Every industry has one. The free-thinking rebel that redefines the rules. He says what no-one else will say and does what no-one else will do. Fuelled by raw passion, he seizes an art form by the throat and drags it to its apex. What they invented, he makes it sing. His peers hate him but the public love his style. At once he intimidates and inspires; breaking down the walls that secure some yet block others. Welcome to MDickie.com - home of the games industry's first true 3-dimensional character! Whether he's the "hero" or the "villain" depends entirely on your perspective...
Look at this badass motherfucker, /prog/. You'll never be as cool as him if you only keep making toy programs.
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The Pie Eater2009-11-18 10:10
So, a bit of background, I've been writing video games for 27 years, and Mat Dickie is a bit of a legend at the office - not for the games he creates, but for the frankly baseless belief he has in his own ability. All my colleagues were convinced he was a "character" - an avatar for someone he wanted to be; and so this thinly veiled autobiography appeared and I just had to read it. After a couple of chapters I thought, well, he's reasonably eloquent, maybe this character of a "maverick game developer" that he purports to be is just a bit of an act.
Several chapters in, and my word, this guy is a psychologist's dream - insecurities and over compensation for lack of social skills pour off the page - and in that regard it is a real page turner. I got more and more incredulous as I read through his thin tome; from his father's dalliances, to his love life. From his time in academia to his time "in the real world".
Some of the stories of game development in the book are truly cringe worthy and generally end with "unfortunately", as more and more ill-advised and badly conceived game software flops and flops again.
All in all, its not a bad book, and I'm sure in some ways it is inspirational - but not in the positive way that it alludes to. Its more of a series of excuses as to why a loner developer with delusions of grandeur and some serious psychosis failed terribly, but can't seem to accept that failure.
It certainly gets you into the mindset and thought process of young Mr Dickie, but its not a place any person would want to be.