Peter Molyneux is no stranger to bold, sometimes ridiculous claims. After he hyped up every new Fable game by criticizing its predecessor, Molyneux’s words don’t mean as much now as he wishes they did. In a recent interview with IGN, Molyneux sung praises for Minecraft, and while I’m not questioning the game’s accolades, it appears that the man behind the Fable series is up to the same old shenanigans.
Molyneux mentioned the impressive feat that Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson accomplished when he crafted the game from scratch, adding that the current era of gaming has opened up massive opportunities for game creators. “I think Minecraft’s the best thing I’ve played in the last 10 years, and what’s so brilliant about it—and I’ve met Markus, and he’s a real inspirational person—[is that] he did everything on his own. And I think how brilliant and inspirational that is, to not need the full force of publishers and marketing people.”
Though I haven’t sat down with Minecraft, I’ve heard only good things about the game. Still, it might be a stretch to call it the best gameplay experience of the last decade.
I’ve read, listened to, and conducted plenty of interviews with game makers, and I’ve noticed that the games they praise are usually impressive due to the efforts behind them rather than the actual content. In that sense, I can see how Molyneux thinks Minecraft is an amazing game from a design standpoint. I highly doubt, however, that it is the best game made in the last 10 years. And when those words come out of the mouth of Peter Molyneux, who has a reputation for making insane statements, I’m even less impressed.
One could argue that Cave Story is the best game created in the last 10 years, with only one man bringing it to fruition, only for it to find success on the Wii and DSi and a spot in the 3DS library years later. In an industry where so many people put so much effort into their work, it’s hard to take a statement like “Minecraft is the best thing I’ve played in the last decade” very seriously—especially when it comes from Peter Molyneux.
