It works, in theory…
Socialism (or Communism?) is famously a political system that works, in theory. When I previously used the redundant metaphor of Manifesto Games as socialism, I think I may have given the wrong impression — I blame it on my exposure to Slashdot groupthink — that I somehow thought indie games being sold through fair and equitable channels was a bad idea. I clearly do not.
What turns me cold to Manifesto Games is the attitude that surrounds it, the “Fuck the publishers!” writ large in every message, memo, ad, logo and interview. I understand the sentiment, and I appreciate that most of these folks have some sincere experience that justifies their feelings. I just feel as though the image this portrays to those folks beyond our current audiences is one of brash, juvenille angst — in other words, exactly the negative stereotype we regularly defend ourselves against.
Ironically, these are exactly the creators who call for innovations in gameplay that lead to broader appeal. And they largely delivers on the call, at least in a raw indie film kind of way. The problem is that they then go and wrap it in a public image that accomplishes the same goal.
Sugar attracts more than salt… even if the bitterness is not directed toward your audience, the result is the same: when people who don’t live and breath games get a snapshot of this they get that same chill you get when your best “couple” friends have an argument in front of you. Coincidentally, the same feeling I got when I played Facade. 
heh, check out this quote from the Laser Squad Nemesis page on Manifesto:
“This, and not some $40 million budget game developed by hundreds of drones in an EA sweatshop–this is the future of games.”
Very tacky … and LSN is an awesome game to be used by Greg to promote his views in this way.
I actually think most of what indie devs produce is just as derivative, or it succeeds in implementing a refinement or added mechanic well but no in breaking truly original ground.
Its funny, because in a Pop Culture class I’m taking we’re discussing Marx’s theories, key to this analogy. Marx believed that capitalism was needed in order to produce the conditions for socialism, you can’t just skip the capitalism phase. I think Manifesto’s marketing prescence has been much more restrained than Storytron’s, which is like the Ophrah’s book club of gaming, rather than the Bolshevik revolution. (Thats a joke, we’ll see how it does when it launches.) I think Manifesto should play at the reality of Marxist theory, suggesting that their more cost effective capitalism is the prelude to a realistic indie socialism.
And don’t pick on Facade, its a prototype. Sure, it took five years to make, but its basically a prototype.
Facade was entered into the IGF, so they don’t get any passes for being a “prototype.” Its own creators put it forward for critique.
And of course what most indie devs produce is just (if not more) derivative. That’s part of my whole f*cking point with all of this “anti-” bullsh*t. It’s the nature of art… very little of it is different enough from what has come before it that it’ll be dubbed “original,” and most of what is dubbed “original” finds its roots in simply more esoteric inspirations.
We’ve got to stop pounding this “innovate or assimilate” mindset into our indies… it sets up unrealistic and ultimately unsatisfying expectations. What would you rather play: something you enjoyed but was derivative or something that was boring but original?
A good question, my (non)answer is both. For instance, I often go back and play N when I’m bored, listening to music I have, for the past year, consistently enjoyed a sometimes punishing but ultimately liberating flow from that game, which I think embodies the value of an indie doing something only marginally different very well. You wouldn’t get refinement in that genre in the AAA system. On the other hand Facade I’ve only played a few times (I’m gonna give it another go now that the OS X version is out) but those few experiences have probably done more for me as a designer (though not a human being, we’re not quite there yet) than all my hours of playing N or Mount and Blade.
Earnest Adams made a good point recently with a call for “highbrow games”, N may be more robust, because its mechanics are twenty five years old, but Facade inspired NYTimes articles on “Gaming grows up” and the like - this is more valuable than mere fun.
You have to consider that the mechanics of dramatic interaction are so young, maybe five years, but four more realistically. Facade should be admired not just for the production effort but for the design’s bold breaking of new ground with its social unit operations of discourse acts. Thats fancy talk for social verbs. If this was 1978 and someone came out with N we’d have our minds blown, except the N of 1978 wouldn’t have tight controls and physics like N.
Anyway, Manifesto’s ultimate strength, their raison d’ entre, is to host titles which range from the robust to the esoteric, you get everything from Cloud (free content) to DROD (check it out, its gauntlet meets tetris, or something). They can find a niche by supporting a stream of hobby enthusiasts while also putting a really innovative title on the stand it deserves. In those rare exceptions the Manifesto attitude should implicitedly provide some background heat for the marketing.
Remember, Stalin wasn’t evil, he was just trying to push a marketing campaign. Same goes for Chris Crawford and Greg Costikyan. Hell, why do you think I casually drop hints about my personal life and drug consumption on my blog, its a tactic.
Of course you enjoy playing Facade, from an academic perspective. You’re a budding game designer. That means you want to consume the medium in any form you can find it. That’s healthy, and good, and right.
But I was speaking from an audience perspective. The primary audience for games is seeking entertainment (just like the primary audiences for film and TV). Sure, there are also secondary audiences seeking things like education (i.e. serious games or edutainment), but those are certainly not defining our place in the larger culture (at least no more so than Spike Jonez’s early industrial training videos defined music videos or film).
Sure, you may not get that refinement in the 2D platformer genre in the AAA system (unless you ignore Viewtiful Joe or New Super Mario Bros. or Loco Roco), but that’s largely because the 2D platformer was supplanted commercially with the 3D platformer and FPS. In those genres, we have seen a tremendous amount of refinement, particularly in the cases where the gameplay is marginally different.
Ironically, isn’t marginal refinement exactly what the “indie” crowd accuses the AAA’s of doing to a fault? You can’t have your innovation cake and eat it, too!
I think the call for high brow games is a bit pretencious myself (and apparently I’m not the only one, judging by the responses the article got). Merchant Ivory films are certainly one specific group’s vision of “high brow film” and is not a universal by any stretch of the mind. And the various articles regarding Facade were all very much of the flavor of “old media hyping new media.” As an avid game player and programmer for going on two decades, I’d say that the only reason something like Facade didn’t pop up earlier than it did was simply a lack of interest… not insight nor technology nor technique, but purely a lack of interest.
Sure, but how’s that different from what’s come before? There are plenty of aggregated software shops for those unwilling or uninformed on how to acquire these products direct from the source. DROD has been around forever, and has a decently loyal following. Will it get a few more sales, a few more eyeballs because of Manifesto? Sure. Is it because of anything unique to Manifesto? No. It’s marketing…
And that’s the irony! Manifesto, the anti-AAA “publisher/distributor”, is bring attention to these titles in exactly the same way the big publishers bring attention: marketing. The only thing that differentiates Manifesto from other online game shops is their “grassroots/rebalista” attitude, which is pure marketing hype (no matter how sincere it may be for Greg, et al).
Exactly. It’s image marketing. And that’s fine, it works… I just hate “anti-marketing marketing” because it’s so transparent. “We’re against the Man! And to let everyone know we’re against the Man, we’re going to send a press release to PRWire and get Slashdotted!”
I think Manifesto would be far more successful at achieving their goals (which I assume are to promote and sell indie game titles) if they approached it in a less “fuck you” kind of way. Honestly, do you think many people are buying their titles just so they can say “fuck you” to the big publishers? Right… like consumers really put their money where their mouth is!
I dunno, Che Guevara shirts sell pretty well.
I have tremendous respect (and enthusiasm in my own right) for marketing, and I think I know a few things about guerilla marketing vs. saturation marketing. I think the “fuck you” attidute, when understated, is intrinsically useful to the mechanics of guerilla marketing, because its suggests there’s a movement to join, rather than a product to consume. Sure, its a product too, but if people feel the vibe then that can improve your spread to reach ratio, word of mouth and all that.
“Understated” being the operative word…
As my friend Topher once told me when we were on designer drugs, “theres a certain modesty to being a rock star.”