BibiMaghoo
Member
Good for him. I wish him the best.
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Arthur Gies leaves Polygon, semi-retiring from Video games
- Thread starter Tripon
- Start date
I guess this explains the recent promotions that Allegra Frank and Chelsea Stark got and announced on the Polygon Show last weekend. I think Polygon is one of the media outlets that gets an unnecessary amount of flak on GAF and gets dismissed by people every time there's a Polygon thread.
I visit the website regularly and they consistently output solid content such as the aforementioned podcast and their feature articles are the best in the business. I mean sure, there are dozens of GoT articles and Pokemon news but hey it gets the clicks to fund more feature articles so I don't mind because I don't read them.
That being said I never read much of Gies' work but I never understood the hate that he gets aside from being what? Xbox fanboy? Okay, cool. Everyone has favorite games on different platforms. I don't agree with a good chunk of Jeff Gerstmann's or Brad Shoemaker's opinions on games but yet I still respect them and like their work in the end of the day. Gies is no different; when you're a prolific writer in the public sphere, you're always going to have people who will agree and disagree with you in the end of the day. Writing about games requires a thick skin and a huge amount of chutzpah.
Also as someone who took the same route as Gies did (double majored in studio art and media studies in undergrad with a concentration on drawing/painting; accidentally became a writer) and is at a similar point in life (almost turning 30), I respect the hell out of him for choosing to follow his passion. I'm thinking about writing professionally seriously as a living while continuing to do art on the side.
I've thought about going to grad school for illustration/drawing myself after being nearly 4 years out of undergrad but I don't know if I can justify the debt. I got various opinions from professional artists and some of them said it's worth it whereas others told me bluntly that going to art school is a waste of time/money. Gies saying fuck it and biting the bullet is making me think about it. It sounds like Gies is going to the San Francisco Art Institute.
I'm sure the man is going to land on his feet quite well because freelance games consulting is lucrative work that will help pay the bills. I just checked out his Instagram and holy crap! He's definitely got seriously good art skills! I'm not at good at drawing/painting in realism and have always had an aversion to oil painting so more power to him. Will give him a follow.
I visit the website regularly and they consistently output solid content such as the aforementioned podcast and their feature articles are the best in the business. I mean sure, there are dozens of GoT articles and Pokemon news but hey it gets the clicks to fund more feature articles so I don't mind because I don't read them.
That being said I never read much of Gies' work but I never understood the hate that he gets aside from being what? Xbox fanboy? Okay, cool. Everyone has favorite games on different platforms. I don't agree with a good chunk of Jeff Gerstmann's or Brad Shoemaker's opinions on games but yet I still respect them and like their work in the end of the day. Gies is no different; when you're a prolific writer in the public sphere, you're always going to have people who will agree and disagree with you in the end of the day. Writing about games requires a thick skin and a huge amount of chutzpah.
Also as someone who took the same route as Gies did (double majored in studio art and media studies in undergrad with a concentration on drawing/painting; accidentally became a writer) and is at a similar point in life (almost turning 30), I respect the hell out of him for choosing to follow his passion. I'm thinking about writing professionally seriously as a living while continuing to do art on the side.
I've thought about going to grad school for illustration/drawing myself after being nearly 4 years out of undergrad but I don't know if I can justify the debt. I got various opinions from professional artists and some of them said it's worth it whereas others told me bluntly that going to art school is a waste of time/money. Gies saying fuck it and biting the bullet is making me think about it. It sounds like Gies is going to the San Francisco Art Institute.
I'm sure the man is going to land on his feet quite well because freelance games consulting is lucrative work that will help pay the bills. I just checked out his Instagram and holy crap! He's definitely got seriously good art skills! I'm not at good at drawing/painting in realism and have always had an aversion to oil painting so more power to him. Will give him a follow.
Doug Heffernan
Member
I always enjoyed his articles and reviews. I'll miss his contributions. Good luck in your next chapter!
CannonFodder52
Member
You are tunnel visioning incredibly hard on just one remark in his comment.
If women find a Bayo to be empowering, then she is an empowering female character to them. That's worth discussing even if you think the development intentions may have been different than the outcome.
I'm pretty sure everyone is aware that it's not perfect, it's made in Japan. There just aren't that many games that offer this particular experience.
TemplaerDude
Member
Gonna go ahead and stop you right there. You want to ignore history and facts and compare a guy who lost his job standing up to corporate suits to a guy with a confirmed bias?
Not a comparison you want to make, his "opinion on video games" is not why people have been incredibly and rightfully critical of Arthur Gies. Do your research before making such an ignorant comment.
shawnbuddy
Member
This is fair.
I don't "think" the development intentions are different, that sexualization was the goal was clearly stated by Kamiya.
But from a "death of the author" perspective people can take whatever they want from a work. It's also fair for someone like Gies to hold another opinion and offer criticisms, though.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
Best of luck to him.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
So is Polygon going to be a sinking ship?
Stormblessed
Member
I suspect he sees the changing wind, knows he can't succeed in the personality-driven future of games journalism on account of his character, and is getting out before he's too old to do something else.
https://obligatoryspiderqueen.wordp...-t-c-h-bayonetta-in-total-control-of-herself/
This is a pretty good read in favor of Bayonetta's characterization. Of course, it's still perfectly valid to disagree, but I feel like it brings a more interesting discussion to the table, which is the game's imagery and symbolism, and their historical meaning in regards to the game's themes. It's certainly a better starting point than what we personally think the people who directed the cutscenes were trying to convey.
This is a pretty good read in favor of Bayonetta's characterization. Of course, it's still perfectly valid to disagree, but I feel like it brings a more interesting discussion to the table, which is the game's imagery and symbolism, and their historical meaning in regards to the game's themes. It's certainly a better starting point than what we personally think the people who directed the cutscenes were trying to convey.
boredandlazy
Member
Well, bye.
I feel like if you worry about your response getting you banned, doesn't that make what you're thinking a bit of an issue?
I understand the issue some people have with Bayonetta's character design. My problem is that I don't believe you're coming at it from an honest point of view.
The nearly sarcastic sounding "I thought GAF was woke" comment was strange and I really think that if your first description of the problematic outfit a woman is wearing is that it's "slutty," it clouds your entire argument.
There are many women who were telling Arthur that they thought Bayonetta was an empowering woman. His brushed them off as if he knew what he was talking about more than them. This comes with a history of acting as if his opinion was the opinion. If you even politely questioned him, he was known to block you on Twitter. And then, in your defense of Arthur's article, you called the character "slutty."
Sorry, it just sticks out. We don't need to go back and forth on this any further before it stays too far from the topic of Arthur's history but any man using the word "sluty" to describe a female character's clothing in an attempt to defend women is really off the mark in what they're doing.
mongomondo
Member
The tuition for the MA at SFAI is nearly 50k a year so he's serious about it. Hope he got a scholarship.
Also from what I've seen of him on podcasts he was terrible.
Also from what I've seen of him on podcasts he was terrible.
GenericUser
Member
I don't know this guy/gal . Whos he/she?
shawnbuddy
Member
Oops, double post!
SlipperyFishes
Banned
Shitpost for a living?
https://www.instagram.com/pragmagic/
Dude is pretty talented and has a great base to develop from
RumbleHumble
Banned
I always thought the big reasons for generalized Gaf's hatred of Geis had to do with Evilore's issue with his support of Holly Green's statements regarding a Minecraft party Notch threw way back in the day, the bet he lost to a gaffer, his assumed pressuring of Phil Kohlar into scoring The Last of Us a 7.5 (since all scoring decisions are ultimately decided not as much by the reviewer as by Polygon's editorial), and his general buying in of the always online stuff like with Sim City and Xbox One.
I mean, yeah, he had his dumb moments, but I actually really liked his reviews of Bayonetta and Witcher III, even though I didn't necessarily agree with all their points.
And his ME3 review, while not perfect, exhibited some real passion about what made Mass Effect work as a series.
I mean, yeah, he had his dumb moments, but I actually really liked his reviews of Bayonetta and Witcher III, even though I didn't necessarily agree with all their points.
And his ME3 review, while not perfect, exhibited some real passion about what made Mass Effect work as a series.
Holy pretention.
"I hope I made the world a better place" says man who wrote product reviews for one portion of the entertainment industry.
shawnbuddy
Member
All I'm going to say about this is that it's classic ad hominem. You don't have an argument here. You have a straw version of me with dishonest, sinister and suspicious motives you've created to attack, eagerly and ignoring my attempts at apologia for the poor word-choice. It's shameful and pathetic. Hell, when I (wisely in retrospect) tried to ignore you, you begged me to engage so you could press your personal attack and failed to deviate from it despite what the non-straw me actually said.
This is quite an antagonistic, cynical response. Heh.
Eh, it's hard to say that someone is "sex positive" when they promote the idea that women must be paid escorts because they are "too hot" for their dates.
Lost all respect for Gies when he hitched his wagon to that horse.
You tried to edit it just to add the word "pathetic" but replied twice instead.
Pretentious? Nah. Read one of Tim Rogers' War and Peace-length articles on Kotaku for that. Gies is just a self-important blowhard. He'll fit in well with a graduate student art class with that temperament.
Wait, what? I must have missed that one.
Edit: It should also be noted that the Nintendo employee he was arguing with on Twitter about it is incredibly anti-GamerGate and was a specific target of theirs, as they contacted Nintendo with specific personal details in an effort to get her fired.
milkham
Member
there was some hubbub about a minecraft party where the women in attendance were attractive. ( so someone assumed Notch paid them to be there and twitter shenanigans ensued)
ClayKavalier
Banned
That he definitely, definitely will, haha. Wonder if he'll love it or hate it, I'm sure he has friends outside the games industry but his personality is pretty unique among the people he works with. Matt Chandronait is the next closest person to a stereotypical art student but he's way, way more humble and down to earth.
But what's the difference between a pretentious person and a self-important blowhard?
shawnbuddy
Member
Thanks. I'm keeping the second one because it is pathetic.
You're handling this back and forth in a very Arthur Gies fashion, to be honest.
If you want to continue arguing, please PM me instead as I don't feel comfortable going back and forth here now that you've decided to become insulting towards me.
Oh, Jesus.
shawnbuddy
Member
I'm just describing the line of ad hominem attack you initiated. It's a sad substitute for real arguments.
ClayKavalier
Banned
IIRC it was proved that the women were not paid to attend the party (claims that there were set off the initial controversy) but someone on Twitter was still adamant that Notch/ Mojang owed the community an apology because people assumed they were paid. I guess they were supposed to say sorry for not considering the optics of having pretty women at their event. This didn't make much sense, but Gies sided with her. This is the chain of events that laid EviLore to call Gies the most disreputable person in the business.
Again, looking at this situation, it appears Rapp started shit with Gies because she didn't agree with his opinion about Bayonetta. I don't know why you are singling out Gies here. I understand that in other instances he has come across terribly, but in this particular situation he was just defending himself, and I don't believe he said anything out of line.
Yes, I'm criticising him going out of his way to try to try to correct somebody. Sometimes people have criticism of stuff you say. Sometimes, it's a shitty opinion. You either let it go or try to make another person see how wrong they are. In my experience, letting shit go leads to less hang ups, I suppose Gies thinks differently on this subject.
So what do you want to call it?
Someone posted his Twitter conversation with Rapp and I wasn't the first one in the thread to think he looked bad in that exchange.
Yes, she started the argument. Because she took issue with his mansplaining article.
Exactly this. She is in a better place to comment on a female character being used a sex positive icon -- and whether or not it's successful -- than he is. And yet, he decided to try and act as if he knows better in the situation. He doesn't.
Indeed. I would rather hear what another woman has to say about Bayonetta than listen to Arthur "*slides into woman's mentions*" Gies tell me his feelings about basically anything.
Revolutionary
Member
I'm stunned that no one posted the tattoo gif
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Hopefully he's better at drawing than he was at this whole gaming thing. Not even trying to zing him. Genuinely mean it. Kind of makes sense that gaming was never his first passion.
Kadayi
Banned
His form and colour are ok, but there's no depth to those paintings. Needs a better understanding of values and how to use them to create space, and contextualise his subjects.
axisofweevils
Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
I wonder what these means for Polygon going forward. Yeah, a lot of his reviews rubbed me up the wrong way. His Starfox Zero non-review was unprofessional as hell.