NightSky Dev: Kojima is Terrible At Making Games

[TekkenLord]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...t-Making-Games

Nicalis founder, Tyrone Rodriguez, talks about Hideo Kojima and the "indie" label. It turns out he doesn't particularly care for either of them.
Founded by former IGN editor, Tyrone Rodriguez, Nicalis is a small developer known mostly for its ports of popular indie games, Cave Story and VVVVVV. The company also developed and published NightSky, a charming physics-based puzzle/platformer with an attractive aesthetic. Oh, and it has what is pretty much the coolest website I've ever seen.
During an interview with IndieGames.com, Rodriguez was asked if the recent criticism leveled at modern Japanese games by entirely likable and not-smug-at-all indie developers, Jonathan Blow and Phil Fish - who I shall now collectively refer to as BlowFish, witty and original wordsmith that I am - was justified. Rodriguez couldn't name any Japanese indie games, save Cave Story, that weren't bowel-shatteringly awful, but he did name drop a few mainstream titles; Demon's Souls, Street Fighter IV and The World Ends with you, to name a few. Then the name "Konami" came up, and all of a sudden Rodriguez was on the war path.
The following was written by IndieGames editor, John Polson:

"And then I mentioned Konami. "Konami doesn't make good stuff," he argued. He says in particular that Metal Gear Solid developer Hideo Kojima should stop making games and start making bad movies (ironically, Kojima just might). "He's terrible at making games. Metal Gear is good in spite of him. I haven't enjoyed a game of his since maybe the original Metal Gear Solid, maybe." He feels the recent ones are tedious, riddled with bad writing, bad story-telling, and bad control."

Having exposed Konami and Kojima to the full extent of his fury, Rodriguez turned his attention to indie game developers.
"The main thing I want to see from indie developers is to stop calling themselves indie developers," he said. "You're either a game developer or you're not. Indie has nothing to do with it. It's like this cool buzzword now. Do you make games? Okay, then you're a game developer."

[Blacksite]

Well, Metal Gear Solid 4 did have a lot of repetitive dialogue and more cutscenes than what I felt was necessary for a video game. But I don't agree with his criticism on the tedious gameplay or bad controls. Apart from giving you the option to go in guns blazing, remapping some buttons, and changing the camera, the series really hasn't strayed too far from the original.

I really want Hideo Kojima to work on a new IP though.

[Abdou23]

What an idiot,When he makes a series better than MGS he can talk all he wants,not even then.I never even heard of this nightsky,this is a guy with no history at all !!

Founded by former IGN editor, Tyrone Rodriguez

Not surprising,IGN is filled with jackasses.

[DreDayDetox]

I stopped reading after the header. I'm countering ignorance with ignorance and it works out just fine..oh and former IGN? Can't say I'm surprised now.

[Kuro]

Lol..this fool is such a joke

[Fenix]

Now I regret buying Cave Story+ and supporting such a moron.

[YoungMullah88]

lol man this dude is a thirsty one

[Funeralfog]

Konami has made some of the best games of all time. and that's starting from the 80's for fuck's sake. now i have to admit, the MGS gameplay isn't very good....at all. i'm still a big fan though

[rbrtchng]

The developer of NightSky has no grounds to criticize another person's work. That game is an insult to game design. It's utterly terrible and completely forgettable all wrapped into one. It's a physics cliche that assumes that simulation is automatically interesting or entertaining. It's not, it's mostly boring and pointless.

Seriously, he ported 2 great games, congrats, you know how to copy games and translate other people's codes. And the one game he made is imo terrible, and he wants to complain about Kojima?

Let's just assume that this guy is a great game developer like Jenova Chen and Jonathan Blow, his criticism of Kojima's games are not even game related. It's about the lore, which is just a narrative on top of the actual game mechanics, which I'm willing to bet he doesn't even understand.

And the controls are fine, controls exist to both empower the player and to restrict the player, the dynamic ratio of both elements is what make games great (think Journey where the player can jump/fly but is restricted by the length of the scarf to the extent that the player is no longer able to float at all). So "bad control" only applies to games where the control doesn't serve the game and what the game is about, but in MGS's case, the controls did exactly serve their purpose of (to put it in the most simplest and superficial term) "stealth action."

Why am I even trying to rationalize his argument, he made NightSky, SERIOUSLY?

[Equinoqs]

My guess is we're seeing the new up-&-coming game developers who have been raised by the internet and its "the more snarky and negative you are, the cooler and hipper you are" attitude. Shame some of these jokers don't seem to recognize quality games when they see them, considering they'll be expecting us to play what they make in coming years.

[TDbank24]

Jealous much? Kojima is the best in the world at what he does.

[Versus]

Jealous much? Kojima is the best in the world at what he does.

Um excuse me? I really would like a good clarification how Kojima "is the best in the world at what he does". Do you mean making games with extensive storylines or just making games in general? Cus I don't think so at all.

Now I do think the guy in the article bashes MGS a little TOO much and just seems to be spitting on a pretty good series, but I DO think he makes a good point or two that MGS ain't everything.

MGS4 has waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many cutscenes. And pretty much came off to me as the worst of the 4 games.

[Abdou23]

Um excuse me? I really would like a good clarification how Kojima "is the best in the world at what he does". Do you mean making games with extensive storylines or just making games in general? Cus I don't think so at all.

Now I do think the guy in the article bashes MGS a little TOO much and just seems to be spitting on a pretty good series, but I DO think he makes a good point or two that MGS ain't everything.

MGS4 has waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many cutscenes. And pretty much came off to me as the worst of the 4 games.

It's not his opinion that makes him a huge jackass,it's the way he said it,'Hideo Kojima should stop making games and start making bad movies"
he is not just criticising the series in an objective way,he is insulting the man behinds it.Come on now !!

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Um excuse me? I really would like a good clarification how Kojima "is the best in the world at what he does". Do you mean making games with extensive storylines or just making games in general? Cus I don't think so at all.

Now I do think the guy in the article bashes MGS a little TOO much and just seems to be spitting on a pretty good series, but I DO think he makes a good point or two that MGS ain't everything.

MGS4 has waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many cutscenes. And pretty much came off to me as the worst of the 4 games.

MGS4 was only shit for those who didn't follow or care for the story/history of the seriesimo. I have been an avid MGS fan since the its 3D debut on PSX and for people like me, MGS4 was a love letter. The original MGS was a pioneering title in regards to bringing a cinematic and rich story line. Anyone who followed the series shouldn't really complain about lengthy cutscenes and dialog because it is part and parcel of the MGS experience. MGS4 was an awesome send off and had to conclude a story that started 25 years ago. Having fewer cutscenes would have been like pissing on the legacy of the series imo. The game to this day holds a quality that many current titles can only dream of, and has graphics that even 4 years later are not matched by some of todays titles. The gameplay was awesome, graphics were awesome...Fuck it I'ma play this bitch when i get home from work today!

[Abdou23]

MGS4 was only shit for those who didn't follow or care for the story/history of the seriesimo. I have been an avid MGS fan since the its 3D debut on PSX and for people like me, MGS4 was a love letter. The original MGS was a pioneering title in regards to bringing a cinematic and rich story line. Anyone who followed the series shouldn't really complain about lengthy cutscenes and dialog because it is part and parcel of the MGS experience. MGS4 was an awesome send off and had to conclude a story that started 25 years ago. Having fewer cutscenes would have been like pissing on the legacy of the series imo. The game to this day holds a quality that many current titles can only dream of, and has graphics that even 4 years later are not matched by some of todays titles. The gameplay was awesome, graphics were awesome...Fuck it I'ma play this bitch when i get home from work today!

Couldn't say it better myself,i think most people who didn't like 4 aren't MGS veterans.

[Blacksite]

The game to this day holds a quality that many current titles can only dream of, and has graphics that even 4 years later are not matched by some of todays titles.

The game did look great back in 2008, but if you put it up against other titles nowadays (even some that were released the following year), Metal Gear Solid 4 looks dated. So which current titles are you talking about?

Couldn't say it better myself,i think most people who didn't like 4 aren't MGS veterans.

You can still enjoy Metal Gear Solid 4 and point out one or two criticisms. No one cares if you're a "veteran". I've played all four titles - from the original to the aforementioned title - and I do believe the series has evolved to a point where it suffers from long cutscenes and repetitive dialogue. But it's because you blindly praise the guy that he's less likely to improve in those areas.

on the dialougue, remember guys that its translated from japanese and undoubtedly looses some meaning. Also the english language is extreamely expressive in terms of its sheer volume of words. we have countless words that mean the same thing pretty much, but slightly different. wheras other languages rely on the emphasis or the expression of the word, which when translated literally into english may miss the mark a little bit.

I don't think so. If that was the case, Final Fantasy, Persona, and other Japanese-developed titles would all be suffering from repetitive dialogue.

[Abdou23]

You can still enjoy Metal Gear Solid 4 and point out one or two criticisms. No one cares if you're a "veteran". I've played all four titles - from the original to the aforementioned title - and I do believe the series has evolved to a point where it suffers from long cutscenes and repetitive dialogue. But it's because you blindly praise the guy that he's less likely to improve in those areas.

Again you are one of the people who are criticising long cutscenes, dialogues,story and some minor stuff.The real issue here is how did you find the stealth in it?! how did you find the boss fights ? how did you find the weapon customization ? how did you find the option to approach an enemy in a stealthy or action way? how did you find the microwave tunnel scene? how did you find the final battle against liquid ? those are the most important things. And seriously people i can't understand how long cutscenes is such a bad thing? if the game needs it then so be it.Bioshock infinite will have a scene with more dialogue than the hole Bioshock 1 game.How will you react to that ?! I'm not defending a guy, he is not my father or something.I'm defending the game itself because it's worth it.To me MGS4 is a millions times better than Uncharted and has more depth ( talking about cinematic experience ),although i enjoyed all 3 of Uncharted.

[Xelios]

Meh. MGS is stupid as fuck, but come on, ZOE is awesome.

[Abdou23]

Meh. MGS is stupid as fuck, but come on, ZOE is awesome.

It's not for everyone.But it sure isn't stupid as fuck.I guess you are just mindless shooting type of a guy.

[Xelios]

It's not for everyone.But it sure isn't stupid as fuck.I guess you are just mindless shooting type of a guy.

A little presumptuous, are you? MGS was stupid. 1 and 3 were the good ones. 2 and 4 were absolute trash games.

[Abdou23]

A little presumptuous, are you? MGS was stupid. 1 and 3 were the good ones. 2 and 4 were absolute trash games.

So before, the whole series was stupid as fuck,now it's only 2 & 4.interesting..

4 was tits, the nostalgia in that one alone was worth the money,

He wouldn't understand,judging by his age,when MGS 1 came out he was like 6 years old.

[Funeralfog]

So before, the whole series was stupid as fuck,now it's only 2 & 4.interesting..


He wouldn't understand,judging by his age,when MGS 1 came out he was like 6 years old.

ah fuck lol, that explains EVERYTHING. damn Yu ghi o (spelling?) fans

[$Greatness$]

Meh. MGS is stupid as fuck, but come on, ZOE is awesome.

Don't make me be an E-Thug.

[aayman_farzand]

What the hell is NightSky?

..yea that answers everything for me.

[Funeralfog]

4 was tits, the nostalgia in that one alone was worth the money, but fighting hand to hand sucks balls, and they give you way too much equipment that you would never use. and don't get me sarted on how retarded Raiden was yet again lol