Silly Blezinski, who told you that you have a legacy?
And that somehow, you can redefine it making iphone games?
Cliff Bleszinski wants to redefine his legacy
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Former Epic Games director doesn't want to be known for Gears of War alone; working on new IP codenamed Silverstreak, intends to start new studio.
Life after Epic Games for Cliff Bleszinski is coming into focus. In a new G4 interview, the former Epic Games design director opened up on his future, during which he expressed eagerness to open a studio to get to work on a new IP currently codenamed Silverstreak. He also said he does not want Gears of War to define him as a game developer.
"I don't really want just the whole chainsaw gun to be my legacy," Bleszinski said. "A lot of these kids who have only been playing games for the last however many years, they think that's the only thing I ever did. They forget about Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal, Unreal Tournament; that I worked on things like Bulletstorm and a little bit of Shadow Complex."
Bleszinski then compared himself to iconic film director Steven Spielberg, saying just like the Saving Private Ryan and E.T. director, he must also branch out in new directions.
"Moving forward, I would hope to work on something new and fresh and kind of redefine my legacy," Bleszinski said. "Steven Spielberg didn't want to be known for just E.T., right? So he made a lot of different kinds of things."
Bleszinski said he intends to open a new studio some point in the future, noting that it is not a matter of if, but of when and with whom. He was asked by the interviewee if his celebrity status in the development community could have a negative impact in his new endeavors. Bleszinski stressed that wielding this status appropriately can yield benefits, but noted that there is danger, too.
"You have to be careful when you have a certain amount of cult of personality," Blezinski said. "You can use it, and leverage it to some extent, but you have to be careful to not believe your own crap. And surround yourself with people who will question you at the right times; you don't want to surround yourself with a lot of yes men."
Lastly, Bleszinski teased his new intellectual property Silverstreak, saying he is "gestating slowly" on this mystery game.
Bleszinski left Epic Games in October after 20 years. Since leaving the company, Bleszinski has visited the offices of Activision, Zynga, Double Fine, and Electronic Arts. He has also met with God of War and Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe and been courted by Ubisoft.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
367 comments
3 Like Like it or not this dude is a genius when it comes to making great gameplay. His games might not have all the emotional and artistic merits of some other well known titles but then again how many games actually have a story worth a shit anyways? But I would like to see him combine good gameplay with a good story for once, he just needs to surround himself with the right people.
Shocker !! I didn't even know he'd even left Epic until I read this article...I've been retro gaming / MP online over live over the past couple of months... hence I stopped reading the games news... shock.
This comment has been deleted
6 Like @GamerManiE.T-1982, IJ: Temple of Doom-1984, The Color Purple-1985, Empire of the Sun-1987, IJ: Last Crusade-1989, Jurassic Park-1993, Schindler's List-1993, Saving Private Ryan-1998, A.I-2001, Minority Report-2002, Catch Me if you Can-2002, Munich-2005, and recently Lincoln-2012.
I don't give a damn about Cliff and his mediocre titles, but Steven Spielberg has made many spectacular movies after E.T, and Lincoln was one of the best movies this year alone. E.T sucks by comparison to many of these films. Jurassic Park alone should make you feel ashamed, let alone Schindler's List and the 2nd and 3rd Indiana Jones movies.
@digi-demon @dxBIGBOSSxb @GamerMani Uwe Boll*. I'm his biggest fan (yet I also despise everything he has ever made)
@Jedilink109 Better to be known for one good thing than several awful things ... eh >.> (looks at Ewe Boll)
4 Like Why? You made one of the most over-rated series of all time. You should be proud.
I mean, only a genius would make a game in nearly all grey/brown with endless chest high walls, clunky controls, and brain dead team AI.
4 Like @DrKill09 Congrats - you win the 'brainless comment of the day award' - please place you head back up your ass to receive your prize.
@DrKill09 that's pretty funny, i guess. i try not to be negative on here, but i do think that Gears Of War is very similar to games like Halo, where it might not be the best game, or even the best in it's genre, but it's incredibly accessible, and at the same time provides an aesthetic that is easy for casual players to be interested in. having said that, i do think Gears is also pretty racist, sexist, and just generally falls under the banner of what early college aged boys find attractive, and that doesn't appeal to me.
Are you serious? This games you mentioned is indeed one of the best in their genre. Surely characters and storytelling sucks in gow, but the controls are absolutely exemplary for console controller, and what every TPS developer (R*) should look upon, plus a great graphics and interesting and distinct universe as a whole. While halo has wide array of different, interesting and tightly balanced weapons, and one of the best enemy AI's, and also great controls.
@se007 I disagree. The arsenal of drab weapons that feel absolutely flabby and powerless really let the game down for me. I played GoW 1&2 (didn't touch 3, they're all the same) and felt the whole game was a chore - aim for the head, hold the fire button for a couple of seconds, rinse and repeat until you have come to a meaningless dialogue section.. then start aiming for the head again.
Graphics are OK but there's absolutely no artistic direction.. I cannot remember one environment from either games apart from that cave with the long worm thing you could use as cover in 2.
Regarding Bleszinski, sure he's good at what he does, but there are far greater minds and developers out there - I think he has this media 'platform' purely because he's more outspoken than the others.
The weird thing is, GoW has such a massive fanbase but I've never actually met someone in person that likes it. I don't get what people see in it, but I accept everyone has their own opinion.
@Enforcer246 Until he does something better... he's a young man, plenty of time, life and ambition ahead of him
4 Like In that picture he looks like he's compensating for something. Jokes aside, we need jazz jackrabbit to return.
7 Like Why is there a Cliff vs Kojima war going on? All he's saying is he doesn't want to be remembered for the same genre/game before his time is up. At least he's branching out and not doing the same old shit (which is very common these days).
5 Like Bleszinski is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Those of you falsely complaining that he only made "one good game" should be sure to mention that it's one good game more than any of you have made.
Boom.
seems like he bought into his crap already after reading that article, barely finished the first gears of war, was nothing special, chainsaw gun unique yes, special no, and he visited other major offices like the now money hungry Acitivision and EA, so basically he'll be going nowhere anytime soon. I really wish I knew how to code but I really suck at mathmatics, old school gamers are dying for some real games over the last 20 years.
Especailly in the MMO realm of things.
although I really did enjoy unreal tournament for a while until what UT 312 came out and it was basically the same as UT 3, bulletstorm was ok, but nothing special either. Just because you make up your entire game around special funny moves doesn't make it spectacular. You can only shoot a hotdog up somebodies a-- before it's not specail anymore, like after the first time.
The Gears of War games aren't bad but, let's face the facts, Cliff Bleszinski is undeservedly arrogant.
"Bleszinski then compared himself to iconic film director Steven Spielberg" Of course he would. He's good in his genre, I'd be impressed if he were able to break out and make something meaningful, I don't think he's got it in him. Spielberg was a storyteller from the start, little Cliffy B not so much.
1 Like I also wouldn't want to be remembered for creating some of the most boring games ever created.
$20 says it's a 3rd person shooter with none of the Gears of War voice actors, but the same gameplay.
4 Like Wait, Bleszinski did Jazz Jackrabbit?
Holy shit, I may have to take back all the mean things I've said about him over the years :/
1 Like I'm not a fan of his games but I respect what he's doing right now. Unlike certain other directs (cough KOjima cough cough) he may have the balls to try something new.
3 Like @istuffedsunny Yeah like when Kojima did Zone of The Enders or Boktai and Snacther Policenauts and others.He's been around for quite some time.Metal Gear isn't the only thing he's done.
@179107199999 @istuffedsunny After Boktai 2, aside from some involvement in Lords of Shadow and SSBM, it's been Metal Gear games since.
Bleszinsky has been around for quite some time too, a little over 20 yrs. professionally; GoW isn't the only thing he's done
@Shadowdanc3r @istuffedsunny I understand however for the most part he has been mainly known for his work with Unreal and God of War.Because of comments on here I've heard of Jazz Jackrabbit but I never played it or even heard of it.I heard mainly about Unreal and GoW.It seems like those are his best accomplishements and also MGS evolved.Same gameplay but little things were added to it that kept refreshing the series.However its been said he does want to concentrate on something new.Not hating on Bleszinski but Kojima has been in the industry longer and has more memorable games out side of one franchise whereas Bleszinsiki so far to console people like me only know him for Unreal(which I do remember being on PC for a long time) and GoW.
Right now hie's known for helping to make one great series. But when you look at it it's only 3 great games. I do agree if he wants to be remembered as a great game designer he has to be involved and head a few more games that are slightly different than what he's done before.
4 Like @skornedwarrior reducing Bleszinski to the maker of gears of war and say that's all he did is basically the same as saying Spielberg only did ET. It may have delivered him to the main stream knowledge of the masses, but his career was diversed and successful long before Gears. As he stated hismself in the text above.
2 Like jajajajajj me laugh you are all idiots while creating differences between two good games video creators, they certainly are taking margaritas together.
enjoy their creations now and for the future and stop wasting time. ;)
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