It took a good six months or so, but I've written another Idle Thumbs song. It's a little long and not particularly funny, so I don't think we're going to put it in a podcast episode, but here it is anyway. (We did discuss the subject matter in episode 43, however.)

It helps to be familiar with some recent statements by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who laid out his vision of game development at a recent Deutsche Bank conference, in particular this excerpt:

"I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

"I think we definitely have been able to instill the culture, the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we are in today. And so, while generally people talk about the recession, we are pretty good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."

I used those as a springboard. As for whether the final musical result portends a game industry yet to come, or laments a game industry gone by, you can decide.

The full repertoire of Idle Thumbs music--the rest of which is all drawn from the podcast itself--is available in the left column, as you may not have noticed.

Edit: It's been requested that I add lyrics, so here you go:

Do you remember
when making games was still fun?
Before the pessimism
and the cynicism
Before the fear
How I wish those days were still here
were still here

Do you remember
when games weren't just packaged goods?
When a packaged good meant a cloth map
Before the annual franchise traps
Before the greed
Those times are just what we need
what we need

Do you remember
when budgets weren't quite so large?
When indie and casual and core
were on the same shelf at the store?
They were one and the same
Oh how those times have changed
How they've changed

Do you remember
when making games was still fun?
Before the pessimism
and the cynicism
Before the fear
How I wish those days were still here
were still here