GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant

by Ross Miller { Feb 23rd 2008 at 3:30AM }

It has been one year since Chris Hecker made the headline-catching Duct Tape comment at the Developer's Rant. At GDC this year we were waiting with great anticipation for what other nuggets would come this year. Interested in vulgarity, balloons, excessive drinking and French literature? How about poignant discourse and hope? Keep reading for both!

Gallery: GDC08: Game Development Rant

1. "It doesn't surprise me that the most meaningful relationship we developed in a AAA title this year is with a fucking cube"

First up on the rant was Clint Hocking (Far Cry 2), who may have set a new record for most usage of "fuck" and "shit" in a rant. Prefacing with a comparison to the film industry, Hocking said, "pound for pound we're the most fucking creative industry in the whole world." The focal point of his rant came from something a friend of his said: "dude, it's code ... we can do anything."

Whereas independent games have been able to create an emotional impact, Hocking said, mainstream titles have largely focused on mindless action. "Why can't Call of Duty ... actually be about duty. Why isn't Medal of Honor about honor? Imagine what it'd be worth to you if you could put honor on a box and sell it." Hocking mentions Marriage and Passage that are free to download and wonderful.

Halo 3 made $300 million, but at $50 copy that means it's only making one-tenth of the Lord of the Rings audience. "Do you really think a glowing dagger that can detect Orcs or a fucking +5 rope is what moved people? What people care about is that Frodo trusts Sam ... It doesn't surprise me that the most meaningful relationship we had in a AAA title this year is with a fucking cube." That last comment drew massive applaud and laughter.

Concluding, Hocking repeats his previous mantra: "Dude, it's code ... We can do anything."

Next: Balloons!

Tags: clint-hocking, developers-rant, duct-tape, game-developers-rant, gdc, gdc08

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Not Portal again @ Feb 23rd 2008 5:50AM

Dude, Portal sucks.

Stop sucking its cubed tits.

Manic Inc @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:01AM

He was taking the piss out of Portal, not commending it.

south six falls @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:29AM

And I was agreeing.

ok, dude

Farseer (GDI) @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:45AM

Is this where I sign up for the "It's cool to hate Portal" fan club?

I'm just asking because the line doesn't seem to be very long...

Manic Inc @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:47AM

Sorry, must have read it wrong.

Portal is overrated @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:36AM

The line is getting longer...

Vegan @ Feb 23rd 2008 7:25AM

The problem isn't simply a lack of caring on the developers' part. Most of the time when they DO try to have strong relationships in a game, the attempt falls flat on its face and becomes, frankly, laughable.

wickedpheonix @ Feb 23rd 2008 7:58AM

If you actually watch this guys rant, the punch line about the cube is really, really funny - job well done Mr. Hocking. My only question for you is how you're going to get an emotional connection going in Far Cry 2.

Sam K @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:46AM

He wasn't dissing Portal at all. You guys are missing the point.

In fact, I'd say he was complimenting Portal on the idea that the game has managed to get players to actually care about an inanimate object that has such a small roll in the game.

Sam K @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:48AM

Oops. I meant "role", not "roll". Sigh.

At any rate, yeah, he was paying a compliment to Portal.

jdeuel @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:49AM

anyone who "cried, actually cried" before, during, or after Passage is a huge pussy.

Oh man! i was walking down a hall and collecting stupid coins and then this nameless wife died and then so did I, oh what an emotional connection i made in all 5 minutes the game lasts, cry cry cry.

anyone trying to pass off Passage as a game or art is a moron.

Evan @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:46AM

I cried!
(Warning: Spoilers)
1. The way the graphics were compressed on the right side of the screen when you had your full life ahead of you, and compressed on the left side of the screen when your life is behind you. The realization that you've already done and experienced more in your life than you will in future.
2. Leaving you deceased wife behind and moving forward, even though there were no compressed graphics left ahead of you. What is the point of living when everything is behind you?
3. Collecting things has no effect on the game. No matter how rich or successful we are, we are all bound equally by time.

Geist @ Feb 23rd 2008 12:47PM

Congratulations sir, you have no heart!

Your reward is being emotionally void for the rest of your life. Have fun! Now go play Halo.

StrangeAxel @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:15AM

Hey gaiz, it is cool to hate on Portal. Because it's so *fucking* popular that *fucking* people have grown a *fucking* attachment to an inanimate object in a game while *fucking* Halo sits there just being like a typical *fucking* no-brains shooter with *fucking* tone deafness.

While I'm at it, these *fucking* developers are really brilliant in their rants by only using the *fucking* word "fuck". They're bright people, why don't they use the other 6 or 7 swear words? In ranting, people grow tired of listening to someone if they sound like a broken record.

Abscissa @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:43AM

I once had a coworker like that. I never once found it offensive, but it sure was annoying. Should have told him to learn some vocabulary.

phoopee3 @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:24AM

Was he comparing the game industry to hollywood in a good way? when was the last time hollywood made something worth seeing? in a time when people are talking about games not having innovation anymore, portal was at least interesting. (i do agree - people's obsession with the wcc is strange)

jdeuel @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:48AM

There Will Be Blood is still in theatres... so the last time hollywood made anything good... "present?"

Christoper Eckleston @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:01AM

There Will Be Blood is still in theatres..

Yeah, that film sucks. If I wanted to girly-men drama queens overacting I'll watch youtube.

Evan @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:06AM

There are many movies worth seeing, but no one watches them. How many of last year's best movies have you seen?
www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt_year.php?year=2007

Audiences are too busy masturbating to Micheal Bay explosion-porn. Who's really to blame when a turd like Spiderman 3 makes more money than all the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture COMBINED!

Evan @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:54AM

I want to add that, it's also partly the audience's fault for the poor state of games. So many shallow shooters are made because that's what gamers buy!

Gamers have generally been unreceptive to serious games with emotion... like jdeuel above who says that anyone who cries while playing Passage is "a huge pussy". Many gamers seem to want games that make them feel big by "pwning" others online. Any game that isn't about manly-men killing each other is attacked as a "casual" game. The only way to get most gamers to buy a game with any emotional content is to "sneak" it into a game in the form of a cube.

jdeuel @ Feb 23rd 2008 2:00PM

what, am i going to get shit for the rest of my life because i can't become emotionally attatched in 5 minutes to an unnamed, undefined sprite?

if i had to list a game to get emotionally attached during, I might offer up titles like harvest moon where you have to court your spouse for a while, or maybe even something like the nuke scene from cod4

Abscissa @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:43AM

"Why can't Call of Duty ... actually be about duty. Why isn't Medal of Honor about honor?"

Probably because that would make them...*gasp*...boring as shit (Not that I'm a WW2 shooter fan).

Abscissa @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:53AM

Seriously, every time developers start talking like that, I can't help thinking two things:

1. Oh god, here come EVEN MORE cutscenes.

2. Great, they're trying to turn gaming into some sort of Steel Magnolias/Bridges of Madison County bullshit. (Don't get me wrong, I'm no Michael Bay fan either.)