I just wanted to make sure you guys knew that, since apparently a part of the fabric of the gaming press is reporting on what Peter Molyneux is thinking everyday. I get that the guy is a snide quote factory, and I'll grudgingly accept that he's a kind of industry icon, but perhaps now is the time to remember that old idiom "if you don't have anything nice to say, you probably shouldn't write an acceptance speech for the Grammy's". And more importantly, "if it's not interesting, don't publish it on your website, or else you die".
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| Wait, shit, didn't I just say I don't report his quotes? |
This is prompted by the second Molyneux quote about not being impressed with Nintendo that's made the rounds in the past month. Why, as Molyneux's PR person, do you keep putting out the exact same quote, and why, as a blog editor, do you publish the exact same "story" about him saying the exact same things? On the PR side of the equation, it makes the guy look like a jealous asshole, and on the news side, it makes your site look like trite flame bait with the typical tabloid excuse of "it's our responsibility to give the people what they want".
Black & White was just a Sims rip off with some special effects and a rigid binary of morality imposed on everything. And the Fable games were among the most bland games I have ever played. I presume their formulaic design is why critics universally gave the games unjustifiably high scores. You created a game that in no way deviates from the action rpg formula: 8/10. You added a dog: 9/10.
ReplyDeleteTheme Park and Dungeon Keeper must have been really mind-blowingly good to account for why this guy is still around.
Believe it or not, Molyneux had little to nothing to do with Fable's development. He was the Don King to Dene and Simon Carter's Muhammad Ali - spreading the word and declaring it would be the "best game ever", but never getting his hands dirty. I've always been of the opinion that the game was average but not finish-worthy; regardless, he should receive no credit for its success or failure.
DeletePopulous is an important stepping stone in the history of God/sim games, but also hardly landmark. SimCity also came out in 1989, and Nobunaga's Ambition predated both by six years.