This week's Best of SVGL competition (yeah, wrapping it up a little early) challenged you to come up with the most obscure, vague and esoteric independent game concept you could think of, in a send-up of hipsterism that I intended to be good-humored and even a bit self-deprecating. However, it was interpreted as a lack of appreciation for the efforts and the hard-won successes of independent game designers -- check out the comments, or the full story at Level Up, to see how Jonathan Blow felt a bit slighted. As such, I thought I'd clarify myself a bit, since the unexpected linkage the post got brought in a new crop of readers who may be unfamiliar with SVGL, my customary tone, or the general body of my work in which I habitually champion misinterpreted, under-appreciated or lesser-known games.I'm a game writer; I love games, and despite my teasing I view games like Braid and fl0w as the mutagenic ooze that will make kick-ass Ninja Turtles out of our industry's mild-mannered reptiles. I'd never intentionally disparage these efforts, and as I explained in my response to Jonathan, my beef (a very lean cut of beef) was with a buzz-driven culture of elitism, not with the efforts and ideas from new frontiers. So, the winner of this week's contest is Jonathan Blow, although Nectarine's The Proof was a close runner-up.
Also, apologies to EA, Jenova Chen, Halo, Mountain Dew, MoMA, the Death Star, and anyone else who may have been insulted; I love all of you! Well, almost all. Moving right along, there will be a new contest idea closer to the end of this week!
