@FourWude said:

@Olivaw said:

@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.

There was a racing, rising violin score playing in my head as i read this... then went to one of those shitty emotional songs that are on all of the film trailers... beautiful, just beautiful

So to everyone that didn't finish Braid, I'm surprised it came off as pretentious. I loved the game until that point. The narrative of each level tied into the mechanics beautifully, and then the true ending completely throws all of that out. To be honest if he had cut the epilogue it would be one of the most amazing games I'd ever played. Instead of letting any deeper symbolism be interpreted or felt subconsciously by the audience, he throws it in your facing jumping up and down screaming, "I have this thing to say. Look at me I'm deep and important. Any enjoyment you got from the narrative, forget that because it's actually about this." 
 
To me that's why he's pretentious. I groaned when I noticed him there, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the things he said on the bombcast. There were perfectly valid points in his complaints about console development, but he sounds like he's just whining. It took some patience and a lot of back and forth on the TCR thing to feel like he had a valid opinion.

@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.

Agreed!

Honestly, I think what comes off as pretentiousness is most likely him making games for himself. He makes the games that he wants to, instead of the games that everybody already knows they'd like to play.

What is better though; Jonathan Blow's games that potentially nobody likes but are potentially great, or games that you know will be okay because they look and play just like every other game?

@Olivaw said:

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.

I specifically really disliked that - which is ridiculous because it should have no impact on how I play his games, I wasn't even at PAX but all the same time when I read he'd done that I just rolled my eyes. From any standpoint, not actively trying to put forward information about your game to a potentially interested audience is stupid, unless you're not trying to advertise the game on it's own merits, but rather through your own silly shenanigans.

@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.

Agreed!

Honestly, I think what comes off as pretentiousness is most likely him making games for himself. He makes the games that he wants to, instead of the games that everybody already knows they'd like to play.

What is better though; Jonathan Blow's games that potentially nobody likes but are potentially great, or games that you know will be okay because they look and play just like every other game?

Judging from what I heard from him on the Bombcast and playing Braid, I think he seems nice enough. Why are you being so harsh? =P

EDIT: Just realized that this is a nine month old topic. What gives?

I'm sure he's an alright guy but I couldn't help but chuckle when he started to insinuate that the Microsoft guys were some sort of Nazis for requiring an artist to have an idea of how programming works to make a game. 
 
The whole "I don't want to have to follow any rules despite the fact that you guys made the platform, built the infrastructure and gathered the userbase" thing seemed a little over-the-top to me. 
 
Still, he's interesting and we're better for any kind of diversity we can get - despite what I think about some of his opinions.

Would you rather him make another generic post-apocalyptic FPS?

I agree.

J. Blow's an ARTISTE, to hell w/you haters. Hey I always wanted to play a Time Warping sexual uhm..harasser.

@fini_fly said:

Would you rather him make another generic post-apocalyptic FPS?

It would be the most arty and pretentious post-apocalyptic FPS ever.

Video games are art. Artists are pretentious. Bam.

@fini_fly said:

Would you rather him make another generic post-apocalyptic FPS?

It would be the most arty and pretentious post-apocalyptic FPS ever.

Yeah....he rubs me the wrong way occasionally.

Ye