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[Baron_Calamity]

Has Will Wright ever been held accountable for Spore?

Its pretty clear that the Spore he wanted to make, and the game EA released was two different things. After that experience Wil Wright left the industry. Everyone in the industry and in the press got that.

 

[Flavius]

I'd be interested in hearing the audio. I wonder if RPS would make that available to their audience.

 

[Guri]

Lol he wasn't calling him any names, he was asking a very direct question that needed to be asked. All the people complaining that it was harsh are part of the problem. "You can not ask that question that way!!!!!" Sure he can, and he did. Good on him for not being like you and all the softballers in here.

Softballers? What about people with real mental health issues? How would they feel if a journalist's first question in their interview was about that? I know one person who was offended, and with good reason. It also sets the tone in a very emotional way, as you can see both of them being like that throughout it. I am a developer and, if I do something bad, both the press and consumers should call me out on that. But respect should be expected, especially in an interview, not a first question about mental health.

 

[njean777]

Godus isn't late. It will never be completed to the extent of the vision. They have 3 people working on it

Yep, so PM is a liar as usual and always has been. But poor Peter for being called one.

 

[Haunted]

holy shit :lol

 

[Toxi]

Godus isn't late. It will never be completed to the extent of the vision. They have 3 people working on it

Seriously, this isn't a game just being late, it's a game the devs are being taken off of to work on another game.

 

[Nordicus]

Thats the core of it as well. Peter Molyneux could have continued to drain EA or Microsofts coffers until someone figured things out, and its "oh well, theyre big boys, they'll deal". But the second Molyneux stepped into the Kickstarter/crowdfunding/goodwill space, that changes entirely. This is no longer a situation of something being funded by the well-to-do of the world, you're now doffing your cap to anyone in the world with access to electronic funds.

Another troublesome change is that, by going from publishers to crowdfunding, it isn't the funders anymore that have the decision-making power. It's all Molyneux and we just have to keep our fingers crossed.

The perpetuation on Peter's part of trying to paint himself as a naive thinker of our time, and how could he possibly be expected to know things like "7 months or 3 years", that simply by being a creative person he is above such trifling matters.

He really seems to enjoy that image of himself and hasn't never failed to use that as a chance to deflect criticism.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

So yes, we constantly say things that will ultimately (and even likely) not be 100% accurate by the time of release. And to see someone be dragged over the coals for it - and see gamers cheer for it - is absolutely terrifying.

No one should be expecting him or anyone to be 100 percent accurate. But in the interview it's shown that molyneux struggles to hit even 50. Creative ambition is no excuse for living in some dream world when it comes to telling people about an actual real product that you intend to put out on an actual real date.

 

[ALLseeingEYE]

Its pretty clear that the Spore he wanted to make, and the game EA released was two different things. After that experience Wil Wright left the industry. Everyone in the industry and in the press got that.

And that is really what we wanted? for one of the most brilliant game designers of all time to stop creating games? because spore was too ambitious?

 

[mcrommert]

Sometimes being confrontational is part of real journalism.

See - Dan Rather vs. George HW Bush, 1988

Not to mention pretty much every episode of 60 Minutes, ever.

Wow so rude...who even cares about Arms for hostages...

Doesn't this man understand being the president is hard? Like he and his team have been trying as hard as they can?

Spoiler

Still a big fan of bush senior

 

[njean777]

Softballers? What about people with real mental health issues? How would they feel if a journalist's first question in their interview was about that? I know one person who was offended, and with good reason. It also sets the tone in a very emotional way, as you can see both of them being like that throughout it. I am a developer and, if I do something bad, both the press and consumers should call me out on that. But respect should be expected, especially in an interview, not a first question about mental health.

Sometimes calling somebody out will help them more than you could imagine. Now maybe he will go see a therapist or psychiatrist and get help, instead of just lying freely and taking peoples money while doing it.

 

[Fireblend]

Great interview. Wish there were more like this one, the industry would be better for it.

 

[iMax]

Godus isn't late. It will never be completed to the extent of the vision. They have 3 people working on it. It's pretty much finished as far as major content goes. That excerpt is a good example of his lies, actually. There's no way anyone with a shred of integrity can call their current efforts "trying as hard as we can."

Peter did explicitly deny this in the interview.

 

[Haunted]

Whew, busy day so could only read not reply. I feel theres a lot of culture shock here for US and no Euro board-members in what an aggressive interview this was. Here in the UK, if you fuck up publicly to this extent (and for an extended period so as to become notorious for it), this what you get faced with and rightfully so.

I'm not surprised a lot of the dev community is quivering at the lip and rabble rowsing to the tune of "too harsh, unprofessional!" because 1) you've got your typical human tribal instinct where one of the tribe in GAME DEV markings is being 'attacked', and the deep instinctual urge is defend 2) Theres the fact a lot of the game industry is founded upon pathological liars. That ranges from there being little budget for a projects development; Unpaid overtime, lie to the underlings or lying to consumers to their faces over things like "this content will never see re-release!" and so on. A huge percentage of the industry runs on a sort of locomotive "its too big to stop now" principle rather than one of tight, fiscally responsible project management. So when these big 'orrible mean questions are being fielded at someone perceived as "one of the untouchable old greats", pants begin to fill.

Thats the core of it as well. Peter Molyneux could have continued to drain EA or Microsofts coffers until someone figured things out, and its "oh well, theyre big boys, they'll deal". But the second Molyneux stepped into the Kickstarter/crowdfunding/goodwill space, that changes entirely. This is no longer a situation of something being funded by the well-to-do of the world, you're now doffing your cap to anyone in the world with access to electronic funds. People that may be living paycheque to paycheque, people that had the money then down the line fall afoul of some hideous financial emergency, so on and so forth. But they either recognised your name as one to trust, or a lot of positive PR and outreach got your project infront of them and they said "yeah why not". Fans pledging for $200 books they're no closer to getting to, a kid promised a life changing sum of money left to hang (good thing he's not terminally ill eh or living in a dangerous part of the world), and even individuals passionate yet perhaps silly enough to work for a year for free to help dig Molyneux out of his mess because of his legacy. These people don't have a name though, they're nor celebs, a figure you're supposed to protect. They're just the legion of people its okay to step on because... what they gonna do?

This article is the equal and opposing force to the good-will people like Molyneux have been cashing in to with the Kickstarter gold-rush. After a straight decade or more of lying, and yes it is lying to this point, thats when the kid gloves should come off and tough questions are asked. RPS has no doubt covered GODUS themselves, and some small part of John is perhaps acting on a touch of guilt for being one of many others propping up Molyneux's promises and letting him run with it. Thats got to end in a spectacular fashion. What we read today was accountability, and theres a great lack of it in day to day life until things get leaked or brought to the public eye through other means (journalism!).

There are several points in the article that stand out to me. The perpetuation on Peter's part of trying to paint himself as a naive thinker of our time, and how could he possibly be expected to know things like "7 months or 3 years", that simply by being a creative person he is above such trifling matters. Its here, at its zenith, that I can feel him straining to throw the muddy workers under the bus for not achieving things faster and letting him down. An ex-employee that was responsible for contacting Bryan is left as the reason for that breaking down. Shedding staff isn't a good look either, and the assertion that a fair few have "left the industry" after their time with Molyneux is damning in and of itself.

Where he gets the most evasive though is on the matter of just what money Bryan is going to be accruing and making any notion of coming to a compromise despite the bullshit contract they forced him to sign. Thats when the childlike demeanour drops and suddenly Molyneux remembers complex things like legal ramifications and "do not make money promises". Funny that. He'll quote from three months to a year or anything regarding Godus development, features to entice and bedazzle, but when it counts to his bottom line, some self preservation is kicking in and preventing him from making any concessions whatsoever.

The very first question of the article is perfect because it is, with laser precision, the root of it all. Molyneux should never lead a studio or be the one calling the shots, because he is incapable of doing so. Thats why he and people like Dyack fell onto hard times. Businesses outside of infinite money reserves like MS need to run on Reality, and not fiction or they get into trouble fast. When Molyneux makes promises pertaining to game design, he's doing so almost entirely at the cost of other people's hard work and ability regarding code, art, animation, and so on. Even the simplest of us can just say out loud "I want to make a game with 'best things ever' in", but its realising that talk is cheap and management and planning are the true requirement to such an end goal is what makes someone a great leader of development. Molyneux quite simply is not and hasn't been for a damn long time. Tough love occurred, and its up to him how he reshuffles.

Well said.

It is a testament to how good Molyneux is as a salesman that he has people defending him in this thread, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

 

[Nafai1123]

He didn't remotely act as kind, and courteous as Stewart did. You know that Stewart is always respectful to the face of someone during interviews? It's how you get interviews, even if you ask hard questions.

Okay, time to stop. It seems that most of you think if your hated enough, you deserve to be treated like garbage in an interview. Based on that, most of you don't deserve the level of ethics in journalism you all say you all want. I'm out.

John appears courteous because of his sense of humor. In transcript form this interview is far from it.

STEWART: Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.
CARLSON: Yes.
STEWART: Stop.
STEWART: Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.
BEGALA: OK. Now
STEWART: And come work for us, because we, as the people...
CARLSON: How do you pay?
STEWART: The people -- not well.
BEGALA: Better than CNN, I'm sure.
STEWART: But you can sleep at night.
STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.
BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.
STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks.

Edit: and how could I forget this gem.

STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.

 

[Ferrio]

And that is really what we wanted? for one of the most brilliant game designers of all time to stop creating games? because spore was too ambitious?

No? But what does that have to do with anything? He left because of the bad experience at EA, nothing that the press ever did.

 

[mcrommert]

Softballers? What about people with real mental health issues? How would they feel if a journalist's first question in their interview was about that? I know one person who was offended, and with good reason. It also sets the tone in a very emotional way, as you can see both of them being like that throughout it. I am a developer and, if I do something bad, both the press and consumers should call me out on that. But respect should be expected, especially in an interview, not a first question about mental health.

Someone attach a trigger warning to this interview...pronto!

 

[Atrophis]

Like really...Molyneux deserves to be harrassed because a kickstarter game is late?



Really John? Molyneaux may have been incredibly naive about his timeline, but he's 100% been dedicated to not only deliver the game, but making sure it comes out great.

So far, it's not always bad, but this spot comes off as incredibly, insultingly naive about how game development works. He's really trying to suggest that Molyneaux is really just sitting in his off twiddling his thumbs, not even trying? give me a break.

You're right that someone is naive about game development in that interview but sadly it's the thirty year veteran, not the journalist.

 

[Circle Jerk]

Going through the interview now, and John Walker kind of comes off as a huge douche most of the time. Perhaps because he's incredibly naive about how the development process works in a video game.

Like really...Molyneux deserves to be harrassed because a kickstarter game is late?



Really John? Molyneaux may have been incredibly naive about his timeline, but he's 100% been dedicated to not only deliver the game, but making sure it comes out great. Who cares when it's finished, as long as it's finished. Do I really need to quote Shigiru Miyamoto here? Once the game is done, no one will remember that it is late, but if he released a shit game, everyone would remember that it was shit. I'll take late over bad any day.

So far, it's not always bad, but this spot comes off as incredibly, insultingly naive about how game development works. He's really trying to suggest that Molyneaux is really just sitting in his off twiddling his thumbs, not even trying? give me a break. The guy is possibly one of the most passionate game developers of all time, if anyone loves his job, it's probably him.

The only naive person is you if you think Godus is being given 100% of anyones attention at 22cans. And who gives a shit thats he passionate? I can be a passionate liar too if you give me enough money.

 

[Guri]

Sometimes calling somebody out will help them more than you could imagine. Now maybe he will go see a therapist or psychiatrist and get help, instead of just lying freely and taking peoples money while doing it.

But do you really think a journalist should do that? How would you feel in Peter's shoes? Regardless of what you think of him, what he has or hasn't done, how would you feel if the first question of an professional interview was about your own personal mental health?

 

[Axass]

Going through the interview now, and John Walker kind of comes off as a huge douche most of the time. Perhaps because he's incredibly naive about how the development process works in a video game.

Like really...Molyneux deserves to be harrassed because a kickstarter game is late?



Really John? Molyneaux may have been incredibly naive about his timeline, but he's 100% been dedicated to not only deliver the game, but making sure it comes out great. Who cares when it's finished, as long as it's finished. Do I really need to quote Shigiru Miyamoto here? Once the game is done, no one will remember that it is late, but if he released a shit game, everyone would remember that it was shit. I'll take late over bad any day.

So far, it's not always bad, but this spot comes off as incredibly, insultingly naive about how game development works. He's really trying to suggest that Molyneaux is really just sitting in his off twiddling his thumbs, not even trying? give me a break. The guy is possibly one of the most passionate game developers of all time, if anyone loves his job, it's probably him.

Says who? Do you know that first-hand? Or did you just decide to blindly believe him?

Walker's saying that because they recently announced they reduced the team working on the game (fact that Molyneux denied and then admitted during the ourse of the same interview *facepalm*).

The remaining developers have been very clear about the game probably never getting much of the promised features. The game may be not coming at all.

 

[SeanTSC]

Everyone has a bias and an interviewer knows what questions they want to ask going into an interview. Starting off with "are you a pathological liar" seems to me like Walker wanted to go in there and read Molyneux the riot act as some sort of "consumer advocate." His tweets following indicate that much as well.

Sure, I agree with that. He did that or something close to it at least in part. You didn't like it, that's fair. I thought it was fine on the other hand. It's just that calling him out for "having an agenda" is quite silly when everyone has an agenda and bias one way or another. Yelling AGENDA! or BIAS! means absolutely nothing. Calling out the specifics of that agenda or bias on the other hand, as you did just now, is meaningful.

 

[Haunted]

Great interview. Wish there were more like this one, the industry would be better for it.

People warning others with big red flag that "not every interview should be like this!" are making me laugh.

It's literally one interview among thousands of PR fluff pieces that has been as open, direct, honest and confrontational. Fucking be concerned about getting actual journalist work done in the industry before you warn about it going too far.

It's the same strawman gamergaters like to pull out, with these "feminist agendas"threatening to go too far and completely overtaking the industry. Fucking worry about getting at least a fraction of the minorities properly represented before you worry about them "taking over".

 

[jschreier]

Well, for one, I highly doubt it's more people complaining overall. It just appears that way in the moment because this story has everyone's attention. But it's pretty clear that most people find journalists being in the pocket of publishers universally distasteful, while there is a sizable portion of people in support of unprofessional interviews - just not in the actual development community.

And why unprofessional interviews are so bad is that ... we don't actually need to talk to you. There's enough journalists who will gladly just run our marketing materials and collect their advertising revenue. And until that changes, publishers (and by extension, developers) hold pretty much all the power. So when a journalist comes out swinging, and does so in a particularly aggressive and accusatory way, that turns the entire development community away from giving interviews and speaking freely to the press and the community. And that, was the only real area of games journalism that still had the opportunity to get some real journalistic work done.

You recently ran a piece about layoffs in the industry, where developers gave you some pretty damning stories that - if made public with their real names - would likely get them blackballed from the industry. Now, if you - very unprofessionally - released your sources names, you would never get another developer to ever speak to you about anything ever again.

Now, of course, leaking sources and running an accusatory interview are nowhere near the same in terms of ethics violations - but the reaction and outcome is likely going to be the same - at least for John Walker. There is no doubt this will lead to more tight-lipped developers (for a time) and less actual decent journalism as you are forced to run all those PR-dictated previews because developers are afraid you are going to try to character-assassinate them publicly.

And this isn't just hyperbole talking. Having worked in the industry, I know that when a press outlet gives us a particularly bad interview or displays particularly lacking professionalism - we stop talking to them. I'm sure you've run into this on your end as well. That helps no one. And that's why this interview is actually more harmful than good.

Ha ha. Well, we get blacklisted by publishers when we do actual journalism, so I'm not sure it's always about professionalism.

That said, I don't disagree with any of your points, and I totally get why so many people are reacting so passionately to this interview. Having done an extensive profile of Peter Molyneux I can certainly share feelings of sympathy toward him, too. He's an easy target -- an easy "enemy" -- and it certainly took a lot of balls for him to stay on the phone instead of hanging up after the first question.

But we live in a world where video game sites regularly participate in exclusive preview hypefests and where press tend to see themselves as part of the video game industry rather than a force that helps keep game companies in check. So I guess I'd rather see journalists getting too aggressive than, say, being sure not to ruffle any feathers as they prepare for transitions to PR and development. And, yes, there's a middle ground. But this kind of extreme makes for one hell of a read.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

You look at the 2015 Most Anticipated Games on Neogaf thread and about half of the games in there were also on the 2014 Most Anticipate Games thread. The vast majority of developers have no clue how long it's going to take them to finish their game.

 

[Wereroku]

Peter did explicitly deny this in the interview.

Yes he said the entire studio was still working on it. Then when John asked him to confirm that he said no thats not what I said.

You look at the 2015 Most Anticipated Games on Neogaf thread and about half of the games in there were also on the 2014 Most Anticipate Games thread. The vast majority of developers have no clue how long it's going to take them to finish their game.

But how many would have gone to their publisher and told them that it would only take them 9 months? He knew it couldn't be released in that amount of time. I think people being wrong about dev time is accepted but not 9 months vs 3 years and counting.

 

[K.Sabot]

That first question is very Billy O'Reilly / Brett Baier / Rush Limbaugh way of interviewing, incredibly loaded and abusive.

 

[Circle Jerk]

But do you really think a journalist should do that? How would you feel in Peter's shoes? Regardless of what you think of him, what he has or hasn't done, how would you feel if the first question of an professional interview was about your own personal mental health?

I would never lie so much in my profession that being asked that would even come up.
"Passion" stops being an excuse the third time you over promise. After that, its fair game to ask if you have issues with lying.

 

[gogosox82]

He didn't remotely act as kind, and courteous as Stewart did. You know that Stewart is always respectful to the face of someone during interviews? It's how you get interviews, even if you ask hard questions.

Okay, time to stop. It seems that most of you think if your hated enough, you deserve to be treated like garbage in an interview. Based on that, most of you don't deserve the level of ethics in journalism you all say you all want. I'm out.

Jon Stewart wasn't so kind on crossfire which is what he was talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

 

[njean777]

But do you really think a journalist should do that? How would you feel in Peter's shoes? Regardless of what you think of him, what he has or hasn't done, how would you feel if the first question of an professional interview was about your own personal mental health?

I personally do not have a problem with humility, so I would probably take it and think about it and say I fucked up. Learning how to deal with humility is an important part of life. From the rest of the interview we can see he hasn't learned how to deal with it still.

 

[benicillin]

Sure, I agree with that. He did that or something close to it at least in part. You didn't like it, that's fair. I thought it was fine on the other hand. It's just that calling him out for "having an agenda" is quite silly when everyone has an agenda and bias one way or another. Yelling AGENDA! or BIAS! means absolutely nothing. Calling out the specifics of that agenda or bias on the other hand, as you did just now, is meaningful.

I'm glad I could clarify. Like I've said earlier in this thread, I think a lot of people are going to be happy with the interview, especially those who might have pledged to the Kickstarter or are tired of feeling like their being lied to, it might be nice for a journalist to call Peter out like that. Personally I felt like the Walker might have gone a few steps too far sometimes and that soured it for me, but I've never bought a Molyneux game before and have no skin in the game.

I'd like to think that we could all agree that there are a few things Walker could have done better that would have made this a better interview, which is why I don't really like holding it up as an amazing example of a great interview. It's a step in the right direction to ask hard questions and not take the runaround, but he could have done a better job.

 

[Lunar15]

I liked that he asked the right questions, I don't like that he really slanted the interview from the start. I want tougher journalism in this industry, but I also don't really want interviews that start out with inane questions like "Are you a pathological liar?".

I dunno, seems like an easy target, maybe that's what I feel that way. Had this been an article about like, horrible working conditions in the industry or outright scam practices, I might have gone along with the tone. Yes, the Godus/Curiosity stuff was a clusterfuck that Molyneux needs to answer for, but I don't think it requires making him some kind of monster. It doesn't fit the crime. Molyneux overpromising is the most obvious thing imaginable at this point. Making your first "scathing interview" target that is just kinda lame.

Hopefully RPS can find a good middle ground and, you know, not get entirely blacklisted.

 

[Liljagare]

I dont care what people think of PM, for me, he created some of the most fantastic games ever seen.

His issue is that he didn't get past the management style of making games in the 80's, early 90's and now the 2010's, he clearly doesn't get most modern media outlets.The guy doesn't understand the modern gaming industry at all, but that doesn't stop him from having some of the best ideas out there, for games.

If half of his ideas actually made it into the games he tries to make, they would be wonderfull, but today, things work differently.

Does he lie? I don't think so, he's stuck in the era of Populous.

 

[Draconian]

People warning others with big red flag that "not every interview should be like this!" are making me laugh.

It's literally one interview among thousands of PR fluff pieces that has been as open, direct, honest and confrontational. Fucking be concerned about getting actual journalist work done in the industry before you warn about it going too far.

It's the same strawman gamergaters like to pull out, with these "feminist agendas"threatening to go too far and completely overtaking the industry. Fucking worry about getting at least a fraction of the minorities properly represented before you worry about them "taking over".

You can engage in insightful journalism without bludgeoning people you interview upside the head ad nauseum. We should be thankful shoddy work is being done because at least something's getting done? What a load of nonsense.

 

[ALLseeingEYE]

No? But what does that have to do with anything? He left because of the bad experience at EA, nothing that the press ever did.

I'm mostly replying in response to that posters wording, which I interpreted to suggest that he thinks Gamers and the press got what they wanted when Will Wright left the industry. Like, if he's reason is due to EA, no worries, but I find it tragic when incredible talent stops creating. It's the same thing when Hironobu Sakaguchi left square due to a movie's failure. What a waste, I'm glad he's back in the industry.

You're right that someone is naive about game development in that interview but sadly it's the thirty year veteran, not the journalist.

Really though? I'm still reading the whole thing, so I'll see where this goes, but the thing that I find insulting is that he's suggesting that the development team isn't even trying, which is a huge far cry from any game development experience I've ever been involved in. Even with games that end up being completely shit, like E.T. for the Atari, the developers probably tried their asses off (I actually saw the developer of this state he was incredibly proud of what he accomplished).

I think one huge disconnect between game development and gamers, is I assume gamers instantly think a bad game is the result of laziness. In truth, this is almost unanimously far from the truth. There are a host of reasons bad games exist, and it's usually down to budget and time concerns. Of course, poor planning, lack of experience and a host of other issues can intervene as well.

 

[Grinchy]

The link seems to be dead. I wouldn't mind reading the full interview.

Having only read the OP's quote and some other quotes I've stumbled upon, it looks like Molyneux finally got what he deserves. Maybe a little harsh for the sake of making a point, but the point needed to be made.

 

[SniperHunter]

did they call him out on the milo bullshit? That shit still isn't possible with xbone kinect. what a fake ass demo that was

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I think the funny thing about Molyneux is that, yeah, he overpromises his games and lets the hype get away from him sometimes, but its not like he's got a track record of release bad games. A lot of his Bullfrog works are all-time classics, and most of the Lionhead work have generally been well received. Its clearly a case of Molyneux having too lofty of goals that become unrealistic when development happens rather than a case of Molyneux willfully deceiving his people to generate hype. For Walker to outright accuse Molyneux of being a writer is just pathetic.

 

[Guri]

I would never lie so much in my profession that being asked that would even come up.
"Passion" stops being an excuse the third time you over promise. After that, its fair game to ask if you have issues with lying.

That's not what I asked. And, even if it was, do you know that a pathological liar doesn't have control over what they lie? That's why it is a mental health issue. I do have issues with the way Peter handles game development, as I have said in an earlier post, but that doesn't mean I will ever agree with an interview that starts with a personal question, especially about mental health.

 

[Metroidvania]

Starting with the pathological liar question was not a good idea. Neither was the snark that kept creeping in.

Shoe did it better with Moore, back in the day. Was more calm, factual.

John seemed to be getting frustrated (At Peter's dodging, on some level), and that led to more of the snark at PM, rather then just sticking to quotes and facts, and using them to emphasize his points.

Came off as more confrontational, rather than bringing things to light in a way that brought up PM's crazy exaggerations/promises.

That being said, Molyneux has an onus to his customers to be honest about what's going on. (The death threats and the like are absurd, obviously)

The making of the 'art/making-of' book responses were sketchy as all hell.

 

[JesseZao]

We need stuff like this to break the cushy/unethical relationship between publishers and "game journos."

There's a reason games journalism is seen as a sham. This could start a movement to crash the shill journalism and have unchained reporting and news rise. The people have to want it, though. I want it!

 

[ALLseeingEYE]

Says who? Do you know that first-hand? Or did you just decide to blindly believe him?

Walker's saying that because they recently announced they reduced the team working on the game (fact that Molyneux denied and then admitted during the ourse of the same interview *facepalm*).

The remaining developers have been very clear about the game probably never getting much of the promised features. The game may be not coming at all.

I shouldn't get ahead of myself here, I'll download and try it out myself, but looking at the App Store and the Google store, the game is not only already out, but already receiving solid reviews (4+/5 stars).

I should also mention that I don't look at features getting cut as necessarily a bad thing. Features constantly get cut out of games, I think the crime is mostly when a feature is promised, and then not implemented. Not because this wasn't best for the game overall, but because it just disappoints fans.

 

[watership]

Jon Stewart wasn't so kind on crossfire which is what he was talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

I know it very well, I love that whole thing. But John is not a journalist, he's a comedian/satirist , and they were interviewing HIM. There is a big difference here. Huge difference.

 

[gogosox82]

Going through the interview now, and John Walker kind of comes off as a huge douche most of the time. Perhaps because he's incredibly naive about how the development process works in a video game.

Like really...Molyneux deserves to be harrassed because a kickstarter game is late?



Really John? Molyneaux may have been incredibly naive about his timeline, but he's 100% been dedicated to not only deliver the game, but making sure it comes out great. Who cares when it's finished, as long as it's finished. Do I really need to quote Shigiru Miyamoto here? Once the game is done, no one will remember that it is late, but if he released a shit game, everyone would remember that it was shit. I'll take late over bad any day.

So far, it's not always bad, but this spot comes off as incredibly, insultingly naive about how game development works. He's really trying to suggest that Molyneaux is really just sitting in his off twiddling his thumbs, not even trying? give me a break. The guy is possibly one of the most passionate game developers of all time, if anyone loves his job, it's probably him.

Godus isn't late. It isn't even going to be finished. They are working on an entirely new game now even though people paid money via kickstarter for Godus. That is why this interview happened.

 

[Almighty]

You look at the 2015 Most Anticipated Games on Neogaf thread and about half of the games in there were also on the 2014 Most Anticipate Games thread. The vast majority of developers have no clue how long it's going to take them to finish their game.

Yeah I don't think people are angry at him just because his game got delayed to who knows when. I think it might have more to do with him promising shit that he couldn't deliver on. I was going to say that he knew full well he couldn't deliver on, but it doesn't look like he thinks before he promises the moon.

 

[Tidus_Great]

Petey should have knocked the interviewer out.

 

[Orca]

I can believe Molyneux has no clue how much making a game really costs. He's been in the industry for 30 years, but on the creative side. I've known dozens of creative people who are very successful in their line of work, but have absolutely zero idea how the business of it works. If they had to try and create a budget for a project, it'd either be ridiculously low or outrageously high.

 

[JackDT]

Very mixed feelings about that interview. I'm glad someone was willing to get into the hard questions with Molyneux, he really needs that, but there's no need to be such an asshole about it.

 

[Guri]

I personally do not have a problem with humility, so I would probably take it and think about it and say I fucked up. Learning how to deal with humility is an important part of life. From the rest of the interview we can see he hasn't learned how to deal with it still.

OK, let's say that Peter has a mental health issue related to lying. I don't know if he has, I cannot be sure, but let's say he has. And he admits in the interview. What do you think the consequences for that will be? Mockery all over the Internet, possibly threats to him and his family. You say you don't have a problem with humility. Fair enough. But that's not the issue. If it was your own mental health issue, how would you feel about the Internet mocking you about a disease you can't control?

I do agree interviews should be aggressive and journalists should press on an important issue, but that can be done in a really great way without talking about mental health issues. John Walker could have questioned Peter Molyneux about over-promising and other issues and would probably have gotten better responses if this interview focused only on work and was handled in a more professional way.

 

[Jobbs]

Does he lie? I don't think so,

it's really hard to get through the milo presentation and come away with this stance. really, really hard.

"Look at what just happened. Clare drew a picture on a piece of paper, the piece of paper was held up to Milo, Natal recognized the piece of paper, scanned the piece of paper in, Milo looked at that piece of paper, recognized the shape, recognized the color, and was able to get on with his project."

"This is true technology that science fiction has not even written yet. This works. Today."