Notch Dumps on EA "Indie Bundle"

[Madkipz]

Speaking as the producer of Minecraft, Notch has a lot more authority than some lowly escapist journalist. His tweets ring true and loudly. I hope EA burns for abusing the title of indie.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Gaming is fine.

BOOM. In three words, this guy nails it.

At no time in the past 35 years or so have those who love corporate-driven button-mashing, and those who love basement-developed niche weirdness, been better served than they are right now. I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is a great time to be a gamer. And in all the blind EA hatred, very few of you seem willing to acknowledge that.

EA hasn't been my favourite company since they stopped putting pictures of developers of their boxes. But we are in the midst of some serious gaming glory days, folks, and being mad at EA about Mass Effect 3 or Westwood or whatever it did to piss in your corn flakes doesn't change that. It's really not about EA at all; it's about the essentially fallacy that gaming is being destroyed. It ain't.

Why does everyone assume I'm a guy when they first meet me? Do I put off a dude aura or something? lol

But to add to what you said: it is indeed an awesome time to be a gamer. No matter what you like, there's someone making it and ready to sell it to you (even give it away for free in some cases). It's never been easier to make games (in perspective) and things like Twitter and Facebook make forming a community and advertising for your game as easy as a few clicks.

Yeah, EA can seem like they've eaten everyone else for lunch and taken all the competition out of the market, but that's only because they're yelling the loudest. What makes video games great is they still retain the spirit of creativity and community that they started with all those years ago. There's people and small groups all over the world doing some really awesome stuff, and thanks to the internet, they're easy to find.

If EA is doing anything to the industry, it's them yelling so loud that people who've never thought of gaming are coming into contact with it--and that's never a bad thing.

 

[Varya]

Ugh, I seriously wish this guy would take his Lego-ripoff game and just go live in a pixelated hole for a few years alongside Jonathan Blow and every other full-of-themselves "we are the most awesome thing ever" indie studio.

"Indies are saving gaming,"

...Notch said while donning his best hipster outfit.


For every awesome indie game I play, there are about 15-20 that suck beyond measure.

I'm no fan of EA, but get off your wooden horse and take a stroll in someone else's clogs before dumping on who is and isn't destroying gaming.

YOU are not the arbiter of what the industry needs, Notch.

When did he claim he was an arbiter? He just tweeted. Everyone and his grandma has talked about the EA indie-bundle today and called them out for it. The Escapist did it earlier today. Why does him tweeting bother you. Notch didn't make a statement, he didn't write a blogpost or article, he gave his opinion in a tweet. How is that different from you giving your opinion in a comment? He don't put his tweets on the front page of the Escapist, the Escapist did that. I just don't get why this guys opinion always gets blown out of proportion.

That's exactly my problem. He tweeted under the false pretense of "Oh, I had noooooo ideaaaaa". This isn't the first time Notch's tweets have been brought up as news; he doesn't get to play the naive card and use "I just tweeted" as a defense. He should assume by now that anything he tweets IS an article. Whereas if my comments on this forum made cnn.com, I could be rightfully shocked that someone thought my stupid opinion was newsworthy.

Case in point, check out nfl.com. They are running twitter reactions to Junior Seau's death from other nfl players. Seriously. Because news about someone passing is no longer enough. Now we need to cull the masses and get their twitter reactions.

So yea, Notch knew someone would pick this up. If he didn't, then he has a serious intelligence issue to sort out. But first he needs to pull the giant stick out of his butt. The one that says "Starving indie developers feed orphans, and organized properly funded companies who employ thousands murder grandmothers."

That's bull. Yes, he probably knew that his tweets would get attention, but he doesn't have a responsibility to keep his mouth shut. He's a right to his oppinion and every right to speak it. Maybe you're right and he is in fact no-one important in the world of gaming, then it is media who should stop listening to him, not he who should stop using social media.
Personaly, I enjoy that we have one guy in the gamers industry who spekas his mind without going to the PR machine even if I don't agree with him all the time

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Speaking as the producer of Minecraft, Notch has a lot more authority than some lowly escapist journalist. His tweets ring true and loudly. I hope EA burns for abusing the title of indie.

Lowly Escapist journalist? You mean the people that make this site--the one you are enjoying right now--what it is? I'm fairly certain anyone who spends their life researching, reporting on and playing video games, has as much authority to comment on it as anyone.

Maybe you should think a little more about your words before you put them out there.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Notch, come back and talk when you release an actual, you know, game.

Not just a fancy LEGO online simulator.

 

[Contradiction]

Speaking as the producer of Minecraft, Notch has a lot more authority than some lowly escapist journalist. His tweets ring true and loudly. I hope EA burns for abusing the title of indie.

The fact that your post was more in the defence of notch rather than affirmation of his comment just goes to show how many people here are ridding Notch's bandwagon (in lieu of Notch himself). Where does that authority come from? Because he independently made a video game?
The main positive of indi is that it allows CREATIVITY and FREEDOM! It's supposed to stop the medium from stagnation as it allows devs not to worry about targets and risk because its a solo run thing.
How was Notch contributed to this AT ALL?
He made a derivative game at the right time. There was no new idea or creativity involved. He quite clearly, and shamelessly I might add, stole from infiniminer (with some help from dwarf fortress).
Let me leave you with a thought... I'm not a chef. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a preference in food? Have I not earnt the right or authority to voice my opinion in food?
Grow up.

 

[Fasckira]

Oh q fucking q. It's so dumb to say something like that about a company. They're out to make money. If this "indie" bundle sells and makes money, and it's because they called it indie, they don't care. They'd call it dogshit bundle if it would sell. Notch needs to calm his nipples. No need to get twisted over this.

But how can Notch play the part of the internet white knight if he hasn't got a company to rip on?!

Agreed though. Sure, the action of EA releasing an "indie" bundle is a bit ... silly, I guess is the best word, but its not exactly as rage-worthy as Notch is making out. EA have taken the genre of indie and stretched its meaning to the point of breaking the definition but they have by no means "destroyed gaming".

Maybe my judgement is clouded as I tend to like a majority of the games EA publish. I really dont get why people get so fricking upset over EA though, its a company thats making money. Its not like EA are going round to people's houses and roughing them up for lunch money. Dont like an EA game? Dont buy it, move on.

 

[natster43]

Oh EA, you don't have any clue what you are doing and are just running towards money aren't you.
Really, I don't think they are destroying gaming, just being idiots about how it works and only trying to make money, like any other company.

 

[matrix3509]

Gaming is fine. EA is fine. Get over it.

I'd just like to point out right now how perfectly the industry right now mirrors the way it was in 1983.

1.) The major players in the industry (i.e. Atari) were filthy rich and looked unbeatable.
2.) Publishers grew ever more draconian and tyrannical by the day, simply because they could.
3.) The developers that worked for said publishers got fed up with all of the bullshit they were forced to put up with and started striking out on their own. Then...
4.) Games released that ended up being extremely high profile disasters.

History tends to repeat itself. Especially when the people in power are too busy waving their anus around in the air. I personally cannot wait till this shitty industry burns. Meanwhile the true indie developers will keep plugging away at their games like they have always done. Then we can get back to the business of making games instead of monetizing the consumer.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Gaming is fine. EA is fine. Get over it.

I'd just like to point out right now how perfectly the industry right now mirrors the way it was in 1983.

1.) The major players in the industry (i.e. Atari) were filthy rich and looked unbeatable.
2.) Publishers grew ever more draconian and tyrannical by the day, simply because they could.
3.) The developers that worked for said publishers got fed up with all of the bullshit they were forced to put up with and started striking out on their own. Then...
4.) Games released that ended up being extremely high profile disasters.

History tends to repeat itself. Especially when the people in power are too busy waving their anus around in the air. I personally cannot wait till this shitty industry burns. Meanwhile the true indie developers will keep plugging away at their games like they have always done. Then we can get back to the business of making games instead of monetizing the consumer.

Oh fluff. Get down off your high-horse. Games are being made, lots of people like them, they are selling. Don't like it? Don't buy them.

Is business new to people, or something? Breaking news: businesses stay in business by offering what people want to buy.

Oh woe is us, the gamers, we only have countless indie titles and a massive AAA industry to supply our demand. What ever will we do.

Don't make me laugh.

 

[grigjd3]

I don't think EA is actively destroying gaming - that's just the result of their actions. I think if they were *trying* to destroy gaming, they'd fail like they do at everything else. As a side effect though, they're quite good at it.

 

[Dylan Rushing]

Hang on a minute.

Wasn't this exactly what Extra Credits said EA should do? Make an Indie arm to take care of "innovative" and "new" games while EA proper makes AAA games?

And in that case what would you rather have?

That EA dies or EA may begin to make interesting games?

I'd rather EA dies.

Near every game series I loved, particularly Command and Conquer, was bought by them and ruined. I want to see EA bankrupt so their intellectual properties and copy right can fall into hands that won't abuse them and actually care for them.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Wait a minute: I remember buying Shank in "Humble Indie Bundle". And now I hear it was originally released by EA? MY ENTIRE LIFE IS A LIE!

 

[matrix3509]

Don't like it? Don't buy them.

I don't.

Is business new to people, or something? Breaking news: businesses stay in business by offering what people want to buy.

Yes because "Its business" is the catch-all excuse for people defending publisher extortion of developers and milking of consumers. Try again, this time with more logic and less Laissez-faire fallacy.

Oh woe is us, the gamers, we only have countless indie titles and a massive AAA industry to supply our demand. What ever will we do.

Don't make me laugh.

I'm certainly not demanding the same games every year, which is what we are getting. Look around and open your fucking eyes. The level of ambivalence between the publishers/the media wing of the publishers: the game journalists and the developers/consumers has never been higher than it is right now, and its only going to grow.

 

[matrix3509]

Gaming is fine. EA is fine. Get over it.

I'd just like to point out right now how perfectly the industry right now mirrors the way it was in 1983.

1.) The major players in the industry (i.e. Atari) were filthy rich and looked unbeatable.
2.) Publishers grew ever more draconian and tyrannical by the day, simply because they could.
3.) The developers that worked for said publishers got fed up with all of the bullshit they were forced to put up with and started striking out on their own. Then...
4.) Games released that ended up being extremely high profile disasters.

History tends to repeat itself. Especially when the people in power are too busy waving their anus around in the air. I personally cannot wait till this shitty industry burns. Meanwhile the true indie developers will keep plugging away at their games like they have always done. Then we can get back to the business of making games instead of monetizing the consumer.

You use the word 'business', but I do not think it means what you think it means. You seem to have some sort of romantic ideal, where people make games to spread art and don't care about things like profit. The business of making games is about the money. Yes, even the "true indie developers," the only difference is that they make the game they want to make, and hope that enough people like it that they make enough money to make another one.

EA are not moustache-twirling villains tying the games industry to train tracks, and independent developers are not the daring hero who swoops in to save the day. In the end, they're just different shades of the same color.

You seem to be confusing "making money" and "extorting developers and milking consumers". I could see how you might confuse the two, they sound a lot alike.

 

[jFr[e]ak93]

Ahh, lovely, another case of double standards.

Indie Bundle from Valve? Perfectly good!
Indie Bundle from EA? ABSOLUTELY EVIL!!

Ummm.... when did Valve release an indy bundle? If you want to get technical Orange Box was (most of the games came from mods made for other Valve games or from indy studios that Valve bought the ideas from) but I've never seen them say indy. They do sell some bundles on steam, but that's a store, not a publisher.

Also, I love how Notch loved EA a few weeks back over Origin, now he hates them for calling a bundle indy.

Plus it's available on Steam, EA hates Steam.

Can the irony get better than this?

 

[matrix3509]

Don't like it? Don't buy them.

I don't.

Is business new to people, or something? Breaking news: businesses stay in business by offering what people want to buy.

Yes because "Its business" is the catch-all excuse for people defending publisher extortion of developers and milking of consumers. Try again, this time with more logic and less Laissez-faire fallacy.

Oh woe is us, the gamers, we only have countless indie titles and a massive AAA industry to supply our demand. What ever will we do.

Don't make me laugh.

I'm certainly not demanding the same games every year, which is what we are getting. Look around and open your fucking eyes. The level of ambivalence between the publishers/the media wing of the publishers: the game journalists and the developers/consumers has never been higher than it is right now, and its only going to grow.

Who are you? You're one consumer. You don't dictate the market. You can complain all you want about 'the same games every year', but the simple fact of the matter is people want to play them. And because of that, they make money. Because, you know what? It's business. It's about making money, and if money can be made this way, it will be. And what's evil about that?

You seem to be confusing "making money" and "extorting developers and milking consumers". I could see how you might confuse the two, they sound a lot alike.

No, from what you say, it would seem that it is YOU who is confused.

Its funny how people only support this Laissez-faire fallacy when it supports something they like. Cause making money excuses everything. Except when its something you don't like.

 

[Gibboniser]

All the titles were created by indie developers, EA is simply bringing them to the masses, I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

 

[Madkipz]

Speaking as the producer of Minecraft, Notch has a lot more authority than some lowly escapist journalist. His tweets ring true and loudly. I hope EA burns for abusing the title of indie.

The fact that your post was more in the defence of notch rather than affirmation of his comment just goes to show how many people here are ridding Notch's bandwagon (in lieu of Notch himself). Where does that authority come from? Because he independently made a video game?
The main positive of indi is that it allows CREATIVITY and FREEDOM! It's supposed to stop the medium from stagnation as it allows devs not to worry about targets and risk because its a solo run thing.
How was Notch contributed to this AT ALL?
He made a derivative game at the right time. There was no new idea or creativity involved. He quite clearly, and shamelessly I might add, stole from infiniminer (with some help from dwarf fortress).
Let me leave you with a thought... I'm not a chef. Does that mean that I shouldn't have a preference in food? Have I not earnt the right or authority to voice my opinion in food?
Grow up.

Except the tv chef with a food show or awards for his cooking has more authority in his words than everyday joe will ever have. His opinion therefore reaches more people, reaches farther up and down the lines of media and you can either throw yours in or gtfo the avalance of "My thoughts exactly how true."

The world is not ruled by the silent majority. It never is.

 

[funksobeefy]

Im not sure the difference between this and when steam does and indie sale. Is it just because it's EA?