I just don't know about Jonathan Blow.
 
Heh. That rhymed.
 
No but seriously, I don't know. I liked Braid from a gameplay standpoint, even if I never beat it because it was fucking hard as balls, and I appreciated how the game mechanics tied into the story in a meaningful, thematic way.
 
But on the other hand, that story (at least what I played of it) was so immature and self-important, and it's presentation was more than a bit obvious. The violin music and painted backgrounds were just a little too artsy. 
 
The dude put in a quote from a poem into his credits. Like, come on, dude. Have some sense of self-awareness.
 
And now it comes out that he put his new game out on the show floor at PAX, but didn't tell anyone. And sure, he could say that he wanted to reward people for seeking out something special, or that he didn't want people to feel pressured by long lines, but it also comes off as cocky. "Yeah, I ain't gonna show you my game. You gotta come find it, 'cause I'm Jonathan fucking Blow and you'll do it because I'm so fucking great." And then it turns out to basically be just Myst.
 
I don't know. Maybe I'm reading too much into things. Maybe he's a fine guy who doesn't have a high opinion of himself or his work. But that's the impression I've gotten from his writing and his interviews and stuff.

Reading into it too much i think.  I already have my plan for how to debut my second game at PAX and it's very similar to what he did.  Only i haven't made my first game yet.  It's good to have a plan though.

No. He seems like a bomb dude that makes bomb games.

I'm pretty sure he's done talks, you could probably get a good sense of his character from them.

Where was his game on the show floor? He was at the Spy Party/Monaco booth every time I went by (which was a lot because Spy Party was rad), and I don't recall seeing anything in that area.

No, but I don't know him that well.
 
What's with the attitude that games have to be dumb as shit to not be pretentious?  The amazing soundtrack is too artsy?  What the fuck?  Play some music you like instead, I guess.
 
My impression of his 'showing' of the Witness at PAX is he wanted to see how people reacted by NOT BEING PRETENTIOUS.  If everyone knew he made that game a million people would have lined up and it would have changed peoples' impressions.
 
As far as it goes, if it actually does play like Myst, puzzles over large areas, that will be really cool too.  I just hope it isn't all mazes.

What was the line he gave when looking for people to help develop Witness?  People with the following in their portfolio: people getting shot in face, barbarians with axes, and flying robots, need not apply.  Or something along the lines of that.  Someone that cares more about accuracy can find the Bombcast where it was first brought it.  Yeah, he is a bit pretentious.

" No. He seems like a bomb dude that makes bomb games. "

Agreed, OP. And the reviewers at places like 1UP/EGM, etc... seemed to reinforce his attitude. When folks started praising Braid as an example of art, Jonathan started to Blow-hard hard. Those are the people who are supposed to take him down a peg or two and represent him as a developer, and not a poet.

I liked Braid, but I felt like there was a disconnect between the way the story was presented and it's gameplay. 

You're reading way too much into this.
 
You're uppity because he had a poem quote in the credits of his game? Dude likes poetry - dude liked that quote - dude put it in the credits. Big whoop.
 
As for him not telling people about his game being at PAX, that's cocky? That's ridiculous. I doubt he did that out of arrogance. Also, people did find it - it's at PAX, not some obscure location. "Game Designer Jonathan Blow throws underwater release party for new art game; doesn't invite anybody."
 
Lastly, what does it all matter? Pretension does not actually degrade the quality of his work or him as a person - if you think it does, that's all you. :P

I think you're reading too much into this, and this is coming from someone who usually makes the same conclusions about artsy people like this. 
I think this whole PAX ordeal is an interesting idea. Have people find the game via word of mouth. As for Braid... well, Braid was a great game, but strange and all over the place to the point were I feel that I'd be a douche to try and draw any conclusions from that story.

Hopefully he will allow some real coverage of his game, like, by journalists, cause I have no idea what it is.

And now it comes out that he put his new game out on the show floor at PAX, but didn't tell anyone. 

  I liked Braid from a gameplay standpoint, even if I never beat it  

So I was reading the topic about this on NeoGAF, and the dude's quote makes it seem much less like indie douchebag tomfoolery:
 

 This was the first time the game had ever been played by general players, and I wanted to see how people would react to it, as honestly as possible. I didn’t want to give them any reason to think that this was a good game, or was by any designer they might have heard of. So I just left the game running, and would occasionally peek at it from afar to see who was playing and how they were doing.

He is kind of a pretentious douche at times but he is pretty great at making games so I'll let slide. 

Perhaps I'm talking out of my arse, but a sense of self-importance and pretension are almost required to be a modern artist.

Still, while I might not like the guy much, but he made a really good game and doesn't seem like an aggressively disagreeable character. 
Much like with art films and experimental music, these darling Indie games can be really good and I do appreciate them being out there, but there is no way I'd want them to be the bulk of the industry output.  
 
Just sayin'

" No, but I don't know him that well.  What's with the attitude that games have to be dumb as shit to not be pretentious?  The amazing soundtrack is too artsy?  What the fuck?  Play some music you like instead, I guess.  My impression of his 'showing' of the Witness at PAX is he wanted to see how people reacted by NOT BEING PRETENTIOUS.  If everyone knew he made that game a million people would have lined up and it would have changed peoples' impressions.  As far as it goes, if it actually does play like Myst, puzzles over large areas, that will be really cool too.  I just hope it isn't all mazes. "

He's too indie for PAX.

Jonathan Blow is such a fopdoodle.

In order to understand why Braid is so good, you have to at least see the ending. It's the best part about that game. Go finish it and your perspective on it will change a bit.

He seems like the one guy who's looking at video games and thinking of all the possibilities that exist outside of shooting things or pandering to your grandma.

There's probably a nicer way to word your thread title. Just sayin'.

Nope, you seem pretentious for judging the guy solely on his game.

Nope, you seem pretentious for judging the guy solely on his game.

Yep.

And Braid was not good.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't even know what the word "pretentious" means anymore, as people seem to use it all the time to attack people. This is all really murky to me, but I feel like as a society we are terrified and threatened by "artists" (although what is an artist? what is art? ugggghhhhh.....) Our society is so outwardly-oriented, only comfortable in the realm of physical products and things we can see with our eyes, I think we are terrified of the subjective thoughts and -- most dirty of words -- emotions that are inside us. We don't even want to look at them so when people express them in some fashion it's highly uncomfortable and difficult to process. Therefore I think artists creep a lot of people out, whether they are pretentious arrogant self-absorbed whack jobs, or not. This really has nothing to do with Jonathan Blow. I just find it funny that people are so suspicious of anyone who claims to feel something deep from music, a painting, or poetry. I think poetry is the most hated of all. It's the height of subjective thinking.

Just because you don't "connect" or "get" a poem, or some music, or whatever, it doesn't mean you are stupid and it doesn't mean the poem or music is stupid. The poem isn't trying to trick you. It's just there. The music is just there. It speaks your language or it doesn't.

@JJWeatherman said:

There's probably a nicer way to word your thread title. Just sayin'.

You were the second person to respond to this thread 9 months ago and didn't mention it then :P

@s7evn said:

@JJWeatherman said:

There's probably a nicer way to word your thread title. Just sayin'.

You were the second person to respond to this thread 9 months ago and didn't mention it then :P

Yeah well, I'm a nicer person now. :)

pre·ten·tious /priˈtenCHəs/

I just hated how he ended everything with "right?"

@Olivaw: I think he is a awesome dude but his word choice can sometimes make him come off as such pretentious jerk.

He was refreshing to hear among the extended Microsoft conference. 
 
I mean that live show.

With respect, you have no right to critique anything about braids story or pretentiousness without witnessing the final level (or at least I think it was the final one, close to it in any case - if you've played braid, you know what I'm talking about). 
 
It's like criticizing star wars for not being full of surprises without watching the scene were Vader tells Luke he's his father. And honestly, you're missing out. 
 
Having said that.. I think he's a pretentious douche and I think Braid is a bit pretentious too. 
 
BUT YEAH.

@JJWeatherman: Exactly also the videogame industry needs people that arn't just making games about explosions and guns and boobs

@SubwayD said:

Perhaps I'm talking out of my arse, but a sense of self-importance and pretension are almost required to be a modern artist.Still, while I might not like the guy much, but he made a really good game and doesn't seem like an aggressively disagreeable character. Much like with art films and experimental music, these darling Indie games can be really good and I do appreciate them being out there, but there is no way I'd want them to be the bulk of the industry output. Just sayin'

I also totally agree with this statement. My favorite musicians are pretentious assholes, however I love their music, I still listen to what they have to say because sometimes is refreshing to hear someone who is so confident of themselves.

@pekoe212:

 

 Did you ever hear the phrase "oscar bait?"  That's what I'm getting at.

Check my idea for a gaming oscar, it's totally brilliant.

You play as a young blind, deaf and mute Hungarian Jewish man, who only communicates through the use of vibrations using a Triangle instrument. He's rejected by the communist society which he lives in because he's a burden on the state. His whole existence relies solely on his old dying mother who weeps nightly for she knows that her son will never cope without her.

The game takes place the day after the mother dies. It's about using vibrations to "see" the game world, literally, as each vibration would graphically recreate the world around him in real time, but only what he perceives the world to be. A journey begins, not to slay dragons or to save the earth, but of acceptance. Can this man make sense of his surroundings, his existence and his ability to interact with a world he knows nothing of? 

FUCKING TEAR JERKER RIGHT THERE. The academy would love it.

Get back to me with any suggestions.

Judging from your post, I feel like your problems with Blow have a lot more to do with you than they do with Blow.

No... It's probably you

@Symphony: you make a very cromulent point. Well said.

He seems like a smart guy.

@HandsomeDead said:

He seems like the one guy who's looking at video games and thinking of all the possibilities that exist outside of shooting things or pandering to your grandma.

Besides specifying him as "the one guy," this.

I just don't know about Jonathan Blow.
 
Heh. That rhymed.
 
No but seriously, I don't know. I liked Braid from a gameplay standpoint, even if I never beat it because it was fucking hard as balls, and I appreciated how the game mechanics tied into the story in a meaningful, thematic way.
 
But on the other hand, that story (at least what I played of it) was so immature and self-important, and it's presentation was more than a bit obvious. The violin music and painted backgrounds were just a little too artsy. 
 
The dude put in a quote from a poem into his credits. Like, come on, dude. Have some sense of self-awareness.
 
And now it comes out that he put his new game out on the show floor at PAX, but didn't tell anyone. And sure, he could say that he wanted to reward people for seeking out something special, or that he didn't want people to feel pressured by long lines, but it also comes off as cocky. "Yeah, I ain't gonna show you my game. You gotta come find it, 'cause I'm Jonathan fucking Blow and you'll do it because I'm so fucking great." And then it turns out to basically be just Myst. I don't know. Maybe I'm reading too much into things. Maybe he's a fine guy who doesn't have a high opinion of himself or his work. But that's the impression I've gotten from his writing and his interviews and stuff.

It's really weird how I'm getting fifty goddamn comments on this one blog post I ever made from nine months ago because Jonathan Blow was on the recent Bombcast!

I think to work as creatively and artistically as he does, you need to be a bit pretentious. Or at the very least, it'll help push the creativity and artistic merits of his work further. But, while I understand this blog was written long before it, the recent bombcast showed him as far from a douche.

Braid too hard to finish? Please grow some gamerballs!