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[Jack Cayman]

I like her it is not her fault that she got famous because she is pretty, but I thing this girl is more smart than the majority of the videogame writers in this industry, hell if David Cage writes stories and be successful then Jessica is fucking Shakespeare compare to him. Now it is her chance to prove at something that she things she is good at. Give her a break jeez.

 

[Finalow]

what is this I don't even-

good for her, I guess.

 

[Brianimaniac]

Like you all could do something better.

Like I said on like the second page, no, I probably couldn't. But there's also not a Polygon documentary telling you to take me seriously.

 

[Sojourner]

Remember how Greg Kesavin worked at GameSpot and then made Bastion? Yeah, Bastion really sucked because he used to be a journalist.

 

[Deadstar]

Remember how Greg Kesavin worked at GameSpot and then made Bastion? Yeah, Bastion really sucked because he used to be a journalist.

Bastion was actually a pretty awesome game.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Since reading the OP and article or watching the video is either very difficult or too time consuming for some,


1. Zombie dev/friend asked her to write up an outline
2. Friend like it, pitched game and outline to Atlus
3. Atlus picked it up

 

[Sandy Nipples]

I like Chobot she's cewl, who is that chick with the mole now on IGN?

 

[Stet]

Like you all could do something better.

No, I'm pretty sure I could. Nothing personal with Jessica Chobot, but it's a cutthroat industry and there's also a lot of crap out there.

 

[Lunzio]

Bastion was actually a pretty awesome game.

That's his point.

 

[NervousXtian]

I'm going to have to put myself in the camp of gaffers who considers Jess' PSP shenanigans as easy the most influential factor in getting her into the industry. IGN hired her because she was a knowledgeable 'gamer'(hate that word) who happened to be good-looking. Go back to the 2005 articles involving her. It's clear as day.

Of course it's why they hired her. It's not even up for debate. The picture lead to her being noticed. She was a product of right time, right place.

I seriously doubt there were anywhere close to "thousands" of applicants for this position. Stepping Into Daylight & Zombie Studios aren't exactly household names.

Well, there was zero applicants for the position she's in.

If you read the article, and if the article is true then this started over dinner with Jared Gerritzen and her. He said pitch me something, she did.. they started to work on it internally and pitched it to Atlus.. and then we are where we are.

 

[Pixels]

Is this a PR thread?

 

[3rdamention]

It is quite a funny journey. She licked a PSP, erotically. Then, IGN hired her, now she is a writer for a "survival horror" videogame.



itsabeautifulride.gif

 

[tbm24]

That's his point.

His point ignores the fact that Greg was a producer at EA for a number of years and also worked for 2K games before he made Bastion.

 

[LapinAgile]

Game looks cool, good luck to her and the team!

 

[VibratingDonkey]

It looked like the posts they showed at the beginning of the video were from NeoGAF. FOR SHAME, GAF.

She seems cool. I've read/seen some of her stuff on IGN before, it never stood out to me as exceptional but it certainly isn't bad. I didn't ever know that Jessica Chobot was "the PSP licker." Learn something new every day!

EDIT: Guys, I think the first few posters were saying "The PSP girl?" as a tongue-in-cheek comment.

More like tongue-on-PSP comments!
I'd forgotten all about that, actually, Polygon.
Oh man, reading about the first IGN interview... were things really that embarrassing in 2005?

 

[dreamfall]

I can't really describe how I feel after watching these Human Angle pieces. I'm not a big Polygon fan either, but I love them for this.

Her story was really inspiring. A lot of years of dedication to the Daily Fix, working in and out of different videogame gigs and now being able to be happily married and writing a videogame sounds so rad. It was hard watching her talk about moving to Japan, trying to gain some semblance of her own personal identity and pursuing dreams she cared about. It's awesome that she has the opportunity to work on "Daylight"- which I had not really followed, but I'm intrigued. I hope it goes more in a "Gone Home" explore an abandoned space/feel tension, rather than combat route- but here's hoping it turns out great.

And that Wonder Woman proposal- dawwwwww. They look so happy together!

Hearing Crecente was nice too. I think my anti-Polygon route actually makes me miss him.

 

[Aske]

Daylight looks great, and I'm excited to play it. Chobot's a big fan of horror fiction, so I'm curious to see what she delivers; what kind of influences surface in the game.

 

[th4tguy]

So if she's not a writer, and her journalism was only mediocre.. what merits does she have for working on this game? I mean, why exactly hire her?

Technically she is a writer. She has helped with movie scripts.

 

[Fattony12000]

William Shakespeare didn't even go to University, and he wrote some fucking sick ass video games.

 

[mrsambarlow]

Jessica has excellent taste in horror games, so looking forward to what she's creating.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090531201323/http://blogs.ign.com/Jess-IGN/2009/05/29/121738/

The hit rate for journos turned developers is pretty good so far, so why not?

 

[Dude Abides]

Like you all could do something better.

I'll have you know that I have 5,000 pages of Sonic fanfic the depth and complexity of which would put anything this Chobot person comes up with to shame.

 

[Cipherr]

I remember that I thought that was just some random picture on the internet. I found out waaaaaaaaaay later that she worked for IGN, didnt know that initially. And I definitely didnt know she left and was writing games these days.

OTOH I stopped following gaming journalists a LONG time ago. They move around way to much, and sites prop up and vanish to often for me to remain interested.

 

[Lunzio]

His point ignores the fact that Greg was a producer at EA for a number of years and also worked for 2K games before he made Bastion.

Tom Francis with Gunpoint would probably be a more direct comparison, however, completely disregarding her potential before even playing the game is absolutely ignorant and dismissive.

 

[artist]

The nursery she made for her son is all sorts of awesome.

http://jessicachobot.tumblr.com/post/42407797078/nerbies-legend-of-zelda-nursery-is-99-9-complete

dawww, that's so cute.

Wish her the best.

 

[squidyj]

I think some people are taking this formal training way too seriously. It's writing, not that it's easy but the amount of people who have succeeded with no formal training is quite large. It's not like being an untrained Mechanical Engineer or something.

 

[tbm24]

Tom Francis with Gunpoint would probably be a more direct comparison, however, completely disregarding her potential before even playing the game is absolutely ignorant and dismissive.

I think the problem here is what was the point of even highlighting her as the writer of this game when she really has nothing to show for it, and highlighting that she helped someone write a script is meaningless when you don't know the someone or the script. They should have just made the game and let her work speak for her. At least that's my personal problem with this whole thing.

 

[Sojourner]

His point ignores the fact that Greg was a producer at EA for a number of years and also worked for 2K games before he made Bastion.

True, but he did those things after working as a journalist at GameSpot. Did gamers dismiss the Command and Conquer games he worked on because he worked on them with no prior experience?

 

[notworksafe]

True, but he did those things after working as a journalist at GameSpot. Did gamers dismiss the Command and Conquer games he worked on because he worked on them with no prior experience?

No they dismissed them because that's just what everyone does with C&C games.

 

[Vizzeh]

Are people really that shallow as to write her off? I will be buying this game and look forward too it. It looks creepy and im sure the writing in it is fine (im also sure she isnt the ONLY one looking at the writing)

I cant imagine someone being singled out like that

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I think some people are taking this formal training way too seriously. It's writing, not that it's easy but the amount of people who have succeeded with no formal training is quite large. It's not like being an untrained Mechanical Engineer or something.

Well nobody's going to die if that's what you're suggesting! Still, writing - as with any creative endeavour - is a craft that really should be honed for years before you aim to do it professionally.

It's hard to make any judgements on Chobot's talent though. She might be lacking in published work, but she could very easily have one hell of a portfolio of personal stuff.

 

[Bungie]

Hopefully people lay off after seeing/watching this. It's alright to joke about the PSP thing but to not buy a game because of it is simply stupid IMO.

 

[Zaventem]

Hopefully people lay off after seeing/watching this. It's alright to joke about the PSP thing but to not buy a game because of it is simply stupid IMO.

Well if they game turns out to be shit i doubt that will happen.

 

[Aske]

I think the problem here is what was the point of even highlighting her as the writer of this game when she really has nothing to show for it, and highlighting that she helped someone write a script is meaningless when you don't know the someone or the script. They should have just made the game and let her work speak for her. At least that's my personal problem with this whole thing.

It sounds like that's something Atlas struggled with. You either keep your lead writer for your psychological horror game out of the spotlight to avoid negative prejudice; or you let her promote the game with the developers and hope for the best. As they said, it's a double-edged sword. I suspect the curiosity and positive interest about Chobot's work on the game is eclipsed by the negative attitudes people maintain towards her; but that the 'controversy' over her involvement will ultimately make more people aware of the game which will equate to more sales.

I take your point and I think it's valid; but I also think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

 

[tbm24]

True, but he did those things after working as a journalist at GameSpot. Did gamers dismiss the Command and Conquer games because he worked on them with no prior experience?

I'm not sure? I didn't follow the game or anything. I don't even know what he studied in college. But I think the difference here is as far as I know, he just went to work and worked on the game rather than highlighting himself or his past which in this scenario was not necessary.

 

[Strike]

smh @ some of the responses in this thread. GAF is better than this. Give her the benefit of the doubt. If it sucks, then by all means tear into her.

 

[Plywood]

I can't stand the poor rendering of her face in this game.

In fact, I hate how all the characters in ME animate. Minus Shepard's dancing.

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

smh @ some of the responses in this thread. GAF is better than this. Give her the benefit of the doubt. If it sucks, then by all means tear into her.

Me too. I said WTF a few times. The biggest takeaway from this article/video should be what she said early into it: A lot of women in the industry get into the hosting/cosplay gigs as a gateway into modeling or acting; the fact that she's been in for so long and has played games for so long should be evidence enough that she cares about more than licking PSPs.....

I thought the video was nice.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Nice video, good for her on reinventing herself.

 

[big_z]

smh @ some of the responses in this thread. GAF is better than this. Give her the benefit of the doubt. If it sucks, then by all means tear into her.

They shouldn't be giving her the attention she's getting for working on the game. She's got a lot to prove and if the game turns out awesome then give her the spotlight. Right now It seems like a cheap way to market the game. "Looks kids we got that ign personality you know, buy our game".

Odds are against her but My fingers are crossed it turns out well, after all who wishes for a game to be made shitty.

 

[robovanburen]

Today I learned people think there's such a thing as a "trained writer."

 

[Omega]

I just realized, the PSPs claim to fame is being licked by Jessica Chobot

 

[Corto]

Good luck on the game and congratulations on a beautiful baby! As for the whole PSP licking shenanigans it should be a cautionary tale to everyone (male or female) to be more judicious when doing something that seems harmless in the moment and then could be used against you to tarnish your professional image in the future. I sincerely hope that the game is great and Jessica will be remembered in the future for the kickass games that she wrote.

 

[sk3]

Yeah this thread and the comments are rather ridiculous.

So people should limit their future based on their past? Just because you've done a certain thing for a while doesn't mean you are not capable of another.

It's ok to be skeptical, she has to prove herself as a writer and I'm sure she knows that. I'm sure even if she writes a great story and script, and the game is shit people will still probably blame her or say her piece of the pie sucked.

The vg industry is still young and not great at parsing out the quality of individual components like we do with movies.

 

[KaiserBecks]

Remember how Greg Kesavin worked at GameSpot and then made Bastion? Yeah, Bastion really sucked because he used to be a journalist.

Remember how Jessica Chobot was a journalist? Yeah, me neither.

 

[Omega]

Remember how Jessica Chobot was a journalist? Yeah, me neither.

Talk about missing the point

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Wasn't a "real writer" (a novelist) hired to write Gears of War 2?

 

[robovanburen]

The vg industry is still young and not great at parsing out the quality of individual components like we do with movies.

And most movies blow anyway.

 

[weevles]

I think the main gripes with people are not that she is or isn't a "trained" writer but that she is getting an opportunity that is arguably not based on her being a writer and that many people who do have a portfolio of work, experience in the field, or otherwise have undiscovered talent don't get these kinds of opportunities when maybe they do deserve it.

Personally, I hope she does well, but the video comes off as her being defensive of people that are questioning her when it's clear all of her opportunities came from celebrity, her physical appearance, and the image she manufactured for herself, not specifically talent for writing, a body of work, or actual experience in writing. Of course, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and let the project be the judge though.

 

[Dyno]

She was a good presenter for IGN. I watched her segments on X-Box Live.

Professional, informative, to-the-point, and the perfect amount of personality.

 

[Giolon]

Wasn't a "real writer" (a novelist) hired to write Gears of War 2?

Gears 3. It was Karen Traviss.