Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 1:48 PM
Sun Nov 15
19 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us: tips@kotaku.com
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
Email | AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
Email | AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
Email | AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/08/09
The comic has been spotty lately and I suspect it's because he's growing bored of it. There is raw eagerness in his posts about Automata and Lookouts; those fictional worlds are beckoning to be fleshed out and I think it's plain he wants to pursue them. The same kind of enthusiasm was present when he talked about writing the script for their game. He relished in taking on a bigger project. The challenge exhilarated him.
By contrast, Krahulik seemed to spend a lot of the time micro-managing and correcting the artwork for their game. He always seemed to regard it as tedious, which makes sense as he was more distant from what was being produced. Other people had to adapt and adjust his art into the game engine, whereas Holkin's writing went straight from the screen to the page.
I can't help but wonder what Holkins might produce if he flew solo for awhile. Don't get me wrong; I like Krahulik. His art amuses and has evolved in interesting ways throughout the years, and he is the perfect personality foil for Holkins. But it may be time for a change.
09/08/09
and the news-posts just made me feel like an idiot sometime but after reading one, you feel like it had a good point and 90% of the time it has a punchline.
It's good to see how they have progressed through the years, I'm re-reading the comic again for the second time and loving it.
09/08/09
09/08/09
09/08/09
@BTFzor_Freestyle:
09/08/09
No love for the Muppet Show nowadays.
09/08/09
It's ok. We can just start a grassroots Muppets education project...
It's time to play the music.
It's time to light the lights
It's time to meet the muppets
09/08/09
But i wish em all the best!
09/08/09
The explanation I read from them is that they just created two random guys, and named them their respective names. As time went on and they did the comic for a few years, they started to realize they were interjecting their own personalities into the characters to the extent that they basically became them.
Thus, the characters we know and love today show up in the strip.
09/08/09
09/08/09
I imagine it's a little from Column A, a little from Column B.
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
Oh, and no hair.
09/08/09
09/07/09
09/08/09
09/08/09
It hasn't worked, but hey... Charity that helps children, that's worth something too.
09/08/09
09/07/09
He is a much better writer when he is forced to "distill" his dialogue.
09/07/09
I would buy the crap out of something like that.
09/07/09
09/08/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
And even with his history, you have endless snot nosed upstarts claiming he's washed up, a hack, done nothing for gaming. Same with Kojma. Don't forget as producer, they also have the power to kill projects or force restart them, which means you get coworkers who no longer view you as a coworker, but the boss who just flushed 18 months of work down the tube.
09/07/09
One defined a generation(s) of games, the other put out 9 version of Metal Gear. They really don't compare.
09/07/09
If you're talking about noteworthy game producers, you have to mention Kojima.
09/07/09
Everytime I hear a person claim Metal gear has a great plot I die a little inside.
09/08/09
09/08/09
That said, it doesn't mean that everyone is going to like the games, or be interested in the characters and plot. And if you don't like them, that's fine; you're not the only one. You're entitled to find the games uninteresting, just as those who enjoy the games are entitled to do so.
I was more making reference to the extremely high production quality that Kojima brings to the table, regardless of whether you like the story or gameplay in his games. If you want to say that the production value of the visuals, gameplay and voice acting in Metal Gear is anything but top-notch, then you haven't been paying attention.
09/07/09
A damn shame, in either case, though, if you ask me- I love those games, and think that they're sort of how I imagine the later Final Fantasy games would have been if they'd been done by the guys who made Monkey Island instead of the guys at Square.
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
09/07/09
@Foxstar is in love with Kotaku's two Brians.: So does that mean most of the PAers took refuge at 4ch?
09/08/09
09/07/09
Real game design takes an huge amount of work and cooperation. Game's often have very strict budgets, and they have to be planned from start to end with a real schedule that someone has to manage (meaning they manage YOU, and you have to listen). Going it alone is extremely hard because there's simply no funding. That doesn't factor in the fact that you may not even find a real publisher. If you want the funding, you can pitch an idea to company. Most companies won't even accept it unless they believe it has a sales potential though (aka. IT MUST BE AN FPS! etc.). Assuming you get past that stage and you're given funding, you may have to answer to your investors. That means you no longer have real control over your product. Also, if you're an artist, you don't get to draw whatever the hell you want. You have to draw what your designer or producer ASKS you to draw. It's not like when you got to draw doodles in your art book during high school. Be prepared to draw numerous variations of the exact same thing, or things you don't even enjoy, until your boss finally gives a green light.
I could way deeper into the process but, needless to say, games require a very large amount of effort to produce. Often, much of the work that goes into them is thrown out as well, and you can count out public recognition unless you're one of the team leads. People quit development classes by the droves once they understand the reality of the development process (and real employees often quit because of the stress). The truth that most of their ideas will never come to fruition, and in rare cases only after years of hard work and the hope of a promotion, usually turns people right off. The rest simply can't keep up.
Game development is often a harsh industry. Some people get lucky and some people can takes the stress. Unfortunately, for many who take a stab at the industry, Mike Krahulik apparently being one of them, they often find out it's not as fun or rewarding as they expected.
09/07/09
I enjoy playing games. I know I have no desire to make them.
09/07/09
As for artists not being able to draw what they want - the artists in the higher echelons usually end up calling the creative shots (I've seen it in at least two developers now). Designers are the red-headed step-children of the industry (we're usually perceived as doing nothing substantial) and producers are the poor bastards that are hated by everyone but are ultimately the reason a product is released at all.
I have a LOT of respect for Mike & Jerry because they haven't become absorbed in the self-important, sycophant-collecting bullshit that is the games industry.
I had a chance to speak with Mike & Jerry at last year's SDCC (well, actually, just Jerry as Mike was very quiet) and it's comforting to know that such a great expo is headed by two very grounded individuals that don't take themselves too seriously and tell it like it is.
09/07/09