Indie Game: The Movie is a very cool documentary and I think there is a lot to be learned from it. I'm not a huge gamer like some people in class make themselves out to be, so I had a hard time getting into it at first. I was less interested in the developers talking about aspects of their games, and more captivated when their individual struggles were highlighted. From production, to release, and then to the response from gamers worldwide- I was fascinated how each developer handled themselves each step of the way. 

Jonathan Blow, the developer of Braid, created a very successful game, but failed to let gamers embrace it in their own way. The movie showed him responding to comments all over the internet which, in my mind, was a disservice to himself. His constant need to correct people and argue with them about the meaning of his game was his downfall. Because of this, nobody took him seriously. There's a saying that being apart of an internet argument is like the special olympics- you might win, but you're still retarded. People can portray you as a terrible person online, and Blow walked into that trap by engaging the people who played his game. He should've just sat silent and been cool with differing opinions. 

It seemed to me that Phil Fish brought a lot of stress upon himself which could've been avoided. For some reason the concept of his game, Fez, came out years before the finished version was released. The hype was built, but Fish didn't deliver, and people were annoyed because it was taking so long. I feel like if he never said anything about Fez in the first place, he wouldn't have had to live up to the stressful demands that people brought upon him. In my opinion, you lose your fan base when things aren't coming together in an orderly amount of time. 

Edmund McMillen, the developer of Super Meat Boy, stands out to me as the most professional and well composed. After Super Meat Boy was released, I got a sense that he was truly joyful and grateful for the people that supported him throughout his entire journey. At one point in the movie, his wife is crying because she is proud of him, and both of them simply sit there and embrace that moment. And when people post reaction videos on YouTube about Super Meat Boy, McMillen can't help but smile and beam with happiness. 

The stress of time management and meeting deadlines took a tole on everyone in the film. Unlike Blow and Fish, McMillen has a significant other whom he constantly got support from, where as they seemed to commit their lives entirely to their games and nothing else. By the end of the movie, I wasn't convinced that Blow and fish felt truly accomplished. Only McMillen seemed to be truly satisfied.