To make this clear, this isn’t specifically about video games. It’s more to do with our society and my generation.
Recently, the Escapist did a vote for who is the best game developer with the lineup including some massive names and some very small studios also. You had titans like Blizzard, Bethesda, Nintendo and EA(studios), and then you had your much smaller studios like Mojang (Just one man), Popcap and other names I’ve never even heard of.
Anyway, I digress from the point I wanted to make in this blog post.
The winner of this ladder vote was Mojang. Just one man. They call him Notch. He’s only made one game, and is a self made millionaire because of it.
That game, is Minecraft.
Minecraft isn’t even really a game. It’s a world simulator. Completely different from an RPG or a physics based simulation. It’s just a world, built out of blocks, with creatures and players and minerals. The players can build whatever they want (within reason) with the minerals they collect.
So it was a rather big shock when Bioware LOST to Mojang.
Minecraft has an absolute cult following, but even so, this was surprising. I was slightly upset by this, as I can’t say that Mojang really deserved to win Best Developer, compared to Bioware who has consistently released titles that are mind blowing and heart wrenchingly amazing, such as Mass Effect series, Dragon Age, Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter nights. The list goes on. Every single on of their titles has been amazing. Not just in terms of player enjoyment, but in terms of developer effort and investment. The story, the characters, the interaction. All of it. Fantastic. So it was a shame to see hard working men and women and their projects, lose to one man’s hobby.
I get the feeling that what I’m saying in this mental expulsion may be coming across like I’m some sort of fan boy. I am, but I’m a scientist at heart, and I’m more than willing to see both sides of the picture here and the reasons behind why what happened, happened.
There was another contender before Bioware, who’s achievements are paramount to the gaming world. They have created titles that have been revolutionary in terms of story and gameplay, and they’ve created Engines and distribution platforms that are second to none. I’m talking of course, about Valve.
Look, I’m upset the user base of the Escapist was insane enough to vote Minecraft over the achievements of both Valve and Bioware, not to mention every other developer that lost to them. But I personally think Notch would be humbled that his fans love it so much. I mean, it’s not his fault the masses like what he made. It’s like blaming obesity on the inventor of chocolate: People can’t help but like it, but that doesn’t make chocolate any better, or them any smarter for liking it.
Except in this case people are silly, and don’t realise how much fucking work goes into producing games like Mass Effect or Half Life or Portal.
Games are so commercial now, so many come out and there’s so many different options when it comes to buying them. Games, but more specifically our society and my generation, are so used to things that are disposable. They have no concept of everlasting worth or workmanship. What they see is what they get, they don’t consider the factors that have come into play that put it in front of them. They don’t question the meat on their plate or how it got there. They don’t question how data travels wirelessly to their Idiot Box or how that device came into existence. They treat everything they interact with complacency, as everything they interact with can be replaced.
But you can’t replace the blood, sweat and tears of a good story.
Or the painstakingly hand drawn concept art and proof of concept work.
Or the countless hours of sleep lost to make sure the character models are perfect.
Or the catching up of work that was lost due to a dead harddrive.
Or the mad rush towards the end to make sure there’s that little piece of you embedded firmly in your creation.
Or the love for what you do and the people who will enjoy it.
You cant. Not ever.
And it’s this that sets both Valve and Bioware apart from other developers. They have done those things countless times. For us. For your average person, who just wants to play a fun game. And for the die hard fans.
And yet, they don’t get the love they deserve.
To the user they’re just another game dev.
Just another avenue of entertainment. Worth approximately 6-30 hours worth of joy.
Thats all we developers are worth to them. That’s all our heart and soul in a company or game is worth to the average user. So I’m not angry at Notch for making a game that appeals to them. I’m not angry at the gamers who voted his game number one and for enjoying what he worked so hard on.
I’m angry at our society that has taught us it’s okay to dispose and to not take things to heart. To consider only what we see and can touch, to only appreciate what is tangible and in front of us at the time.
That’s what makes me sad.
That’s what makes me detest some of the people I meet. Because I know they don’t appreciate the work others do for them, and that they are part of a selfish generation.
And the saddest part of all?
The developers and the people behind everything great and good, will continue their reward-less journey into the abyss without heartfelt praise from whom they seek it the most.
Yet there is beauty in this tragedy also.
They know they will not be acknowledged and praised by the general masses and still they continue.
What they do, is almost always labour of love.
They wouldn’t do it unless they loved it. These studios have love in their hearts for the job, the people, the company, the game, the characters, and the world they lovingly craft with their own hands. They have love for the stories, the relationships and the highs and lows their creations face. They live their love in their games, and are happy that people like you and I, who appreciate the value of the game notice this.
That’s all they want.
To make us happy, like a mother does its child.
To work hard for years over something that will one day leave them and become part of something bigger.
I’m talking about Bioware and Valve specifically still, but these guys aren’t the only ones, and I’m being narrow-minded and much too specific here. These companies are just 2 of the studios I’ve noticed the love in.
Because they love us.
Because they love those that love them.
by Cody Drew
(2nd Year I.T Games Development Student at Monash University)
