Chris Heckler (no pun intended, you’ll see below), one of the developers of Spore — otherwise known as the game in a neck and neck race with Duke Nukem Forever for the title of the most hyped game that may never come out — took Nintendo and the Wii console to task during a “spirited” session at the GDC this week.
Hecker said the Wii is nothing more than two GameCubes stuck together with duct tape, and that the console isn’t powerful enough to provide the next-gen experience he has been waiting for. “It’s not clear to me that Nintendo gives a shit about games as an art form,” he said. To illustrate his point, he searched for references to games as art on all three console manufacturers web sites. While he found numerous such references on both the official PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sites, Wii.com had none at all. He then shared quotes from executives at Sony and Microsoft talking about games as a serious artistic medium, and then a quote from a Nintendo executive saying the company only wanted to make “fun” games.
Fun, go take a hike, it’s time to get super serious about gaming. I’m talking Dawson Creek type ish here.
Mr. Heckler, an artist named Pollack just called, and said you have no frackin clue what you’re talking about. So did some guy named Van Gogh. Why do I mention these guys? Because I think their respective “art” looks like preschool drawings, but I know common knowledge says they are masters.
Indulge me a moment of arrogance, please. Google “Chris Heckler + Maxis” and then try “Miyamoto”; or try Chris Heckler and then try Blake Snow. Now I’m not saying that Nintendo is without its faults, but I am saying I think da boyz over at Maxis need to give themselves a reality check and realize their prize piece may be — just a little bit — a Sim City on steroids and little else. Let’s hope that AI in Spore is top notch too, huh? But hey, Heckler’s quoting Sony executives in his conference sessions, so being hypocritical might be just what the doctor ordered.
(please note, the pic above is the new center of the universe) /rant
[Thanks Blake, you have no idea how good this post felt to write]
UPDATE: Yes, I know his name is actually Hecker 🙂