Overheard@GDC: The Cliff Bleszinski Pie Analogy

by Randy Nelson on Mar 13th 2010 2:00AM

"Save your fork, there'll be pie. The game is the fork and the pie is the DLC." –Cliff Bleszinski

After confessing to having a big appetite for Borderlands, the Gears of War developer used the pie analogy to explain to Joystiq how games without any sort of DLC "hooks" are becoming increasingly rare.

Tags: cliff-bleszinski, epic-games, forks, gdc, gdc-2010, overheard, pie

Reader Comments (72)

Will there be cake as well?

Wait for it...

waaaait for it...

I feel it coming any moment now......

That's what she said.

The cake is a baykosha makonaaaaa tileebonama fa tra... oh crap... sorry. I'll do better next time

THE LIE IS A CAKE!

Oh, damn. There was too much pressure.

*sigh* Wait for (the real) it.........

ITTTTTTTTTTTTTT

BITCH

was that "it" or was I just being hopeful?

The Cake is a Lie!

Not that i would know, i've got portal, played about 15 levels of it, and havent touched it since. Why is it that all the best games are failing to grab my interest anymore. I got Oblivion, played 7 hours, didnt touch it again, same with GTAIV (all these on Steam BTW). It may be because when i open Steam i also instinctivly open Left 4 Dead, which then absorbs me for several hours. Still havent finished Stalker, Torchlight, Far Cry 2, Timeshift, Half Life 2, Mass Effect, Lost Planet, Braid, Trine or Borderlands too. :( Too many games to finish.

The truth is a pie!

Wow epic votedown cause being a single father, i don't have the time to enjoy the games i love. Way to be a douche Joystiq Readers.

@Foetoid

No, epic votedown because people fell asleep not-even-halfway through the story of your gaming life.

Props to being a single father though.

@Shagittarius

I nearly spit coffee on my monitor when I saw that. Well done man, well done.

Just be sure a fork is ALL that you're sticking in that pie!

I like cream with my pie; I have to use a spoon. Fresh cream that is, none of that canned stuff. Maybe I'm just too fussy, but I know what I like and its pie with cream *hmpf*.

@AnteSim

gj soundin like a 12 yr old girl

But i love forking a pie!

My GF loves it too!

more like he's talking about how the industry is screwing over gamers for over priced, and lack luster DLC. Oh and not to forget DLC locked away on the disc only to be charged to you later.

Amen. Stupid goddamn companies. The DLC should be the whipped cream, not the damn pie. Cliffy B you are terrible at analogies.

How is pre-locked DLC part of a fork? That be like if my fork had a secret compartment that I had to pay to open.

Not that it matters though, since Cliffy is wrong about games being a fork. Everyone knows that games are the almighty Golden Spork.

but...the dlc is pie!!! does that mean... the pie is a lie!?!??!!

what are you talking about its the prefect metaphor for the direction more and more games are headed.

The game represented by the unattractive inedible fork devoid of substance.

The DLC represented by the pie which is all the fork should have been, enticing, tasty....
not to mention should have been included with the fork.

On a side note I prefer ice cream with my pie.

I think what Mr. Bleszinkski is trying to say, is that pie is MUCH better than cake.

MUCH better.

Besides two exceptions: ice cream cake and cookie cake.

You forgot the best cake of all, Cheesecake!

Don't you know? The cake is a pie!

I thought the cake was a spy.

The cake is a 3.14159265

This comic sums up fairly well my feelings towards DLC.
http://photoanon.com/images/qu69udcjxzhdb7zmrv.png

I hear ya man! those damned Games developpers

What are you going to do about DLC? Many of us sit here and complain about it, and yet we also purchase it the minute its up for sale and download.

and cheese cake! Which despite the claims of many liars, often comes crustless and is not classified as pie.

That makes sense, a little bit. When he says save the fork he clearly means, dont give your fork to the waitress/ sell your game to gamestop, there is going to be pie. But you dont pay a restaurant for a fork, you pay for the meal! A better analogy would be " We have a special deal today, if you order the steak you get pie free/reduced price/we just have pie"

Thank you Mr. Wayne for setting that straight.

easy for you to say, Alfred brings you pie and you just use the Bat-Fork from your utility belt.

No, I think what he means is that restaurants should be charging you for the use of a fork. Buying a meal is extra.

Actually, I think the game disc is the fork. The main part of the game is the meal. And the DLC is the dessert.

I like DLC that is worth it, that actually comes out after the game has been out for a bit. Not day one DLC or DLC on the disc.

Screw the pie, user addons and mods in games like Operation Flashpoint, STALKER and Half-Life are steak!

Cliffster, I'll do a better analogy.

I pay full price for a game and get THE COMPLETE GAME. Holy sh*t, what a concept!

Guess I'm in the minority that feels like the GoW DLC wasn't a part of a conspiracy theory plot to gouge customers, unlike the DLC that comes out for games 1-2 months after release.

I actually buy that Road to Ruin was cut from the game. It wasn't good.

I kindof want Cliff to sit on my face...

Contrary to popular belief, pie is not a good analogy for everything.

yes it is

- Pie Defense Force

I couldn't agree with Cliff more. When done right DLC is some tasty, tasty pie. If they were still making it I would still be buying DLC for Fallout 3 and Oblivion. Sadly if the fork isn't the right kind of fork then all the pie in the world doesn't make it anymore appealing (yea I think I will leave this metaphor thing to the pros from now on).

I love pie

giggity

I'm ok with Rock Band's DLC

I would like this analogy better if it were applie pie.

This is why Darksiders was my favorite game in a long time. They gave me the whole game up front and didn't ask me for more money later.

As far as I'm concerned DLC is just a reason to wait for the GOY version of any game and get the whole pie with the fork for $20 or $30.

Darksiders had the scythe dlc.

Scythe was code-activated not DLC. And it came with the game...
And AND they're sending us Red Faction for free.... at some point before the end of the universe..

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Overheard@GDC: The Cliff Bleszinski Pie Analogy

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