Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...us-gamer/8928/

Guy comes across as a pretentious d-bag. Your comments? Warning, tho, the article is pretty freaking long.

lol no
and lol @ pretentious douchebag

No.

I've watched lectures by him and wrote a paper on Braid. He's one of the most respected game designers out there. Don't see why you would think he is a douchebag from that article.

Seems like a strong creative thinker who is a misanthrope because most people in the world are mindless sheep, and has developed some quirks because of having to live in said world.

He seems to be right on a lot of things. Most video games not artistic thoughtful pieces and Zyga is a bloodthirsty vampire sucking life for profit. Some people may like that, but if he can create a different game then more power to him.

Nope, seems like a great guy. Would def share a beer with him. OP is beta.

Sounds awesome.

wat

Jonathan Blow is widely regarded as a pretentious douche.

Well, here are a few possible reasons:

And so on.

Braid was a very clever game, but I'd wager that to the extent people care about it, it has much more to do with the puzzles and a lot less to do with alleged profound allegories about the A-bomb. Cryptic text about serious stuff is not exactly what I think about when somebody discusses the possibility of games that are not dumb.

I don't know. To me "pretentious" and "douche" both indicate unwarranted arrogance. I think Jon Blow's arrogance is plenty warranted.

I admit I do like artsy games.

Most people play games to have fun, so declaring games to be 'dumb' misses the point. They're entertainment. Why would we want all games or even most games to be a lesson on the meaning of existence/morals/blahblahblah? There have always been games that are about more than killing the bad guy, going back to Ultima IV in the 80s and maybe before. I applaud creators pushing the creative envelope and doing something new, but it's not like every game can do this. Thb, the writer of the article put some of his own opinion on games into the article so I'm criticizing both of them. The other issue is, whether or not Blow created an original game, his attitude is so self-righteous and over-the-top. How can someone not say the guy's a douche?

gump,

stopped reading there, confirmed douche

After reading the article, I wouldn't say he's a douche, just that he's weird. He seems to have a lot of very good ideas on the subject of games. (I've also never really heard of him before this thread)

Whether or not he is a douche (debatable), Braid was an awesome game.

As a game designer, thats probably what he should be judged on. I don't care if he wants to talk about fake money and tai chi, if he makes another game like Braid he is OK in my book.

So, Jonathan Blow is Henry17?

Not sure what to make of him really, except that he seems to put some serious thought into game design (which may or may not result in a game that will be fun for other people to play but at least it should be something different). I wouldn't equate "eccentric" with "douche". The thing about money just being an arbitrary number in a bank account seems plausible enough as an account of his experience of suddenly becoming rich. It wouldn't be that way if he was someone who had fantasized about having lots of money and all the cool things he'd be able to buy with it, all the people he'd be able to impress, etc, but not everyone connects with money on a visceral level. I don't know why people find this offensive.

In case that article wasn't lengthy enough, here's an hour and 45 minute long talk he gave (no I haven't watched it yet).

What did this guy do to get you so furious that you post some random article and then get even madder when others dont really care.

Meh, hardly furious. I was wondering what people's thoughts on him were. I gave him credit there for being creative but thought his personality was almost a parody of a self-important douche. So care, dammit!

I guess I'm a douchebag

There have actually been studies that show that the lack of paper money in today's society (more tha 40-60% of Americans have gone over 6 months without using physical money) lead to people treating money differently and spending it like it doesn't matter more.

In terms of money, plenty of people find fiat money and fractional reserve banking counter-intuitive or suspicious when they first learn about them. Many people are also surprised that most money is just debt - in one sense, "IOUs" written on paper or recorded electronically. I don't think some degree of cynicism about money is unwarranted, especially depending on one's political views.

I can definitely see people who go around to cocktail parties making statements like "money is fictional" in order to sound profound as douches, but that's not this guy. He's basically antisocial.

The tai chi thing does sound a bit weird. The writer makes it sounds like he just walked into the apartment and Jonathan just happens to be doing tai chi. But that sounds awfully contrived - did he just happen to have his door wide open and didn't know a journalist was coming to interview him?

I think a fascination with existential literature can also often go along with douchebaggery.

But mostly he sounds like a weird bitter misanthrope who takes everything way too seriously. Obviously those traits can rub many people the wrong way, but I think "pretentious douchebag" is jumping to conclusions.

Jonathan Blow seems like a pretty cool dude with his own style. Very much looking forward to The Witness.

1h in...Rice talk that was linked here is excellent imo

dear OP,

who gives a ****?

you got some dude wanting to pour millions into some psycho ambitious video game venture that'll be available to the masses for like $50 a pop, and probably bring something new or interesting to the table, and there's even a long-shot ZOMG IT CHANGES EVERYTHING factor or whatever

"but he does tai chi! and he said money's fictional and he reads funny booooooks!"

just shut your stupid hole and enjoy the candy

sincerely,
a real douchebag

OP didn't link to athene, so no.

rofl first thing I thought of too