So. Raging Douchebag Week is Upon Us.

[Yegolev]

But it's ok... I'm not sure who any of you are, either.  Unfortunately, I tend to associate people closely with their avatars.  It's probably good I'll only see them for a week.

I was afraid I was the only one.  I remember Soukyan for his immediate attack, not the ponytail-picture really, but otherwise I'm often confused by changing avatars.  Getting better, though.

[voodoolily]

Program?  I thought your avatar was that bloke from Extreme.

OMG - So did I! Female symaptico ftw!

[Nazrat]

I tried to upload that as an avatar last night.  I was defeated. 

Good job, Rasix.

[sidereal]

Winnar

In my hunt for quotes, I found these gems:

Q: Did you ever dream of making video games? Can you tell us how you got into this?

A: The answer is no because video games didn't exist when I was growing up. I started my career in the packaged goods business. I worked for six or seven years for Johnson & Johnson and another couple of years for Clorox...
...
Q: What game do you play most, and do you know all the cheat codes?

A: No, I don't know the cheat codes. And to be very honest, I don't spend a lot of time playing games. I spend a lot of time watching people play games. My most favorite games tend to be the ones selling the best at that moment. So right now, my favorite game is Fight Night.
...
Q: So they were working 24 hours a day for the next couple of months, sleeping on the floor at the studio?

A: Oh yeah. When our development teams go into "finaling" mode, there isn't a lot of sleep for many weeks and many months.

Q: Then you get a couple of months off to go to Hawaii?

A: Well, we give 'em a week or two. (Laughing.)

[Strazos]

RAGE!


Seriously, why do we have this fucktard as one of the heads of the industry? The guy obviously cares nothing for the actual products, just his god damn money hat.

How did no one else think of this King among Douchebags earlier?

[Xanthippe]

Is that Mario van Peebles?

You're so clean. Like freshly fallen snow. It's better you not know who is displayed as Rasix's avatar.

Trust me.[/size]

Such beautiful innocence.

Can I smash it? Please?

Make her play and review BC3000. That oughta do it.

I have no idea who most of these people are, but I do know who that is.  Too many years of Usenet, I suppose.

I never actually knew who/what/why because I figured anyone who posted as much as he did wasn't worth bothering to read.  If there's an interesting story there, maybe someone can fill me in?

(That's only IF there's an interesting story, something I find probably unlikely...)

[Trippy]

I have no idea who most of these people are, but I do know who that is.  Too many years of Usenet, I suppose.

I never actually knew who/what/why because I figured anyone who posted as much as he did wasn't worth bothering to read.  If there's an interesting story there, maybe someone can fill me in?

The link on page 2 that schild posted for voodoolily will give you a summary of what you need to know.

[Ironwood]

Why are you ripping on Stevie Case, Hanzii ?  Surely, there's worse ?

I think WayAbvPar wins...

I would find a Douchebag, but ZOD wouldn't approve.

[ahoythematey]

When you consider this E³ is pretty big on new consoles, I think my avatar's R.D. is the most appropriate.

[Shockeye]

I would find a Douchebag, but ZOD wouldn't approve.

Perhaps Zod is a douchebag?

[HaemishM]

No, Zod is KING of the Douchebags.

Kneel before Zod.

[Sky]

My most favorite games tend to be the ones selling the best at that moment.

What's the problem with modern gaming, you ask? This quote made me super stabby.

[voodoolily]

An aside here: I keep getting confused since Sky is using an avatar of Schildy. Voodoolily brain hurt!

[OcellotJenkins]

Ok, I give up.  Who is the bald douchebag on the front page? 

Citan by chance?

[Strazos]

My most favorite games tend to be the ones selling the best at that moment.

What's the problem with modern gaming, you ask? This quote made me super stabby.

That man should be dragged out into the street and fucking flogged for that statement.

This is the kind of douchebag that thinks "Enter the Matrix" was a great game. Asshole.

[Yegolev]

Ok, I give up.  Who is the bald douchebag on the front page? 

Citan by chance?

That is J Allard.  Pretty sure he squeezed the Xbox 360 from his rectum.

[stray]

My most favorite games tend to be the ones selling the best at that moment.

What's the problem with modern gaming, you ask? This quote made me super stabby.

That man should be dragged out into the street and fucking flogged for that statement.

This is the kind of douchebag that thinks "Enter the Matrix" was a great game. Asshole.

But nobody's willing to make that step and do the flogging.

And that's the problem. Gamers, as a whole, are the real douchebags, I think.

I'd do it myself, but I think I stopped caring.

[Yegolev]

But nobody's willing to make that step and do the flogging.

And that's the problem. Gamers, as a whole, are the real douchebags, I think.

We should realize that we have seen the enemy, and it is us, for continuing to put dollars into things we don't like.

[Strazos]

But nobody's willing to make that step and do the flogging.

And that's the problem. Gamers, as a whole, are the real douchebags, I think.

We should realize that we have seen the enemy, and it is us, for continuing to put dollars into things we don't like.

Actually, I WOULD flog him, on international TV too.

And I DON'T put money into things that suck. I'm very selective about my games. The last "bad" game I bought was DX2.

[stray]

And I DON'T put money into things that suck. I'm very selective about my games. The last "bad" game I bought was DX2.

Well, you've gotten all fanboi over Guild Wars, haven't you? 

[Strazos]

I would say "touche"...

But Guild Wars still has the best PvP, ever. The PvE isn't terrible, either.

[voodoolily]

This is what I hear to be the case. The last shitty game I bought was Mystic Heroes for the GC, but at least I got it on eBay for <$10.

[stray]

I would say "touche"...

But Guild Wars still has the best PvP, ever. The PvE isn't terrible, either.

To be fair, I bought Guild Wars too 

[sidereal]

But nobody's willing to make that step and do the flogging.

And that's the problem. Gamers, as a whole, are the real douchebags, I think.

We should realize that we have seen the enemy, and it is us, for continuing to put dollars into things we don't like.

The hype machine has to take a lot of that responsibility.  The fact that everyone's creaming themselves over the new Xbox without having played a single fucking game just because Microsoft spent a shitton of money telling them to cream themselves. . well, that's indicative of the problem.

Actually, Probst's statement is all the more inane for being circular.  His favorite games are the ones that sell well.  It's pretty well established that EA relies on marketing rather than quality to sell games (there's another quote I didn't add about how EA thinks all of its developers will eventually come straight out of college on the cheap).  So his favorite games are the ones the marketing department tells him to be his favorite games.  What a douche.

[Yegolev]

And I DON'T put money into things that suck. I'm very selective about my games. The last "bad" game I bought was DX2.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, here.  I was in complete despair at the state of the JP CRPG after that, only cured by Paper Mario.  Baten Kaitos helped a lot, too.  My defense is that my wife wanted to watch me play something like FFVIII or FFX again.  Well, not as much like FFX since only Auron is a hottie, but she kept asking me when FFXII was coming out.  This is pretty much the only time I have ever refused to play a game she wanted to watch.

[voodoolily]

Heh. Auron is kinda hot. I also think Seymour is hot, though, in that Bowie sorta way.

[Yegolev]

Heh. Auron is kinda hot. I also think Seymour is hot, though, in that Bowie sorta way.

Seymour?  Really?  Huh.  I don't see it, and I think Bowie is the best thing ever.

My wife does not believe me when I tell her I like Lulu for her personality and fighting style, which would be ironic if you knew my wife.  Having Lulu in the party all the time doesn't add to the allure for my wife, even carrying the cactrot.

The one good thing about Star Ocean 3 is that my wife and I both like Cliff.  I think he is hilarious and rag on him constantly, while my wife loves his arms and perhaps his attitude.  Otherwise the game is a horrible chore.

[voodoolily]

Speaking of such things, has anyone noticed how hard Baten Kaitos bit off FFX for characters? Gibari and Wakka are practically twins, you got the innocent, nice magic-user girl (Xelha and Yuna), the blowhard cockmunch main dude (Kalas and Tidus), the slutty-looking one (Savyna and Lulu), and the one who is supposed to be the enemy because of their affiliation (that red-haired empire dude who I never use in battle and Rikku). The only characters who are different are Mizuti and Auron. I like to call him Automatic Mizuti.

Edit: I didn't really start using Lulu until I got 1MP Cost, then I started cranking out Bio, Death, Ultima and Doublecast. Unfortunately, Bio and Death hardly worked on anyone, but Ultima kicked ass. Then I got all the aeons and just used Anima and the Magus Sisters to wreak havoc.

[Yegolev]

Speaking of such things, has anyone noticed how hard Baten Kaitos bit off FFX for characters? Gibari and Wakka are practically twins, you got the innocent, nice magic-user girl (Xelha and Yuna), the blowhard cockmunch main dude (Kalas and Tidus), the slutty-looking one (Savyna and Lulu), and the one who is supposed to be the enemy because of their affiliation (that red-haired empire dude who I never use in battle and Rikku). The only characters who are different are Mizuti and Auron. I like to call him Automatic Mizuti.

As I often say, this is a Japan-wide problem.  It's not that BK so much ripped off FFX (which they did, don't get me wrong) as much as they just used the same damn characters you see in every game.  Kalas reminds me of Fayt in several ways, in fact, as well as Tidus and Squall, but Fayt is dumb as a bag of hammers.  I do find the inclusion of the two islanders (Wakka and Gibari) amusing and have deduced that they are stereotypical Pacific Islanders in JP culture.  Mizuti = Vivi from FFIX.  Sophia in Star Ocean = Yuna = Xelha, except Sophia is also a moron.

[Xanthippe]

I have no idea who most of these people are, but I do know who that is.  Too many years of Usenet, I suppose.

I never actually knew who/what/why because I figured anyone who posted as much as he did wasn't worth bothering to read.  If there's an interesting story there, maybe someone can fill me in?

The link on page 2 that schild posted for voodoolily will give you a summary of what you need to know.

That thing is still going on?  I retired from Usenet 4 years ago, and haven't missed it once.

[Strazos]

Lots of stuff about how Japanese RPG's all use the same stereotypical characters.

Just another reason I stay from the shit. Last I checked, Canada makes the best RPG's.

[Margalis]

The hype machine has to take a lot of that responsibility.  The fact that everyone's creaming themselves over the new Xbox without having played a single fucking game just because Microsoft spent a shitton of money telling them to cream themselves. . well, that's indicative of the problem.

Dude, why you have to go and rag on Schild like that?

His favorite games are the ones that sell well.  It's pretty well established that EA relies on marketing rather than quality to sell games (there's another quote I didn't add about how EA thinks all of its developers will eventually come straight out of college on the cheap). 

They are close to that already. Same with 3DO, which was founded by the ex-founder of EA. I know a guy who worked at EA for maybe 3 years straight out of college and got burned out already. Talent is what makes good games, but talent doesn't really sell games for a company like EA. Especially when your best selling games are just yearly updates where you add a hot-dog stand simulator or some shit like that.

When I interviewed at 3DO I felt old walking around and I was just out of college with a Masters degree. Part of it was that people there really were young, and also that the overall vibe was very immature.

That sort of thing will never create good games and would never work for a new studio though. It only works if you just churn out the same mediocre crap over and over again and have enough existing property and marketing to carry the company.

[Sky]

An aside here: I keep getting confused since Sky is using an avatar of Schildy. Voodoolily brain hurt!

It's Brian Reynolds, the Civ2/Col/SMAC guy. He runs Big Huge Games now, and iirc Schild interns there. He's also an RTS whore who should go back to making quality TBS again. Dammit.

[Sky]

Re: Gamers perpetuating the problem:

Agreed. I've tried to be pretty good about supporting only the stuff I really believe in, but even I was buying crap now and again.

I haven't bought a single game this year. Not a single one. I have plans on buying two: GTA:SA, and Civ4, and I'm real (reeeeaalll) suspicious about Civ4, because I thought Civ2>Civ3 in many aspects.

I finally made the decision to not settle for shit just to get my gaming fix. If there's not a good game around, I go do something else. I do believe I've broken the back of the addiction :)

[MrHat]

If there's not a good game around, I go do something else. I do believe I've broken the back of the addiction :)

Playing old games =! breaking the back of addiction.