Talk of the Town
Writing about video games wouldn't be much fun if people weren't always saying such interesting things about them. Fortunately, we had no shortage of comments from the exciting to the infuriating this year. Whether you wanted sweeping statements about the future of the industry, gaffes to make any PR professional cringe, or overly optimistic mission statements, we had it all.
Join us as we look over 25 quotes from developers, players, ornery lobbyists, which made the last year one worth talking about.
Were not going to patch the patch. Why not? Because Microsoft would charge us tens of thousands of dollars to re-certify the game.
- Polytron on why it elected not to fix the Fez patch which corrupted some users' save files.
"There's this sort of dynamic of 'I'm going to this adventure with her and trying to protect her When you see her have to face these challenges, you start to root for her in a way that you might not root for a male character."
- Tomb Raider executive producer Ron Rosenberg makes a bit of a gender equality gaffe in describing the redesigned character's appeal.
"We don't like it when people pay $60 for a game and feel cheated. We don't like it when developers can't work on a platform because it's too expensive."
- Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman on why her company is making the Kickstarted console.
"These days it seems like adventure games are almost a bit of a lost art form. They exist in our dreams, and our memories. And in Germany. What if there are a lot of adventure game fans out there who want an adventure game? I wonder if there's some way that I could talk to them directly, and cut out publishers all together."
- Tim Schafer in his Kickstarter pitch video for the Double Fine Adventure.
"We actually got a lot of feedback from people who were playing [a demo for the game included with Ninja Gaiden 3], saying, 'We want bigger breasts. Make the characters more like that.' That was kind of surprising."
- Dead or Alive 5 director Yohei Shimbori explains why the series restored its infamous proportions.
"It's crushing and devastating to see it fail the way it did I'm not asking for sympathy. It was my choice."
- Curt Schilling on the economically disastrous end to 38 Studios.
"I don't just want the whole chainsaw gun to be my legacy."
- Cliff Bleszinski on why he left Epic Games and plans to start his own studio.
"There exists in this country a callous, corrupt, and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people."
- NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre on how he feels video games contributed to the Sandy Hook elementary shooting.
Sure weve had our disagreements with the fans (and them with us), but frankly I understand how thats driven by passion and love of the games. Its exhilarating to consider how many lives weve touched with the entertainment weve created over the last 20 years.
- BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk referencing the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy in his retirement announcement.
"[I]t shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was. I am hoping that, as this happens very often in the industry, you see it with Call of Duty and things like that, when the people leave the game changes and it shows how critical people are in this industry."
- Diablo creator David Brevik on negative fan reaction to Diablo III.
"In this industry, you can't get too high or too low, because it moves very quickly. I think there's an acceptable number--and [the number] we've sold: That's acceptable. If it was triple that, I'd be happier. If it was one-third, I'd be disappointed."
- Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton on PS Vita sales as of August.
You find out two executives are planning to break their contracts, keep the money you gave them and steal 40 employees. What do you do? You fire them.
- Activision CEO Bobby Kotick on firing Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella.
I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think well lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people.
- Valve co-founder Gabe Newell shares stormy predictions for Microsoft's new direction.
"I haven't really shown the world what else I might be capable of yet. This may sound pretentious, but I don't like being thought of as 'the Metal Gear guy.' There's a lot more I can do."
- Hideo Kojima on branching out from the Metal Gear franchise.
"The [Last Guardian] is still in development. Nothing new to report at this time."
- Sony on fears that the latest game from Team Ico is stuck in development hell.
"We think of ourselves less as a peer to our good friends at Take-Two, Activision, and Ubisoft and more as a peer, quite frankly, to the service companies like Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon."
- Peter Moore on EA's transition from a product creator to a service provider.
"Initially my Tropes vs. Women in Video Games project aimed to examine the patterns of stereotypical representations of women in video games, but given the intensity of the hate I've been subjected to for simply announcing the video series, the project will now be expanded to include a component about the epidemic problem of harassment in gaming spaces."
- Anita Sarkeesian on the evolution of her Feminist Frequency video series.
"[THQ has] good things. We are always interested in good brands. For sure, it's something we can consider, but I can't tell you more."
- Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot on potentially acquiring THQ after its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
"We don't intend to be sad and mourn the separation from our beloved ones. We will call them and remember the good times in hope to be back home soon."
- Jailed Arma 3 devs Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar in a holiday letter after 108 days imprisoned in Greece.
"[T]his will not be the last The Walking Dead game series that we do."
- Telltale Games' VP of Marketing Steve Allison on the future of the game-of-the-year-winning series.
"You could say video games are a great grassroots expression of culture and in some cases art in our democracy. I guess what surprised me was just the sort of joyful excitement in the games."
- Smithsonian American Art Museum director Betsy Broun on the first gaming exhibit to appear in a major American art museum.
"Our view is it's hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualize it, with the exception of sports titles. So far that's proven to be the case. IP that is annualized eventually seems to hit the wall and we don't want our IP to hit the wall."
- Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on the Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty franchises.
"Reviews of a system or review of a game really come down to the quality and capability of the reviewer. There has been a range of comments and commentary. But when I go on Miiverse and see how consumers are reacting to games like ZombiU or Call of Duty, that tells me we're doing something very, very positive."
- Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime comments on critical reactions to the Wii U.
"There are a lot of very talented creators in Japan, but often they aren't in a position to use that talent, or the developer they're working for hasn't noticed that talent. So I think there needs to be a system that allows them to be more creative in their work; that would help them a lot."
- Megaman co-creator Keiji Inafune on why Japanese developers need to be better rewarded for creative efforts.
End quote
You've read the quotes that had us gasping, laughing, and sobbing over the year. Think there are any notable nuggets of gaming wisdom (or otherwise) we left out? Let us know in the comments!
Want to read more about the biggest happenings of 2012? Check out our game of the year awards and top 7 gaming headlines!
