Thought this was pretty damn awesome. Right now, Ken Levine is in the running for being included in the Time "100 Most Influential People". Whether you really agree with Time's views or not, the idea that game development can even garner some praise like this is astounding, but especially for a guy who is pretty much the shit when it comes to crafting a game. To point out, if he showed up, it would be the second time that a game designer would show up on the Time 100 list, the first being Shigeru Miyamoto. Pretty damn good company.

If you want to vote, here's the link: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2107952_2107953_2109982,00.html

Right now, he's sitting at around 89% to be included.

You know, Ken Levine is a cool guy and I like him, but I don't think he's anywhere close to one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.

Isn't the Time 100 supposed to be about how influential a person is in one year?

If so, what did he do?

@damswedon: Made a game 5 years ago

They have also got Ali Khamenei, LMFAO and Kony 2012 in that list. I am starting to doubt the integrity of this list.

But I did vote for Ken Levine. Hell of a guy.

That's good for him, I suppose. Not that I think the list has any value whatsoever, but still good for him.

@Bourbon_Warrior: I knew that, just though I missed him announcing he had found a source of cheap and limitless fuel or something in the last year.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@damswedon: Made a game 5 years ago

Not a very good one, either.

What the fuck does he influence? A few people making a game? You can say that about a lot, a lot of guys.

@damswedon said:

Isn't the Time 100 supposed to be about how influential a person is in one year?

If so, what did he do?

It says influential, it doesn't mean influential. If you look at that list, it's full of current people that kids/idiots are into.

@damswedon: Times been going downhill ever since they annouced Hitler as Person of the Year

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@damswedon: Times been going downhill ever since they annouced Hitler as Person of the Year

There is no denying Hitler as the most significant person of that era.

@damswedon: He is putting out Bioshock Infinite this year.

Must have been a dull year for him to be nominated for most influential before he released Bioshock Infinite. Or people can feel the influential sting of the future, which in that case, he should be number 1 for breaking the laws of time.

@Winternet: Okay two questions then;

1. Because Bioshock Infinite isn't out yet, why does that make him influential?
2. Is this just some evil marketing thing to get his name out?

That's fucked. As in fucking stupid haha

Guys you're arguing about the Time Magazine. The same magazine that called M00t the most influential person in 2009. Stop it.

Really LMFAO is up for consideration in this list...ugh!

@Slaker117 said:

You know, Ken Levine is a cool guy and I like him, but I don't think he's anywhere close to one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.

Yeah this, pretty ridiculous really.

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

@Slaker117: have you looked at who else is on the list? they set the bar pretty low. In this line up, he gets my vote

@gladspooky said:

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

Yeah, because that's exactly what people that played the game keep saying.

@gladspooky said:

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

Oh look one of those posts.

@Kedi2: NAZI!!!

@Snipzor said:

@gladspooky said:

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

Oh look one of those posts.

No, you guys are right. It's totally going to change the world.

@Winternet: Just seems like a long stretch for me to claim that a game that isn't out yet is going to be influential. Surely influence is something that comes after the event. Maybe I'm just weirded out by the fact that the Time 100 of 2012 is starting up in March.

Huh...

Well, I guess I'm not cynical or hipster enough to actually hold the opinions that many seem to have. Hell, maybe I'm just not enough of an internet troll.

Oh well. He got my vote, and I'm so sorry that you people felt the need to open a thread that you obviously didn't care about in the first place. = /

@damswedon said:

@Winternet: Just seems like a long stretch for me to claim that a game that isn't out yet is going to be influential. Surely influence is something that comes after the event. Maybe I'm just weirded out by the fact that the Time 100 of 2012 is starting up in March.

Time 100 of 2012 covers influential people during the course of 2011, much the same way that the 2012 Oscars cover films that took place in 2011...or the 2012 Emmys...or the 2012 Tonys...etc etc etc.

@gladspooky said:

@Snipzor said:

@gladspooky said:

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

Oh look one of those posts.

No, you guys are right. It's totally going to change the world.

Of course it will. The only thing that doesn't change the world is inaction.

@damswedon said:

@Winternet: Just seems like a long stretch for me to claim that a game that isn't out yet is going to be influential. Surely influence is something that comes after the event. Maybe I'm just weirded out by the fact that the Time 100 of 2012 is starting up in March.

It's an opinion article. It's not a report.

@Winternet said:

@gladspooky said:

@Snipzor said:

@gladspooky said:

@Winternet said:

@damswedon: Aren't these yearly lists? If so, then it isn't about what has been done, but what is been doing and is about to be done in 2012. And Bioshock Infinite is looking to have major impact on 2012.

Another linear, tunnel-vision first-person shooter? Yeah, it's breaking all sorts of paradigms.

Oh look one of those posts.

No, you guys are right. It's totally going to change the world.

Of course it will. The only thing that doesn't change the world is inaction.

or sexy 12 year olds which infinite also has!

Serious talk they should have picked Tim Schafer for the whole Kickstarter thing

@jakob187 said:

Huh...

Well, I guess I'm not cynical or hipster enough to actually hold the opinions that many seem to have. Hell, maybe I'm just not enough of an internet troll.

Oh well. He got my vote, and I'm so sorry that you people felt the need to open a thread that you obviously didn't care about in the first place. = /

I like how you try to take the high road and end up throwing no less than three insults out there.

Also disliking Bioshock is probably the least "hipser" thing I can think of.

@Animasta: Oh definitely, I could go for seeing Tim Schafer's awesome smugness decorate the cover of Time Magazine, if I read it. Which I don't.

@Animasta: Again, though - Time's 2012 Most Influential covers the events of 2011...not 2012.

I really do hope that Schafer ends up on next year's list, though. What he has started is pretty great to see unfold, if not a little scary in some ways.

@jakob187 said:

@Animasta: Again, though - Time's 2012 Most Influential covers the events of 2011...not 2012.

I really do hope that Schafer ends up on next year's list, though. What he has started is pretty great to see unfold, if not a little scary in some ways.

wait, then what did levine do last year? at least infinite is being released this year

@jakob187 said:

@damswedon said:

@Winternet: Just seems like a long stretch for me to claim that a game that isn't out yet is going to be influential. Surely influence is something that comes after the event. Maybe I'm just weirded out by the fact that the Time 100 of 2012 is starting up in March.

Time 100 of 2012 covers influential people during the course of 2011, much the same way that the 2012 Oscars cover films that took place in 2011...or the 2012 Emmys...or the 2012 Tonys...etc etc etc.

So why is Ken Levine on that list when a Todd Howard or Gabe Newell, each the figureheads of companies that shipped games in 2011 are not on that list instead?

And also, back to my original question, what did Ken do last year?

@gladspooky: The only way you can be more hipster is if you said "I liked Bioshock back when it was called System Shock 1".

@gladspooky said:

@jakob187 said:

Huh...

Well, I guess I'm not cynical or hipster enough to actually hold the opinions that many seem to have. Hell, maybe I'm just not enough of an internet troll.

Oh well. He got my vote, and I'm so sorry that you people felt the need to open a thread that you obviously didn't care about in the first place. = /

I like how you try to take the high road and end up throwing no less than three insults out there.

Also disliking Bioshock is probably the least "hipser" thing I can think of.

I didn't know that being "cynical" or "hipster" was an insult. Last I checked, they were specific characteristics of people. If anything, being cynical isn't a bad thing. I used to follow the Cynic philosophies, but eventually, I fell more in line with the Stoicism. As for hipsters, they have a particular sort of lifestyle that they prefer, and I'm friends with many of them. They are pretty decent people, but they generally seem to hate a lot of things that are popular (i.e. Time Magazine) just because they are popular. In turn, it is little more than an observation that some people just feel the need to badmouth this whole thing because it is a popular poll in a popular magazine. The internet troll part...that was an insult.

The second line was not an insult either. Instead, it was another observation to say "hey, why do you feel the need to go into a thread solely to say in one line that you hate Time Magazine...or want to say that you think it's stupid for someone who has obviously been influential in the world of gaming to even be considered alongside people who are also influential in their own fields?"

So, you can take what I had to say as you wish, but I know the intentions in which I speak them. That's all that honestly matters, but I figured I would explain so you at least know the thought process behind them.

especially for a guy who is pretty much the shit when it comes to crafting a game.

@Snipzor said:

@gladspooky: The only way you can be more hipster is if you said "I liked Bioshock back when it was called System Shock 1".

Yeah, I get a lot of play at the indie rock festivals with my old PC gamer cred. The fuck are people even talking about anymore? And no, I've never played System Shock. I don't generally like scripted event fests.

@Animasta: @damswedon: I would assume that it has to do with the unveiling of Bioshock Infinite and the almost worldwide positive "WHOOOOO HOOOOOO" it seemed to get from people when trailers and gameplay started showing up. It probably also has to do with him pulling the veil back on the behind-the-scenes process and showing how they are trying to push boundaries in terms of storytelling as well as presentation and character development in video games.

...or maybe it's because he was able to get Troy Baker to make Courtney Draper ball like a sissy and because I'm pretty sure we all marked the fuck out whenever that whole "time rip to show a modern day scene with a theater and Booker freaked out along with Elizabeth" moment happened.

I don't know what it's for. I know that I think Ken deserves some recognition, as well as Irrational, for the work they've put into Bioshock Infinite and the almost unanimous positive reception anything that game is producing content-wise seems to be able to get. It seems to show that he's doing something right.

@gladspooky said:

@Snipzor said:

@gladspooky: The only way you can be more hipster is if you said "I liked Bioshock back when it was called System Shock 1".

Yeah, I get a lot of play at the indie rock festivals with my old PC gamer cred. The fuck are people even talking about anymore? And no, I've never played System Shock. I don't generally like scripted event fests.

@jakob187 said:

@gladspooky said:

@jakob187 said:

Huh...

Well, I guess I'm not cynical or hipster enough to actually hold the opinions that many seem to have. Hell, maybe I'm just not enough of an internet troll.

Oh well. He got my vote, and I'm so sorry that you people felt the need to open a thread that you obviously didn't care about in the first place. = /

I like how you try to take the high road and end up throwing no less than three insults out there.

Also disliking Bioshock is probably the least "hipser" thing I can think of.

I didn't know that being "cynical" or "hipster" was an insult. Last I checked, they were specific characteristics of people. If anything, being cynical isn't a bad thing. I used to follow the Cynic philosophies, but eventually, I fell more in line with the Stoicism.

*cough*bullshit*cough*

Any sentence that begins with "Well, I guess I'm not..." is going to include some insults. It's the way of things.

Shawn Elliott deserves to be on that list more than Levine, solely based on his twitter.

@gladspooky: Whatever. I stated my case. You don't like it. Don't care enough about changing minds.

@BlastProcessing said:

Shawn Elliott deserves to be on that list more than Levine, solely based on his twitter.

Who is Shawn Elliott?

EDIT: OH, DAMN! You know what? You're goddamn right, sir. Where do we do a write-in? I absolutely forgot about that shit!

@jakob187: The real answer was provided.

The joke was in all our faces and we missed it.

@damswedon said:

@jakob187: The real answer was provided.

The joke was in all our faces and we missed it.

Best goddamned thing ever.

@jakob187 said:

@damswedon said:

@jakob187: The real answer was provided.

The joke was in all our faces and we missed it.

Best goddamned thing ever.

Perfect.

Why was this (Bioshock) game art and other games not?

sure why not *votes for ken levine*

besides, didn't moot make #1 on this list at least once? in light of that, this list doesn't actually mean anything imo. So just vote for whoever you like. and I do like ken levine, so whatever.

I feel like people here get worse and worse everyday