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CliffyB Talks After Finishing Gears

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the finally-over dept.

Next Generation is carrying an interview with Epic Designer Cliffy Bleszinksi, where he discusses shooters in the next-gen era, what it's like to work with Microsoft, and how it feels to wrap up Gears of War. From the article: "As a designer I don't know if it's ever possible to be fully satisfied but my gut tells me, 'yes'. I sit down and I play the game and I have a blast with it, whether it be single player versus or co-op. I mean, co-op's especially bad. I feel like I'm seeing the whole experience completely new. It's like, if you ever see a cool movie and you bring a friend to see it who hadn't seen the movie yet, right? It's that shared experience, that makes co-op so great."

48 comments

  1. Greatly bad. by Fallingcow · · Score: 2, Funny
    I mean, co-op's especially bad. I feel like I'm seeing the whole experience completely new. It's like, if you ever see a cool movie and you bring a friend to see it who hadn't seen the movie yet, right? It's that shared experience, that makes co-op so great.


    So, is it "great" or is it "bad"? WTF?
    1. Re:Greatly bad. by Dan+Slotman · · Score: 1

      "I sit down and I play the game and I have a blast with it... co-op's especially bad." He means that co-op is especially good. A typical (ab)use of bad in this way is like the following example: "I like video games. I've been wasting hours on them. Videogame X is especially bad." In this context, it is clear that Videogame X is especially time wasteful and, by implication, is the most-liked of the speaker's videogames.

    2. Re:Greatly bad. by aneurysm36 · · Score: 1

      "i love the power glove. its so bad."

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-777570098 4720149876

      --
      ------ hi mom
    3. Re:Greatly bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure he meant to say "bad ass".

    4. Re:Greatly bad. by Surt · · Score: 1

      That particular misuse of bad dates back to at least:

      http://www.google.com/search?q=michael+jackson+'ba d'&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls= org.mozilla:en-US:official

      And probably predates that by about a year.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    5. Re:Greatly bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "And probably predates that by about a year."

      Try about twenty. It's been around since at least the 70s, probably the 60s.

    6. Re:Greatly bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Catch phrases from 20 years ago are just now making inroads into the hermit-nerd community. Thinkgeek may yet be selling Pet Rocks to OSS developers.

      If only they'd actually _wash_ with the caffeinated soap...

      (and the captcha word of the day: codpiece?! Did Malda finally change his alias?)

    7. Re:Greatly bad. by Fallingcow · · Score: 1

      People still use "bad" in this way?

      I'm in the midwest, which is notorious for catching on to trends later than the coasts and then hanging on to them longer, and this went out of style here around the same time that "rad" and "gnarly" fell out of use.

    8. Re:Greatly bad. by hords · · Score: 2, Funny

      "i love the power glove. its so bad."

      But in that case it was actually true! Kind of like saying, "I love E.T. on the Atari 2600. It's so bad."

    9. Re:Greatly bad. by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      Dude, you are so TOTALLY right.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    10. Re:Greatly bad. by abandonment · · Score: 1

      yeah cliffyb is too cool for his own good alot of the time. he is one of the more 'well known' names in game design, but he talks like a 15 year old so often it's embarassing

      --
      Gekido's Lair
  2. Co-op... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    As being independent of each other when running around the level (i.e., Quake) since each user is on a different PC? Or the rubber-band effect because there's only one screen (i.e., Lego Star Wars)?

    Either way, my fellow players insist that I be in front. Apparently, they don't like being shot in the back. It's not my fault they're in my way!

    1. Re:Co-op... by Mia'cova · · Score: 1

      Split screen, system link, or live are your options

  3. "bad" is short for "bad ass" by Distan · · Score: 2, Informative

    That is clear from the article.

  4. IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    If you go to the website, you can't enter the date because it's Flash and it crashes Firefox. Do you need IE7 to view the website?

    1. Re:IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Press TAB to get the cursor to appear in the date box. Awesome website design! It's an XBox 360 game! I'll wait for the Wii version...

    2. Re:IE for website...? by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      Odd, works fine here on FF2.

      Oh yeah, I'm SO looking forward to a round of 'which FF does it work on.'

      -sigh-

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    3. Re:IE for website...? by AssCork · · Score: -1

      Maybe you should learn how to use internets before you start talking shit about IE!!!

      --
      The following replies are posted by unwashed nerds.
    4. Re:IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Laddie, I been using the internet since 1995, my first web browser was pine and I started using IE when it was still the number two browser in the market. The website design is horrible and non-intuitive.

    5. Re:IE for website...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never gonna happen. This game is Xbox 360 only now and forever. GoW is Micrsoft's primary anti-PS3 strategy for November. Remains to be seen if it has much effect. It will probably be hard to judge after November as well with shortages and all.

    6. Re:IE for website...? by Nesetril · · Score: 1

      i have the same problem... does anyone know what the deal is with this?

      --
      Jesus said to his disciples: "If you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one" - Luke 22:36
    7. Re:IE for website...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed, and after seeing the website I no longer need to bother with the game, thanks you for showing us the quality of the game without us having to buy it, and then try and get some other sucker to buy it from us.

    8. Re:IE for website...? by kerashi · · Score: 1

      It works fine in Firefox 2.0. Make sure if you're using NoScript to allow gearsofwar.com, as it blocks the flash.

    9. Re:IE for website...? by wolrahnaes · · Score: 1

      Working fine here with FF 1.5

      Check if your Flash install is fucked.

      --
      I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
    10. Re:IE for website...? by rk · · Score: 1

      In Safari 2.0.4 on the Mac, it seems to work, but I closed it because it seems insistent that it, rather than I, am the best judge of the dimensions of my web browser.

      Does the same damn thing in Firefox.

      This was a game for which I actually considered breaking down and getting a 360 because it looked completely bitchin'. Fuck 'em. I'll wait for Halo 3.

    11. Re:IE for website...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      my first web browser was pine

      I imagine you are thinking of lynx. pine might have been the first e-mail program you used...
    12. Re:IE for website...? by DAldredge · · Score: 1

      pine is a news and email reader. http://www.washington.edu/pine/

    13. Re:IE for website...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're so hardcore that your first web browser was an email client!

    14. Re:IE for website...? by Zaplocked · · Score: 0

      Making a purchasing decision on a game + system because of their site design, even in light of third party links for info and pictures you've already seen?

      Priceless.

    15. Re:IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Oh, yeah. Over a couple of tin cans and a string no less.

    16. Re:IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      It was lynx that I started using as a web browser, but I practically lived out of pine for email (still do on my linux server).

    17. Re:IE for website...? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Why not? If the console manufacturer and software developer for the same outfit don't have their crap together to sell their product, would you still buy from them? Priceless is what happens to your wallet if you choose poorly.

    18. Re:IE for website...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Awesome website design!

      You're kidding, right? That isn't even a web site, it's some kind of a torture device. How retarded do you have to be to not have a menu for navigation? If the game is twice that good, it'll suck balls. Hard.

    19. Re:IE for website...? by AcidLacedPenguiN · · Score: 1

      last I heard programmers can specialize in different areas, like in graphics shaders or physics engines. They obviously don't have enough that specialize in web design, so maybe they've spent the extra wad on more game programmers/designers. Okay, so I'm hoping that's the case.

      --
      disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
  5. CliffyB == John Romero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Another talentless hack looking for self promotion with the lamest nick ever in gaming.

    And to think Gears of War is supposed to be Microsoft's 'big game' that finally makes people go out and buy the floundering Xbox 360...a jaggy mess of a game due to Epic not being able to write a modern console engine. People stopped being impressed with the 'bumpy-shiny bald space marine in giant armor' years ago.

    The jaggy, outdated graphics wouldn't be that big a deal if there was an actual game there. But Gears of War is nothing but ten hours of hide behind cover, pop up, shoot, repeat until brain dead bad guys are dead, advance and hide behind cover, ad nauseum.

    No wonder the pc game market is dying if this is what one of the premier pc developers has to offer the console market.

    1. Re:CliffyB == John Romero by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      CliffyB wants you to be his bitch... doesn't quite ring right. I don't think anyone can top John Romero in the PR department.

    2. Re:CliffyB == John Romero by kinglink · · Score: 1

      No one can, and that's why he's John Romero.

      Cliify B does talk up a good game, but from the videos I've seen of his game he's hitting the marks. The AI in the game in intense. The cover is well done (something many games seem to screw up... Perfect Dark Zero).

      Let's not go sling mud around about how crappy the game is until you actually play the game. Daikatana looked like a great game until we actually played it and saw the frogs of death, the water of doom, and the bees of mildly annoyance.

    3. Re:CliffyB == John Romero by LukeCage · · Score: 4, Informative

      I know it's not recommended to feed the trolls, but I can't help myself.

      I just wanted to say that your comments about CliffyB are entirely inaccurate. He's the nicest guy I have ever met at any show ever; I met him at E3 (he was dressed in a pimptabulous red suit) and he actually took half an hour of his time to talk to me. Please note that I am a complete dork and had nothing to offer him - I do not work in the games industry and am not a media persion. Cliff just took the time to talk to me as a human being and fellow fan. The man is a gamer's gamer who enjoys just about every genre and is totally enthusiastic about making games. He's worked hard, made his own 2d platformer, been a level designer, and clawed his way up to a lead design position. All without any stupid smack talk or any of the other bombastic crap that "gaming celebrities" engage in.

      I think CliffyB is pretty cool and if his game is good (and I don't see why it shouldn't be; the man "gets" games) then I hope it meets with a lot of success.

    4. Re:CliffyB == John Romero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is one reason and one reason alone that gears of war is getting any attention. Microsoft has absolutely nothing else going into the big holiday sales months. If there were AAA titles coming out for Microsoft the game would be getting 6 or 7 out of ten reviews and quickly forgotten.

      Epic really fucked themselves with the absurdly bogus and now infamous marketing shots for the game. I believe most of them were rendered out with high poly models at some 5000x5000 rez with 16xAA. Not smart for a game that runs on an engine that has problems supporting decent AA on the 360. People are going to be shocked, in a bad way, when they see how the game looks nothing like the bogus marketing shots. Not only that but it sounds like the game still is having framerate problems.

    5. Re:CliffyB == John Romero by MMaestro · · Score: 1

      Another talentless hack looking for self promotion with the lamest nick ever in gaming.Considering he clawed his way up from level designer to game designer, he's got some serious talent seeing as level designer is typically a dead-end career. (Not that its a bad career, you just don't see level designers become game designers/public speaker for the company.

  6. What he should do next... by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 1

    remake of tourney '99 on wii
    remake of tourney '99 on wii
    remake of tourney '99 on wii

    Hey, I can dream, can't I?

    --
    "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
    1. Re:What he should do next... by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 1

      I concur
      I concur
      I concur ...well, maybe. I'd still want to try out the wiimote with nunchucku attachment before and even then I'd want more than just what was on the GOTY edition. Other mods, maps.

      I mean, if it doesn't have Hall of Giants, screw it.

    2. Re:What he should do next... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, I've still got UT99 and a ton of maps on my PC, I still play it sometimes, and I'm happy with it as it is.

      What I want from Epic on Wii is Unreal Championship 2 - I never had an xbox, and none of my xbox-owning friends have it, so I've never played it. Sounds pretty good though.

      But it'd be better still to have UT2007 on PC (waiting sucks), and Gears (or UC2) wouldn't hurt either. PC needs more splitscreen co-op games!

  7. Like watching a movie again? by r_jensen11 · · Score: 1
    It's like, if you ever see a cool movie and you bring a friend to see it who hadn't seen the movie yet, right? It's that shared experience, that makes co-op so great.

    I don't know if that's something you want to say.... The first time I watched Pirates of the Carribean 2, my friend (who saw it once before watching it with me) almost fell asleep. A month or two later I saw it again with a friend that never saw the movie and I nearly fell asleep.

    Don't get me wrong, Pirates 2 is a great movie, but I would've tried to use another analogy, like eating a meal you really liked a second time.

    1. Re:Like watching a movie again? by steveo777 · · Score: 1

      Good call, I can't make it through Pirates a second time and I've tried a few times, but I sure as Hell can eat sushi any day of the week and be excited about the next time I get to go.

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    2. Re:Like watching a movie again? by twistedsymphony · · Score: 1

      You missed the part where he said a cool movie... I don't know about you but I didn't find the Pirates movies very cool at all... Particularly pirates 2 it dragged on for a children's action flick and then it had no ending!

      Seriously if someone took me to see one of those movies having already seen it themselves, they've have to do something substantial to reclaim their friendship... friends don't take friends to see Pirates of the Caribbean.

      --
      Collector's Edition
    3. Re:Like watching a movie again? by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      I had the exact same experience with the movie "Butt Pirates of the Carribean."

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  8. server mechanic challenge by jadebellant1 · · Score: 1

    It looks like they're giving away an xBox 360 and the Gears of War game every week until 12/15. Pretty cool game. http://www.servermechanic.com/