Phil Fish blow up-Fez 2 cancelled?

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Looks like according to Kotaku and Polytron's twitter, Fez 2 has been cancelled.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/27/fez-2-canceled/
https://twitter.com/Polytron

"It's with a heavy heart that we announce that FEZ II has been cancelled and is no longer in development. We apologize for the disappointment"

I did a little bit of digging and apparently over the last few days both Phil Fish and Jonathon Blow have been endlessly bitching about being contacted over the Xbox 1 indie self publishing. This Neogaf thread seems to have a significant portion of their tweets

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636121

Unfortunately, in the case of Phil Fish it looks like he's blocked his twitter now so the old tweets are no longer viewable.

https://twitter.com/PHIL_FISH

It'll probably all blow over but this diva crap is seriously getting old at this point (especially from Fish). The Neogaf thread has a link to the gametrailers podcast where they discuss this (up until today's cancelling of Fez 2) and it sums it up pretty well (don't worry the discussion is all at the beginning in the first few minutes, you don't have to watch the whole thing.

http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/roj70m/invisible-walls-everything-and-the-kitchen-sink

In particular, as they raise in the podcast. These guys are 2 guys who were endlessly craving media attention when it suited them in launching their games. Seeking out movie coverage (Indie Game the Movie), trying to drum up support, etc. but when it comes time for them to do something that doesn't necessarily directly benefit them, but rather pays back the favor the media has given them, they go off and act like divas about it refusing to help in any way.

Yes, they don't owe any responsibility or duty to the media or anyone else but on the same hand they should appreciate that they are being sought out for their opinions like this as an implicit endorsement of their standing in the indie game community. They're the de facto representatives and frankly, they could do better. Realistically, how hard would it have been to take 5-10 minutes to write a canned "this is good news response" or whatever other honest opinions they have and just copy and paste it to all of the journalists who emailed them for coment.
 
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A bound to be overrated 'art house' indie production cancelled?  :pray:

But yeah these guys are something else. They're successful indie devs, not Kanye West.

 
Monsta Mack said:
Just recall his twitter picture is Andy Kaufman.
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True, but Andy Kaufman was an entertainer not a businessman. That's the thing Fish doesn't seem to grasp is that this isn't the way you conduct yourself in business, there are certain formalities and niceties you follow in business which are not otherwise applicable to other areas. As the public figure and founder of Polytron, he's seen as a businessman first , whether he likes it or not.
 
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Hmm... asking me to choose sides between another tired "self-titled angry gamer" personality or Phil Fish is like asking if I would rather be shot or stabbed. 

It was a very petty issue for the "annoyed gamer" to get so worked-up about, but then again, Phil Fish deserves a good chunk of his own abrasiveness thrown back in his face from time-to-time. Act like a dick, get treated like a dick and so on. I still can't imagine FEZ 2 is cancelled (this could all very well be a big joke), but even if it was, I wouldn't really miss it.

 
Wow, I knew Fish was a douche but he seriously needs to be taken down a few pegs.
 
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Sure Fish comes off really terribly in the documentary and in the press, but he can be pissed off about being attacked. The only problem is that he takes things way to close to heart. Can't be that public of a figure and not get attacked. If he has somehow convinced his team to cancel Fez 2 then that's a damn shame. Even if Fez wasn't your cup of tea, it had a lot of interesting concepts. 

 
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Bluesilo said:
Sure Fish comes off really terribly in the documentary and in the press, but he can be pissed off about being attacked.
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Sure, he can get pissed off about it, but I don't think anyone's going to be sympathetic to the situation, given the way he acts. It's not surprising that when you go around talking shit, someone else is going to come along and flip it right back at you. Ultimately, Fish could dish it out, but he just couldn't take it.

It certainly is a shame that his fans (fans of Fez at least) will miss out, and who the hell knows what this means for his team, but I say good riddance. The guy worked on indie games: compared to your average code monkey he had full creative control of his game, no real deadlines and (as we all know) was able to do and say pretty much whatever the hell he wanted... if that was too much for him to deal with, then he really doesn't belong in the industry.
 
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Was watching IW this morning and thought nothing of Marcus Beer going off on a rant again, but looks like he broke the camel's back haha.  Up until today, I didn't even know who Fish was and barely recognize J-Blow as game devs.  I still don't really but it sounds like this Fish guy is a crybaby and deserves to get trolled.  If you're going to engage the net, you better have thick skin because there's no room for carebears here.

 
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I don't know how to react to this one.  I remember watching Indie Game: The Movie and wanting to sympathize with Fish, but it being tough because he is such a whiney, self-entitled person with seemingly zero ability to take a step back and look at himself.  No self awareness, apparently.  I don't want to assume things, but he acts like he has some emotional instability and that makes this whole thing seem kind of sad. 

He seems like an incredibly talented artist (Yes, I believe games are art), but what Beer said in that IW rant, I tend to agree with.  Not that Fish or Blow "owe" the media or us anything, but if you want to be outspoken and in the public eye, well, people will come to you to comment on current events.  Don't blow them off or you come across as douchey. 

It's just sad for Phil Fish and for the industry. 

 
Fish is a temper-tantrum throwing prick and got treated the same way he treats others. I do however, think some of Blow's and Fish's tweets have merit. Gaming media/jornalism absolutely is shit. Everyone steals each others' stories, run rumors as stories, copy and paste tweets and now this Marcus Beer dude has delightfully decided to insert himself into the story. And that's what they do when they're not regurgitating PR.

 
Lol, just read that Fish told Beer to kill himself.  Marcus wins.

What a mad kid.  I bet in a week when he realizes he's ruined his life and tries to come back nobody will care.  Should probably put him on suicide watch at that point.

 
Jodou said:
Lol, just read that Fish told Beer to kill himself. Marcus wins.

What a mad kid. I bet in a week when he realizes he's ruined his life and tries to come back nobody will care. Should probably put him on suicide watch at that point.
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But he was quoting Futurama so that mitigates him telling someone to kill themselves...:roll:

That's one of the most frequent defenses I've heard to him saying that and it's so groan worthy. First off, quote or not you don't tell someone to kill themselves. Secondly, nothing reeks of immaturity more than hiding your anger and animosity behind pop culture quotes.
 
I know everyone hates on Phil Fish endlessly, but I can't help but feel bad for him.  He obviously doesn't have the emotional stability to handle all the hate that is thrown at him.  And while he does come off as a jerk at times, his comments do usually stem from a good point, or at least something worth discussing.  I wish he was better at handling his own PR and filtering himself, but I can only imagine how hard it is for a single indie dev like him to handle the collective hate of all the internet.  The way the internet treats him, it's no wonder he reacts the way he does.  He just can't handle the stress, and that's a shame.

I really do hope he comes back and finishes Fez II because the first Fez was amazing.  And with the money from the first Fez, it would be great for him if he could hire someone to handle his PR.  Or at least he should reevaluate the way he acts on Twitter.

 
Dude made a broken product (Fez), releases a broken patch, and refuses to cover the cost of fixing the broken product he was selling. The industry is much better off without a developer like that. In any other industry selling a product you know is broken and refusing to fix it is pretty much unacceptable, I don't know why he thinks it's ok for him (and I don't know why the industry never really took him to task for it). He may have a very corrosive and awful public personality, but it's his blatant abuse of the consumer that makes me say "Good Riddance."

 
Fish and Blow want our money to make them millionaires but can't give a comment to pacify game journalist who want their opinions on a topic of interest but then expect journalist to give them media coverage when their game is out. Don't bite the hand that feeds you...you introverted asswipes.
 
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He's a loser who thinks he's a gift from God to gaming.

Somehow, I'll continue living my life without Fez 2. One day at a time.

 
ihadFG said:
I know everyone hates on Phil Fish endlessly, but I can't help but feel bad for him. He obviously doesn't have the emotional stability to handle all the hate that is thrown at him. And while he does come off as a jerk at times, his comments do usually stem from a good point, or at least something worth discussing. I wish he was better at handling his own PR and filtering himself, but I can only imagine how hard it is for a single indie dev like him to handle the collective hate of all the internet. The way the internet treats him, it's no wonder he reacts the way he does. He just can't handle the stress, and that's a shame.

I really do hope he comes back and finishes Fez II because the first Fez was amazing. And with the money from the first Fez, it would be great for him if he could hire someone to handle his PR. Or at least he should reevaluate the way he acts on Twitter.
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I hope an upcoming developer can create a game that we will enjoy and support. I hope this developer can market himself positively and have the knowledge to know that game media and the consumer are the ones that have made him/her a success.

A game developer can make a successful game but a successful developer is made by us.
 
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ihadFG said:
I know everyone hates on Phil Fish endlessly, but I can't help but feel bad for him. He obviously doesn't have the emotional stability to handle all the hate that is thrown at him.
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"If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all." If Fish learned that damn lesson in kindergarten and applied it to the way he conducts himself in public we wouldn't be having this conversation.

R. Kasahara said:
Totally agreed. Kanye West would be a much better analogue.
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At least Kanye had the decency to release multiple hits before going off the deep end. To me Fish is like that guy everybody hated at high school; you wondered why and think he can't be that bad. Then you talk to him and discover it's because he truly is a really unpleasant person.
 
DQT said:
At least Kanye had the decency to release multiple hits before going off the deep end. To me Fish is like that guy everybody hated at high school; you wondered why and think he can't be that bad. Then you talk to him and discover it's because he truly is a really unpleasant person.
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I once encountered someone online who claimed to have attended college with Kanye West; apparently, he was totally full of himself back then, too. Arrogant personalities like these don't just appear out of nowhere thanks to some newfound fame.
 
Right, but Kanye took himself and his arrogance to the status of music industry legend. Fish is an indie developer who created FEZ, and he can't even follow through with a sequel now, apparently. Dude can't handle the spotlight, not even the pretty minuscule one he's somehow managed to obtain.

 
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hunterny77 said:
There is no need to WTF. Talented people with a cult following who can't handle success. Simply put! no need to read so deeply into my comment.
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Sorry for being so angry. I'm a huge Nirvana fan and their music is what made me start playing music myself. I think it's a really bad analogy is all.

 
This just reminds me that I need to get around to playing Fez finally, picked it up for $5 forever ago. This Fish guy seems like a drama queen who likes to dish out abuse but can't handle it when some comes back at him. That said, the game looks pretty cool, and I have no problem separating the product from the dev (if I wasn't able to enjoy media just because it's produced by people who happen to be assholes, I'd never watch another movie or listen to another album again).

 
jkam said:
Sorry for being so angry. I'm a huge Nirvana fan and their music is what made me start playing music myself. I think it's a really bad analogy is all.
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Sorry. I am a Nirvana fan and was in college when Kurt passed. I was not trying to disrespect Kurt. But in retrospect, I did by comparing him to Phil Fish. Kurt never came across a a douche. So Kanye West it is:)
 
After thinking about this some more if Phil was serious about his craft he could use the cancellation "news" as a way to go dark on the whole thing. No interviews, no twitter, no internet shenanigans. Make a good game that people want to play and release it when it's done. Problem solved.

 
jkam said:
After thinking about this some more if Phil was serious about his craft he could use the cancellation "news" as a way to go dark on the whole thing. No interviews, no twitter, no internet shenanigans. Make a good game that people want to play and release it when it's done. Problem solved.
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That might work but he's burned a lot (if not all) of his goodwill to the point that anything named Fez2 will have a permanent taint on it. He could be doing what you're saying but if that was his intention all along it was poorly planned.

 
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