Poll: Gaming is "...juvenile, silly, and intellectually lazy" says Jonathan Blow.
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he thinks that because he made a good game, that he has the god given right to judge the industry... he made his keep in? what a jerk. at least insult something you have no interest in, not the medium that you made most of your money on.
So who the hell is Jonathan Blow, besides a guy with an innuendo for a name, and why the hell should I care what he thinks.
I want to call him pretentious but the way he thinks about gaming is pretty much the same as how I think about music...
Going with pretentious genius anyway. It is true.
Going with pretentious genius anyway. It is true.
this is so true. not all games have to stimulate your mind. some games stimulate your blood lust (prototype 2, GOW3), some need to move you (journey, LIMBO). look at journey, it has no dialogue, yet its more intelligent than anything else ive played. why? it tells a beautiful story without a single line of dialogue. it felt like more than a game, it felt like (dare i say it) a journey.Don Savik said:I can see where he is coming from.......but he BLOWS it out of proportion
I'll be here all night.
*walks off stage*
Ahem....well, yes. I wonder how many games John has played growing up. Is challenging not good enough? Games are plenty challenging, but why must they be intellectually thought provoking as well? And isn't challenge and puzzles thought provoking in its own right? I hate this hipster attitude that games are for retards unless its artsy. Someone should force him to play a match of competitive Starcraft, so he can see how little skill it takes to play mainstream games made by THE MAN. I like art games, I really do, but pissing on the entire industry just because you want more-wait...ONLY art games is silly.
Like wat?Kahunaburger said:
I can only think of ,outside of FMV games, MGS. Heavy Rain if you really stretch it lol.
...Been here, done that, got the t-shirt. Yet another thread where the artistic value of games are questioned by some person or group, in this case the former. I think he's wrong but as always there's truth to it in some places.
That video popped into my mind after I read the article. It's funnier now that I can imagine Tim represents Mr. Blow.JasonKaotic said:
OT: It seems like the more I read about the whole "games are art" controversy, the more and more I'm getting annoyed by it. Whatever happened to playing games for fun? Why do we have to take games so seriously now? Don't get me wrong, I love a game that has some depth and the like, but I don't think all games have to be "artsy".
captcha: don't dawdle
I'll take as long as I need to type this response Mr. Captcha thank you very much.
I muscled through page one, only to realize that there were two more pages.
Sounds like the author is a fanboy.
Dude has great ideas for the industry. I just don't think he realizes that the whole industry doesn't have to be "artsy". There is compelling drama and social commentary in music, film, television, and literature. There is also pop, action/adventure, reality television, and Twilight. Also porn, porn everywhere! Different strokes (heh) for different folks, and even for different needs in the same folks.
Go and push the "artistic" envelope, John, you are very good at that. Just don't expect everyone to follow suit.
Sounds like the author is a fanboy.
Dude has great ideas for the industry. I just don't think he realizes that the whole industry doesn't have to be "artsy". There is compelling drama and social commentary in music, film, television, and literature. There is also pop, action/adventure, reality television, and Twilight. Also porn, porn everywhere! Different strokes (heh) for different folks, and even for different needs in the same folks.
Go and push the "artistic" envelope, John, you are very good at that. Just don't expect everyone to follow suit.
I'm surprised noone has pointed out Bioshock. The game was fantastic, with brilliant writing and a twist that truly messed with the players perception of control within the medium.
Honestly I never paid much attention to Baird when it was released, it looked like every other pretentious indie platformer that every college drop out and their mum has shat out in the past few years, and from what I've heard it's run of the mill, platforming with cute sprites and pretentious writing.
Meanwhile games like Shadow of the Colossus, Bioshock, The Witcher, Mass Effect, and Half-Life are able to deliver highly provocative and intelligent narratives with fleshed out interesting characters while still being entertaining and not feeling like a Super Mario Brothers reskin.
I honestly feel the people we should be busy praising are the Gabe Newells, Ken Levines, Suda 51s, and American McGees of gaming. Not some pretentious college drop out who gushes over his ability to reskin Mario and add a crappy time rewind mechanic, or a hypocrite who makes virtual legos, then charges for the beta.
Honestly I never paid much attention to Baird when it was released, it looked like every other pretentious indie platformer that every college drop out and their mum has shat out in the past few years, and from what I've heard it's run of the mill, platforming with cute sprites and pretentious writing.
Meanwhile games like Shadow of the Colossus, Bioshock, The Witcher, Mass Effect, and Half-Life are able to deliver highly provocative and intelligent narratives with fleshed out interesting characters while still being entertaining and not feeling like a Super Mario Brothers reskin.
I honestly feel the people we should be busy praising are the Gabe Newells, Ken Levines, Suda 51s, and American McGees of gaming. Not some pretentious college drop out who gushes over his ability to reskin Mario and add a crappy time rewind mechanic, or a hypocrite who makes virtual legos, then charges for the beta.
I voted "Douchebag". I would've voted "Pretentious Douchebag", but let's own up to ourselves as critics: calling something pretentious is as pretentious as pretension itself, except worse, because a pretentious person is typically just overly ambitious. Also, usually when we call someone pretentious, we're really not on their level: see MGS2.
That said, he is a douche.
That said, he is a douche.
Am I the only one who immediately was reminded of a person with Asbergers I know after reading this article?
This guy seems like the kind of man you get with untreated Asbergers.
This guy seems like the kind of man you get with untreated Asbergers.
Is this the guy that made 1 game that did, "ok"? And now he thinks he's the shit? Yeah, I'm not even going to waste spending another moment thinking about him, THAT'S what I think of him.
Ah, the Escapist. Discussing the pretentious elitism of a guy who actually went out and did what he's talking about, putting his money where his mouth is and publicly shitting on something you all do in private. How bout you all be polite and acknowledge he is saying what needs to be said and while he could be less of a douche about it, he's still trying to do more than any of you armchair whiners are.
Not every game needs to be a masterpiece of fiction, but if you're all willing to nitpick and ***** about art design, story and innovation (and I know 90% of you are on the Cawadoody hate bandwagon), at least stick by your statements.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Not every game needs to be a masterpiece of fiction, but if you're all willing to nitpick and ***** about art design, story and innovation (and I know 90% of you are on the Cawadoody hate bandwagon), at least stick by your statements.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Holy Christ. Just wow. That video is so freaking spot-on that I cannot believe it. I have so much more respect for Dorkly Bits now, which I thought would be impossible prior to watching that.erttheking said:
I went to my father's house one day and he showed me a new game I'd never seen or heard of before. He said it was a fun game and he was stuck on a level and asked for my help. I gladly accepted as I love video games. After playing for a bit, I asked him where he got it and he told me he found it at Five Below (similar to a dollar store, except the max purchase price is $5 not $1). Many games end up there that have outlived their popularity or something similar. I just chalked it up to it being an indie game. Well, now I think I have an idea as to how Braid ended up in what is essentially a bargain bin. Jonathan Blow is a complete ass. He made a fantastic game (don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Braid) but so what? Marcus "Notch" Persson made a phenomenal game also, but he doesn't go around saying how amazing his game is and how all other games are garbage.
It's a sad day when someone appreciates a game less because the creator is a complete dick. Oh well.
So the guy who made ONE well received game suddenly thinks he's the gaming messiah?
I read some other things where he seems to be rather pretentious but this is insane.
He's gone from pretentious to pompous.
I read some other things where he seems to be rather pretentious but this is insane.
He's gone from pretentious to pompous.