Boucher-Vidal blasted in the interview, ”I think that the Super Meat Boy’s team is just being loud crybabies and Sony wants to use their recent noise to stand out as the good guy. But among a lot of people I know in the indie community, SMB is perceived very negatively for their childish and egocentric behavior.”
In a blog post by Boucher-Vidal, the developer apologized for his “loud mouth”. The full apology reads as such:
An apology for my loud mouth
There’s a world of difference between sharing an opinion in public and behind closed doors with friends and colleagues. Apparently, this little bit of insight escaped my mind for a while. Let me explain. Following this article, I decided to follow through with the author’s invitation to get in touch and share my experiences.
However, I didn’t think this through and just gave a brutally honest opinion piece, as if I was speaking my mind with a friend while having a drink. Naturally, such an approach ensured that my email would contain very inflammatory sentences, which when undiluted come out as a very harsh headline. Nowhere in my mind did I think that my email would be directly quoted, as I believed their intent was just to know what the spectrum of views on the matter was. In fact, I didn’t even think they would care that much about my opinion, given that I’m still a no-name. But that doesn’t excuse my behavior. I admit that I was too outspoken, and it was like throwing fuel to the fire and not expecting to get burnt. The same message could have been delivered with more elegance, if I had chosen my words better and acted with a cold head.
“I want to say I bitterly regret my words and I am sorry.”
I think I am being frustrated to see Sony’s PR bad-mouthing Microsoft at every corner while Microsoft almost never strikes back at them, even during the PSN fiasco, and that put me on edge. I also admit that I am personally irritated when I see Team Meat publicly bashing Microsoft as they do. Of course, I don’t know the whole story behind their argument and never will. But in the end, I feel that it just makes indie developers look bad as a whole, and that means that Microsoft will think twice before dealing with us. They don’t go through that kind of trouble when they do business with big publishers and I wish we could consistently offer them the same level of professionalism. And yes, I do get that I lacked professionalism myself or I wouldn’t be writing this.
Now I want to make things clear: I do not blame IndustryGamers. I wasn’t careful enough in my statements, and I assume full responsibility. That was a beginner’s mistake that blew out of proportion and is now becoming a PR nightmare. I want to make amends. I want to be a positive force in this industry, which I follow closely every day. I check every numbers I can find, I follow a handful of websites daily and I have a huge collection of games because this is my passion, this is what I want to do. I started my own studio because I love video games, I’m very passionate about its industry, and always will be. So I hope I can make up for it, and more importantly, I hope that our games will speak for themselves better than I do.
I don’t know if this will get to Team Meat, but I want to say I bitterly regret my words and I am sorry.
Guillaume Boucher-Vidal
Studio Manager
Nine Dots Studio Inc
