Here we go...

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, August 26, 2013, 17:52 (3910 days ago) @ Xenos
edited by Cody Miller, Monday, August 26, 2013, 17:57

RTs most popular video has 23 million views and it's about Angry Birds. That's not viral, that's a popular YT entity making a funny video about a viral phenomenon.

Gangnam Style is a video by a previously unknown korean, singing nonsense with 1.7 billion views. That's viral.

To say you want your game to be a cultural touchstone like Star Wars, LoTR and Harry Potter, which have much different beginnings, just highlights that you don`t understand what make them that popular. Here`s a hint: No one does.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it is wrong to state what you want something to be.

Because it betrays your intentions. If you are making a game with the purpose of it being a huge cultural phenomenon, then your motives are not pure and you aren't making the game with the desire of merely making a good game. It's like the girl who moves to Hollywood to take up acting in order to become famous, versus the girl who loves acting, but happens to become famous because she's really good and dedicated.

Such a statement just reeks of insecurity. Games like Mario didn't become cultural phenomenons because they were designed to be, they became widely known because they were fucking amazing games. The folks making these games cared about making the best game they could and nothing else. In fact, if you ever wondered why so many pseudonyms are used in the credits of older 8 and 16 bit games, it's because a lot of the programmers were embarrassed to be working on video games rather than 'legitimate' software, but did so anyway because they loved it, even if it was bad for their career prospects!

What kind of cultural impact did Marathon or Myth make? None. But does that diminish what good games they are, or all the fun all the Bungie fans since then have had playing those games?

See, most good art is good because the artists are passionate about their art or the ideas they wish to express. That's what connects people.

I've always said that the games industry is full of people who envy hollywood and film's ability to reach a mass audience. YOU ARE A VIDEO GAME COMPANY. I would hope that if you say you want your game to go on a shelf, what's on that shelf is not Lord of the Ring, or Star Wars, or Harry Potter, but rather Civilization, Doom, Mario 3, Starcraft, Quake, Deus Ex, Metal Slug, Day of the Tentacle, Sim City, R-Type, Vanquish. You know. AMAZING GAMES. In fact that whole shelf statement is extraordinarily ignorant, but it's just one dude at Bungie, so whatever.