In appreciation of: Phil Fish

Phil Fish seems to be getting a lot of hate at the moment. This was bought to my attention when I spotted a tweet from CliffyB highlighting the fact. For those who don't know the story, here's how it goes.

It seems that Fish has an entourage of haters, a bunch of people who take pleasure in criticism and say stuff about boycotting Fez because they think he's an asshole. To which Phil Fish replied this, "Fez is number one on Steam right now and it's not even out yet. You should boycott harder, nerds." So, giving as good as he gets then. Needless to say there was a bit of forum rage, and people started calling for a boycott again. Frankly the forum trolls need to grow up. Phil Fish is not Activision or EA, two companies whom you have every right to hate. No, he's just a guy, a guy who made a game whom some corners of the internet seem to have a problem with, a guy who isn't a PR mouthpiece. So what if he comes across as a prickly auteur? It's his game, he has every right to be. He's speaking to the trolls in their own language. Of course they're not going to like it.

Phil Fish, however prickly or unpleasant a person he may or may not be, is a personality, and one who can speak like a human rather than a PR robot at that. Gaming needs more personalities. Excluding Phil Fish, I can count the amount of big gaming Names I can reel off from the top of my head on one hand. Miyamoto, Kojima, Cliffy B, Jon Blow, Rhianna Pratchett. So he's a pantomime villain to the trolls? So what? He's an indie dev so he can speak his mind without having to worry what the suits think, and it's fun to watch him spar with his critics. I'd like to see more people like him. Also whatever his personality flaws, Fez is a truly great game, and to stop yourself from playing it, just because you don't like the developer is simply cutting off your nose to spite your face.

To put it another way. Did you boycott Django Unchained after seeing Quentin Tarantino's now famous Channel 4 interview with Krishnan Guru Murthy? Thought not. It doesn't matter if he's a bit of a dick, the fact is Tarantino's movies are great, so you go and see them anyway. The same applies to Clint Eastwood movies, or any number of musicians. Of course, you have to draw the line somewhere. It's not ok to like Roman Polanski movies or the Lostprophets. Save the boycotts for the real assholes, not for the guy who just said something that you've taken umbrage with.

Now stop trolling and go play Fez. You'll thank yourself for it.