Home Gaming Braid developer thinks most indie devs aren’t innovative

Braid developer thinks most indie devs aren’t innovative

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JonnyBlow

Jonathan Blow, the developer of indie-darling mind-bending, time-warping platform puzzler Braid and long-in-development The Witness is often heralded as a figurehead in the indie development scene. Only he thinks most indie games are terrible.

The videogame industry is a shaky one at the moment. Most big budget games are thinly disguised clones of each other, playing it safe in the chase for cash. That leaves the arty, independent developers to be the ones innovating, right? Well, yes – but most are awful, says Blow.

“With regard to indie developers specifically, I wouldn’t look at them as paragons of innovation,” Blow said in an interview with Gamasutra about games as art.  “Some indie developers innovate, but strictly speaking by quantity, most indie developers are just copying other peoples’ games with minor changes, just like mainstream developers do. Look at all those iPhone games! The difference is just that you notice the indie games that are innovative because they make bigger splashes than the copies.”

Blow believes that games, not just indie games, need to mature because they’re mostly immature and embarrassing.

“…most games are extremely immature and in fact kind of embarrassing.,” he lamented “That is obvious to anyone who is not immersed in game culture. But if you are immersed in game culture, it might be hard to see.

And “as for whether games ‘need’ to mature, I don’t know if they need to do anything, but definitely I think it would be nice if they were to mature on average,” continued Blow. “For sure there are some of us out there trying to make games for an audience with mature sensibilities. We’ll see if that catches on.”

Last Updated: May 14, 2013

57 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

    May 14, 2013 at 14:07

    Its difficult, I admit, to create something “completely new” these days without it bordering on something else. I also agree that there are some shockers of games out there. But I think its bad taste if you, having made a success, then badmouths other who have yet to make a success.

    Reply

    • Rince da Ref Lvl2

      May 14, 2013 at 14:22

      I think he was bad mouthing those who HAVE made a success, but only because they have stolen ideas from others, which I think is a sad thing. Note: Not trolling at all!

      Reply

  2. Daniel Keevy

    May 14, 2013 at 14:09

    Wow. Just, wow. I don’t even have words. Also, let’s face it, Braid can hardly be classified as indie because of the extravagant sums of money thrown at it during development.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      May 14, 2013 at 14:24

      He comes across as a bit arrogant but he does have a point hey. Especially about people simply sticking to what made other games successful and copying those ideas and simply slapping on a new coat of paint.

      Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      May 14, 2013 at 14:24

      He comes across as a bit arrogant but he does have a point hey. Especially about people simply sticking to what made other games successful and copying those ideas and simply slapping on a new coat of paint.

      Reply

      • Daniel Keevy

        May 14, 2013 at 15:11

        You’re right. I was a little blinded by mah raje. I do think it’s a little hypocritical though, coming from him. Braid was inventive, but it was still based off earlier games. AND the XBLA and Greenlight have both shown a lot of promise and creativity.

        Reply

        • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

          May 14, 2013 at 15:21

          Don’t worry. I rage a lot 🙂 I understand the rage blindness. But as you said. It is a little bit hypocritical all things considered

          Reply

  3. CODDAMIT

    May 14, 2013 at 14:11

    Neither is COD, ooooooooooh but let’s buy it anyways becasue our short term memory is so shitty we forget that COD has been transformed into FIFA COD Tiger Woods in that it’s released every damn year we hardly anything new. But they have zombies which is more popular than vampires at the moment thanks to fucking Twilight.

    But wait it’s called GHOSTS this time where you have I smelly rag over your head and even though a skull is drawn with shoe shine they still call it GHOSTS!!! Now wait for the kids to start confusing skeletons and ghosts next Halloween because COD is always right. I’m buying Metro Friday and all the COD’s in the secondhand bin so I can burn it and spare some gamers from this filth. Metro is trying at least to bring a new item to the menu!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

      May 14, 2013 at 14:15

      Just because you are out for this week does not mean you have to troll, just saying 🙂

      Reply

      • CODDAMIT

        May 14, 2013 at 14:17

        Agreed, I don’t have to……

        Reply

      • Trevor Davies

        May 14, 2013 at 14:46

        It does make the community challenge more interesting though. There’s no challenge without temptation.

        Reply

        • Rince da Ref Lvl2

          May 14, 2013 at 15:27

          Hey! Some of us have the control of a, erm… Something with very little control…

          Reply

    • SojournZA

      May 14, 2013 at 14:24

      Ive never understood the (sheepish) hatred for COD
      If you dont like it, dont play it

      Reply

    • SojournZA

      May 14, 2013 at 14:24

      Ive never understood the (sheepish) hatred for COD
      If you dont like it, dont play it

      Reply

      • loftie

        May 14, 2013 at 15:13

        its not the game that is hated, its the teenage “generally ignorant to all things i’m better than you noob” COD players attitudes. 🙂

        Reply

        • SojournZA

          May 14, 2013 at 15:23

          I doubt that’s the reason as you would then be generalizing the community, and he also doesn’t mention any of that in his post. you cant hate a game for having some retards who play it.

          hence my question

          Reply

          • loftie

            May 14, 2013 at 16:00

            heheh true, I enjoy COD myself and have not experienced any whinging/attitude from players, but I do hear of it on forums and see it on youtube. Not the older COD players, but the young ones, the new generation of gamers coming out. Check this out: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-2653303.html

      • CODDAMIT

        May 14, 2013 at 15:22

        https://www.google.co.za/search?q=cod+hate There’s a couple of good reasons.

        Reply

        • SojournZA

          May 14, 2013 at 15:31

          • CODDAMIT

            May 14, 2013 at 15:36

            Brilliant! Haha,no really the gaming community is split in two regarding COD. There are many reasons to love/hate it. Believe me, no one is on the fence but we all have good reasons as to our opinions.

          • SojournZA

            May 14, 2013 at 15:42

            I can understand that no problem, just dont understand people that do repetitive posts about it and kinda rename themselves to contain the thing they hate, ie CODDAMIT

            I also see many comments by you talking badly of the game, seems to me you could be a tad obsessed?

          • CODDAMIT

            May 14, 2013 at 16:32

            Yes,YES I AM ahem sorry. My biggest gripe is that COD takes over the world and we only have that to play because all other shooters failed. I’m just a little scared to be honest.

          • Tbone187

            May 15, 2013 at 16:24

            He stashes his copy of Black ops like a porno mag…hehe…

          • SojournZA

            May 15, 2013 at 16:32

            haha, i think so as well

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 14, 2013 at 15:52

            Ok, hate to say this, but you are disqualified for this week. If @disqus_p0qZFiwn9o:disqus was not already out, it would have been the same fate for you both.

            Better luck next week!

          • CODDAMIT

            May 14, 2013 at 16:32

            Seconded

          • SojournZA

            May 14, 2013 at 16:36

            no clue what you talking about, but rat’s so what prize did i miss?

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 07:47

            We are running a week of no-trolling for the No-Trolling Achievement. But if you did not know about it, then it sort of defeats the purpose.

            In any case, look out for another one by Monday 🙂

          • SojournZA

            May 15, 2013 at 08:18

            haha so me questioning someone about trolling and pointing out how dumb it is, is regarded at trolling hmmmmm

            thanks for the heads up though

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 08:48

            Np dude 😉

        • SojournZA

          May 14, 2013 at 15:34

          lol

          Reply

  4. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    May 14, 2013 at 14:22

    Ok, while the way he comes across is pretty arrogant he does have a point. The amount of quality indie games vs the amount of bad games is staggering.

    It takes forever to find a gem of an indie game while it takes only seconds to have a page full of games no one will ever actually want to play. So in this regards he kind of has a point.

    The industry does need to mature a little and it slowly seems like it is. I’m not sure if it’s too little too late but the signs are there. Dishonoured, Bioshock Infinite, FarCry3, Arkham City… Some amazing games that have breathed some new life in to their various genres. This is obviously AAA gaming.

    Indie games have far more “good” games than AAA though. But either way. The man has a point. Let’s hope that the people who create the gems will continue doing so and that as the gaming community we support the creative instead of the copiers….

    Reply

    • TechniKyle

      May 21, 2013 at 07:32

      Play Thomas was Alone.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        May 21, 2013 at 10:16

        Never heard of it?

        Reply

        • TechniKyle

          May 21, 2013 at 10:45

          Brilliant game. You play a bunch of rectangles (well, two of them are squares).

          Reply

  5. Trevor Davies

    May 14, 2013 at 14:29

    I think innovation is an over-used term in the gaming industry. A game doesn’t need to be innovative to be fun. If you think of all the shooters, rpgs, rts’, etc there’s not really that much innovation in the overall game mechanic. I’m perfectly happy with incremental improvement in a game type I enjoy.

    Reply

  6. Illuchne Mancera

    May 14, 2013 at 14:59

    I’m sure a bunch of Indie Devs are wishing he’d go Blow himself…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

      May 14, 2013 at 15:44

      Disqualified.

      You are out for this week

      Reply

      • Illuchne Mancera

        May 14, 2013 at 15:51

        lol! damn… can’t get away with anything with you around…

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

          May 14, 2013 at 15:53

          Better luck next week 🙂

          Now, you can join in and catch the other would be trolls! 😛

          Reply

          • Illuchne Mancera

            May 14, 2013 at 15:57

            Geoff set it up… he wrote a story about a guy with the surname of BLOW… lol

            I’ll be watching the others… closely… when I’m in the office

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 14, 2013 at 16:05

            Attaboy! The game is not yet over!

  7. umar bastra

    May 14, 2013 at 15:00

    well In all honesty I have to agree. He comes across as arrogant but rightfully so. Braid was an amazing game, one that I look back on with fond memories, I found that the Story outshines the game play. He also mentions that there are Indies which innovate, and well there are actually. Look at Rain, Journey, Bastion, Unfinished Swan. there are some really obscure ones that I found to be great like WITHER But there are just too many horrible indie games out there. Indie is there so that Devs have complete creative control over their game …. and as such devs should use that to create much more deeper and innovative games

    Reply

  8. ElimiNathan

    May 14, 2013 at 15:43

    Totes agree with him

    Reply

  9. Tasty peas mixed with porridge

    May 15, 2013 at 08:40

    TRUTH!

    Reply

  10. Tbone187

    May 15, 2013 at 16:35

    Call me nasty, but I couldn’t care less bout indie games.Good or bad…It’s like watchin’ tv, I feel I’m wasting precious time…

    Reply

  11. Cassandra

    April 7, 2016 at 20:57

    Lol, this coming from the guy who made a generic puzzle platformer. What a joke.

    Reply

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