CliffyB: visionaries like Kojima, Molyneux are undervalued
Hmm. I see CliffyB is making bold statements yet again. Bold as they come, it’s always interesting to see how a game developer assesses the current playing field that he is working in. So what’s Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski commenting on now? In an interview, he remarked that some of the more influential game developers out there aren’t always given the honor or appreciation that they so deserve.
I see CliffyB is making bold statements yet again. Bold as they come, it’s always interesting to see how a game developer assesses the current playing field that he is working in.
In an interview with Gamasutra, Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski remarked that some of the more influential game developers out there aren’t always given the honor or appreciation that they so deserve.
I don’t think the industry values visionaries as much as it could. I really don’t.
As sad as it is, you’re only as good as your last game, in many ways. In Hollywood, at least, you get movie jail for like a year, and you’re out, and you get to try and make another good movie. In games, you screw up once, and no one ever wants to hear from you again. It’s pretty sad.
Look at a guy like Ken Levine or [Peter] Molyneux or Chris Taylor or [Hideo] Kojima. I mean, we all need to celebrate these people.
Well I’m not sure about him naming Kojima. I mean, the guy’s pretty celebrated – oh yeah definitely celebrated. But maybe he’s talking about the entire gaming industry, and not just the bajillion and a half MGS fans who are doing most of the Kojima-celebrating for everyone else.
And then there’s Fable producer Peter Molyneux. I hear him being criticized so many times now for being such an MS fanboy that I’m actually starting to doubt if he’s just in it for the publicity.
So anyways, what prompted this statement from CliffyB? Well, since he’s currently filling the role of exec producer for the GoW movie, it seems that he’s starting to see the differences between the movie and video game industry. Apples and oranges as the two industries are, the similarities (and differences) he outlines are still quite valid:
It’s a very structured, yet organic, process in Hollywood, where in games it’s still the Wild Wild West in some ways right now.
It absolutely is very much a team effort, and I’m nothing without the 100-plus people who worked on Gears, but if I can go out there and evangelize the game and help sell the vision of it, that’s a very useful thing, and we’re all able to put gas in our gas tanks as a result of it, right?
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