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‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

engadget.com

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Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#81

Post by ChuckMcM »

footpath wrote: post #61

Here's a nice thread about Jonathan Blow's view on investing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2198255 you are better off taking the mental energy you would have expended on "investing" and subsequently worrying about your money, and instead funneling it into your creative endeavors. You will make more money that way, especially when you take a long-term view. ... If creative endeavors are profitable, you can use…

In general I agree with that, although having enough money "hoarded" such that you can collect a monthly stipend to cover basic necessities (like food, shelter, and utilities) makes spending all your time on investing your creative energies a lot less stressful :-)

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#82

Post by rifung »

mesh wrote: post #70
nsxwolf wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is good advice for a very narrow segment of creative people and not everyone at large. It's terrible advice for people with children, for example.

Why do you feel it is bad advice for people with children?

I imagine it's because you need to save for your kids to go to school, college, and to generally ensure their well being, and those things have a pretty set timeline. That being the case, taking the risks of pouring all your money into creative endeavors doesn't appear to be a particularly responsible thing to do as a parent.

Of course, there's a balance to be had.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#84

Post by doktrin »

justintime2002 wrote: post #7

"Jonathan Blow's beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game" Really? I find this difficult to believe, considering the success of Cave Story back in 2004.

It's a bit of a silly statement because it completely ignores the fact that in the recent past video games were almost universally "indie" efforts.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#85

Post by Chevalier »

nkuttler wrote: post #58
listic wrote: post #35

Puzzles, puzzles everywhere. I've read the interview and didn't get it - what's so great in this new game that he is spending all his money on it. I hoped there will be some ambition to the like of Ice-Pick Lodge https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/pathologic or Tale of Tales http://tale-of-tales.com/videogames.php but nope, another game with puzzles.

You probably just have to accept that pure puzzle games aren't for you. It's the same for me, and Braid is the game that made me accept that fact. I could see it was great, but I couldn't enjoy it past a certain point. No need to be negative, just move on and play games you enjoy.

Just to correct you, Braid didn't succeed because it was a "pure puzzle game." Braid has an absolutely incredible story and milieu -- stunning art and music with a sad, beautiful ambiance. It helped that the puzzles are great, but I'm sure many crappy mobile games have puzzles. Braid has soul.

You might as well say that Portal succeeded because of its puzzles. I mean, Portal IS a puzzle game even more than Braid is -- but what matters is the atmosphere, the immersion, and the story. Why not compare Lord of the Rings to a hiking manual while we're oversimplifying art.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#86

Post by Dave_Rosenthal »

justintime2002 wrote: post #7

"Jonathan Blow's beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game" Really? I find this difficult to believe, considering the success of Cave Story back in 2004.

And remember we're on the 17th annual Independent Games Festival. (http://www.igf.com/)

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#87

Post by SwellJoe »

anonbanker wrote: post #71
nsxwolf wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is good advice for a very narrow segment of creative people and not everyone at large. It's terrible advice for people with children, for example.

Your mindset is exactly why pg refuses to invest in anyone over 35; they've become unable to take risks due to commitments.

I believe my co-founder and I were the oldest founders ever funded by YC at the time (in 2007) and I was 33 and my co-founder was, I think, 34 with a wife and two kids. The batch after ours had a couple of folks in their 40s, and I think the average age has crept up a bit over time, though the founders do tend to still be quite young.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#89

Post by winslow »

Breefield wrote: post #5

Very stoked on The Witness but also Firewatch: www.firewatchgame.com These are the kind of games I can get down with, a good slow ambiance based puzzle game—had enough of RTS and FPS for the time being.

Wow that Firewatch trailer is really well done. Adding it to my todo/play list.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#90

Post by eltaco »

kelukelugames wrote: post #14

I've followed Jonathan Blow for a while. He has a reputation for being condescending. If you follow him a Twitter then you might come to the same conclusion. But he has given some amazing talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFzf6yIfcc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Fg76c4Zfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqFu5O-oPmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjDsP5n2kSM

Some more talks:

http://vimeo.com/94259578 (2014) http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014982/ (2011)

If anyone likes game talks then check a repo I made https://github.com/hzoo/awesome-gametalks

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