People Make Games, Not Development Studios

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

People Make Games, Not Development Studios

When looking at games, look at the people behind them for a good indication of a game's quality.

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[Erttheking]

I honestly think there was a lot of concern that Dark Souls 2 wasn't being directed by the same person that directed the first game, so I'm starting to think that people are seeing your point and viewing games that way. Granted, from what I've heard the good guy seems to have done a good job anyway, so maybe there are just a lot of talented people working at From Software.

 

[shtoops]

In just angry that Ken Levine left the Bioshock IP with 2K. They're going to totally fuck it up.

 

[Covarr]

While there is a good deal of truth to this, it's important to remember that a studio isn't just the individuals within it. Different studios have different budgets to work with (less relevant if the publisher is bankrolling the whole game, but that doesn't always happen), different hiring practices, different structures... You can have the exact same group of people, but if you arrange 'em differently you can get a vastly different result. The individuals are the ingredients, and the studio is the recipe that says how they all fit together.

P.S. Thanks

 

[craddoke]

Perhaps the Escapist itself could help by prominently featuring the names of developers in their reviews? For instance, here's what the Dark Souls II review has in its info box (copy-and-pasted from another tab):

"Developed by From Software. Published by Bandai Namco Games. Released March 11, 2014. PS3 (reviewed), PC (April 25th) and Xbox 360."

Maybe that should be:

"Developed by From Software (Directed by Whoever McEverson). Published by Bandai Namco Games. Released March 11, 2014. PS3 (reviewed), PC (April 25th) and Xbox 360."

 

[Colt47]

It's kind of amazing that we've gotten to the point where, in order to follow our favorite game makers, we have to start looking in the credits of the games we like and dig for names. Twenty years ago in the Super NES days we'd all just follow the IPs since the game franchises were still in their infancy and teams were relatively small.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I dunno about this one. I've seen plenty of people make development studios, not just games. But I get the feeling that's not what Yahtzee was talking about.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

In just angry that Ken Levine left the Bioshock IP with 2K. They're going to totally fuck it up.

That's assuming that they even touch it. The guys in charge full well know that the name alone won't keep the franchise alive. We all saw how much bile got thrown on Infinite when Levine WAS at the helm (still got good ratings, but there was a LOT of doubt and debate). One bad game in the franchise and it gets tainted for a LONG time, and the executives know this.

 

[EmilShmiengura]

I think the question we need to ask here (about big titles at least) is "Are games actually made by people?" The code is written on one continent, the soundtrack and voices are record on another, the artwork is done by somebody who probably never met the programers and so on. Not only games aren't made by people according to our perception but components of the same project aren't made by people even for those involved in the development. Everything is the work of a department, every decision is taken by a committee and it takes at least one meeting. The dev. process allows for as much personal involvement as in the production of fish fingers or IKEA furniture.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Thing is, that's a double-edged sword. It's essentially auteur theory and that has a bad side effect: giving the people credited MASSIVE egos. The film industry dealt with that when the New Hollywood movement collapsed due to too many idiot visionaries wasting too much money. Sure, Japan does credit people as directors, but in all honesty I would argue that's just a formality. Sure, one guy is the director but game making is a group effort.

 

[alphamalet]

I must disagree.

Anyone who has made games knows that a game is not one person's vision. A game is a collection of many different (sometimes competing) artistic visions that come together to deliver a final product. I think Hideo Kojima being solely credited for MGS undercuts the other creative talents necessary for those games to be made, and diminishes the fact that games as collaborative products is one of the things that make them great. We don't need one person taking credit for a game.

 

[Roofstone]

We still have some name. Schafer for example still gets his name tossed out. And you can expect something good when it is.

Oh and Peter Molyneux is a big name. And he gets his name on the cover most of the time. And then you know you can expect something... Very strange. Though that usually goes for Schafer as well.

But yeah, more names. I like names. Easy to remember.

 

[Mahoshonen]

I must disagree.

Anyone who has made games knows that a game is not one person's vision. A game is a collection of many different (sometimes competing) artistic visions that come together to deliver a final product. I think Hideo Kojima being solely credited for MGS undercuts the other creative talents necessary for those games to be made, and diminishes the fact that games as collaborative products is one of the things that make them great. We don't need one person taking credit for a game.

But the exact same thing can be said of movies. In fact, movies are a far bigger collaborative effort because the individual actors have much more input on the final film relative to the director than, say, a VA has relative to a lead designer.

Just because a director is credited in a film, viewers are smart enough to know that he doesn't deserve the entire credit for it's failure or success. Likewise, highlighting a few key individuals doesn't magically cover up the fact that games are a group effort.

IMO, the benefits of putting the people at the forefront outweighs the drawbacks. Sure it will breed egos, but Orson Welles was an egotistical d-bag, and every gaming fan is trying to find his reincarnation these days.

 

[Thanatos2k]

Problem is, the more a name seems to be attached to a Western game the worse the game seems to be. Examples:

Warren Spector -> Epic Mickey
Clive Barker -> Jericho
Peter Molyneux -> Take your pick

And then there's our good friends like Phil Fish, Cliffy B, and Randy P.

The more I know about the developers the more I hate them. I'm fine with them toiling in obscurity and spitting out wonderful games.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Problem is, the more a name seems to be attached to a Western game the worse the game seems to be. Examples:

Warren Spector -> Epic Mickey
Clive Barker -> Jericho
Peter Molyneux -> Take your pick

And then there's our good friends like Phil Fish, Cliffy B, and Randy P.

The more I know about the developers the more I hate them. I'm fine with them toiling in obscurity and spitting out wonderful games.

If Derek Smart falls in a forest and no one is around to hear him, can he still spark a flame war?

 

[Evonisia]

Woah, Silent Hill 3 is the overrated one? In a series with Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 I find that too bizarre to believe. Then again I'm of the opinion that Silent Hill 4 is almost criminally underrated so I must be mad.

But I do agree on attaching names to brands. Tearing down companies is just irrational (no pun intended), just sack the creative director and hire a new one. The games might not improve by any dramatic extent but at least people will not be drove away should a game be awful. Western names don't seem to have much success. Has Peter Molyneux been praised for anything in the last 15 years? Tim Schafer in the last 8? Clive Barker ever? Tom Clancy?

 

[Under_your_bed]

Perhaps the Escapist itself could help by prominently featuring the names of developers in their reviews? For instance, here's what the Dark Souls II review has in its info box (copy-and-pasted from another tab):

"Developed by From Software. Published by Bandai Namco Games. Released March 11, 2014. PS3 (reviewed), PC (April 25th) and Xbox 360."

Maybe that should be:

"Developed by From Software (Directed by Whoever McEverson). Published by Bandai Namco Games. Released March 11, 2014. PS3 (reviewed), PC (April 25th) and Xbox 360."

+1 to this. If people want to see this, then everyone should really do their part. Critics can help by adding the names of developers, and even we as regular consumers can do so by researching more developer names and including them in our regular vocabulary.

etc., etc.

 

[orangeapples]

We do have stuff like that though. Look at Titanfall. One of their taglines pretty much says "From the guys who made the good Call of Duty before that whole thing went downhill."

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

People Make Games, Not Development Studios

When looking at games, look at the people behind them for a good indication of a game's quality.

Read Full Article

"BioShock Infinite was my 2013 game of the year. It was a slightly controversial choice among people with no taste or sense of fun."

HEY! Feelings!

"Ken Levine worked as part of Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games, and every game he's worked on has worn some of his auteur influence, regardless of the developer logo at the start."

Ok, as somebody who's been buying Levine's games religiously since "System Shock", this one I'd definitely agree with. I'm really hoping that his influence can be felt more strongly in his next projects than it could in "Infinite", which felt like a game designed by committee to me. Honestly, Levine's made at least three games that I seriously love. His name on a project is enough to convince me to buy it, even without the glowing reviews that his games inevitably get (and usually for good reason.) It SHOULD be front-and-centre in the marketing.