Journey & Flower Creator Jenova Chen Says FPS & Fighting Games Aren't Useful

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Who says only old school game designers like Hideo Kojima and Warren Spector are outspoken auteurs? Jenova Chen, fresh off his mind-shattering Smurf Village victory has a lot to say about the way things are in the game industry, namely quite a distance apart from how they should be. For instance, shooters and fighting games? Totally not enriching people’s lives. Not like fitness games anyway.

“People still play chess because strategic thinking is useful. Brain training games, fitness games…these have relevance. People don’t have much time to waste, so they want relevance. Whether it’s emotional relevance, like experiencing joy or sadness, or intellectual relevance, or social relevance.” he said. Sorry Jenova Chen, I think you’re brilliant and all, but how many brain training or fitness games tick anything on your list? Not to mention that the whole Brain Training thing is a documented scam. And the best part, I mostly agree with the sentiment, it’s just a classic example of spectacularly poorly chosen examples ruining an otherwise valid point. And he makes a whole bunch of them later on too so the whole thing is well worth a read.