Notch Turns Down Free Games From Sony, Buys Them Himself

[-Dragmire-]

Nice story and all, but I wanna bring into question this idea that Notch is "indie". If I recall correctly, didn't Notch himself say that he is no longer indie?

Did he sell the company, become publicly traded or otherwise gain dependency on a publisher?

I think people are starting to change the meaning of indie which, for my part, means independent development.

It just feels weird to me to say, "Your assets and income have crossed this threshold, you are no longer considered independent".

The idea is that indie means you don't have a huge pile of money to throw around. There is probably a more correct word to describe the exact scenario, but kind of unnecessary if we can all understand the spirit of the word instead of taking it at face value.

Two guys in a basement working part-time to support their game development is indie.
Having millions of dollars and your own team to back you up, well it just doesn't have the same vibe now does it?

Out of curiosity, in the hypothetical situation where a millionaire decided to make a game himself but also heavily invested in his creation, would he not be considered indie merely due to his money?

An indie developer who've earned a massive amount of income due to their game selling well, I would say they're an incredibly successful independent developer, no more no less.

Tangent: Not sure how I see an indie publisher though, can that exist? As in a non-publicly traded company with no parent corporation that still acts as a publisher.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Minutes later, however, Notch swallowed his pride and did request one game. "Wait, changing my answer," he tweeted. "Half-Life 3."

That magnificent troll.

tfw Valve releases Half Life 3 at Notch's request

If there's anyone here that could probably get Valve off their asses and finally making Half-Life 3... Notch alone probably wouldn't be able to pull it off... but I imagine he'd be an integral part of it!

... Honestly, though, that is a pretty lulzy thing he requested.

 

[marurder]

This story is bad because there are no good targets for me to get worked up and rant about! Every one in this story comes off as a good guy! No fair! Must then attack the news reporter and their idea of 'news'!

OT: There is no HL3, the HL3 is a lie.

 

[KennardKId5]

Well, that happened.

Is it just me, or is Notch's fifteen minutes of fame up yet? He made a game, got bored of it halfway through, got stinkin' rich, and now he gets to live the good life.

He isn't God, is what I'm saying. However, the media seems to treat him like one. Maybe we should just forget about Notch unless he makes another hit game.

 

[Brian Tams]

Ugh. Sony just put a sour taste in my mouth, and I don't think it was a lemon drop.

What a worthless PR grab. Fuck Boyles; there are sick children in hospitals who would love to have Knack or some shit free to help distract them from reality, but no. Let's offer games to the multi-millionaire in an attempt to both try and bribe him (I wonder how much ass-kissing they had to do already to get Minecraft to their consoles?), but also try and score cool points with the indie crowd.

Good on Notch to refuse (he just gained back a little of the massive amounts of respect he'd already lost from me), and fuck you, Boyles.

 

[BX3]

Some guy at Sony politely offered to give him some stuff for a holiday. Notch politely turned down the offer. That's uh... that's cool I guess.

At least I know no one here on the great, level-headed community that is the Escapist will make an enemy out of anyone in this article. Welp, now to read the comments! =D

...

Shit!

 

[Guffe]

At least I know no one here on the great, level-headed community that is the Escapist will make an enemy out of anyone in this article. Welp, now to read the comments! =D

...

Shit!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!
My thought exactly!

I mean WTF Escapist!??!?!?!!

C'mon, it might be a try for publicity from Sony and getting the trademark "look, Notch plays these games"
And Notch has a certain ethic being "If I want something, then I buy it. Unless someone/good friend gives it to me as a bday/xmas present"

Let the poor fellows be, and maybe someone thinks this is stupid news, but with them posting this on Twitter it's up for grabs to make an article (which probaby didn't take more than - find news - write for 10 minutes - post news -)
And this is a gaming site, Boyes and Notch, last I checked, are pretty big names in the gaming world, tweeting about games --> Article!

We write about a lot more silly stuff on this site than this.

 

[chikusho]

Aaaand... how is this news?
I know that the escapist reports on some ridiculously trivial things on this site, but this has to be a record low.
Who cares whether or not someone accepts a free game?

 

[Exterminas]

Yes. How very noble of this guy who made millions by creating a single video game.

Er, yeah. It is a nice gesture by Notch. Now excuse me while I try to understand how him being successful somehow taints this story.

I am not saying it taints the story. I don't know notch, he could be a decent guy or not. My point is that it is easy for a person to turn down free stuff once they made their first few millions. I don't get why that is newsworthy. When I read the title I saw "Millionaire turns down free games."

If the story had been "War orphans in Somalia turn down free games" I would have understood the significance.

 

[Vie]

I'll be severely disappointed if the Sony rep fails to, at some point, respond with: "Clever girl..."

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

If I had the choice between ~$100 worth of crappy launch titles, and gaining the goodwill of the gaming community I... well... that would actually be a tough choice. The gaming community can turn on you in a second for no reason, but free stuff will never go away...

 

[Skeleon]

I still think a "gaming celebrity" should use such an opportunity for actual charity. Convince the Sony folks to do something useful rather than giving a guy who has a bunch of money more goods. Would make for better PR for Sony, too, than trying to give it to Notch.

 

[2xDouble]

Er, yeah. It is a nice gesture by Notch. Now excuse me while I try to understand how him being successful somehow taints this story.

As someone else already said (though in different context):

Because no one else has this thing called "integrity".

It's sad because Notch stands out so much for his integrity, not because of how truly awesome he is (and he is, don't get me wrong), but because of how tragically un-awesome "everyone else" seems to be.

OT: Huh. Cool. Good for both of you, and thank you Sony for reaching out to Notch. Maybe the two of you together can convince Valve to finish work on Half-Life 3 before it becomes the next Duke Nukem Forever. I mean, worst-case scenario (on release) sees Half-Life 3 on par with Mass Effect 3, right?

 

[CriticalMiss]

Tangent: Not sure how I see an indie publisher though, can that exist? As in a non-publicly traded company with no parent corporation that still acts as a publisher.

Would Valve fall in to that category? I guess they are more like distributors than publishers.

Aaaand... how is this news?
I know that the escapist reports on some ridiculously trivial things on this site, but this has to be a record low.
Who cares whether or not someone accepts a free game?

Because it is Notch. He's the shining star of indie developers and so everything he does is news. If he gets a haircut or scuffs his new shoes it must be reported.

 

[Flutterguy]

I don't see why the whole "Reviewers get free games" even became an issue, likely just a bunch of young passive-aggressive twats where mad their parents didnt buy them the newest CoD yet.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Yes. How very noble of this guy who made millions by creating a single video game.

Er, yeah. It is a nice gesture by Notch. Now excuse me while I try to understand how him being successful somehow taints this story.

I am not saying it taints the story. I don't know notch, he could be a decent guy or not. My point is that it is easy for a person to turn down free stuff once they made their first few millions. I don't get why that is newsworthy. When I read the title I saw "Millionaire turns down free games."

If the story had been "War orphans in Somalia turn down free games" I would have understood the significance.

Read the article he explains his intentions there quite well. Also there been some whining on internet about gaming figures getting free games and here is a MAJOR player in gaming scene and he turned down the free games.

That is the point of the article really - someone did not abuse his status for benefits.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Ah, Sony.

Sucking up, failing, and then looking like a huge idiot to the public.

Even your fans hate you.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

How did this pleasant article become something that requires commenters to point out an ugly side? A guy offered someone free games and Notch said no on his principals. Sony's allowed to woo developers, it's how business is done. I don't see notch slamming them for sending him a golden ps1 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124368-Sony-Invites-Notch-to-E3-With-a-Golden-PlayStation

Maybe we could all have a laugh at an amusing anecdote without calling some evil for once?