...