I loved Fez and I think Phil Fish is a criminally abused personality on Twitter. Abused, mostly by people that will never, even if they lived ten lives, be able to create something as incredible as Fez. The gaming world is a weird, stark battlefield, in which lines have been drawn for over two decades now. Genesis CAN what NintenDON’T. It’s in the gamer’s DNA to pick a side and defend it as if the multi-billion dollar corporation were a dear family member. But then again, in 2013, corporations actually are people, so this ‘corporationalism’ isn’t really that far out, is it?
The pitchforks and torches started marching on Fish’s quirky 2D castle a few years ago, when he said Japanese games ‘sucked.’ He was then lambasted, receiving death threats daily, all because of an opinion. It’s strange; we’re in a world in which people complain about publishers paying off media outlets, and that no one is speaking their mind, then along comes Phil Fish, speaking his mind, and all we have in the end is an army of pots and kettles.
What do these people want, other than to watch the world burn?
Phil Fish was recently approached by Game Informer to discuss the Xbox One and indie development on the platform. Phil didn’t comment in Phil’s usual way, but he also stated he didn’t want to say much without having enough information on the subject. Then, the bloodiest battle in the war took place as “Annoyed Gamer” Marcus Beer took to Fish and Jonathan Blow:
Here’s the full, unedited rant by Beer, in which all good points are debased by childish name-calling and irrelevant points about the games of Phil Fish and Jonathan Blow are reinforced with attacks on their character.
Fish, overreacts, but it’s Fish, so what did you expect. He goes off on Beer, telling him to kill himself, which was uncalled for, but Phil is not known for turning the other cheek, something I can respect, and, well… Basically Phil locks down his Twitter account, cancels Fez 2 and quits the gaming industry. The trolls took the castle walls, and invaded the keep.
This video does a pretty good job of summing up everything.
This sets a precedent. The power no longer lays in the hands of the creator, not like it completely ever did, but now the people with the talents of name-calling gather the masses, and $120 plain white shirts made by Kanye West are selling out in stores everywhere.
It’s better to burn out than to fade away. Even if it’s at the hands of a torch. At least Phil has that going for him.
