Your Article about how “kids” should not be changing the latest mario game into their own creative project is out right pathetic, at best. you clearly have no concept of the gaming or hobbies, since you admitted that you could not beat Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time, and believe that hardware is the future of gaming. The nonsense you spewed out during your little shit rant about how these “kids” are wasting their time is beyond me, and in fact, I support what these people are doing, because it is great to see what “kids” could do now, in comparison to what I could have done as a kid, I would have loved to make a new Mario or Zelda title, even if it was mainly the work of others, to have that creative satisfaction that I made something new is all I needed, but I guess having something new, or hell even a hobby is not good enough for you, is it. as stated by your article, these “kids” are not selling the game, they are not going after a mass market, and by the looks of it, they just want a harder game, or a game they made, like a hobby. You don’t damn the map makers in Counter strike source, you don’t damn custom levels in other games, so what about these “kids” making a different game is so wrong, what about these guys, that take what they thought was too simple, and want to spice up the creativity a bit. If its not for money, or any other gain, what is wrong with a small hobby to keep them relaxed and focused on a group project.
What I find more problematic is that you simply think that recreating world 1-1 from the first Mario game is also a bad thing, what is the most iconic level in all of gaming? World 1-1, we all know the hidden 1 up behind the last pipe (well most of us, I doubt you know it, or made it passed world 4-1 since Zelda seemed like to much of a challenge for you) . It was a proof of concept, and seeing it actually made me kinda glad that world 1-1 still lives on in this day and age of FPS, RPG, and many other lacking in depth games that are spewed around like they are the next golden ticket.
I see no flaw in their ideals or plans, and if they want to put out the effort and time in a hobby, then let them do so, but do not be a hypocrite about what they are doing is a waste of time, when you must have even less to even talk about it. It is so clearly a busy person, that to fill up time, you talk, no, bash a hobby of level design in some kind of weak attempt to demoralize “kids” who have a great hobby, and are proud of what they did.
First, I got bored with Ocarina of Time and stopped in the middle of the game. Most people who played the game never finished it. I have a 100% rating in Metroid Prime 2, unlocked everything in F-Zero GX, so it is not like I dislike difficult games. I do wonder where in the world you thought I said I couldn’t beat Ocarina. I just lost interest.
Second, hardware is the future of gaming. I know this because hardware has always been the future of gaming. Hardware is always the game changer. Just look at the changes that the Wii controller, Balance Board, and plastic guitars have done for gaming and this is just within the past few years. The pattern shows that hardware will be the game changer in the future. New interfaces and other new hardware features will clearly alter how games are played in the future.
Third, I do damn the “User Generated Content” of other games. PC Gaming is very different, however. Someone editing the Unreal engine, for example, can actually license the engine and make their own game. Many FPS games have been made in that fashion.
Am I the only one who remembers how games were made in the past? In the past, kids would actually make their own games and sell them. They would become a Richard Garriott or the Oliver Twins. The path those kids are on will not bring them anywhere near such a conclusion.
The “Game Industry” can easily be divided between the ‘creative’ types and the ‘business’ types. The so-called ‘creative’ types are leveraged by the ‘business’ types.
What needs to be done, what must be done, is to teach the “budding young game designer” all the sides of sales and business so the game developer does not become enslaved to the suits. The game developer will also not go into strange crying about his “creativity being suppressed” because he/she will understand the business/sales side. The developer will become an entrepreneur and will have the freedom to prosper on his won. THIS is what needs to be taught.
User Generated Content undermines this. The “budding young game designer” gets to bask in the make-believe that he/she is a GAME DEVELOPER without the work on the business end or creative end necessary for it.
I, myself, have done exactly what these kids are doing. I know others who have spent considerable time at projects of their own at such a work. The result is the same: we all regret it. It was a waste of time since it is illegal, we cannot own what we did, and therefore cannot sell it. The only plus was that it allowed us to enter our vanity that we were ‘magicians’ and that we were ‘game designers’.
The 1-1 level illustrates an important point. When the so-called ‘creative’ types are free to get ‘creative’, they end up imitating others.
We need to create a community that pushes young developers to learning the arts and ways of business, not have them play out their vanity on the Internet with hacking someone else’s work. The current way how things are going is that a ‘budding young game designer’ gets competent at a skill such as programming and then gets swallowed up by the “Game Industry”. He eventually flees the “Game Industry” depressed and demoralized by how leveraged he is.
Imagine a “budding young writer” who spends his days and nights writing ‘fan fiction’. I’d have the same reaction. It is not only a waste of time, it is also self-injurious since he is embellishing in his vanity of being a writer due to ‘page views’ when he hasn’t earned the sales. Vanity is very destructive. If you *think* you are talented when the market has not given the verdict, you are dead goose.
I know kids who never have to get a job because they were able to design and sell games when they were young. The same opportunity exists today for young people. In fact, gaming needs it more than ever.
My question to you is why don’t you want to help these kids reach their full potential? Why don’t you want these kids to truly shine? Some of the best video games were made by 16 year olds and other young age. It can be done.
I get emails from game developers who are demoralized and sick of the “Game Industry”. If these game developers knew the business end more and were entrepreneurs, they would be in more control of their fate. What these kids are doing is not just wasting their time but bloating their ego on a non-existent product.
The only kind thing to do is to mock. Perhaps that might wake them up on the folly they are committing. The worst thing to do is to encourage them. It is like encouraging someone to go down a dead end street. “It is just a hobby.” A hobby that goes nowhere.