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Bob's Game

en.wikipedia.org

71–80 of 86 posts

Re: Bob's Game

#71

There's a lot of crazy in here, but I can relate in a way. When I was young (a teenager), I really wanted to be a video game designer. Well, more than a designer, I wanted to be a full on creator, a rock star like Sid Meier or John Carmack. So I started making a game engine. I didn't really know exactly what I was making, I just had various ideas that I was collecting and coming up with and attaching to this game eng…

my work is my life is my art, are you sure you are not at least partly your work, I find it an odd idea that you can detach work from 'life' as if it exists in a separate continuum.

Re: Bob's Game

#72

from his website it seems like his protest might have caused him to lose his grip on reality... https://bobsgame.com/ or perhaps a mental illness was what caused him to lock himself in his room for a 100 days in the first place

Wow, that site is really quite something. Reads like an art piece.

Re: Bob's Game

#73
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that basically solitary confinement, something we consider to be cruel and unusual punishment? I would actually challenge anyone to make it past 30 or even 50 days under those circumstances without losing it. I bet it is much, much harder than you think.

Most people did exactly that a year ago.

"Most" people did not go through the pandemic entirely alone. The vast majority of people in the world live with someone (roommate, family, romantic partner, etc).

Also, depending on where you live in the world, "most" people did not stay entirely away from all humans at all times for more than a few weeks. Plenty of people were buying their own groceries, and leaving the house for other tasks.

"Many people were isolated from the outside world in ways they haven't been previously during the pandemic lockdowns' is a perfectly cromulent and accurate statement, but I don't get this "let's compare the pandemic to some man doing a dramatic publicity stunt for his game, possibly due to underlying mental health issues."

/rant

Re: Bob's Game

#75
post #48
post #38

This kinda seems like just someone throwing a fit that Nintendo didn't give them an SDK / support their game? There's more to making a game than just making the code and hoping someone supports your efforts. From the wikipedia page, I don't find the story all that sympathetic, at least as far as vs Nintendo. Story seems more like one of a troll or mental illness, and kinda sad.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. If it is mental illness, it's probably the same illness that leads people to become independent artists in the first place. He mentioned that he got an offer to work for Nintendo and lead his own team by a rep at GDC, but he turned it down because he didn't understand what they were offering him. I could 100% believe that because I could 100% see myself doing the same thing. He…

I find it very hard to believe that Nintendo, especially Nintendo of that era, would have offered him a job to lead a team.

I think it is pretty clear based on his behavior and the things he has said that he has some very serious issues. I won't discount his talent, he clearly has talent and skill, though he hasn't made good on a lot of the promises he made and boasted of.

My sincerest hope is that he would get the help he needs and use it to focus his energy and talent into his projects because as it is I don't think there will ever be anything resembling his original vision formally released, and that is a shame for everyone.

Re: Bob's Game

#76
post #37

Has anyone here played it? How's the actual gameplay?

The full game was never released, only two/three demos. The first demo was distributed as Nintendo DS homebrew and contained a fetch quest, some dialogue and the first minigame. The second demo was released for the PC and included demo 1, some more roaming around & dialogue, two additional minigames, and an unskippable cutscene at the end where "bob" laughs for over two minutes. The third demo was also released for t…

We might get to play the whole thing eventually, hes still working on it!

Re: Bob's Game

#78
post #71

There's a lot of crazy in here, but I can relate in a way. When I was young (a teenager), I really wanted to be a video game designer. Well, more than a designer, I wanted to be a full on creator, a rock star like Sid Meier or John Carmack. So I started making a game engine. I didn't really know exactly what I was making, I just had various ideas that I was collecting and coming up with and attaching to this game eng…

my work is my life is my art, are you sure you are not at least partly your work, I find it an odd idea that you can detach work from 'life' as if it exists in a separate continuum.

I don't really mean that you should completely remove your work from your identity, only that you shouldn't tie your identity to one particular project. I think Bob would be in a much healthier psychological spot if he had made ten games by now, or even created art that wasn't games, instead of becoming obsessed with just one particular project.

Re: Bob's Game

#79

Interestingly enough, I bet the idea of staying in a room with a shower, and food delivery for 100 days doesn't seem like that big of deal to most people anymore.

Mindset is extremely important. I could easily get lost in my bookshelves and not emerge for 100 days. But with a camera on, when the act is a political statement, stress is amplified. With each passing day, evidence mounts that the project isn't just a failure, but a highly publicized failure. Fans and supporters might boost one's resolve, but he made the questionable choice to keep even them away. 30 days is actually impressive, given the circumstances.
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