Doug Lowenstein's firebrand departure speech at DICE got a lot of people talking, but for a speech that was aimed directly at developers and publishers, we haven't heard much of what they think. Have now. Gamasutra asked a whole bunch of industry types "Is Lowenstein Right?", and got themselves five pages of response for their trouble.

Predictably, and rather boringly, most simply say "yeah Doug!", and sadly, most stayed anonymous, which is fairly ironic considering Lowenstein's call to make more accountability for what you produce (the person hiding behind anonymity to take a hefty swing at Rockstar is particularly spineless). Some of the responses are pretty interesting though, none more so than this one by Michael Eilers of the University of Advancing Technology:

I don't see the type of response that occurred when the PMRC threatened the music industry in the early '80s; I don't see Frank Zappas and Elvis Costellos and articulate, passionate speakers stepping forward to defend our craft and livelihood.

Where are our industry's public champions, the kind of people who can get on the news, current affairs programs and commercials and plead their case with a bit of conviction and presentability? Developers are largely...well, they're great at making games, but are a little awkward as public figures. Publishers are businessmen, and nobody wants to hear one of them banging on about creativity.

Actually, come to think of it, the most articulate people I can think of in the industry are guys like Phil Harrison, Reggie and Peter Moore. PR men. Says a lot about this medium/business, that. Luke Plunkett

Question Of The Week: Is Lowenstein Right? [Gamasutra]

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