Great point.
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Gabe: Singleplayer games are like a film where your lead actor is retarded & autistic
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
les papillons sexuels
Banned
anyone else disgusted that companies make more money then countries, when did we give them that power?
Aquamarine
Member
Uhh, character mute-ness is a design choice these days, not a technical limitation.
Charoncaori
Member
But he's not using the words as slurs. He's actually pretty spot-on regarding how you use the term "autistic".
When we all purchased a bunch of shit from them.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
Gabe is extremely intelligent and if people weren't (autistically) fixated on 2 words that would be obvious.
Because heads of companies in other industries never look juvenile. Give me a break.
We've had a few threads on this lecture already. I guess all it takes is an incendiary headline before people pay attention.
And honestly, there's a lot more interesting stuff in Gabe's presentation than the line about single player games.
Weltall Zero
Member
No, he did not, which is immediately obvious from reading his quote. He is not even criticising single player games at all, he's saying there's way less room for undetermined behaviour (and more directorial content).
Seriously, if you want to criticise his really unfortunate and politically incorrect choice of terms, that's perfectly fine, but acting offended as if he was criticising single player games is just looking for an excuse to get offended. Which isn't below many, I'm afraid.
In the case of Valve and most if not all game companies, when we bought the games they're selling.
In the case of some others, when we (or less informed people) voted for the politicians they are chums with.
I'll take Valve's model, thank you very much.
The creators take a 20% cut of the sales pie, the rest goes to valve. So from that 500.000, 2,000.000 went to valve.
Nexus Zero
Member
He did specifically mention not looking people in the eyes in HL1 so it was probably said with that in mind.
Retardation is the act or result of delaying; the extent to which anything is retarded or delayed; that which retards or delays. In particular, it can mean:
In medicine
Think about it, think about the actions of the character in most if not all single player games, think about how their actions are their dependent on you the player. Stripped of context, do they not exhibit the above?
In medicine
- Mental retardation
- Psychomotor retardation
Think about it, think about the actions of the character in most if not all single player games, think about how their actions are their dependent on you the player. Stripped of context, do they not exhibit the above?
GoddyofAus
Banned
That says a lot more about the political and economic finesse of Greece then it does Valve.
He'll put something on sale in response or something. His defense force is going to be shameful.
Now we're back-pedaling? Sure it might be an accurate description, but you can describe things more intelligently.
Impeccable
Member
I believe he's intelligent and knows his shit, but that doesn't fill in the gaps for being an asshole with no tact.
Two words, yes. But sometimes that's all it takes and this proves it.
BrokenEchelon
Banned
He got his point across just fine. I don't perceive him in any less of a light simply because he didn't drown his comment in thousands of politically correct packing peanuts.
Bonfires Down
Member
Yeah ,the Half Life games are like that, but did he ever try playing the Walking Dead or Shadows of the Damned or lots of other games with a fleshed out main character.
Wow, never knew it was that much.
EvilKatarn
Member
So what if it makes the industry look juvenile? It already is and I hope it'll never grow out of it. Gaming journalists are nothing but mongrels writing about being offended inbetween getting excited over the next rehash of Shooter Franchise 34 and Angry Bald Man 6.
The more serious that games are taken, the worse the industry gets.
I'm not saying everyone should be politically incorrect but god damn, everyone getting offended every other day now is the most juvenile games culture has ever been.
Sentenza
Member
But he wasn't talking specifically about his games or about mute characters, he was referring to the whole scenario of single player games, so I'm not sure how that's supposed to be relevant.
Red Chocobo
Banned
The way comedy works, is that you can make fun of people who have self-inflicted issues (Fat, stupid hair cut, bad clothes, and so on). But it's bad taste to make fun of problems people can't help (Mental illness, deformed, and so on).
Well, here in the UK it's like that anyway. But I understand that cultures are different and Americans use the word "Retarded" a lot, as an insult.
As for Gabe, I can't stand the guy. Never have, never will. Not because of this comment, but because he is put on pedestal for making overrated games, many moons ago.
elbourreau
Member
Go home, gabe.... You're drunk.........
Responding to me expecting me to be happy that I paid $50 for a tiny handful of maps and because waves of enemies spawn in different locations (rendering where they spawn from somewhat moot) seems like the kind of thing that any rational person might find their previously unconditional love beginning to waver.
It's not like I went from "OH MY GOD BEST COMPANY EVER" to "FUCK VALVE!" I went from the former to "eh... hm. Maybe I'll be less "it's good because it's VALVE!" in the future.
I buy games that activate on Steam, because like it or not, it's the best thing out there, and fairly close to "standard" as you can get. But I do not buy their games anymore, and only play them on occasion.
I do not believe Portal 2 was a great single-player game. The pacing and puzzle design just weren't as good as the first game. That it was basically an operant conditioning chamber, like all Valve's recent games, didn't make things better.
DerZuhälter
Member
Funny that it's a "political correctness" issue that causes so much mayhem and not some of the questionable content of his presentation.
I didn't post in the original thread, but I think "interesting things" is the wrong phrasing, horrible things, would stick better.
Gabe Newell is a smart person. Deviously smart. His talk about productivity sounds like a villainous scheme to become the worlds biggest slavemaster imho.
To paraphrase: "No one is as productive as our customer, so we'll let them work and give them a cut if their work gets used (texture->model->level) and breakdown that worktrail and have everybody get a piece of the pie." Without mentioning that Valve gets a big fat cut for doing nothing but providing the framework and tools.
Hats seem to have been the first step to monetize as much as he can.
Just the thought of that idea makes me fear Steam getting bigger than it already is.
I already know I'll get a lot of backlash for this comment but that's how I feel about it.
Impeccable
Member
... maybe Patcher was onto something, jesus christ, this thread.
Can Crusher
Banned
That describes Freeman pretty well.
Hell that describes Valve's lead characters very well.
Hell that describes Valve's lead characters very well.
I watched the speech yesterday.
He wasn't talking about singleplayer games in general, he was talking about THEIR experience with single player games (Valve's).
And it was in the context of them understanding how to sell and expand these kind of products (singleplayer vs multiplayer).
The autistic/retarded joke was obviously referencing Gordon Freeman inability to speak and express himself outside of shooting, it was an innocent joke, espcially in the broader context.
He wasn't talking about singleplayer games in general, he was talking about THEIR experience with single player games (Valve's).
And it was in the context of them understanding how to sell and expand these kind of products (singleplayer vs multiplayer).
The autistic/retarded joke was obviously referencing Gordon Freeman inability to speak and express himself outside of shooting, it was an innocent joke, espcially in the broader context.
grimshawish
Banned
Exactly. Its distressing that someone in such a powerful position both as a respected figure and as a key player; would make such statements so... unmindful.
If he apologies then I think that'd be fantastic. But every moment on from this where he does not correct his statement, I will look down on him more and more. Just how it is.
I just hope others understand why people would feel this way.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Oh wow....no words.
Im pretty sure he called Gordon Freeman retarded and autistic. Not you.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
I'm so sick of words being removed from the english language because of feigned outrage over them.
Was it the best word to use? Probably not.
Does it deserve a witch hunt and public apology? Fuck no
Was it the best word to use? Probably not.
Does it deserve a witch hunt and public apology? Fuck no
Refreshment.01
Member
Hey Tuco, why are people offended? Seriously it's scaping me
Pachter got way more shit for saying next gen games can run at 240fps than Gabe Newell will get in this thread for his Austism comments.
Hell, this is nothing compared to Retarded Lie Day last year. Didn't think that many GAF members would drink manufactured outrage but, well, damn. Maybe this year there won't be as much retardation over 'retard'.
His point makes since, its just arguable that he should have chosen his words more carefully.
That is video game journalism though. Jump on the few sensationalist words they can.
EmCeeGramr
Member
His word choice was terrible (don't spew that "OH THANK GOD HE'S NOT ONE OF THE PC POLICE" crap), but the point he's making isn't that hard to understand. Main characters in the majority of story-driven cinematic video games, due to their very nature, act in ways that are socially bizarre or stunted by normal standards, and these same rules of interaction and immersion as decided by the developer don't apply to more multiplayer-driven games where the community shapes rules and drives change in relation to itself.
This. I bow to this post.
Garou
Member
Gaf, what's wrong with you? He did not say that players of single-player games are retarded.
Just picture it this way: Imagine you are a NPC in Oblivion/Fallout/RAGE/whatever and you watch the player running around, jerking his head unrealistic around his neck, not speaking but rather pointing and shooting and banging his head three times against a wall because he is too stupid to jump.
Yes, that is what he meant with autistic and retarded, and that's why we are not supposed to act like in our games.
Just picture it this way: Imagine you are a NPC in Oblivion/Fallout/RAGE/whatever and you watch the player running around, jerking his head unrealistic around his neck, not speaking but rather pointing and shooting and banging his head three times against a wall because he is too stupid to jump.
Yes, that is what he meant with autistic and retarded, and that's why we are not supposed to act like in our games.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
That greece quote is amazing
Lasthope106
Member
In today's thread I learned that people get offended extremely easy.
Impeccable
Member
You haven't read the thread, have you? lol
It's like 2.2% people offended, and a whole bunch of people talking about PC bullshit whereas little to no one has said anything of the matter aside from "he could choose his words better."
I'd advise any behavioral psychologist giving a public speech to be very careful with his choice of words. Ignoring the outside world for your own private universe is one of the key qualities of... being shut in.
Gaben is not giving a public speech about behavioral psychology. He is talking to a very general public. So really really bad choice of words.