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[Ainem Enamas]

What do you think about this? I think it's awesome when developers do not prioritize money but simply share their vision they would play for themselves. We're then supporting their studio by purchasing their game for them to continue making things they would like to play themselves

 

[Alexios]

I mean, they all are. Though there's probably some, somewhere, doing tasks like animation or 3D modeling or writing that don't actually play, the vast, vast majority of devs do (when not crunched to death). The suits (and market) decide what's greenlit etc. and they often don't outside Nintendo

Do game developers play games? - 8Bit Recruitment

Do game developers play games once it's their job? According to our research, 68% still do! Dive into the details.

8bitplay.com

 

[LectureMaster]

One of buddies recently was hired as business manager in one of big studios, he was killing the interview because he is an actual gamer and knows shit ton of gaming, while a significant portion of his team don't ever play games.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I mean, they all are

Awfully optimistic, I doubt that's the case.

 

[Crystal Winters]

Agreed, but also:

 

[Eimran]

Should be a no brainer. If OP means the development part.

If you mean lean management, process optimization, security.... That role can be filled by everybody with those qualifications, even if they don't game.

 

[Alexios]

Should be a no brainer. If OP means the development part.

If you mean lean management, process optimization, security.... That role can be filled by everybody with those qualifications, even if they don't game.

Also the psychologists telling them how to best exploit kids, probably.

 

[BennyBlanco]

This is why indie games and games from small studios are more interesting than AAA slop. They are passion projects done in some nerds spare time. Stardew for instance was made by one dude.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

This is why indie games and games from small studios are more interesting than AAA slop. They are passion projects done in some nerds spare time. Stardew for instance was made by one dude.

Yep. While I do enjoy my AAA games when done right and to my liking, I played two awesome games last year and both were made by single developers (Exophobia and The Crimson Diamond).

 

[BennyBlanco]

Yep. While I do enjoy my AAA games when done right and to my liking, I played two awesome games last year and both were made by single developers (Exophobia and The Crimson Diamond).

Yup.

This game made by a single dude was definitely in my top 5 of last year along with Balatro.

 

[hemo memo]

I would say it is more important that games are made by mentally stable people.

 

[chakadave]

I think there are creators and consumers. Same in games. I don't think Miyamoto is playing much. I think there are very select few people who can actually make a vision for a game come to fruition.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I think the bigger issue is that the business side needs to have an understanding of and an appreciation for games. Being on that side of the house, I am honestly stunned by how many clueless morons are running departments. You look at the absolute failure of a lot of bigger companies and platforms over the last several years, and if you see it from the inside, it's completely obvious why we ended up down this path.

 

[Ainem Enamas]

This is why indie games and games from small studios are more interesting than AAA slop. They are passion projects done in some nerds spare time. Stardew for instance was made by one dude.

Would you agree that indie studios are actually somewhat against the industry?

 

[Sooner]

Miyamoto isn't a gamer.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Depends.

 

[Parazels]

Is it even possible to develop a good game without real enthusiasts, who are obsessed with it? I doubt.

That's why I was embarrassed, when journalists said, that Sony is betting on multiplayer games. Do they have enthusiasts for this job?

 

[TintoConCasera]

That's why I was embarrassed, when journalists said, that Sony is betting on multiplayer games. Do they have enthusiasts for this job?

My bet's on Men_in_Boxes saving their gaas division.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I don’t really care myself. This reminds me of folks who want previous sport players to run teams and it’s more often terrible than good.

Conversely, I work in government and having non-government people come in is often a complete disaster as they don’t understand the political environment.

Does it help? I think so though to some degree but it shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

 

[Saber]

I mean, they all are.

We need an incredibly big "doubt" button on this one.

 

[onQ123]

What do you think about this? I think it's awesome when developers do not prioritize money but simply share their vision they would play for themselves. We're then supporting their studio by purchasing their game for them to continue making things they would like to play themselves

You would probably get better games from minds that are not always busy playing video games lol

 

[Zathalus]

It’s not needed for all roles. Game director, level designer, gameplay lead? Sure that makes sense. But artists, storytelling writers, or software engineers don’t need to play games as long as they are good at their jobs.

 

[Wildebeest]

Depends. People bring different skills. Some Geoff Keighley approved "real gamer" who only plays shite like Naughty Dog games and studied advanced underwater basket weaving might be totally useless when it comes to making a military simulation game, but someone who studied physics or military history might be.

 

[jason10mm]

The more a dev team, ESPECIALLY the story/art types that tend to lead the PR marketing stuff, SAY they are gamers, the less I believe them. Any balderdash about "I just LOVE gaming, XXX game was my LIFE as a kid, and INSERT CURRENT PROJECT HERE is the game I've been dreaming about making since I first started playing!" and I immediately tune out.

 

[Majukun]

miyamoto is not a gamer , so, no.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

Also the psychologists telling them how to best exploit kids, probably.

mfs always bring up the think of the kids argument whenever game companies do something they dont like. As if only game companies use psychology to influence consumers lmao

 

[poppabk]

Is it even possible to develop a good game without real enthusiasts, who are obsessed with it? I doubt.

That's why I was embarrassed, when journalists said, that Sony is betting on multiplayer games. Do they have enthusiasts for this job?

When teams are in the several hundreds I don't think it really matters.

 

[proandrad]

Depends on your definition of gamer. But games should definitely be made by people who likes games and not people who just wanted a cool job, who hates the main audience that plays games.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

At the very least they should be passionate about this industry and its culture.

It's shocking that this is up for debate.

 

[Raven117]

This is why indie games and games from small studios are more interesting than AAA slop. They are passion projects done in some nerds spare time. Stardew for instance was made by one dude.

This.

It’s also why older games (say from the ps1 days (maybe even ps2 to an extent) and earlier are in many ways more compelling even though they are light years behind in tech. They were made by a bunch of nerd gamers (and published by nerd gamers with more business savvy).

In many ways, that’s why Japanese games still feel great to play. It feels as if there was one vision and everyone pushed for that. US devs now feel like focused tested slop.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

I think a better thread topic would have been game story writers should be gamers.

 

[RoboFu]

It's not that great game are not being made it's that there is this weird cult of media and corporations pushing these really bad games that no one is asking for.

 

[Barakov]

I think at the very least they have to understand game development and what makes games fun. One of the reasons the west has sunk so low is that there are way too many people in game development who just treat it as a 9-5 job. I'm not going to get into the 'games are art' thing but games definitely artistic merits in them so you have to put more effort than your typical 9-5 job.

 

[Parazels]

When teams are in the several hundreds I don't think it really matters.

Weren't many good games led by talented leaders like Miyamoto, Suzuki, Kozima, Carmack etc? Of course, they didn't develop games alone, but they inspired their teams, they knew for sure, what results they wanted to get in the end.

In 90s (!) I read an interview with Yamauchi. He initially dreamt about a real driving simulator, this is how Gran Turismo was born.

 

[fran.fernandez]

They ask all devs to play the game and fill a form , I barely do it because the kind of game I like is more storytelling, I also care about my work more than the entire project. I feel that if all 200-500 people start going to each section giving their ideas , it would be a complete mess, so I prefer to have one leader with vision than multiple source of passionate games .

Also, there’s the planners section in development. Those people should be game freaks. I don’t care about programmers, tech art, 3d art, illustrator, they should be skilled in any field more than gamers.

I work in game industry for 15 + years . And worked in teams of 10 to 1000 people .

 

[poppabk]

Weren't many good games led by talented leaders like Miyamoto, Suzuki, Kozima, Carmack etc? Of course, they didn't develop games alone, but they inspired their teams, they knew for sure, what results they want to get in the end.

In 90s (!) I read an interview with Yamauchi. He initially dreamt about a real driving simulator, this is how Gran Turismo was born.

Yeah back in the day when you had a team of max 20 or 30 guys all in the same office. Nowadays half the 400+ strong team are probably movie/TV guys doing motion capture, set design and voice stuff and aren't really interested in the 'game' part.

 

[Ainem Enamas]

Miyamoto isn't a gamer.

But he cares

 

[N30RYU]

I wouldn't say just gamers... but ppl who enjoy games as per gameplay or a meaninfull way to say a story.

Is like I'm gonna adapt a movie series to a videogame but I don't give a fuck about the source material...

JUST GIVE A FUCK

Not to mention the ones that work developing games and think that gamers shouldn't exist in the first place.

 

[SHA]

It's fascinating how the hobby has evolved over the years from not being shortlisted for the right job to being the most significant candidate for it.

 

[lh032]

we know that but its almost impossible to find devs like that.

 

[freemandos]

This is why indie games and games from small studios are more interesting than AAA slop. They are passion projects done in some nerds spare time. Stardew for instance was made by one dude.

This is what I'm thinking: a lot of indie games and games from small studios are made by gamers or people who really care.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I think a better thread topic would have been game story writers should be gamers.

To create a good story you need to be a writer (knowing the craft of how to write properly). Game writers mostly aren't.

In this particular case, being a gamer comes second.

 

[Lambogenie]

Not always. You do need members very familiar and intimate. But sometimes that's a hindrance. You lose the big picture or appeal to new audiences or just new thinking. That and sharing same vision is important.

Or some engineers have crazy clever thinking because their previous experience (and vice versa).

 

[ReyBrujo]

It's always important that the patient be the one doing the surgery, or that the lawyer be the criminal.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

It's always important that the patient be the one doing the surgery, or that the lawyer be the criminal.

Bad analogies.

For "gamers" I understand people who are knowledgeable of this entertainment, not someone who play 8 hours a day.

And yes, to lead the creation of an entertainment product you need to know your audience, the market and you can only do that if you like what you are doing. When someone does his work with passion it permeates. We can tell 100% which games are made with passion and which ones aren't. So, that's very important.

 

[Hudo]

Miyamoto isn't a gamer.

He might not be but he certainly cares about "play". You can feel and hear him say this in many interviews with him. I remember a recently translated interview with him where he, after giving up on his dream of becoming a Mangaka, applied to a company that made science sets for kids and also thought about designing playgrounds for children. He landed the job at Nintendo after some friend of his father recommended him to Yamauchi. So game design is just applying his sense of "play" to a specific style of toys: Video games. In the Nintendo Museum "documentary", Miyamoto also said that he briefly worked on actual physical toys for Nintendo during their days when they were approaching electronic toys. I mean, look at Nintendo World, which he apparently helped design. That place is also designed with play in mind.

 

[ReyBrujo]

For "gamers" I understand people who are knowledgeable of this entertainment, not someone who play 8 hours a day.

That's a pretty generous acceptance of the term "gamer". Gamer is just someone who plays games, not necessarily someone who knows how to build them, just like a taxi driver is just someone who drives a cab and not necessarily someone who can build and fix them.

Once a friend was complaining that he was never promoted to a management position being a software developer and someone told him, being the best tester doesn't you a good developer, nor being the best developer make you a good team leader, nor being the best team leader make you a good manager.

Nobody writes software for passion only, and prioritizing "passion" above "money" will put any developer in a exploitable position (which is basically what the industry was built upon, exploiting people by paying them lower wages and making them work overtime just because they are doing what they always wanted and want to continue being part of it).

 

[Ainem Enamas]

Is it even possible to develop a good game without real enthusiasts, who are obsessed with it? I doubt.

That's why I was embarrassed, when journalists said, that Sony is betting on multiplayer games. Do they have enthusiasts for this job?

Gaming is being poisoned

 

[Ainem Enamas]

You would probably get better games from minds that are not always busy playing video games lol

What do you mean?

 

[Ainem Enamas]

When teams are in the several hundreds I don't think it really matters.

But do we need a team that big...