Fez

I had a chance to meet Phil at GDC this year and he is honestly a really nice guy. I think if you watch Indie Game: The Movie you will understand a little better why he seems to be a bit abrasive sometimes. Regardless, I prefer to judge games on their own merit rather than your opinion of their creator.

Seems like a nice thing to say.

edit: bleh, link won't work.

Did you even read what he was responding to? Who cares if he was a jerk to a guy who was a jerk to him.

Did you even read what he was responding to? Who cares if he was a jerk to a guy who was a jerk to him.

I prefer it when people act professional and modest. Sorry if that preference offends you, although it shouldn't offend someone unless they're a sore winner like Phil Fish is.

I didn't say he wasn't vulgar... but in all honesty, why do people rag on him so much? He is pretty much living the indie dream. His first major game is almost guaranteed to be massively successful, and everyone who has played the game (including me) think that it is well deserving of acclaim. Yes he can be a bit of an ass-hat sometimes, but he usually only resorts to vulgarity as a defense mechanism which we are all tempted to do when someone criticizes our work. Not saying that it excuses his behavior, but I don't see why that would cause you to not play an awesome game.

I didn't say he wasn't vulgar... but in all honesty, why do people rag on him so much? He is pretty much living the indie dream. His first major game is almost guaranteed to be massively successful, and everyone who has played the game (including me) think that it is well deserving of acclaim. Yes he can be a bit of an ass-hat sometimes, but he usually only resorts to vulgarity as a defense mechanism which we are all tempted to do when someone criticizes our work. Not saying that it excuses his behavior, but I don't see why that would cause you to not play an awesome game.

Assume I did play it and had a technical-related issue with it, one that can't be solved by looking through an FAQ, so my next idea is to email the person who made it. Since said person seems to have a manic personality, I don't know if they're going to be helpful or blow up in my face. My assessment of his PR skills (and not just from that one incident) leads me to believe he's not that easy to talk to about anything regarding his game. If he's that defensive over a comment, I have no idea how he'll react to a legitimate bug or other issue someone might have.

This is a hypothetical scenario, by the way.

I wouldn't like it if I were doing something I were really passionate about, yet everyone was constantly being a total ass to me and insulting what I do, being forced out of the indie community. Fish can be an abrasive person, but he's not going to be a jerk to you if you don't act like an idiot.

I wouldn't like it if I were doing something I were really passionate about, yet everyone was constantly being a total ass to me and insulting what I do, being forced out of the indie community. Fish can be an abrasive person, but he's not going to be a jerk to you if you don't act like an idiot.

Out of curiosity, why did everyone start being a jerk to him if it wasn't because of his outrageous showboating on Twitter and other places?

It mostly started from people complaining about the game taking too long to develop as well as early criticism about the game from many people who had never actually played it.

And more recently people bitching about him entering his game into the IGF twice, after winning an award for the art in 2008.

Huh, I thought all the hate was because of the way he acted on Twitter about it. I had no idea it was provoked by earlier events, though I've known about Fez since 2010, and the first time I saw it, it was really impressive. Then after the IGF I noticed a bunch of drama started and I thought the creator sparked it.

IMO I think it's dumb to be angry about Fish because his dislike of modern Japanese games. Inafune also thinks the same thing, too. It's an opinion.
I think my problem with him was with the way he talked with the person who asked the question.
To cite an Dtroid comment which I agree with:

@Thane Vickers
Yes, no doubt about this generation having fewer great Japanese games than the previous one. In that regard Fish's comment wasn't entirely untrue, but it's like saying to an overweight friend "Dude, you've become a f fatass!" instead of "Listen, I think you have a weight problem. I'm worried about you. Have you thought about changing your diet and exercising more?".

He did apologized to the guy on Twitter, which was very respectable.
From what I get his a pretty cool guy to hang around, but it has "these" moments. If you see him on TigSource or in Twitter you would say "He doesn't seem like someone that I would like to hang around with.".
Again, I think it's childish disliking Fish because of his opinion on modern Japanese games (which I * respectively* disagree with) and not buying the game because of it. As for the other things he have done, I don't think it's logic either, since there are *a lot* of guys with attitudes akin/worse than Fish in the game industry, they just don't reveal it publicly.
Overall, FEZ looks like a great game, and I'm going to buy it because of it. Remember there are a lot of cool guys at Polytron aside from Fish, so remember that you will be rewarding them by buying the game.
So in my opinion there are legitimate reasons to disapprove Phil's behavior, but there's a lot of stupid ones and ad hominems too. (e.g. cave story/paper mario ripoff, disliking modern Japanese games, etc.)

PS: Still, I disliked his entrance on this year's IGF. Even he confessed in a RPS article that it was a "douche" (word toned down) move doing that.

To conclude, a lot of people know who "Phil Fish" is, before he has even released a game..

CliffyB- "id rather be hated and loved than ignored".

His opinion on Japanese games doesn't bother me, his response does.

As for the other things he have done, I don't think it's logic either, since there are *a lot* of guys with attitudes akin/worse than Fish in the game industry, they just don't reveal it publicly.

Those people are doing the right thing.

This reminds me of when a certain Ubisoft employee responded to a demand for a PC version of one of their titles. His response: "Stop b*tching" which I thought was highly immature. Apparently so did Ubisoft, since they made him go back to the press and attempt to correct his wording.

I wasn't even aware that anyone else worked on Fez, at least not from Fish's tweets. "I just won the IGF" indicates one person. Does he ever credit anyone else?

No because Phil Fish is the worst man on the planet.