Hacker News Reader

Comment by interpol_p | Hacker News Reader

There was an incident a while back where Phil Fish was on a panel and was asked a question by a Japanese game developer. The question was prefaced by saying many indie games are inspired by older Japanese games, and the game developer asked what Fish thought of modern Japanese games.

Fish's response was "Your games just suck." It was an incredibly rude response. A lot of people don't like Fish since that incident.

It doesn't help that he's incredibly sensitive and rude in his public comments (that is, he seems to be able to hand out criticism, but not accept it with grace.)

View on HN

Okay I watched the video. The response was rude perhaps, but also blunt and honest. It wasn't attack against that person, or even Japanese games in general. It was an attack against a specific type of game genre that is allegedly prevalent in Japan.

At maximum I would call this a social faux pas. Certainly not something deserving of bullying.

If I were asking the question, I would actually value that response. Here's someone who is willing to be honest with me instead of using generic political speak.

Yeah I believe that's what started it, but I think what rubs people the wrong way is that here is this guy that (as you say) is bluntly honest — to the point of being rude — to people. Yet when people are bluntly honest with him, he reacts very negatively.

Edit: You say "bullying," but I would suggest that he maintains his online persona in such a way as to generate controversy. He comes off as very abrasive, even annoying, at times. I felt that he specifically tries to spur such reactions with his comments.

Can you quote someone being "bluntly honest" with him?

I'm kind of disgusted by the overuse of the word "bullying". But look at some of these comments: http://polytroncorporation.com/fez-ii-cancelled

"Cry me a river, Fishy-boy. No one cared for FEZ, no one cares for FEZ II and no one cares for the cancellation."

"Get lost you waste of talent. Shitbag telling others to kill themselves, you dont deserve your fame, money or attention."

"Good. I hope that you never come back"

"You are an embarrassment."

"Good news. Stop making games please."

I've scrolled 0.1% down the page but I'll stop there.

Look at comments on previous posts, overwhelmingly positive. The cancellation incited the 800+ comment shitstorm you linked, they didn't precipitate it.

For comparison, look at tweets to Call of Duty developer @DavidVonderhaar from angry players because gun stats were changed:

http://gamerfury.tumblr.com

Doesn't excuse this behaviour at all. But Phil Fish is not the only one who has to deal with it.

I'm sorry (I'm not), I'm against bullying and think that Fish doesn't deserve this entire shitstorm, but that response was just bad. It wasn't constructive at all. Sure, the guy asked Fish what he thought of modern games and he said "they sucked", which, rationally, he is entitled to do.

The problem is that emotions definitely come into this, and you have to consider that you just belittled an entire country's gaming industry with the comment without at least expounding on it. Blow's comment was much better, even though he pretty much said the same thing.

http://kotaku.com/5891962/fez-creator-says-people-have-gotte...

The issue I have there is that Fish crossed the line between opinion and statement. Instead of clarifying it was an opinion, he responded as if it were a matter of fact.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com