Blame Microsoft? Why Phil Fish needs to switch perspective on the Fez fiasco

CVG - If Phil Fish just doesn't want to cough up the money to fix a game-breaking bug in Fez, then fine. It is apparently his choice whether he wants to repair a faulty product that he assembled over five years.

The real issue is that Fish doesn't want to portray himself truthfully.

[Theo1130]

I hope the person that wrote the article states that it cost about $45k to update a game with a patch, which is a huge burden on indie devs. If he's been working on the game for 5+ years I'm sure he'd want his baby to be at it's best, but some times you have to bite the bullet and make the sensible choice.

[Robochobo]

The trouble is that when you sign the deal, it's stated that the first patch is free, but every patch after that is around 50k. Just as it said, he never said a thing, never decided that something like that might happen and it might be in his best interest to go to Sony or Nintendo.

[vega275]

Sony charges the same for patches. I don't know if they charge for the first one or not. But its the same as MS. So it wouldn't have been any different had he went to Sony. It's so Indie devs don't release broken games

[Winter47th]

I can't believe that fish asshole actually plays the role of the victim here.

Hey pal, if you weren't lazy enough not to test your own game before you released it, this problem wouldn't even be there in the first place. Do you actually crap all over your fans' trust just to save money because you're a "struggling little indie developer with a big spirit".

Fuck your spirit, patch the game and claim some responsibility you thief!

If you made a disclaimer before your fans bought the game with their hard earned money that you wouldn't fix the game and rather ruin their experiences in the first place, then this issue wouldn't persist, but you LIED and got them into a trap.

"HeY man tis MiCrosoFt's PRobLEM MAN!" Because they made the fucking game and forced you to sign a contract at gun point right? Ugh. I hate guys like him.

Just snatch the money and bail out, what the hell kind of business trust is THAT?!

Guess who's not buying your next game! Somebody sue this guy! It's his game, his design, his faults, and he should fix his own faults, not blame someone else.

There's something called standards, and you obviously have none.

And for.god.sake do something about those EYEBROWS!

[Rivitur]

You realize the bug affects less then 1% of the people and by M$ standards that is acceptable to pass certification thus financially it wouldn't make sense to patch it. He has also offered an apology to those who encounter the save bug.

[hazelamy]

so he says.

and who the hell believes that guy?

and what the hell is an apology gonna do for people affected by this?

[Dark_Overlord]

I have the same opinion, if i've spent money on a product then it damn well best work.

Picked up Beat Hazard Ultra on PSN ages ago, and it has a problem where if you click on the leaderboards it crashes your PS3 (possibly even corrupting your save), now a while ago the dev said he was going to fix it.

I checked yesterday for an update and apparently the dev has now said it will take to much time and effort to fix and so won't do it, but he's quite happy to keep selling the broken game whilst making other versions of it. I don't care if they're Indie/Big devs etc if you make a game with really bad bugs, you f***ing well best fix it, I pay money on the basis that I will get a fully functional game, which obviously these lazy sh*ts don't seem to understand >:(

[Fishy Fingers]

Kind of on the fence, obviously any faults should be fixed, but I also think charging such huge amounts of money to deliver a patch is just greed on the console manufacturers part.

Of course it's put in place to try and make sure games are as complete and tested as possible, but tell me of a faultless game this gen, big developers can afford to foot the costs, all this does is hurt the smaller studios who can't and have less resource to initially test their game in the first place.

[dennett316]

He signed the contract and was fully aware of the terms....he released a broken experience that has cost a fair amount of gamers a lot of hassle. Fez sold pretty damn well, you telling me he can't afford the cost of a single patch to fix an error that HE created, even if just for public relations sake? How many future sales has he cost his company with this fiasco, even from people who aren't affected but hate seeing a company treat it's customers so poorly?

Indie developer or not, he has a duty to release a game in a state fit for sale...if he fails, he has a duty to fix the problems. Other indie companies have ensured their games worked properly, why is this guy any different? Stop excusing the ripping off of other gamers just because the problem doesn't affect you this time.

[DiRtY]

Blaming MS or any other manufacturer is always the easiest way.

[Frankfurt]

It's hilarious.

Devs want to MAKE MONEY OFF XBOX SALES, but they don't want to FIX THEIR GAME-BREAKING BUGS (you know, the ones that are their own damn fault).

Make a game with solid code and you won't have those issues. Delay the game for another year if necessary. That way you avoid paying thousands to fix YOUR OWN MISTAKES.

[Hicken]

This may be the first time I've ever agreed with you.

[mastershredder]

It is so adorable when readers assume they understand the developement process cycle, indusrty ethics and technical hurdles in between.

[Hicken]

It's even more adorable when other readers assume that developing games and the contracts required are more complicated than they really are.

This is simple: make the game, fix the mistakes. if you don't make a game with mistakes, you don't have to worry about fixing them. Take the blame when you screw up; after all, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SCREWED UP.

That's what happens in the real world: you stick to your word(especially in a contract), you own up to your mistakes, and you fix them. None of the rest of that shit you're talking about matters.

From the start, I wanted Fez to tank, because I didn't like this guy's attitude. I would have felt sorry for the other people that helped him, but jerks shouldn't be successful. Now that it IS successful, he's showing himself to be that much more of an ass by trying to squirm his way out of responsibility for HIS error.

[mastershredder]

All that from my comment? What are you going on about? I'm not agreeing or disagreeing on this topic. Fish has got to figure this one out with his audience himself. Looks like he's made his call and wants to move on. I'm not impressed with his call (I understand the grievance some gamers have with him) and don't find his game to be my cup of tea; still, I wish no ill will.

My comment is geared for the assumptive conclusions people have mustered (clearly exposing that they only know what they learn from the web and lack of experienced in-depth knowledge).

As far as adorable readers go, you can click my profile to understand why I get a kick when laymen start taking about certain topics as though they are experienced first hand.