"The Wii is a piece of SH!T"

[Razer]

Chris Hecker -- Maxis

At the 2005 GDC, Hecker delivered a rant about the balance of graphics, physics and gameplay, and now with the 360 and PS3 released, the balance is out-of-whack in favor of graphics and physics. At his 2005 speech, he posed the question "Will Nintendo save us?"

His answer in 2007?

"The Wii is a piece of shit."

Laughter and shocked applause from the developer-heavy crowd ensued, as Hecker elaborated to the tune of Public Enemy (seriously...he cranked it). Revealing the darkest secrets of the Wii manufacturing process ("Take two GameCubes and duct tape them together"), Hecker raked Nintendo against the coals for including a "piece of shit underpowered CPU" in the Wii, and stressed that it wasn't the graphics that are important, but how intelligent the console can be for delivering more "serious" games.

And that was the main crux of his rant -- Nintendo isn't taking games seriously enough. Juxtaposing quotes from Sony and Microsoft PR plans ("games can be art" etc.) against Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma ("our goal is to just make games that are fun"), Hecker finds the latter approach "not good enough." He claims that games can be a legitimate art form in the 21st century, "it's just ours to f*** up." Jokingly (?) threatening to rush tomorrow's Miyamoto keynote, Hecker concluded by giving two pieces of completely unsolicited advice to Nintendo:

1) Push games as a serious art form, and 2) "Make a console that doesn't suck ass."

One wonders how many in the development community share this opinion...


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This from the company that created SimCity...a game with graphics so simplistic you could do them in ASCII. Not like I was a big Maxis fan before but this truly drops them off my REAL game company list.

[Legend]

This guy is full of crap. People don't buy games because they're "A work of Art" and why the hell would you make something that's not going to sell as well? Games -have- to be fun, or you'd lose half the crowd. That's why the Wii is selling like hotcakes and the PS3 is sitting on the shelves for weeks.

Yeah, some games do seem like 'masterpieces' but those games aren't always the most entertaining. And entertainment, as Hollywood can attest, is -key-.

[Kugyou]

You know what I hear in this speech?

"We don't want to make fun games anymore." Or, perhaps more possibly, "We're not capable of making fun games that don't have 'Sim' in the title."

[Hoth]

hahah.. to an extent I agree with him.

If your going to do it, don't 1/2 ass the thing. Take an extra year of sales loss and develope the rest of the console to fit the new game style you came up with.

I see a typical nintendo future here. Make a console, and add items to b00st its performance. Im thinking of the 64 in particular but im sure im missing things, like the upgraded onboard memory thing, the box you add at the bottom of it for Duke Nukem to edit stuff. crazy things like that.

IMO

[Gekko]

I dont know who this guy is, what his credentials are, but I think that this is probably some sissified, video art school savant, who can make wicked graphics, but doesn't understand the first thing about flow in a game or presentation. I'm sure he'd make a wonderful Instruction Manual designer for EA, they could definately benefit from having someone with an artistic flair help them out there. I'm sick of seeing 4 page black and white legal disclaimers and warranty info with 2 paragraphs of game info. Give me Nintendo anyday, the manual for say, Excite Truck is full color and explains things about the game well. But EA doesn't have to worry about such things since they release the same facking game every facking year with the same FACKING manual. Again, for those of you that are new, I hate EAsy.

[Terin]

Mr. Hecker then went to the bank where he cashed his checks from Sony & M$. This man clearly has lost his grasp on what makes games fun.
-T

[Daijaga]

I expect to find this yuppie in a coffee house drinking chai. Seriously, Im a consumer, and since Im a consumer I know what consumers wants. And I wants a Wii. I bought a Wii.

Owned?

[Shurikane]

Fun in a game is a necessity. Making the game a work of art is a luxury.

Which is why Dreamcast is Superior. ^_^

[RuneLateralus]

Wow, I have remember hearing commentaries about PS3 not too long ago (namely John Carmack of id Software and very harsh words of Gabe from Valve), but I think this is the first time I harsh criticisms on the Wii.

I love the immersion that the system can provide. I do admit, I buy more 360 than I do Wii, but Zelda, Trauma Center, and Rayman provided an experience I will not have anywhere else. That alone deserves a hell of a lot of merit over what MS and Sony do.

[Graillik Tur]

Nintendo is probably the single and I mean SINGLE greatest gaming company that has ever been or will be. Nintendo during the 16bit wars destroyed graphics heavy machines like the Sega Dreamcast and 32X/CD with one simple concept. Make the game ingaging. No hype, no new techinques, no massive online play, no new particle effects. I still to this day say the greatest animation I have ever seen from a single game system was the end of FFIII when the pages of the book started to turn. Incredible by todays standards...hell no. But to see that at that age, at that time was astounding. Nintendo also has some of the most Iconic characters in all of gaming. Solid Snake, Samus, Mario, Fox McCloud, Link, Chrono, Terra, Celes, Edgar, Belmont, Ash...i can go on but everyone here that grew up in the late 80's early 90's know exactly how these characters are. And yes I understand that Squaresoft before the merger was one of the amazing game companies that helped Nintendo carve out it's RPG following, but lets be realistic,FF7 was the last GREAT FF and that was on PS1. Poor Squenix is down to putting out remakes of old games on DS and PS2. And as you can see, Square Enix has used up it's licensing with Sony, so if they have any hope of continuing in the industry that have to get away from the platform that is truly doomed to fall flat from lack of forsight, and that is the PS3.

I said it before and I'll say it again. PS3 will revolutionize the way gaming is done, and will be very successful, when the price goes down and it can offer something that no other console can. But with Squenix jumping ship to do multiplatform...the linch pin is out. Sony is gonna pull an XBox on this one. Dump massive capitol to keep it afloat till it can iron out the kinks.

And engaging gameplay is the most important thing, no graphics or gimmicky gameplay. And when I'm having to whip my arms around like a mad man to pull of my 720 mute grab, I'm engaged. When I have to remember to keep my wrist straight or Tiger is gonna whoop me on this hole, I'm engaged. And when I have to tilt the steering while just far enought to break traction but keep the car inline (GT is a great game, I love my wife) I'm engaged. Hecker is a douchbag and always has been.

Hey Hecker your paper "Perspectives on Texture Mapping" was a piece of shit. Why don't you go cry into your caffine mints some more now that your "graphics" have put you out in geek camp one more time. Sad that much like your prom date, no major gaming company will let you get in bed with them. You're pathetic and childish, and only pedophiles go to Parson's School of Design in NYC. Pedophiles and those trying to get on one of those design shows on the E!. Shouldn't you be doing Extreme Makeover Home Edition for some underprivilaged minorty family forced to play Wii? I hope you choke on your own cock, lord nows yours is the only mouth that will ever come close to it.

Burn bitch....ew.....sick burn.