Chris Buffa of GameDaily has written a highly questionable Top 5 Most Overrated Industry People article. It’s all about shock value, being contrary, and attracting readers with a controversial list. Buffa caused quite a stir last July when he penned a feature titled “Why Videogame Journalism Sucks.”Apparently, discrediting the achievements of five people in the business without giving any solid reasons or cogent arguments is an example of videogame journalism that doesn’t suck. The people he mentions are major contributors in the industry, so let’s do a quick rundown of this list as a case study on how not to understand the business of games.
#5 Koji Igarashi
While Buffa lauds Konami’s Igarashi for creating some of the best 2D-platform games in the Castlevania series, he calls for the creator to “take the series to the next level” and to “stop repackaging the same old video game.” While the 3D Castlevania games have been less than stellar, the blame doesn’t really fall to Igarashi. The creator has not gotten the proper budget, in his opinion, to make a proper 3D Castlevania game. That aside, selling millions of the most critically acclaimed titles for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS is a pretty significant accomplishment.
#4 David Jaffe
Sony’s Jaffe has gotten a lot of press for making an excellent game (God of War) and for being an excellent interview. Buffa seems to think the enthusiast gaming press has blown him up to stardom, saying that, “fans and/or journalists treat him as the God of War figurehead.” Buffa is also unimpressed by Jaffe’s unfinished Calling All Cars. All Jaffe is guilty of is contibuting to one of the best games of 2005 (not to mention one of the best games in the PlayStation 2 library), being popular with fans and the press, and having an unfinished game that doesn’t dazzle. Jaffe’s work on the Twisted Metal Series, which were integral titles to the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, isn’t mentioned at all.
#3 Hideo Kojima
Buffa’s next target is Metal Gear Solid director Hideo Kojima. He claims that Kojima, “continues to thrill people with his over the top cut scenes, but we still don’t know what’s going on in his games,” and, “Kojima needs to prove that he’s more than flashy visuals.” There are certainly some people that find Kojima’s gameplay style dull and his storytelling convoluted, but the millions of people that snatched up the various Metal Gear Solid games would disagree that the Metal Gear Solid series is akin to, “watching polygons jibber jabber.” His work on the Snatcher and Boktai games isn’t mentioned at all; the former is cult classic, while the latter is a unique series for the Game Boy Advance that makes unique use of a solar light sensor.
#2 Shigeru Miyamoto
This is just laughable. The man is a legend and a big reason why Nintendo has so many ardent fans. Just look at his credits.
#1 Reggie Fils-Aimes
Nintendo’s CEO tops the list because Buffa feels that thanks to message boards, Reggie Fils-Aimes has, “become this mythic figure that rescued the company from itself, introducing millions of consumers to a more hardcore Nintendo. While that may be true, we still cannot find Wiis and friend codes suck.” Since Fils-Aimes has been with the company, the marketing has gotten stronger, the DS has blown up to be one of the most successful platforms ever, and Wiis are hard to find because they’re snatched up in seconds. His success is pretty hard to argue with.
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