I have to say that this editorial cheesed me off quite a bit.
Just because a couple of developers went off the deep end almost ten years ago when they got a little fame doesn’t mean that game development should be an anonymous endeavor.
Yes it’s all about the games, fine. But people are a part of games. People who put supreme effort into making the best game they can, which takes a lot of love. That’s a story. Which, I guess I need to remind, is a thing a journalist should be interested in. Do you really have no interest whatsoever in seeing Yu Miyake in the recording studio putting together the Katamari soundtrack? Come on.
This is a surprisingly anti-developer attitude. Publishers love to keep developers squirreled away in a windowless room, it lets them keep them under their thumb. Yes, celebrity culture can be pretty lame and is a monster that for the most part eats reality and shits vapidness, but an unsung developer is a unempowered developer. But Bob is the one rolling near the bottom of a slippery slope. Ironically, with his byline leading the way.
Let us beware of human interest in our objective games journalism. 84%
He says he doesn’t like being called a journalist. So, what is he? A reporter reporting his own opinions? A w-w-w–wwwriter?
I think that was a typical newspaper-style editorial: 30 inches must be filled. Procrastination. 30 inches must be filled. Procrastination. Publisher or M. Ed. says “30 inches must be filled, get off your ass, anything will do, just do it.”
Fill that space: “music, painting, sculpture, literature, and even film are all forms of media that have evolved over the years to be considered art forms.”
I think a reason for not getting interested in game developers as celebrities is the fact that most games nowadays are not the creations of one person.
When giving interviews its a fine line to tread between coming across as C0rpDesignBot 4040 and an arrogant ass taking credit for everyone else on the teams hard work. One careless word in an interview can create bad blood with workmates very easily.
Arguing the opposite view I really am interested in what game designers have to say but then again I am in the games business so I have a job related interest.
Also I think the importance of someones work really measures how interested I am in learning more about their views, also whether understanding that persons life really helps appreciate the work.
So for example if a game was built that really nailed remorse then I would be interested if any of the creators had some life story that had informed them.
Right now though I dont think most games built really try for art or being important long term (and thats okay, nothing wrong with making fun games) so tragic lifestories or somesuch are unlikely to inform the players enjoyment.
Also geniuses in certain mediums are not nessecarily interesting people, gaming maybe one of those. For example I love chess, I love reading chess game narratives but chess geniuses are on the whole rather dull or dotty people.
Flipping again, my wife a non gamer was interested by the Katamari designers stated interest in kids parks and we passed a few pleasnt minutes discussing the merits of his interests, certainly it was much more stimulating than some movie actors views on world hunger or some such.
