A very interesting read, though one must admit that the vast majority of published games (and movies and books etc) are rubbish. Know why? Because people aren't trying to create art, they are trying to get rich. Unfortunately both beauty and riches come at a cost.

Where's the bloody passion? Whatever happened to the video game designing Henry Miller?

The only way to make good games is to abandon the idea that a game designer should be involved in running a game production business. It isn't their job. There job is one thing and one thing only - to design games, and then work with a team custom-built to produce that game.

Does a film writer-director have to convince a producer, star, whomever that they have a team of actors and production company ready before they can pitch that new script? No.

The game business needs to be restructured.

Also, all of the problems he lists have almost nothing to do with design - as in the vision up front. They are all about production efficiency.

Well, I'm sorry Dan, but if you have good efficiency you can still ship a piece of pooh - it's just that this time it's a well-managed, well-coded, delivered-on-time piece of pooh.

The defense for that sort of view is that it's "realistic" or "pragmatic" -- out of the large number of people who think "I could do better," few will actually do so. But what if your reasoning was a little deeper, something like "I could do better because I have vision, determination, and the patience to hone my skills"?

Though it would be foolish for almost everyone to expect to be some sort of master-craftsman or savant from day one, anyone who has the least shred of dedication to refining his or her craft has a valid reason to give game design a shot.

Hi there:

It's right and wrong depending in the viewpoint :if you talk about "to break the system from inside", then it's correct to say that any attempt done by just a man is just futile. It's a "they put the money also the rules".

But for indi, things are different, a one-men army game can success over a big-team (and budget) game.

@ Grassroots
>Also, all of the problems he lists have almost nothing to do with design

Incorrect - point 8 covers all areas of development. Last I looked Design is part of the development process.

Even if it didn't that wouldn't matter because the post isn't a comprehensive list of the causes of bad games. I clearly stated that those were just the first ten I came up with.

>Well, I'm sorry Dan, but >if you have good >efficiency you can still >ship a piece of pooh....

Did I say otherwise? No.

Design is an integral part of the game production process. I don't understand how a design could ever be considered "finished" and handed off to a team to just go off and create a blockbuster. I've not seen any blockbusters created this way. There is alot of give and take, and iteration in the design, usually for the better.

Typically design is involved throughout the production process, and is deeply involved in managing the resources, abilities, tools, and tech available to generate a fun game. The design document is a living, changing thing that serves the needs of people coming from many different angles throughout the project.

Also, pitching a game is not in the same ballpark as actually making one, as all of us that have made fake demos can attest.