The Game Industry Is Hip!

I think its funny that some reporter out there would think that developers would CARE what he thinks is 'hip' (whatever that means). Gee, some of us "might even sip a cappuccino". Wow - I guess we have finally made it! Now I feel totally validated in my career because this no-nothing reporter has judged me worthy by a shallow, retarded standard which means nothing.

Note to the press: WE DON'T CARE.

So how exactly does a game programmer shed the geeky image when in reality they must spend half their life in front of a computer screen typing in a foreign language that no human being can identify with...

Steven Spielberg IS a nerd, he self-proclaims it constantly. Doesn't change the fact that his movies are too mainstream for me(Minority Report was cool but could have been much cooler had it been darker). You want nerds, look up the Wachowski Brothers, they LOVE video games and anime(which is obvious if you've seen their little cult film THE MATRIX!!!!!). Quentin Tarantino is a nerd. NERDS = COOL MOVIES. So whats the question again Steve, will nerds be accepted and respected in the film business? Geeks and this new century of film making will go hand in hand, you can bet teh shack on that. Teh Carmack will become a bigger figure than just a games programmer within the next few decades I'm sure.

Hideo Kojima (sp?) & Shigeru Miyamoto.. both are well known, but its not like movies where the tv ad runs a little something like 'Sony Computer Entertainment Europe presents, a Hideo Kojima game, starring...'. (mind the games do.. see MGS2).. i think to get to the Speilbreg kinda level they would need to put someone out there like that, not just 'game name by company name on system'...

EA hip? Oh, yeah. Hip replacement surgery, that is.

We're doomed. The more mainstream people get into our games, the more cheats will be made, and the more n00bs will be flooding public game servers.

EA sheds geeky image. Game quality goes down. hmm correlation???
EA games have sucked for a while now. Look at Battlefield 1942. Great game, buggy as hell. They released it before it was ready for the prime and I am almost 100% certain the preassure came from EA execs and not from the "geeks".

EA sucks...

I resemble that remark! Oi... flavin.

Realistic graphics have a lot to do with games getting more widely accepted. Back in the day, when games had merely representational graphics, we had to *imagine* what the characters and environments would look like in real life. For people like us, imagination is no problem. But to the average person, those low-detail graphics from the olden days just looked like goofy nonsense. Now, due to realistic graphics, the imagination is taken out of games. Stuff pretty much looks like it would if it were real, and that makes it easier for the imagination-less to go, "Hey, that's cool." So now they buy games, and the huge gaming market gets noticed by the media.

the game industry is hip? um, no. fiction writers and comic book artists/writers aren't hip, nor will they be.

besides, games don't tell a message quite the same way movies do. games give freedom of decision to the viewer, movies don't. it's either on or off.

I bet for over the hill and one hit wonder directors this would be a great field to look into - *cough* George Lucas *cough*

The people behind the scenes in Hollywood are just as geeky as the people behind the scenes in the Game industry.

Sometimes moreso.

Geek or no geek, I do think its cool that high end artists from other fields (animators with years of experience and art background, etc) are being drafted into the video game field.

Although this isn't as big a problem with high end console games than with high end PC games (since big budget console games usually have higher budgets), one of the things that has really bothered me are the weak aesthetics that you find in the games themselves. I'm not talking bumpmap this or antialiased that, but just plain old good design, aesthetic, and craftsmanship. Sure, every now and then there is something absolutely genius like Grim Fandango, but for the most part the artists working on games are people who likely couldn't cut it outside their field.

The bar is being raised by developers, and this is good.

Carmack deserves praise anyway he can get it..

Just my two cents ^^

tomorrow on entertainment tonight we interview cliffy B.

I used to think that a button pressing nerd couldn't be revered as someone who is pretty cool outside of the cliques who override the cultural stigmas of nerdism, but then I got into Nine Inch Nails.

If the future of this industry is like the corporate fucktards that are EA, and people are happy about that, then that makes me sad :/

I've believed that games would become a major entertainment industry since I was a little kid and I still have no reason to believe otherwise. Things have only progressed in that direction with every year that has passed. They are already a major element in our culture and as they evolve graphically and content-wise, more and more people take notice. Back then I imagined shit like Deus Ex and System Shock 2 being the ultimate type of game...an interactive story with alot of environment interaction and systems but games like UT2k3 bombing run make me think that that will be the type of stuff that gets TV play if anything does just because of its sports-type gameplay that tv viewers can relate to easily.

I think most gamers can't imagine games becoming a major force because we were there when it was all subculture type stuff, but games have come a long way since the old arcade days with Gradius and Altered Beast. Who knows how things will turn out though. I think whatever happens it will be a long way off (10 years?) but it's inevitable.

Let's see... Movie producers make movies, which everyone in the world watches. Game producers make games, which only gamers play.

Movie producer famous throughout world, game producer famous through game industry. Until everyone plays games (everyone knows who Mario is, though) then we won't see hip game producers getting VMA invites just cuz.

Nearly half of our shop is married, several guys are
crazier socially than a lot of people ive met in the music industry!

Yeah, there are nerds but recently the stereotype has faltered :)

gamegoof
www.gamegoof.com

There is no article regarding the supermarket industry and how it's shedding its geek image. You know that these people are the same type of geeks as Minimart geeks.

"There is still room for improvement. Even on the latest consoles Harry Potter moves around like a wooden doll. But McMillan says the next generation of consoles, expected in 2004 or 2005, will solve that problem. "

Ah I thought that was just cause Harry Potter games are lazy rushed crap aimed at attracting some money from parents at christmas ;)

I don't want the games industry (PC or console or handheld) to be hip. I like it fine the way it is. Thanks, drive through, fuck off, Hollywood.

no, maarten is hip.

It doesn't sound like Rockstar is mentioned - they're basically the "dark" side of Take Two, but they definitely seem to understand that cool goes beyond having a new video card or having lots of nice effects.

For example, they actually CARE about the music in their games, and don't just go for the obvious rock or dance tunes. I liked the fact that I could listen to MSX FM (which is based on a real label and a real DJ) instead of some generic soundtrack made on the sound programmer's computer. They have a game with a deliberate art design rather than what just works. They don't feel that they need sci-fi or fantasy all the time!

I wish there were more companies like them...

come on postal, why would you voluntarily suck anyones c*ck like that? unless...

obviously written by a non-geek

Geek Image? I never thought that. Especially when I walked into Valve the first time.

I love this quote,

"Games still lack one element of the Hollywood lure: glamour. Unlike famous actors, video games stars like Lara Croft and Tony Hawk do not get $10 million signing fees. And because they don't drink and date, they never make the gossip columns of Hello magazine."

Tony Hawk doesn't drink or date? That's probably news to him.

/// Zoid.

I think some studios are gaining household recognition instead of individual producers/designers. Many people are probably aware of the craze that goes down when a new Maxis or Blizzard (especially outside the US in the case of Blizzard) game comes out, and expect a media frenzy when id releases Doom3. In my humble opinion, I think that's better than individual recognition, and some would-be household names (like Warren Spector, I suspect) would probably agree.

was huey lewis lying when he said "it's hip to be square"?

you guys are so unhip, it's a wonder yer bums don't fall off!

A geek is a geek is a geek. Not so much a bad thing, once you're out of high school, or if you're unfortunate, college/university. Geeks make the world go around...

It could happen, but only if something comes out that really appeals to every person in the country. It would have to be something very popular for that to happen.... but the people responsible would get recognized.

The chances of something like this coming out what is unlikely.....

Whatever it is would also need someone to 'take credit' and really promote the item to the general populace...

I'm pretty hip!!!!

I think it all depends.. if it's going to be hip, it's going to be hip from all us geek gammers.. nuff said.