Blow considers rewinding time, removing Braid bugs

Hey, it's tmacairjordan87! Where's Saria, Anticrawl, and the rest of the Braid-Hataz brigade?

Some quick notes:

First, Braid is ridiculously awesome. It did not get insanely high review scores because of some secret elite conspiracy. It got good scores because people enjoyed the game, and it brings something new to the table in terms of themes and execution.

Second, Jonathan Blow is a grown man who decided to go into debt and live without income for three years because he really wanted to make this game his way, not the way a publisher wanted him to make it. Driving yourself into debt for three years may not seem like a big deal if you're in college, but trust me, it's a really big deal.

When he frankly discusses the financial risks and rewards, and the numbers associated with Braid sales, he is not whining. He is being honest and interesting.
If you think he's making you feel guilty, don't read his blog. I don't feel remotely guilty.

Jonathan Blow has made a name for himself. At this point, there are several top-tier companies that will offer him generous salaries and bonuses to work in a lead designer role. He would prefer to remain independent, but as an adult he has to make an honest assessment of whether he can do so profitably. There is nothing wrong with that.

I dislike braid because I found it very boring and not very original.

In before "art style is teh different!"... the art style, whilst cool, doesn't make this game good.

I have no idea why people are enjoying this game, but if they are, good for them - I won't tell people NOT to like the game. So don't act surprised when people don't like it.

Just because I refuse to pay $15 for ANY regular xbla doesn't mean I hate Braid. It just means I refuse to bend over and let Microsoft have their way with me and my wallet. I would gladly buy it for $10.

Second, I said what I said because when Joystiq falls in love with something they feel the need to write 10,000 articles on it. Stuff like "Blow got idea of Braid from booger he picked out of his nose" which is hardly worth an article.

After reading most of what you said, I'm not even gonna bother with the rest because I've said nothing, good or bad, about Blow or the actual game. To be honest, I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Who said anything about Blow whining about sales or whatever you were talking about? Who said anything about sales here? I'm completely lost.

Ah, as an addendum he has a new blog entry up estimating current sales at 55,000. Looks like some people actually played the game instead of complaining about it on Joystiq:

Blow: "As a result, it looks like I will be able to make the next game, without needing to get a job that would interfere with that... Thank you, once again, for making that possible."

What an egotistical whiner!

"Who said anything about Blow whining about sales or whatever you were talking about? Who said anything about sales here?"

Sorry, I should have been more explicit. I was responding to a general flood of anti-Braid posts there, and not to you specifically.

But I am addressing you for being in the group of people who refuse to play the game, but still manage to make plenty of negative posts on it.

@copa

So did you have that all written up in a word document or something? Because none of it was really relevant to what tmac said...

The only "negativity" I have with Braid is the price, and it's only out of principle. I won't spend $15 on any xbla game no matter how great it is, simply because I feel like that's too much for traditional xbla game.

I played the demo, liked it overall, and I will either wait for it to hit $10 on xbla or wait for it to come out on PSN where it'll likely be $10 since Sony doesn't usually force developers to do things as much as Microsoft does.

Just because you download it doesn't mean it has to be a fraction of the price (which it still is, I might add). You all gladly cough up $60 for the latest craptacular release of a franchise, or a game overhyped because of some suppose original element.

But an original game comes along on PSN or XBLA for a quarter the price of a full game and suddenly FIFTEEN BUCKS IS A LOT OF MONEY!!!1!

You all hold so many double standards I'm suprised you have any arms left to play games with.

Here I am! Now onto why Braid is overpriced and overhyped and Blow is blowhardy...Wait a second, if you haven't gotten it after the 5th iteration, I don't think you'll ever agree/understand. As much as I enjoy the debates on here, Braid has grown to be tiresome flame fodder.

So, tmac, your "principle" constitutes refusing to pay an extra $5 simply because Microsoft is greedy?

Let me break down how silly and stupid a reason that is to refuse purchasing.

Five bucks is completely irrelevent to Microsoft. Fifteen bucks is completely irrelevent. Refusing to purchase this game is not going to hurt MS one bit. All you're doing is hurting Jonathan Blow and indie development.

That money I just mentioned that MS can piss away thousands of times without blinking is a HUGE deal to Blow.

Furthermore, you're not necessarily telling MS "too much money!" by not purchasing the game, you're more than likely telling them "Sorry, I don't want this game."

If ya'll want nothing more than shitty retro titles and shooter clones, go ahead and whine about a $5 price difference and refuse to buy. But I'm willing to spend the extra money to send a message to MS that I'm willing to spend my money on risky, innovative, creative titles.

I'd rather see more unique titles like Braid, rather than Poker Smash Extreme, Generic Shooter 7, and Frogger/Joust/etc. But maybe that's just me.

Why is there suddenly so much hate for this game and its designer?

It's a good game.
It's gotten excellent reviews almost exclusively.
It shows that indie devs have a shot at something big as well.
And of course, the game is a work of art.

It deserves to be written about. There's a simple remedy for jealousy over an indie developer's success - don't read the article, and don't waste your time and ours making a stupid comment.

...and...its a slow news week. It's the middle of August. Hard to get awesome nuggets in the dry season.

I think Blowstiq works. I bought the game and finished it. I generally enjoy puzzle games, platformers, and puzzle platformers - but for me?... Braid was just OK. I greatly preferred other XBLA titles like Puzzle Quest, Pac-Man CE, CLoning Clyde, Poker Smash, Marble Blast, etc. I don't regret spending the $15 but I don't think it was worth it. To each their own...

Blowstiq would get more traffic.

This double post symbolizes joystiq's crappy comment system.

It's like Joystiq saw the guy's name on a directory and took it literally.

Blow, Jonathan

They sure are.

Ya, this is crazy. What is next? Joystiqs analysis of Joystiq's analysis of braid?

"Fucking typo!"

Kotaku: Gamecakes ;)

I tried to crush a rabbit in a lift, but it just pushed it down to the platform below it. I demand more elevator-crushing-rabbit-action.

You're actually just wrong.

How in the world is it like Mario again? They share two elements: you jump, and you jump on enemies. Maybe if you play only the first level you think you're supposed to just get through the worlds. Too bad that's not it at all.

Yeah, I bought it, too, and feel the same way. I'm actually a little resentful of the game, having spent $15 on it after all the hype and it being just pretty good. Too much press can be a bad thing, although I suppose dude's got my money now so it doesn't matter.

As someone else pointed out above, Cloning Clyde was a better puzzle platformer with its own innovations, plus it was cheaper, and got relatively no press when it came out. So go play Cloning Clyde instead.

Because posting 5 articles a day on Braid is tired?

That's like saying you've eaten the most delicious Del Taco burrito in your life. You'll still be shitting out your kidneys afterwards, and Braid is still unoriginal, boring, and overhyped.

Keep up the good fight, Saria! I'm with you! (just not for the same reasons :P)

@Aex: :)

You two both managed to annoy me more than anybody else in this comment thread.

*Groan*

Plays Bionic Commando instead of Braid! ( oh snap!)

@Ben!: But I didn't even say anything this time... So confused. :(

@Obie: Ooh, I'm also excited about Bionic Commando and shall be trying it out today. Now THAT'S what I call stylish background music.