GDC: "The Wii is a piece of sh*t," says Hecker

[Spartan_X]

GDC: "The Wii is a piece of sh*t," says Hecker

Ellie Gibson 00:49 (GMT) 08/03/2007

Nintendo criticised for not taking games seriously

Chris Hecker, the founder of developer Definition 6, has launched an attack on the Wii at the Game Developers Conference, accusing Nintendo of failing to recognise games as an art form.

His comments came in a short speech during the Burning Mad: Game Publishers Rant session at GDC this morning. He began by referring to his 2006 GDC rant, where he criticised PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the balance of focus on graphics versus gameplay.

"At the end I asked the audience, will Nintendo save us? Will they deliver a balanced machine that's fast enough? The answer to that question is the topic of today's rant," Hecker said.

He then showed a slide which featured the slogan 'Fear of the Wii Planet', and told the audience, "Everybody loves the Wii. 'Oh, God, the Wii, we love the Wii so much'... The Wii is a piece of ****.

"I have uncovered the secret to Wii manufacturing. The way you manufacture a Wii is you take two GameCubes and some duct tape," Hecker continued.

"This thing is totally underpowered... This is not about graphics, more polygons, all that kind of crap. What I want to be able to do is spend CPU to make the machine smarter, more interesting and more automatically intelligent.

"It's about interactivity - that is the key differentiator of our art form, and interactivity is about doing something interesting with that input and threading it back to the user. You can't do that with a piece of sh*t underpowered computer."

The next part of Hecker's speech questioned whether "Nintendo gives a sh*t about games as an art form", observing that a Google search reveals that the phrase "art form" is found on PlayStation.com 30 times, on Xbox.com 13 times, and zero times on Wii.com.

"If you widen it to include Nintendo.com, you get seven. Still 50 per cent less art than Xbox.com," he observed.

Adopting a more serious tone, Hecker then presented quotes from Bill Gates and Phil Harrison about games as art which he said shows they are "taking it seriously".

Next up was a word from Zelda creator Eiji Aonuma, who Hecker quoted as saying, "I don't feel that games can necessarily be considered art. There's nothing wrong with that; our goal is just to make games that are fun."

Hecker's response: "This is not good enough for people who are leading our industry... If we're going to make games the art from of the 21st century, we need people who care more than just, 'I'm going to make some fun toys.'

"We're at the beginning of something that could be an art form on a par with film and literature and music, and it's ours to f*ck up."

Hecker concluded his speech by joking that he plans to rush the stage during Shigeru Miyamoto's GDC keynote speech tomorrow, and outlining his demands for Nintendo.

"Number one: recognise and push games as a serious art form. Number two: make a console that doesn't suck ass."

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

[JohnMarsten]

just a quick question, what art forms has Hecker and his studio created and are they even fun ? .... (yes that was a rhetorical question)

[Doli]

This Hecker fellow should make his own console and see if he can compete with the Wii

I like fun games.

[psybapunk]

Fun sales. If they want games to become an "art" form, then they need to start calling them something other than 'games'. "Dude, I bought this new piece of art today, so awesome. It was $50 and every month I get to pay $15 more dollars just so I can keep looking at it. Awesome" No, not awesome.

Games are just that, games. They should be fun.

Console games JUST got over the 853x480 resolution, they have a long way to go.

[Xerus]

I'm not sure if this is sarcasm or not at this point. I mean, its so ridiculous that its funny... y'know? ;D

[Spartan_X]

just a quick question, what art forms has Hecker and his studio created and are they even fun ? .... (yes that was a rhetorical question)

This Hecker fellow should make his own console and see if he can compete with the Wii

I like fun games.

Chris Hecker -- Maxis

At the 2005 GDC, Hecker delivered a rant about the balance of graphics, physics and gameplay, and now with the 360 and PS3 released, the balance is out-of-whack in favor of graphics and physics. At his 2005 speech, he posed the question "Will Nintendo save us?"

His answer in 2007?

"The Wii is a piece of ****."

Laughter and shocked applause from the developer-heavy crowd ensued, as Hecker elaborated to the tune of Public Enemy (seriously...he cranked it). Revealing the darkest secrets of the Wii manufacturing process ("Take two GameCubes and duct tape them together"), Hecker raked Nintendo against the coals for including a "piece of **** underpowered CPU" in the Wii, and stressed that it wasn't the graphics that are important, but how intelligent the console can be for delivering more "serious" games.

And that was the main crux of his rant -- Nintendo isn't taking games seriously enough. Juxtaposing quotes from Sony and Microsoft PR plans ("games can be art" etc.) against Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma ("our goal is to just make games that are fun"), Hecker finds the latter approach "not good enough." He claims that games can be a legitimate art form in the 21st century, "it's just ours to f*** up." Jokingly (?) threatening to rush tomorrow's Miyamoto keynote, Hecker concluded by giving two pieces of completely unsolicited advice to Nintendo:

1) Push games as a serious art form, and 2) "Make a console that doesn't suck ass."

One wonders how many in the development community share this opinion...

Source: 1UP

[Code.Red]

Um, what the hell? :huh:

[goji]

I played the Wii for the first time yesterday... I'm HOOKED! Nintendo got it right on this one, the games are fun, and that to me is an art. So what if you have a game the pushes for the most gigaflops and the highest resolution textures possible. At the end of the day, if the game is not fun to play, it won't be moving off the store shelves any faster.

[Veedems Veteran]

This guy is an ass. I've never heard of him until now and I already hope it's the last time he comes up.

[SixFootJockey]

I have no idea who this guy is, but he's talking nothing but rubbish. Yes, games are an art-form to an extent, but they should be all about having fun.

I loved this quote though:

"It's about interactivity - that is the key differentiator of our art form, and interactivity is about doing something interesting with that input and threading it back to the user. You can't do that with a piece of sh*t underpowered computer."

I don't know what he's smoking, but the Wii is the most interactive out of the lot!

And video games have been considered an art form for a long time! GoldenEye 007 received a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for Interactive Entertainment.

Edited March 8, 2007 by matt_hobbs05

[stanley porkchop]

He can't be for real.

Chris Hecker (N)

[Robgig1088]

what a complete moron. Too bad the Wii is owning both of the other consoles. He seriously needs to pull his head out of his arse :huh:

[DeathGod]

Its like a dumb blonde, All you get is to touch touch touch and do her but when all said and done when you want to have an intelligent conversation with her all she can relate to is "Do I look fat" The Wii is crap when it comes to its 30 dollar Cpu.

[stanley porkchop]

You're crap when you come to validity.

[goatsniffer]

While I like the PS3 and XBOX360, they basically just have more pollys and gigaflops than their predecessors. At least Wii is revolutionary, thinking about something new.

I've been mashing buttons since my atari, rumble features or two analog sticks doesn't change the fact that I am just mashing buttons.

The other day I played some Wii golf at with some friends and we got some serious form going. We weren't just using joysticks, no we were swinging and following through with our swings.

Bottom line: Games are games, not art. If anything, the Wii made them more like art because you can actually put more of yourself into the game. Chris Hecker is a pot head and I should have his job because at least I know what I'm talking about

"I'm Chris Hecker and I'm a stupid jackass. Rawrrr! They took 2 gamecubes and taped them together!!! Pay attention to me!!! Change is scary!!

[psybapunk]

Its like a dumb blonde, All you get is to touch touch touch and do her but when all said and done when you want to have an intelligent conversation with her all she can relate to is "Do I look fat" The Wii is crap when it comes to its 30 dollar Cpu.

You've obviously never played the Wii. No, its not nearly the best looking or performing system, big deal. It offers awesome replayability and a level of fun that the others wish they could achieve.

[Bant Veteran]

nameless dev bashes nintendo, becomes known!

needs to get his ass stuffed with wiimotes.

[goatsniffer]

Thought I would add a that Wii has no backwards-compatability issues. Has an extremely large and growing reverse-library. Is fun for all age groups. Doesn't cost $600 even if you get a full set of accessories. Doesn't heat up your entire house and add 2 digits to your electricity bill. Must I go on...

[KeR]

I would think it would take a more artistic mind to make a game for the Wii due to the unique controllers then it would for a PS3 and Xbox 360.

[goatsniffer]

I hope that dumbass visits neowin and reads this stuff. What a loser, seriosly...

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

This guy is an ass. I've never heard of him until now and I already hope it's the last time he comes up.

I agree.

And really, i play games because they are fun, i don't play games that aren't fun, i don't play them to enjoy them as an art form (passing something off as art seems to be used a lot when the game sucks)

[nid~vaeda]

This may be a silly thing to say but does this guy know anything about art? Take a look at his official homepage and tell me he has an artistic mind...

[obsolete_power]

well one has to admit that the wii is not something to look at or play for the pretty graphics because let's face it, they are absolutely horrid and unfortunately stuck in the 80s but the games are damn fun and this is where Nintendo wins. Nintendo never does graphics, they sell fun and you cannot compete with that.

[Digitalx]

couldn't comment on the wii any better myself. he's got something right there. :)

[Berto]

Using Wikipedia to find some info on this guy gives me some info that loops and doesn't bring anything up for me. :(

I did how ever manage to pull up a cached page via Google, check it:

Chris Hecker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Christopher Bryan Hecker is a programmer and commentator associated with independent video games.

Hecker was a student at Parsons in New York City, studying the fine arts towards work as an illustrator. An article in Byte Magazine sold him on programming and he dropped out of school to begin work on graphics and games.

Hecker worked at Microsoft for three years, developing 3D graphics drivers for the Windows operating system. He left the company in the 1990s to start Definition 6, an Oakland, California based games and computer graphics consulting company that pushed the OpenGL standard for graphics display.

Hecker sits on the advisory board for the Game Developers Conference. For many years he was Editor-At-Large of Game Developer Magazine. He uses both of these platforms, and just about any stage he can get, to lobby for the development of an independent games movement. Lamenting the lack of innovation in gameplay, Hecker has pushed for alternative markets and models for small-scale video game production.

In 2002, with a few of his friends (largely Looking Glass Studios veterans), Hecker co-founded the successful Indie Game Jam.

Hecker spent many years working independently on a game based on the sport of rock climbing. In 2004, he took a job with Maxis, working with Will Wright on Spore. It is interesting to note that though Hecker is respected within the game industry, as of 2005 he still has not shipped a single game (this will likely change when Spore is released).

In 2006, Hecker was awarded the Community Contribution award at the Game Developers Choice Awards at the 2006 Game Developer Conference. True to form, he used the opportunity to deliver a rant (really a "rave-in-rant's-clothing") about how privileged we all are to live during the birth of a new medium, and how we should be careful to not screw it up.

He lives in Northern California with his wife and their child.

*******************************//

Not a whole lot of info there, I know. What stands out to me is that he seems to be more of an advocate at this point in his career and spreads the fine gospel of Art in Video Games. According to this info above "....he still has not shipped a single game...." really stands out when you consider he's knocking Nintendo, of all companies, with their years of gaming history behind them and an exceptional future ahead with the Wii shining as brightly as one of them golden stars in Super Mario Bros. ;)

Maybe Hecker should stop playing with his pecker and actually show us this art that he speaks of.