GDC 2012

[Erkki]

This sounds like an amazing interview waiting to happen.

The interviewer should be David Lynch

[Lu]

Yeah, primarily western games were on PCs in the 80s and 90s, but I feel like I had a healthy dose of everything growing up. I don't feel like there was ever some major Japan vs. western world thing until recently, except possibly in RPG differences.

Yeah I don't know, it's kind of xenophobic and disappointing for the Fez guy to make the statement, but I guess it's ultimately his opinion.

It was a rather dickish generalization, but I don't think xenophobia has anything to do with it. The gaming industry in Japan simply has been in decline for a while now, even Japanese developers acknowledge this, but that isn't to say no good stuff is being produced anymore.

But personally, I think this thing where Japanese games are majorly thought of as dinosaurs in terms of design and western games are at the forefront of innovation and ideas is just garbage. For both parts of the world, I'm sure just as many useless and bad games exist in terms of percentage.

Most games made in Japan don't ever make it out of Japan. The games we see are only a small percentage of what is actually being produced, I think.

Anyone do correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't check for facts. Ever. My knowledge comes straight from the gut!

[vogon]

~ the vogon award for "hottest scoops of GDC 2012 day 1" ~

it turns out that Portal 2 had an unused co-op campaign revolving around the co-op bots recovering human artifacts from old Aperture.

human artifacts which include a parody of a certain comic strip drawn by one Anthony Clark (nedroid), of Beartato fame.

and apparently the game as shipped contains unused GLaDOS voice work for it:

[Forbin]

and apparently the game as shipped contains unused GLaDOS voice work for it:

At GDC Online Erik said that he's really too lazy to clean out sounds, so a lot of stuff has remained in the build that isn't used.

[Roderick]

[There was an angry rant here about Phil Fish. I don't necessarily think differently about it now, but I took it away since it was rather ranty and angry and that's not how I want to come across, not in this fashion.]

Edited March 8, 2012 by Rodi

[Twig]

I am not at all apologizing for him, but I really do believe he was not trying to be an asshole.

"Japanese games suck. Your game design is stuck in a rut. Get with the times." *pause while audience derp-applauses* "I'M SO SORRY."

I don't know what to say other than "you had to be there". It was completely and totally inappropriate in every way, but his tone of voice was that of a jokester-guy, not of a troll. He was speaking his actual opinion, of course, and meant it seriously, but he said it in a jokey way.

Honestly the big issue isn't what he said or how he said it - it's who he said it to. The Japanese guy just looked soooo sad as he walked out. Like, what did I do to deserve this, I'm going to kill myself kind of sad.

The thing is, Japan does what Japan has always done!

Also, that is both the problem, and also not entirely true.

Japanese game design has not evolved much in recent years. But one of the ways in which it HAS "evolved" is in treating the player like a fucking moron. Gone are the days of clever level design that allow us to explore the game mechanics on our own.

There are always exceptions, and those exceptions are often great for being exceptions, but exceptions don't make the rules, and in fact, are often ignored by other future games.

The same could probably be said of Western games, though, which is where the argument falls apart, although I do think it's more true for Japanese games than it is for Western games. I feel like I play significantly more Western games that give me the freedom to discover things on my own than I do Japanese games that do similar.

[SiN]

No. Phil Fish is an internet troll, an asshole who is unworthy of having an audience at GDC. Both for his disappointingly shallow thinking about Japanese games and the gross way in which he expressed it. He deserves to be treated no differently than any insufferable fool on the internet: with scorn and ostracization.

The same can be said about Chris Hecker's "a Wii is two Gamecubes duct-taped together" right? *rolls eyes*

This shit is why (most) dumb-ass online "journalists" shouldn't be covering GDC.

[Nachimir]

Phil Fish came to GameCity last year. I didn't get to speak to him much because he was in one venue and I was working in another most of the time, but everyone on the team liked him and he was apparently a super nice guy.

[Henroid]

Pulling this from elsewhere:

In other news, following his IGF award win, Phil Fish went on a Twitter Victory Lap.

https://twitter.com/#!/PHIL_FISH/status/177739081843875840

@CrowTGamer i just won the grand prize at IGF tonight. suck my dick. choke on it.

https://twitter.com/#!/PHIL_FISH/status/177740040393334787

@Grabcocque i think it was a shameful, corrupt joke until i won it, and made it legit. you're welcome.

https://twitter.com/#!/PHIL_FISH/status/177742654518476802

no but seriously, suck my dick.

https://twitter.com/#!/PHIL_FISH/status/177821531479605249

you guys thought i was an egotistical asshole before...

Classy.

So uh, I'm not exactly convinced that this Phil Fish guy is an upstanding example in any way. His piss-poor behavior and antics really have me on the verge of saying "Nobody buy his goddamn game when it comes out," which I mean, boycotting is kind of a silly thing and my convictions on video games usually don't go to such extremes. But even if this is all shtick, the guy should realize it's not funny to anyone but him. Usually when stuff like this is shtick, it's clear within itself that it is. But no, this guy seems to be the real deal - he seems to have gotten it within his head he's something and can mouth off. And I've said it in the past of other people (more important, ACTUAL public figures), the best way to teach them a lesson is to hit their wallets.

[Henroid]

Actually, I have a better idea.

Later tonight I'm going to write a letter to Gamasutra, or rather the direct organizers of GDC, and make the demand that they never allow this guy at the event ever again in any capacity. Not even as an observer. This is ridiculous. I would urge others to write the same letter.

[Erkki]

Pulling this from elsewhere:

My frothing demand for this game decreases

[SiN]

Man, if you're offended by that, you'd better not look at what people are tweeting at him. Honestly, I'm not condoning his tweets, but I understand where he's coming from. You try dealing with 4 years of abuse from gamers. :/

[SiN]

Heh, this is golden:

@PHIL_FISH said: "japanese games are just two western games duct-taped together."

More tellingly:

@PHIL_FISH said: "me and jon blow went into more details, comparing the first zelda, and the latest one..."

"...and citing a few examples of why we dont like most modern japanese games."

Which I've seen reported nowhere.

[SiN]

And finally, stuff people said to Phil Fish:

"@PHIL_FISH Congratulations on being the man that destroyed the IGF by turning into into a shameful, corrupt joke!"

"@PHIL_FISH you sucks son of a bitch"

"@PHIL_FISH you scks racist dick"

"@PHIL_FISH @PHIL_FISH Oh, it's just about some arrogant schmuck indie dev talking smack yet has zero released games. Gr8 read tho!"

"@PHIL_FISH "Everyone is being mean to me!" Welcome to the internet age motherfucker, inflammatory comments get scrutinized!"

I say we boycott all gamers for their abusive, inconsiderate and down-right rude behaviour.

[Erkki]

And finally, stuff people said to Phil Fish:

"@PHIL_FISH Congratulations on being the man that destroyed the IGF by turning into into a shameful, corrupt joke!"

"@PHIL_FISH you sucks son of a bitch"

"@PHIL_FISH you scks racist dick"

"@PHIL_FISH @PHIL_FISH Oh, it's just about some arrogant schmuck indie dev talking smack yet has zero released games. Gr8 read tho!"

"@PHIL_FISH "Everyone is being mean to me!" Welcome to the internet age motherfucker, inflammatory comments get scrutinized!"

I say we boycott all gamers for their abusive, inconsiderate and down-right rude behaviour.

But those are just some dumb idiots who have no other outlet probably. How can I boycott them anyway, I don't know them.

[Henroid]

And finally, stuff people said to Phil Fish:

"@PHIL_FISH Congratulations on being the man that destroyed the IGF by turning into into a shameful, corrupt joke!"

"@PHIL_FISH you sucks son of a bitch"

"@PHIL_FISH you scks racist dick"

"@PHIL_FISH @PHIL_FISH Oh, it's just about some arrogant schmuck indie dev talking smack yet has zero released games. Gr8 read tho!"

"@PHIL_FISH "Everyone is being mean to me!" Welcome to the internet age motherfucker, inflammatory comments get scrutinized!"

I say we boycott all gamers for their abusive, inconsiderate and down-right rude behaviour.

If any one of those comments came from someone with a public face, feel free to boycott their product or services.

As for me, I have two assholes in the same timespan to harbor a hatred for - Rush Limbaugh and Phil Fish. Both made the same error (inflammatory speech on a public medium), and both continue to not rectify the situation.

Edit - The bottom line however is in that last quoted comment - In the age of the internet, negative comments (be they warranted or not) will come. And there is a skill involved in dealing with them. Phil Fish does not have that skill, which earns him more negative views.

[SiN]

So it's okay to be an asshole, as long as no one knows who you are?

Again, I'm not saying I condone Fish's tweets, but I'm saying it's not unreasonable. I don't think it's fair to hold these guys up to some arbitrary higher standard, especially given all the abuse they take. Those quotes were just after a cursory glance of his twitter feed, never mind the FOUR YEARS of abuse from (as Erkki put it) "dumb idiots who have no other outlet probably".

Of course it's possible to handle this kind of thing better (Chris Hecker did an heroic job) and I totally respect that, but at the same time I'm not about to dismiss the guy purely on this.

As for rectifying the situation, again on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/PHIL_FISH/status/177108826909196288

I left this out earlier because I was curious about whether anyone (press or someone here) would dig deeper and actually get to the bottom of the story. And nevermind that the story is based on an incomplete out-of-context quote.

Really, just this: http://chrishecker.com/Do_Your_Job_Well,_Please

[edit] Also, the first three paragraphs of this: http://chrishecker.com/Me_and_the_Wii

I'm tired of GDC being covered in a half-assed manner by journalists who paraphrase and write stories for page clicks. It's unfair to the developers (who really have no open forum to freely speak) and it's unfair to us, the audience, who get an incomplete story.

[castorp]

@PHIL_FISH: Congratulations on being the man that destroyed the IGF by turning into into a shameful, corrupt joke!

PHIL_FISH: i think it was a shameful, corrupt joke until i won it, and made it legit. you're welcome.

@PHIL_FISH you sucks son of a bitch

@PHIL_FISH you scks racist dick

PHIL_FISH: no but seriously, suck my dick.

@PHIL_FISH Oh, it's just about some arrogant schmuck indie dev talking smack yet has zero released games. Gr8 read tho!

PHIL_FISH: you guys thought i was an egotistical asshole before...i just won the grand prize at IGF tonight. suck my dick. choke on it.

Somehow, I'm okay with his reaction. Not smart, not classy, but sometimes raging might be better for oneself than self-censoring. I can get behind that.

[shammack]

Hmm. I'm not sure there's any circumstance in which publicly stating "i just won the grand prize at IGF tonight. suck my dick" doesn't make you an asshole, especially if that's your response to people calling you out on something you deserved to be called out on.

I'm not calling for him to be drawn and quartered or anything, but it certainly doesn't endear him to me personally or make me eager to support his endeavors.

[Nachimir]

Pulling this from elsewhere:

So uh, I'm not exactly convinced that this Phil Fish guy is an upstanding example in any way.

Not a good way to deal with your critics. Inept, even.

[TheLastBaron]

So is he making enough money that he can afford to lose customers by being a huge douche?

[Twig]

Honestly, the more I see people bitch and moan about his nonclassy attitude, the more I want to support him.

I guess that probably makes me a terrible person. EH.

[vogon]

And finally, stuff people said to Phil Fish:

"@PHIL_FISH Congratulations on being the man that destroyed the IGF by turning into into a shameful, corrupt joke!"

"@PHIL_FISH you sucks son of a bitch"

"@PHIL_FISH you scks racist dick"

"@PHIL_FISH @PHIL_FISH Oh, it's just about some arrogant schmuck indie dev talking smack yet has zero released games. Gr8 read tho!"

"@PHIL_FISH "Everyone is being mean to me!" Welcome to the internet age motherfucker, inflammatory comments get scrutinized!"

I say we boycott all gamers for their abusive, inconsiderate and down-right rude behaviour.

guys can we come to the agreement that:

1) gamers are total douchebags

2) phil fish can apparently also be a total douchebag, if only because he's a thin-skinned braggart at heart

3) none of this makes fez a worse game or one worthy of less acclaim

[syntheticgerbil]

Well now that we are getting into juvenile HAY EVERYONE SUCK MY DICK comments, I guess I'll pass on Fez whenever it does come out. Oh well.

[Henroid]

Yes it is possible for both sides of an issue (the internet vs. Phil Fish over the years, apparently) to be assholes. It doesn't matter who casts the first stone, one side can take things more gracefully and hurling him / herself against the jagged rocks of the internet.