Translation: I don't want to be blackballed by the whole industry, so I will take back my childish ranting...for now, until it becomes more popular to bash Nintendo, and you better bet I will join in it.

And someone narrowly avoids being canned.

Too little too late.

Uh his apology is pretty much saying "everything in my talk was a lie".

Wasn't the whole rant a sort of joking thing they do every year at GDC?

Aside from the obvious fact that this apology was likely ordered by his higher ups, I kind of question what he is saying. When he called the wii a piece of shit, it was a bold statement, but it certainly seemed like his genuine reaction.

I would have far preferred if he simply pointed out that his comments were his alone and not those of his company. Being as he was making a statement at the GDC,

I am not even certain that he was at the proper venue for his remarks. I miss the days when people took ownership of their statements and stood by them. Now a days, we have people make all sorts of outlandish statements and then they quickly release an apology at the first sign of controversy.

I don't think it's a good gesture:

Either stick to your guns and stand by your (stupid) comments...

Or don't make them in the first place.

Is he a friend of Ann Coulter?

But it's true.

He is sorry he "IMPLIED" that?

He outright said those things.

What a phoney, worthless, and awful little bout of damage control.

Does anyone actually buy the requisite "apology" after sticking your whole foot in your mouth? Doesn't matter who it is who says it- it's still forced. I think I would of respected this guy more if he would of just kept to his word, not gone back because his bosses made him.

This guy was my hero, now he's just a backpeddaling double talking coward.
An executive position awaits him in Sony then!

@synce: True or not (and I disagree), making comments and then immediately retracting them when the collective world slaps you across the face marks you as a spineless joke to whom no serious attention should really be paid.

*recalling yesterday's episode of South Park*

"Hey! It's that Wii sucks SH-- guy! How's it going Wii sucks SH-- guy?"

Well he doesn't mean it, but I don't care, he's been forced to apologise, thats good enough. Hopefully he'll get bitchslapped when he returns to work too.

He's entitled to think the wii is crap, regardless of how many times I'd kick him in the balls for saying so if I had the chance, he shouldn't have made his statements in that stupid childish way.

Yeah, ir really looks like a forced apology. He should have say that he was sorry but that he still believe that the Wii isn't such a good device (or whatever he wanted to say).

Now he looks like a moron with a Tourette Syndrom:
-It's bull****... No no it's all good. I hate you Nintendo, you killed my dog.... I'm trully sorry, I didn't mean..... Wii is crappy hehehe!!! Ok my boss told me to relax and apology

@Anthropomancer:

Yeah he should have stayed with his anti-Wii stance. It was his opinion.

Such a great quote. I love this guy.

I have a Wii, and admire forwardness. Especially when it leads to drama.

I don't think the biggest problem with the Wii will be its power. You can make great games for it regardless of how powerful it is.

I think the control scheme and sensitivity issues will be the main reason a game is good or bad in the coming months. I wish them luck, because it means a better experience for me and 4 million+ other adopters.

I guess he was trying to be funny before, or he's trying to protect his reputation. Either way, he failed. Someone should take away his internet so he can't read it anymore.

Translation:

Nintendo is bugging me now, but you all know how I really feel.

He's perfectly entitled to his opinion... all he had to do was express it in a more meaningful manner than "The Wii is a piece of shit" and quotes from rival companies. It's possible to rant without looking like/being a childish jerk... too bad he failed to do that.

Never underestimate the tenacity and sheer feral rabidness of devoted Nintendo fans... --EVER!--

Maxis and/or EA has made a very wise move by forcing this person to apologize. Nintendo fans tend to be the kind that blackball entire companies' games on a single infringement (Rare), at least, in my experience.

I -really- wanted to play Spore, and this guy almost ruined it for me, because I would have boycotted it, and recommended to my Nintendo-fan friends not to play it either, if they had allowed that comment to stand.

Man, he just contradicted EVERYTHING he said yesterday, but apology accepted, I guess...

Want some milk with that Crow?

He could really have been kidding.

I've made jokes about all the consoles if it was going to be funny.

I don't know when saying that its shit would be very funny, but then again I've never been to GDC so who knows?

:D

"I take back everything I said, though I still mean it".
He should have the balls to stand by what he said and say "I was too harsh, but I think I made some valid points" or something.

Look at how weird he looks...

The Wii is a piece of shit with a shitty controller. No innovation. And no high def. I'm not going to say the 360 or the PS3 are worth buying, because neither have any games that make them worth buying IMO, but the Wii suffers from the same thing - AND has one of the shittiest controllers ever made. Will this change in the future? At least the games part may. But that's true for the other two as well, and their controllers are less shitty. And they do HD.

He was made to apologise, which I guess everyone with a braincell realised. EA had words about alienating a lucrative revenue stream i.e we'd sooner drop you than nintendo. Maxis got the hint and the bollocking went downward from the top in Chris' direction.

I have no sympathy for him and given that he isn't that good of a programmer I'm amazed so many are so ready to listen to him in the first place. He effectively used the Maxis name to further his cred where no cred is due....meh there seem to be a lot of people like that in our industry lately.

This makes zero sense. What a fucking pussy. First of all, he said the truth. Wii is worse than a piece of shit, it's an overpriced piece of shit with overpriced nostalgia games, an overpriced controller, and it still doesnt have online. O and if you're not playing zelda or a party game with other people, you're likely playing an unimaginative piece of crap. Being something your gf can play does not make a great system. If you only own a Wii now, imagine all the great PS3 (yes, Im laughing really hard too) and X360 games you're missing out on. I can respect the Wii like I respect the quality of a candystand game. Once in a while, it's pretty fun. Most of the time, you're much better off playing something else.

Another Translation: "Oh shit! You mean people outside of this room know what I just said?"

Looks like Chris Hecker wants to keep his name after all.

I still think the wii is a peice of shit and we all know Chris does to,,, this is his bos telling him to get out there and say your sorry....

It is ok Chris your first thought was correct....

Its obvious he had to distance his comments from his employer but why the hell did he say it all in the first place. To call games art, then shit on Nintendo for not pushing artistic merits on their product and praising Sony and Microsoft, the last of the big three who should be praised in the art advocacy department, is asinine.

It sounds like he wasn't inspired by the NES era at all. Maybe his first game machine was a PlayStation or Xbox.

I buy art because it makes my walls look pretty and projects a bit of my personality around me. Games, well, I play them to be entertained.

How come no one is asking the important question:

Who the f*** is Chris Hecker?

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,...

You're not big sh** just cause you're working on Spore. Get off the stage.

[ yesterday ]

"The Wii is a piece of shit!"

[ today ]

"I do not think the Wii is a piece of shit."

Cut him some slack, guys. I think more than anything else, he need to see a psychiatrist, as he cleary suffers from multiple personality disorder.

@Gagamus: Such misplaced anger. Did your mommy forget to hug you as a child?

I bet Nintendo paid him a bunch of money to say that. Only because what he said was incredibly true about the Wiis hardware, and Nintendo in general.

Nintendo has changed, they used to be cool and stick to what they say. Now all they do is make Mario Party games, and say one thing and do another after making us belief that its true wht they said.

I blame it all on Iwata.

Looks like someone got a scolding from Mr. Wright.

@K.ro

"I buy art because it makes my walls look pretty and projects a bit of my personality around me. Games, well, I play them to be entertained."

Exactly!

I had the misfortune to meet Chris once at a conference. He is so full of himself I don't think he has any genuine friends. He really did (when I met him) think he was right about everything. Most of us there thought "God what a prat does he even know how stupid he sounds"

I guess now he does. Nice wake-up call from reality there I think.

We've got a word in Australia for guys like this : knob-jockeys.

Australia: knob-jockeys

USA: dickwads

England: wankers

@Sailorcancer: Please do show your ignorance more.

Oh god give nintendo a chance theyre not used to being market leaders :P

Judging consoles right now is too soon lets wait a year and see what happens and if wii does turn out to be a turd. Honestly I've been worried about the lack of new announcement but atleast Mario galaxy has put my mind to rest about its graphics abilities.

About this guy hes entitled to his opinion lets not all be idiots. If he thinks wii is shit then good for him. I think the Ps3 is shit so whats the Hoolaa about.

Mr. Hecker was obviously forced to retract his statements and whether he meant them or not doesn't matter. If he was representing EA\Maxis, then the company is justified in protecting their interests.

However, it's sad that every gaming conference is now a major publicity event. With the media an omnipresent force and corporate big brother monitoring your every word and action, anything that does not fit into the marketing plan is less and less likely to be known, which is not only limited to the games industry.

He's entitled to his opinion, just like we all are entitled to ours.

It's his backpedaling that people are up against. Here's an example:

"You are a serious fucktard."

"I do not think you are a serious fucktard."

I think that behavior would tick off just about anyone, IMHO.

i agree with Chris Hecker and i sure as hell wouldnt have apologized to fucking nobody if i were him.

@synce: Agreed 100%.