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Fez's dev to japanese developers: "your games just suck"

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subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
searched, found nothing, lock if old...

Phil Fish, the indie games designer who broke onto the scene with his unpublished platformer Fez, today sparked anger by publicly deriding the work of Japanese games developers in front of a packed audience at GDC.

Following a GDC screening of Indie Game The Movie – a documentary about games design that Fish heavily features in – the Canadian Polytron developer took part in a Q&A discussion with the audience.

A standing ovation for the movie itself set the tone for an open and positive discussion about indie games with the audience, yet when an unknown Japanese developer took to the mic to ask a question, the mood visibly turned.

The Japanese developer praised the movie and said he was pleased to see how many independent developers had been inspired by games such as Super Mario Bros and Zelda since their childhood.

But when he asked what the panel thought of modern Japanese video games, Phil Fish (pictured) immediately replied “your games just suck” – a comment that sparked an audible reaction from the crowd, though some were cheering.


Others looked on awkwardly as the Japanese developer was then subjected to a string criticisms about game design flaws in his native country. The developer nevertheless thanked the panel for their response and returned to his seat.

After the Q&A many attendees were heard to be privately criticising Fish’s comments, though some went public with their complaints.

Read the full article and more on people's reaction here

seems like a classy guy!


update:

I will try to create a decent bulletpoint complete with links to relevant posts. Yes, I am bored. Throw it in the OP if you wish.



I would like to thank GAF for being GAF and Koichi Sugiyama for composing Dragon Quest music.
 

Aeana

Member
This seems to be a common opinion of people who don't actually play Japanese games anymore. They just look at the most visible titles and assume they're awful and go on beating their chests.
 

Dascu

Member
Putting aside the validity of his message (which is entirely subjective), that was certainly mean-spirited and disrespectful.
 

Riposte

Member
Only makes sense with people (with names, anyway) constantly inflating the ego of indie devs and overrating many of their amateur efforts.

(Speaking of which doujin games > indie games.)
 

Kyou

Member
Phil Fish, creator of zero published games, broadly tells entire country of designers they don't know what they're doing.
 

angelfly

Member
Guy is an asshole. Even if he doesn't like Japanese games to just come out and say "your games suck" is an asshole move.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
What a moron. To say an entire country's game library sucks is just idiotic.

I'll be the first to admit that the Japanese development scene isn't quite what it used to be, but there's still a lot of truly great stuff coming from the country.
 

ultron87

Member
Woah there Phil.

watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png
 
Well he would know about Japanese game development, he takes just as long as them to make games!

:lol

Seriously though, they are far more advanced in technology, but seem to struggle with development. SCEJ and Nintendo both take ages to make games, and other Japanese based companies have been riding that Milk train for too long.

Capcom and their countless Street Fighters and RE remakes and ports. Konami with their countless MGS ports/remakes. Nintendo with their countless ports (how many OoTs have they released!?) The list goes on.
 

SoulClap

Member
Others looked on awkwardly as the Japanese developer was then subjected to a string criticisms about game design flaws in his native country. The developer nevertheless thanked the panel for their response and returned to his seat.

Damn I feel bad for dude.
 

Mrbob

Member
That could have been said more tactfully. Especially at GDC. I do think Japan game development has taken a hit the last couple years as they have fallen behind, but to broad sweep that all current games suck is ignorant.
 
this guy thinks he's so awesome. Indie game, indie movie... he's just too indie to play japanese developed games. The games he likes, you've probably never heard of them.
 
this is not entirely unsurprising. from speaking with him at length at PAX last year, he seemed a little...arrogant is the wrong word...aloof maybe? there was a quality to him that seemed like at any time he was only half-paying attention to what he was saying/listening and not entirely cognizant of the effect his words might have. he didn't say anything rude or disrespectful like in the OP, but i can't say this is 100% left field from my experience with him.

that said, fez seems like a great game and i'll reward it's greatness. not sure how i feel about the man behind it after this comment.
 
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