Comments on: The Guardian: Peter Molyneux Interview

By: The Shed

The Shed — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:04:57 +0000

It’s not what Molyneaux does, it’s just the things he says and how he says them. He completely overhypes the games he works on; and I’m not talking Halo 3 or GTA IV levels of hype, no no, at least everybody hypes those games, and are excited about them. Molyman is the ONLY person who talks like his games are the best thing ever, and that’s why people have a problem with him. No one else sees his totally overblown view aside from himself, so he sounds like a tool. If he just talked with a cooler head, I’d have much more respect for him, and his games.

Kojima is defo a face, although an awesome one. At least he’s a geniune kinda guy.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:09:20 +0000

Actually I’d say Hideo Kojima starting to become a face. He is using his name as his brand afterall.

By: theleif

theleif — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:04:31 +0000

What? Do people hate Molyneaux?
But seriously, we need more game designers like him. Of course, not every game he’s made turned out well, but he’s one of the few designers that always try to think different. He doesn’t always succeed, but at least he is trying to innovate and to create his personal vision.
You don’t like him? No problem, COD 15 or C&C 42 will be out soon.
And while those games probably will be good, they will never be innovative.

By: Donald Duck

Donald Duck — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:05:51 +0000

^ Heh. But those people in many ways drive the industry forward. Not everyone will be the next Picasso, unfortunately.

BTW good to see this kind of article can be printed side by side with other culture stories in The Guardian.

By: Ravenger

Ravenger — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:53:28 +0000

I love this quote from IGN’s preview of Deus Ex – Invisible War. Sums up the whole press fascination with gaming personalities:

“There’s a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person,” says Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deus Ex.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:08:01 +0000

Powermonger? Bad? Lies! i think i still have the 3 1/2 diskettes n manual around somewhere. I loved that game. Amassing your armies, the maniacal grins that would appear when you struck iron thus meaning your army would become invincible. Awesome fun.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:38:21 +0000

Man, do I really have to be pedantic guy? I hoped someone would beat me to it. Oh well, here goes:

@Kieron: That’s not what “begs the question” means.

Back on topic though, I don’t really understand all the hating on Molyneux. He’s done some great games, and he’s had some big overly ambitious games that turned out lousy.

There’s far too many lousy games out there to waste your time hating all the designers. But more importantly, with all the bitching we do about how gaming isn’t innovative enough and everyone does the same thing over and over, we should be glad someone’s at least trying the big ambitious stuff, even if he fails a lot.

By: Aubrey

Aubrey — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:41:17 +0000

Industry figureheads become those heroes you shouldn’t meet. They get a lot of the credit, and help drive up the awareness of the game (or have their fame bolstered by it), but do they get to REALLY contribute to the sweet spot of development? Aren’t they too busy getting interviewed? I’m exaggerating, but still… if you’re off schmoozing at trade-shows, where’s your direction, then?

Given the choice*, I’d avoid stepping into the limelight on a big team project – it’s not worth the internet derision, let alone the fact that it pulls you away from working on the game. I think a lot of devs are similar: they’d rather let the game do the talking.

*I’m never going to be given the choice. However, we’re all probably nerdy enough to have heard of Doug Church, but he seems fairly good at avoiding press attention after finding he didn’t enjoy it so much, and would rather be making games. I really respect that. And now, I guess he’s got Spielberg as a bit of a deflector shield for press attention.

By: Kommissar Nicko

Kommissar Nicko — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:58:18 +0000

All I can think of is:
Derek Smart!
DEREK SMART!
DEREK SMART!!

By: Dr.Gash

Dr.Gash — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:34:12 +0000

I don’t see what the problem is with Peter Molyneux. He’s not an inherently bad force for gaming. Fair enough he talks a good line and has on occasion been a bit over zealous with his superlatives but so what? Passion, as Kadayi already said, is really important, and the man has it by the bucketload.

However, to counter this, I would say I disagree with the idea of the Designer-figurehead role. I think it can be far more damaging than it ever is helpful to a product to have a single person splattering their image all over it. For example, I think all the pre-Bioshock Levine interviews, even the more intellectual ones between him and the devout Objectivists, were unneccessary, and messed with the meaning of the game for me.

It’s the same with song lyrics to a certain extent. Take what you will from what you hear, but read the lyrics only once your own meaning for the song is cemented in place.

Jeez, I hope that’s on topic, otherwise I will feel like a douche in the morning.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:49:22 +0000

Reply to RichPowers:

Because Syndicate, Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Powermonger and Magic Carpet were all infamously bad. I believe there’s still websites dedicated to hating these games.

Also I am glad there’s a Lionhead in existence even if the games have been too damn shallow. Though Movies is growing on me and I’ll be trying B&W2 once my courseworks finished.

By: RichPowers

RichPowers — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:23:20 +0000

So does he even design games any more, or just talk about designing games? Hell, even when he did design games, they were mostly talk anyway…