General Gaming Bloomberg: the first game by Ken Levine's Ghost Story Games has been stuck in development hell due to Levine's stubborn management style (which has also led to people leaving)

[Brian]

 

[Ghost_MH]

You're telling me that an "auteur" that obviously needs someone reigning in their base tendencies is struggling and toxic when getting to the shots? Shocker.

[stepee]

I always forget that it was his choice to disband the studio.

[Mr.Vic20]

Proof that sometimes the only way to get good results out of a talented asshole is to have an even bigger asshole above them in the food chain. 

[skillzdadirecta]

This part stuck out to me

 

Quote

Levine explained the final act of his process. “In almost every game I’ve ever worked on, you realize you’re running out of time, and then you make the game,” he said. “You sort of dick around for years, and then you’re like, ‘Oh my god, we’re almost out of time,’ and it forces you to make these decisions.”

 

Oh my god you have no idea how many times I've worked with producers and directors like this and it always amazes me. They waste so much time, money and energy accomplishing nothing that when deadlines are approaching NOW you have to kill yourself to make them. How they think this is a way to get the best results is beyond me.

 

On another note, did anyone else think the article ended abruptly? I thought there was more to the story and scrolled down but there was more but it just ends with a weird quote?

[imthesoldier]

19 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

This part stuck out to me

 

 

Oh my god you have no idea how many times I've worked with producers and directors like this and it always amazes me. They waste so much time, money and energy accomplishing nothing that when deadlines are approaching NOW you have to kill yourself to make them. How they think this is a way to get the best results is beyond me.

 

On another note, did anyone else think the article ended abruptly? I thought there was more to the story and scrolled down but there was more but it just ends with a weird quote?

 

One thing that also stuck out for me was that Levine would play a new game that just came out, and now must incorporate some elements of that game into his game, potentially throwing out months of work. It's Duke Nukem Forever all over again. At that point, does it really become the game you envisioned, or is it a caricature of everyone else's ideas? 

 

I remember this old episode of Family Guy where Peter is the Director for The King And I, and he gets called out for changing everything until the last minute, and he says (had to look up the exact quote), "You bet I do. Because theater is alive. It's a living, breathing creature with wants and needs and you're not man enough to satisfy her." 

 

Replace "theater" with "video game industry," and it sounds exactly the same. 

[SuperSpreader]

They're all the same. Burn all your heroes. It's all fake. 

[stepee]

Just now, SuperSpreader said:

They're all the same. Burn all your heroes. It's all fake. 

 

NEVER GUNNA BURN KOJIMA SRRRRYYYY

[SuperSpreader]

1 minute ago, stepee said:

 

NEVER GUNNA BURN KOJIMA SRRRRYYYY

He's the worst one! (Probably)

[stepee]

Just now, SuperSpreader said:

He's the worst one! (Probably)

 

Seriously though I’m surprised we haven’t heard more horror stories about him considering how he takes on projects. His staff seems to be pretty loyal, following him to the new company, and working with him over a long period of time and such. I guess part of it could be a Japanese culture thing.

[Mr.Vic20]

3 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Seriously though I’m surprised we haven’t heard more horror stories about him considering how he takes on projects. His staff seems to be pretty loyal, following him to the new company, and working with him over a long period of time and such. I guess part of it could be a Japanese culture thing.

Or it could be that he has a working metal gear trained on his staff at all times! 

[stepee]

5 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

Or it could be that he has a working metal gear trained on his staff at all times! 

 

So nowadays it’s like weird death sky tentacles or whatever!