One developers opinion of the Wii at GDC 2007.

 March 7, 2007 - During a session at GDC this morning titled 'Burning Mad - Game Publishers Rant,' time was taken about half way through to allow developers a chance to spew their own rants. One speaker, Chris Hecker, currently working on Spore at Maxis, took the opportunity to call out Nintendo for not taken games seriously.

"The Wii is a piece of **** Hecker began his talk, which was called "Fear of a Wii Planet." He blasted a few bars of Public Enemy to set the tone. Hecker said the Wii is nothing more than two GameCubes stuck together with duct tape, and that the console isn't powerful enough to provide the next-gen experience he has been waiting for.

Although he stated the system is "severely underpowered," Hecker noted that he wasn't simply referring to the Wii's graphical capabilities. He wants to spend a console's CPU making games more intelligent, and he has found the Wii doesn't have the power to process things like complicated AI.

Hecker also took Nintendo to task for not taking games seriously enough. "It's not clear to me that Nintendo gives a **** about games as an art form," he said. To illustrate his point, he searched for references to games as art on all three console manufacturers web sites. While he found numerous such references on both the official PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sites, Wii.com had none at all. He then shared quotes from executives at Sony and Microsoft talking about games as a serious artistic medium, and then a quote from a Nintendo executive saying the company only wanted to make "fun" games.

Hecker ended his spirited rant with two demands for Nintendo: First, recognize and push games as serious art. And two, "make a console that doesn't suck ass."

theres ten damn topic about this already

i'll said it one and i'll say it again, he's just jealous

theres ten damn topic about this already

i'll said it one and i'll say it again, he's just jealous

Wanderingmidget

Of what?

This guy is a loser.

Oh and by the way, video games are supposed to be plain fun. If you look back at games like zelda and mario, which basically laid out the entire format for video games, even today. The whole "art form" thing didn't start until the Xbox was introduced, along with the "shoot em' up" nerds. Video games are not an art form, they are for entertainment purposes only, not serious discussion.

GDC 2007: "The Wii is a Piece of Sh*t!"One of Spore's developers rants about Nintendo's "two GameCubes stuck together with duct tape." By Daemon Hatfield

March 7, 2007 - During a session at GDC this morning titled 'Burning Mad - Game Publishers Rant,' time was taken about half way through to allow developers a chance to spew their own rants. One speaker, Chris Hecker, currently working on Spore at Maxis, took the opportunity to call out Nintendo for not taken games seriously.

"The Wii is a piece of **** Hecker began his talk, which was called "Fear of a Wii Planet." He blasted a few bars of Public Enemy to set the tone. Hecker said the Wii is nothing more than two GameCubes stuck together with duct tape, and that the console isn't powerful enough to provide the next-gen experience he has been waiting for.

Although he stated the system is "severely underpowered," Hecker noted that he wasn't simply referring to the Wii's graphical capabilities. He wants to spend a console's CPU making games more intelligent, and he has found the Wii doesn't have the power to process things like complicated AI.

Hecker also took Nintendo to task for not taking games seriously enough. "It's not clear to me that Nintendo gives a **** about games as an art form," he said. To illustrate his point, he searched for references to games as art on all three console manufacturers web sites. While he found numerous such references on both the official PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sites, Wii.com had none at all. He then shared quotes from executives at Sony and Microsoft talking about games as a serious artistic medium, and then a quote from a Nintendo executive saying the company only wanted to make "fun" games.

Hecker ended his spirited rant with two demands for Nintendo: First, recognize and push games as serious art. And two, "make a console that doesn't suck ass."

epormada

Actually, I think that Spore looks really cool. But he really shouldn't be so critical of something he probably hasn't even played.gatrient

Didn't read the link did you?

If this is meant to be our generations art form then it has to continue to be what it has always been, fun. The Mona Lisa is great and so are the David and Venus de Milo but in all honesty those aren't fun to do anything with. Yeah they're pretty to look and maybe were fun when they were first created but things have changed. After all what can you really do with them besides stick them up on a wall with a laser grid fence and two burly security guards making sure no one gets their oily fingers on it. Video games are meant to be fun and when you just focus on the graphics and processing power of a console and it's games then eventually you get stuck with something so pretty no one will want to touch it or at least only focus on it's prettiness not on the experience and what's the fun in that. I'm glad the Wii is what it is. It's brought us back to a simpler time when games were fun and not about how many levels it had, what company designed the game or how graphically impressive it is compared to last month's game. No matter what Zelda game was released or what Mario game was released, whether they were cell-shaded, blocky, paper, smooth or even stick figures they were always fun. That is what video games are supposed to be entertainment not some stuffy art form to hang up and continue staring at.apoc05

You have a VERY narrow view of what art is.  Are the LOTR movies not art?  Is Crash? 

Hes entitled to his opinion :? I dont reallt care what he thinks about the wii the sales numbers speak for themselevs

I like spore and hoped it would come to the wii but oh well :cry:

He speaks the truth but could have chosen better language.tomarlyn

get out of here u troll

the wii is awesome

Wow, you leave LOTR out of one post and someone jumps at you about how it's art and it’s only what, a couple of minutes between the posts, well excuse me. I was just thinking of "classic" art that's been around for quite awhile and sorry for not including LOTR in there. Fine LOTR is art and it's fun to watch but at the same time video games are also art but they should remain what they have always been and that's fun. It doesn't matter that they are not graphically impressive all that matters is your immersed in either the well written story or the sheer fun of moving about like your actually doing something rather than sitting. I don't want to just sit and watch a pretty video game do something; there are movies for that...as you have stated LOTR and as I have stated David or the Venus de Milo. Video games are about involvement and immersion and they should stay that way and I agree that at times they should be pretty too but that shouldn’t be the focus of all video games, the fun factor is what counts. Will players have fun playing this, over and over?apoc05

Are you joking, People have known movies were a form of art for many, many, many, many, many, many years.  I don't give a **** about LOTR.  All your describing is that games have to be pretty to be art, when in fact a game that many consider art, is SOTC.

[QUOTE="apoc05"]Wow, you leave LOTR out of one post and someone jumps at you about how it's art and it’s only what, a couple of minutes between the posts, well excuse me. I was just thinking of "classic" art that's been around for quite awhile and sorry for not including LOTR in there. Fine LOTR is art and it's fun to watch but at the same time video games are also art but they should remain what they have always been and that's fun. It doesn't matter that they are not graphically impressive all that matters is your immersed in either the well written story or the sheer fun of moving about like your actually doing something rather than sitting. I don't want to just sit and watch a pretty video game do something; there are movies for that...as you have stated LOTR and as I have stated David or the Venus de Milo. Video games are about involvement and immersion and they should stay that way and I agree that at times they should be pretty too but that shouldn’t be the focus of all video games, the fun factor is what counts. Will players have fun playing this, over and over?Shirley_Temple

Are you joking, People have known movies were a form of art for many, many, many, many, many, many years.  I don't give a **** about LOTR.  All your describing is that games have to be pretty to be art, when in fact a game that many consider art, is SOTC.

Gameplay is art: No. Gameplay involves art: Yes.

Here's where I stand on this: Gaming (like art) is all about the experience. Some art is meant to be warm and some dark. Heck some leave you scratching your head asking, "What in the hell is this saying and why can't I figure it out?" The Mario series is meant to be warm and pretty. Resident Evil is meant to be dark and disturbing. The crazy stuff is like Katamari (or however you spell it). This developer looks at gaming as something that needs to look amazing and be pushed forward. I find it ironic though how a developer for a game like Spore, a game that creates an experience and although has some amazing graphics, does not draw in the gamers like the CGI vids of Killzone, Halo 3, MGS4, and others would using graphics alone. Games use different art styles to create a world, but the art is not something that makes or breaks a game (look at WiiSports, WarioWare, VC). The Wii is a real video game system in the sense that it aims at creating (or expanding) on a new experience by interacting with a game. If anything I would have expected this developer (of what I'm wondering: PS3 or 360 marketing for the game maybe?) to show that the experience of spore is something that seems to match with the outlook of the Wii.

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]He speaks the truth but could have chosen better language.gustavog117

get out of here u troll

the wii is awesome

I don't get it, isn't spore coming out on the DS?

http://www.gamespot.com/ds/strategy/spore/index.html

Why would a Spore dev bash Nintendo when spore is coming out on a Nintendo system?

michael582

[QUOTE="gustavog117"]

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]He speaks the truth but could have chosen better language.tomarlyn

get out of here u troll

the wii is awesome

Well I don't. Art form can come with any sort of horsepower - cutting-edge design > cutting-edge technology. Graphics do not make up a game nor it's art. Same with A.I. While you can't deny Wii should have more boost for its buck, saying Nintendo isn't serious about games being an artform is very stupid.

Hecker ended his spirited rant with two demands for Nintendo: First, recognize and push games as serious art. And two, "make a console that doesn't suck ass." epormada

Actually he has a point. Okay before I'm attacked think about it guys....the focus hasn't really been about making games better lately...it's been about gimmicks. If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop...from the PS3 nuttin. Since when was the focus on gimmicks and not great Nintendo games? I know some really neat games have been made for Wii but I'm kinda sad that Nintendo focused on something like motion sensing....yeah yeah 4 million sold...but to whom? Apart from you guys here a lot of Wii owners bought it to flail their arms around, not cuz they like video games...so in essence the people Nintendo brought into the fold have lower standards of what games should be, that coupled with their lower expectations doesn't really push Nintendo to innovate...apart from flailing about. The serious RPGs, Shooters, Racing Sims, and Platformers are all on the other systems. It's a shame people tack a Wii onto other systems...Wii60 or PSWii...Nintendo should have made a system that stayed true to gaming and didn't rely so heavily on a gimmick. Again Wii minus motion sensing = No. NextGenNow

Couldn't agree more, I love my Wii to death, but there doesn't seem to be any serious games past Zelda that gives me the opportunity to sit down and play a game that's gonna take me more than an afternoon to complete.  That's why I'm Playing my PS2 at the moment; all the games I've got are either filled to the brim with Mini-Games or I've completed.  I bought Sonic the other day and I've nearly finished that, even between playing Final Fantasy XII...

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"][QUOTE="gustavog117"]

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]He speaks the truth but could have chosen better language.Optusnet

get out of here u troll

the wii is awesome

Well I don't. Art form can come with any sort of horsepower - cutting-edge design > cutting-edge technology. Graphics do not make up a game nor it's art. Same with A.I. While you can't deny Wii should have more boost for its buck, saying Nintendo isn't serious about games being an artform is very stupid.

I agree that you don't necessary need cutting edge horsepower to create art for video games. Also I think people need to question what is art for video games and what makes good art? It's such a open question and of course everyone has their own view about what is good and what is not.

Sure the Wii could have had a bit more power but that was Nintendo's choice not mine. Since it's not displaying more than a EDTV resolution it doesn't need to be super fast. I wonder however if the resolution is hardware locked or software locked. A while ago Microsoft released a patch to update it's graphic drivers and I wonder if Nintendo might do the samething. Either way this developer will still think say the samething about the Wii. This is after all just one person's view and if you look at the Wii sales figures and several other games companies putting more resources into making Wii games it doesn't support his person's view.

If this designer wants to create games on the two other main consoles that's fine but the amount of resources needed to develop those games will costs far more than someone designing a game for the Wii. Smaller developers might not have the resources to create games for the other two main consoles whereas they might do on the Wii.

Hopefully, Nintendo can support smaller companies so that they can be artistic and creative without having to play safe and come up yet another sequel to an established series of games. Sure I love sequels but I also like new ideas as well.

For starters the premise is flawed.  Spore guy thinks video games are art or can be.  He's entitled to his opinion but video games will never be considered art because so few engage people's emotions.  Art is about reaching people on an emotional level through some kind of visual, written or spoken medium.  Like everyone on this board I've played a lot of games but only a few of those engaged me emotionally.  I've had the good fortune to visit several art museums.  I've seen Van Gogh's Starry Night and the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo.  To see them in person gives you goose bumps and is truly amazing.  Medal of Honor's Allied Assault when you first try to storm the beaches of Normandy gave me chills and made me think-- hard -- about what it must have been really like to have fought in WWII.  I'd never really experienced anything like that before and I thought about it for days.  That's art.  Maybe some of these MMRPGs do the same thing.  I don't know I'm not big on RPGs, but I suspect they do because so many of the best ones bring a lot of people together who otherwise would never have met.  Having said that most of what video games give you is a sense of accomplishment and an outlet for competition.  There have been games I was extremely happy for beating but it's not the same as art. 

It seems to me that the Wii has a better chance of being art in the sense that it grabs your emotions than the other two systems.  For all the talk of their graphic sophistication no one talks about how technologically sophisticated the Wii remote is.  What is understood however is that it can make you get involved with a game like you've never done before.  There's room for art there.  The Godfather looks scary good because of the way the user controls the game.  Is it art?  Probably not.  Something that uses a similar control setup could be though.  We'll have to wait and see.   Spore developer guy can sit there and be smarter and cooler than the rest of us but until he makes games that engage people's emotions he will never make art.  I also wonder how this guy thinks Spore is art if its on the DS?  EA has said it will.  How can the humble DS handle this great game, a game that is 7 years in the making and may not be out until '08.  I don't know about the rest of you but Spore is starting to sound over budget and over promised. 

Finally, this guy just stepped in it big time.  I don't know how you're supposed to sell games when you're busy insulting the maker of one of your biggest platforms.  I wouldn't be surprised if he gets fired.   

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"][QUOTE="gustavog117"]

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]He speaks the truth but could have chosen better language.Optusnet

get out of here u troll

the wii is awesome

Well I don't. Art form can come with any sort of horsepower - cutting-edge design > cutting-edge technology. Graphics do not make up a game nor it's art. Same with A.I. While you can't deny Wii should have more boost for its buck, saying Nintendo isn't serious about games being an artform is very stupid.

Hecker ended his spirited rant with two demands for Nintendo: First, recognize and push games as serious art. And two, "make a console that doesn't suck ass." epormada

I have three demands for you Mr. "I know nothing".

First, try using a more apropriate language.

Two, serious art? I mean you seriously see games as serious art? Bad childhood you must have had to come with such a bad argument.

And three, shut up.

Actually he has a point. Okay before I'm attacked think about it guys....the focus hasn't really been about making games better lately...it's been about gimmicks. If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop...from the PS3 nuttin. Since when was the focus on gimmicks and not great Nintendo games? I know some really neat games have been made for Wii but I'm kinda sad that Nintendo focused on something like motion sensing....yeah yeah 4 million sold...but to whom? Apart from you guys here a lot of Wii owners bought it to flail their arms around, not cuz they like video games...so in essence the people Nintendo brought into the fold have lower standards of what games should be, that coupled with their lower expectations doesn't really push Nintendo to innovate...apart from flailing about. The serious RPGs, Shooters, Racing Sims, and Platformers are all on the other systems. It's a shame people tack a Wii onto other systems...Wii60 or PSWii...Nintendo should have made a system that stayed true to gaming and didn't rely so heavily on a gimmick. Again Wii minus motion sensing = No. NextGenNow

"If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop..."

Well of course it would, but the point is it actually HAS motion sensing. Nintendo was trying to create a new form of gaming, and they suceeded. Why is that so hard to admit for some people? Of course some people may not like it, but the way Hecker says this is a really childish act, and I seriously think this guy should be banned from the media. Hah in your face!

And just to prove him even more wrong, then lets take a look at "Spore". Ok, so what you're trying to tell us, is tha Spore is "serious" art (which I hate saying about a game). If you call Spore art, well then there's something wrong about this world.

Oh and Hecker? "stop making games that suck a**" in your so polite way of saying "I don't like your game". Pull yourself together and go to: www.getalife.com. Really awesome site.

he need's to stop playing WOW, play wii sports, and lose some weight. He is a sony/PC fanboy.MavsFan2007

[QUOTE="NextGenNow"]Actually he has a point. Okay before I'm attacked think about it guys....the focus hasn't really been about making games better lately...it's been about gimmicks. If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop...from the PS3 nuttin. Since when was the focus on gimmicks and not great Nintendo games? I know some really neat games have been made for Wii but I'm kinda sad that Nintendo focused on something like motion sensing....yeah yeah 4 million sold...but to whom? Apart from you guys here a lot of Wii owners bought it to flail their arms around, not cuz they like video games...so in essence the people Nintendo brought into the fold have lower standards of what games should be, that coupled with their lower expectations doesn't really push Nintendo to innovate...apart from flailing about. The serious RPGs, Shooters, Racing Sims, and Platformers are all on the other systems. It's a shame people tack a Wii onto other systems...Wii60 or PSWii...Nintendo should have made a system that stayed true to gaming and didn't rely so heavily on a gimmick. Again Wii minus motion sensing = No. doffythebest

"If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop..."

Well of course it would, but the point is it actually HAS motion sensing. Nintendo was trying to create a new form of gaming, and they suceeded. Why is that so hard to admit for some people? Of course some people may not like it, but the way Hecker says this is a really childish act, and I seriously think this guy should be banned from the media. Hah in your face!

And just to prove him even more wrong, then lets take a look at "Spore". Ok, so what you're trying to tell us, is tha Spore is "serious" art (which I hate saying about a game). If you call Spore art, well then there's something wrong about this world.

Oh and Hecker? "stop making games that suck a**" in your so polite way of saying "I don't like your game". Pull yourself together and go to: www.getalife.com. Really awesome site.

Actually he has a point. Okay before I'm attacked think about it guys....the focus hasn't really been about making games better lately...it's been about gimmicks. If you took away motion sensing from the Wii it would flop...from the PS3 nuttin. Since when was the focus on gimmicks and not great Nintendo games? I know some really neat games have been made for Wii but I'm kinda sad that Nintendo focused on something like motion sensing....yeah yeah 4 million sold...but to whom? Apart from you guys here a lot of Wii owners bought it to flail their arms around, not cuz they like video games...so in essence the people Nintendo brought into the fold have lower standards of what games should be, that coupled with their lower expectations doesn't really push Nintendo to innovate...apart from flailing about. The serious RPGs, Shooters, Racing Sims, and Platformers are all on the other systems. It's a shame people tack a Wii onto other systems...Wii60 or PSWii...Nintendo should have made a system that stayed true to gaming and didn't rely so heavily on a gimmick. Again Wii minus motion sensing = No. NextGenNow