Wait, can come off as pretentious? He always seems to. I just assumed he was putting on a show and that he is a really nice guy when no one is around.

I group Blow in with someone like David Milch - if you've ever watched any of the interviews on the Deadwood DVDs he talks an amazing amount of shit.
I think it comes down to working methods; some people and create just on the literal level, some people need to break everything down to tiny pieces and analyze the shit out of it, and people like Blow and Milch need to go the other way, and create massive sprawling goals that direct their creative impulses. If you don't work that way, it sounds pretentious as all hell - just like the analyzers sound sort of OCD, or the people in the middle sound really slapdash.
All that really matters is the final product. Can't wait to play Braid myself.

I normally love to watch these things and analyze the hell out of them, but really, I just wanna play the game. When's it coming to the 360?

Maybe if he took his game on PSN/XBL I'd be interested. I'd say for PSP but that already has a SNES emulator so...

I think I'll avoid this site at the weekends. Academic slathering fills me with rage.

@slomo788:

Braid is coming to XBL.

Lots of Jonathan Blow haters out there...wow.

@Coyotegrey: I think it's an act, kinda like Pro Wrestling, no one really acts like that.

That said, I think he makes some great games.

Don't know a whole lot about Blow or Braid, but A Lesson is Learned But the Damage is Irreversible was probably the very best webcomic ever created (not hyperbole), so I'm quite excited to see Hellman's name attached to the project.

@ErskinPig: Well, I suppose ignorance IS bliss after all...

i like the idea of how he's been massively tweaking the game for so long. that is really huge, i think..

also, it does have some cool ideas, and the interview was interesting, to explore the ideas of the game.

not all games have to be "JUST" fun. so i think its neat to explore that aspect.

thats my take anyways.

I find it hard to fault anyone for having a big ego. Hell, half the people commenting here have egos that put blows to shame. Me, for one.

I am the fount of all truths. Listen to me and you shall do no wrong. WORSHIP MEEEEEE!

@joelface: I heartily agree, but they ought to be at least worth playing. Many games aren't necessarily good by some arbitrary standard, but are still fun in other ways, like that anti-Mario game that punished you for you Mario knowledge. That is by definition bad game design, but loads of fun.

I'm considering buying an Xbox 360 for this game. But if I do, I won't have to subscribe to LIVE to download it will I? Or will I?

@stop2: You'll just need a silver level account, which is free.

@stop2: No you will not.

This game looks like what Back to the Future: The Game should have been.

God, the music is incredible.

Maggie, are they releasing preview builds to the press? I haven't heard about this at all.

@Atheist Jew: The soundtrack is fabulous (the stuff for the first couple of levels is my favorite so far. I started playing and nearly fell over from excitement that I'd get to listen to THAT while I was playing). I've literally been standing around in the game at points and just taking it all in - it's like stepping into a picture book. I don't think the videos convey it very well. I can't wait to see it on my TV as opposed to my little laptop - I've been really impressed. It's a really neat game and I think it should appeal to a reasonably wide cross-section of people.

He's got a PC version up and running that's being tweaked pretty constantly - I'm on version 3 (since he first sent me a copy, which would've been 3 weeks ago or so). I'm not exactly sure where it is in the process of XBLA. I'd assume it's made the rounds - I got one since we were embroiled in discussion over email. I'll be writing about my experiences with it for my feature this month.

@Maggie Greene: I hope this is one of the few instances in which an indie game's soundtrack is released for public consumption. This musical brilliance must be on my mp3 player now.

I wonder what his conditions are for sending out preview builds...I'll talk to my editor! Thanks!

I don't even know what to say. It's like a sum of everything I hate about fly-by-night game developers. Talking up a product that's not either pushing technology, a game universe, or gameplay seems pretty easy to do for some people. It's fine to remake Mario or even Uno or Galaga -- lots of sucessful titles do this -- however it's not fine art or creative.

@Mongoosekun: You know what else is pretty easy? Dismissing a game as a Mario remake without bothering to find out anything about it and discovering that it IS, in fact, pushing gameplay, design, and story in new directions.
I haven't played it, so I can't say if the game really succeeds in its lofty ambitions, but every report from people who have played it suggests it breathes new life into the platforming genre and genuinely warrants the hyperbole.
And I don't mean to single you out personally, but every Braid thread on these forums seems to be full of people who see platforms and instantly start to sneer. Getting a little tired of it.

@Coyotegrey: Well he's such a shameless self-promoter, and it's clear that he buys his own hype. He doesn't talk about what artistic goals he's trying to meet, he talks about how he met them before the game's even out. It's ok to do a post-mortem once the game has been released, but right now it sounds like counting your chickens before they've hatched or, worse yet, flagrant egotism.

@Mongoosekun: "I think you should try playing Uncharted^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Braid before you make an ass out of yourself again."

Don't you have a Wii topic to troll somewhere?

if we ignore him, will he go away?

@pocketcowboy: No, but we will. It is the opposite of the closet monster. So we have to screw our eyes tight, click our heels together, and believe in Mr. Blow.

It's for your continued existence.

@Atheist Jew: According to the documentation with the game, all the music is licensed under Creative Common terms. I've just pulled out the .ogg files and have been listening to them that way. You can find the people playing on the soundtrack at [www.jamisieber.com], [www.shirakammen.com], and [magnatune.com] . It's good stuff & works well in (and out of!) the game. I hope the music stays the same for the final build.

Braid isn't a 'remake' of classic platformers in the sense of not doing anything new - a lot of the in game mechanics/rules are what I would describe as diametrically opposed to the way classic platformers are played. A game for everyone? No, but a gussied up remake it is not (and really, it would've been somewhat satisfying to say '... And his game sucks!' - but it doesn't). There's a lot of interesting stuff going on with the time mechanics, among other things.

@Doomstalk: I hope his game doesn't blow... Get it, get it?! Hohohoho! I kill myself!

Seriously though, I really didn't find that interview all that bad. I think the majority of you are sheep, incapable of forming your own thoughts. Someone said they dislike Blow and think he's full of shit and half of you jump on the bandwagon.

What kind of developer/producer DOESN'T talk up his/her game? That's just bad business. Besides, why can't Blow think he's met his goals before he releases his game? That's his opinion. You don't have to agree with him, but that doesn't mean he can't have one. An artist can draw a picture and thinks it's awesome before releasing it to the public. If you need to ask other people what they think before you can form your own opinions, you have no confidence in your work/art/whatever and it probably really does suck.

Blow didn't need to talk down other developers and games, but honestly, he's not as bad as most of you make him out to be. Most of you talk more trash than him anyways.

@Maggie Greene: Wonderful, thanks!

You know, I'm quite at a loss for all this dislike for Jon Blow. He's doing something that's good for the medium! And he's a pretty nice guy, too.

Oh, and I take the sheep part back. Heat of the moment, I guess. I'm not specifically trying to defend this guy, but he's getting a lot of flak for... well, not much. Itagaki has the biggest ego and the biggest mouth of any dev I know (except maybe Molyneux...) and he doesn't get as much shit from you guys.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, let's all hate on Blow once his game comes out and it sucks. If it doesn't, well, so much the better.

Oh sweet. A game that I won't be playing because it's only on 360.

Fuck that.

Maybe it's just my own ego talking but i've never found listening to indie developers to be all that intresting. Greating a 2d game is just far less complexities then making a full blown 3d project that needs to appeal across a wide spectrum of consumers.

@Lancehead: Itagaki doesn't really have a big ego, it's just an act with him.

@ohhello: It's probably going to come out on PC at some point.

@weasl: Really? The design aspect is just as intensive, if not more because you're doing something you personally care about. The engine would've been complex enough (mechanics work a different way in each level, and it's been coded to look like a living painting).

@Lancehead: It's not so much talking up the game, as calling it "revolutionary" that drives me nuts. It just doesn't seem like such a title is his call. The central mechanic of Braid isn't even all that original. Blinx did something similar way back in 2002, right down to the time shifted doppelganger when you rewind.

I also can't stand all the pretension that surrounds Braid. It's not that I'm anti-intellectual-- I've got a degree in English Literature for god's sake!-- but every time I read some pseudo-intellectual gushing about Braid, I feel the bile rise in the back of my throat. They make these broad, sweeping generalizations without any sense of perspective with regard to the history of gaming. It's as if everything that's come before Braid is trash, and John Blow is our messiah, come to rescue us from our air-headed pop culture ghetto. The industry has created some amazing games with real craft an artistry, and to try and cheapen them like that feels like an insult to us all.

i don't know why bur he just doesn't seem like a likable person lol

@Doomstalk: While Blow may be annoying, and those gushing about it doubly so, it is important to remember one thing. Do not judge a game by its creator, or its fanbase. Sure, the time-rewind/doppelganger thing has been done before, but ask yourself: Is it fun?

The game is hardly going to be as revolutionary as Blow thinks it will be, but it will probably be good. That is just fine by me. Now if he was more... Boll-ish, where he puts turds on pedestals and frowns when he doesn't get the worship he so richly deserves, then I would take offense.

(This is Jonathan Blow).

I've never called the game revolutionary. I also don't talk about "why the game is pretty awesome" (the phrase at the end of this posting). That would definitely be cocky, and it's not my attitude (either in this interview, or in general).

Keep in mind that there's a difference between what people with preview copies are saying about the game, and what I say about it. If they say it's revolutionary or pretty awesome then I am happy to hear that! If they say it's bad, then I listen to that too, and try to learn from it.

In this video David and I were just talking about our thought processes in making the game. This is the kind of stuff designers talk about all the time, so I'm not sure what more to say about that.

Anyway, thanks for all the comments; we are working hard to finish up the game so you can play it for yourselves!

@Ghede: Oh I'm not making any statements about the game itself, I'm just qualifying my dislike for Blow and his attitude. If the game is great, I'll be glad to play it. But that doesn't mean I won't still think Blow is a pretentious, self-important fuck.

@FallingStance: I apologize if I've mis-attributed some of the previews as being your own words. I guess I'm just venting my frustration at seeing academic snobbery's attempt to invade yet another thing I love. Sorry if some of the things I said were a bit strong (my last post in particular).

@FallingStance: I don't get why everyone's calling you (to quote Doomstalk) a "pretentious, self-important fuck". You seem all right to me. But I always try to fit in, so I can be cool, like the other kids. So... Yeah. Thanks for making what looks like an entertaining and interesting (if not revolutionary) game, you pretentious, self-important fuck. :)

I'll be happy to play it- it looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous.

@FallingStance: Hi there, thanks for stopping by and speaking up about your game. Really appreciate it when devs like yourself take time out of the busy schedules you guys have to stop by and say a few words.

Now that it seems things have been straightened out a bit we will be looking foward to playing Braid when its released!

@FallingStance:

PSN VERSION PLZZZZ.

@FallingStance: ... Kudos. Honest to goodness feedback.

... Now I'm kind of wishing you HAD made those statements, just so I could believe them now.

@Ghede: Having a family that has one or two hands in the entertainment industry, you really do have to have a giant ego to get anything done creatively. Sometimes you just have to be a massive, flaming douche.

Nice interview and good game! Don't know why some people here act so pissy.

@Eden.B:

I'm not denying that the developers are any less passionate about their work, but at the same time i'll stand by the fact that 2d games reperesent a simplistic and easier formula for people to make a game (gimic or mechanic) work.

What it really boils down to is number of player options that open in when you give them free range within in an enviroment, and the end users ability to "break" a designers vision.. The flip side of that are traditional 2d games where developers for the most part will know exactly what the user will be seeing at any given point, as well as an easier control over a more rigid game experience.

The challenge of creating a fun and intutive game grows exponentioaly with the number of factors involved, and there are simply more of them in 3d games.

I'm impressed that the guy can stick with this for THREE YEARS. I can't stay with one idea for three seconds!

... I hate pretentious "artists". Many times I have the feeling they do their work in a certain way just so that it can be called "artistic" and "deep", rather then for a more genuine purpose, as if some people liked doing indy games only because they are indy, as opposed to people who are true to themselves and make games the way they want to make them, even though their game isn't some form of so-called modern art, such as the people who made metal gear, baldur's gate 2, fallout, half-life, starcraft, games which might seem "non-artistic", and yet are the best games I've eve