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It's hard not to admire Blow. Not only does he make amazing games, but he actually powers through and finishes them. That's a talent on its own. I mean put asid

by seivan 11y ago

It's hard not to admire Blow. Not only does he make amazing games, but he actually powers through and finishes them. That's a talent on its own. I mean put aside his engineering and design skill-sets, actually finishing should be part of what one would have to 'learn'. At least for me.

test1235 11y ago
After Braid, Blow (rightly or wrongly) took an immense amount of criticism for his views and opinions. Even more admirable is that he shrug all that off to come thru' with another game (unlike Phil Fish who took all his criticism rather badly).
- seivan 11y ago
  Fish also stole much of his stuff, so you can't expect him to steal twice as he has eyes on him this time. http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/evidence-that-phil-fish-stole-code-and-ideas-from-other-people-for-fez.454386771/ http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/evidence-that-phil-fish-st... I actually paid for Fez, apart from its little gimmick and art work, it wasn't really much. Never finished it even, and I finished Assassins Creed 1 ;-) Blow just seems genuinely good at writing games/software and creating puzzles, but even better at finishing.
  - oldmanjay 11y ago
    I feel like I could pop into that forum, ask "what is code, exactly?" and get 25 different, incorrect answers.
    - vlunkr 11y ago
      Yes, IGN message boards are hardly a place to cite as evidence of anything.
  - rotw 11y ago
    Your assertion that he "stole" Fez is really not supported by the purported evidence you linked. And you totally missed the point of Fez if you think it only has the 2.5D and artwork going for it.
    - seivan 11y ago
      I as a consumer missed the point of the game by not being enticing enough for me to finish it so I could get it, apart from its special 3D and artwork, yes. I am not saying he Stole Fez, I am saying he seems to have mistreated people who worked on it with him. In the end, Blow is a force of nature, Fish was lucky to have someone code the engine for him, period. Look through the videos on Jai, there is some good stuff there that's not related to games in general.
      - joshschreuder 11y ago
        "Fish also stole most of his stuff" was a direct quote from your comment, so yeah you kind of did say he stole it.
  - Kristine1975 11y ago
    Since when is it possible to steal ideas? Edit: Sure, it's perfectly valid to extend the meaning of "steal" to include "be inspired by" or "copy", but that does nothing but devalue its original meaning.
ericye16 11y ago
One of my favourite talks from a developer was his talk on "Deep Work,"[0] where he talks about how he manages to keep working on projects that take a very long time to complete. He has some pretty good advice with regards to managing one's own psychology and avoiding burnout while being productive. [0] https://vimeo.com/94259578 https://vimeo.com/94259578
- seivan 11y ago
  Thanks, haven't seen that one.
- chris11 11y ago
  Cal Newport just released a book on "Deep Work" that talks about that subject. I haven't finished it yet, but so far the book is really interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/d...
- ethanhunt_ 11y ago
  Watching the talk but the crowd noise is exhausting to the ears. Would be nice if someone could filter it somehow and reupload.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
Yeah, agreed, he's quite the talent. I was more than a little pissed off when Indie Game: The Movie made a special effort to make him look like some kind of nutball for the audience to laugh at. I can't stress how terrible that documentary was. It played up hateful stereotypes of "pathetic geeks" and other things best found on sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory. Blow was treated very unfairly, imo. He's actually interesting to listen to and something of a deep and critical thinker. Clearly he's someone who understands that games can be a transcendent experience like any art. I just hope he's working on a VR game soon. I suspect the Vive is going to change everything in a couple months. I'd love to VR in the kinds of worlds he builds.

by seivan 11y ago

test1235 11y ago

After Braid, Blow (rightly or wrongly) took an immense amount of criticism for his views and opinions. Even more admirable is that he shrug all that off to come thru' with another game (unlike Phil Fish who took all his criticism rather badly).

seivan 11y ago
Fish also stole much of his stuff, so you can't expect him to steal twice as he has eyes on him this time. http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/evidence-that-phil-fish-stole-code-and-ideas-from-other-people-for-fez.454386771/ http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/evidence-that-phil-fish-st... I actually paid for Fez, apart from its little gimmick and art work, it wasn't really much. Never finished it even, and I finished Assassins Creed 1 ;-) Blow just seems genuinely good at writing games/software and creating puzzles, but even better at finishing.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  I feel like I could pop into that forum, ask "what is code, exactly?" and get 25 different, incorrect answers.
  - vlunkr 11y ago
    Yes, IGN message boards are hardly a place to cite as evidence of anything.
- rotw 11y ago
  Your assertion that he "stole" Fez is really not supported by the purported evidence you linked. And you totally missed the point of Fez if you think it only has the 2.5D and artwork going for it.
  - seivan 11y ago
    I as a consumer missed the point of the game by not being enticing enough for me to finish it so I could get it, apart from its special 3D and artwork, yes. I am not saying he Stole Fez, I am saying he seems to have mistreated people who worked on it with him. In the end, Blow is a force of nature, Fish was lucky to have someone code the engine for him, period. Look through the videos on Jai, there is some good stuff there that's not related to games in general.
    - joshschreuder 11y ago
      "Fish also stole most of his stuff" was a direct quote from your comment, so yeah you kind of did say he stole it.
- Kristine1975 11y ago
  Since when is it possible to steal ideas? Edit: Sure, it's perfectly valid to extend the meaning of "steal" to include "be inspired by" or "copy", but that does nothing but devalue its original meaning.

ericye16 11y ago

One of my favourite talks from a developer was his talk on "Deep Work,"[0] where he talks about how he manages to keep working on projects that take a very long time to complete. He has some pretty good advice with regards to managing one's own psychology and avoiding burnout while being productive. [0] https://vimeo.com/94259578 https://vimeo.com/94259578

seivan 11y ago
Thanks, haven't seen that one.
chris11 11y ago
Cal Newport just released a book on "Deep Work" that talks about that subject. I haven't finished it yet, but so far the book is really interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/d...
ethanhunt_ 11y ago
Watching the talk but the crowd noise is exhausting to the ears. Would be nice if someone could filter it somehow and reupload.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

Yeah, agreed, he's quite the talent. I was more than a little pissed off when Indie Game: The Movie made a special effort to make him look like some kind of nutball for the audience to laugh at. I can't stress how terrible that documentary was. It played up hateful stereotypes of "pathetic geeks" and other things best found on sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory. Blow was treated very unfairly, imo. He's actually interesting to listen to and something of a deep and critical thinker. Clearly he's someone who understands that games can be a transcendent experience like any art. I just hope he's working on a VR game soon. I suspect the Vive is going to change everything in a couple months. I'd love to VR in the kinds of worlds he builds.