It's not necessarily a matter of it being "cool to hate on popular games". Sure, there is an element of the Indie scene that do have that attitude, but they are more often than not young people. It's a clique thing, but not a symptom of the entire movement. There is a lack of depth in the Indie scene, and things like Game Jams and the like don't do a heap to change that. However, as Jonothan Blow says in the film, making games independently is a chance to NOT go by the AAA guidelines. It's a chance to make something for it's sake, not for the profit potential. That's why opinions are polarised. Some believe that the medium can go special places, and traditional AAA games are not helping that. It's a profit motive, business oriented. WHICH IS FINE, just not conducive to pushing an art form.
I like AAA games, Rage was fantastic, COD4 was great. That said, profit drives the "industry", not innovation. Sequels are the most profitable titles, and they get the green light more than anything else. But they have their place. Not to push interactive entertainment as the next great art-form, not to test the boundaries of storytelling, and definitely not to take risks. Risk taking is rare in AAA titles. Tens of millions spent on something that will require a massive profit to be worth it, make risk-taking anathema. It still happens from time to time, but not often. Indie games can afford to take more risks, can afford to experiment.
Both have their places. Mainstream gaming popularises the medium, and brings more cultural weight to it. Generally, this means high-quality, polished, middle-of-the-road fare. Not a bad thing, but a thing none the less. This film is about a different subject, though. It's about the auteur putting their life into something. Making something personal, something of significance to them. It's a massive risk, both personally and professionally. The film explores that, and makes no judgement either way on the worth, it just exposes the process. It's worth a watch. You're already part of the independent game dev scene, why not watch a doco about it?
Games are an art form. There's no arguing that. But there are differences in how that is explored. Not better or worse, different.
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