Editorial: Lenovo? Game State?

This is an opinion piece based on what I found here: Lenovo Game State

Image Source: http://www.computechtechnologyservices.com/blog/latest-blog-posts/lenovo-game-state-is-an-experiment-in-crowdsourced-game-development-and-you-can-help-design-it/

I've only just heard about Lenovo Game State. As I explore their website the first thing that strikes me is that behind the red and black veneer there are a curious many ways to find yourself looking at a store page (and not a store page for the "game" in question) or a commercial. Purportedly, a development team called Dark Rift will be designing a game based on "upvoted" art and content. This is insipid. Have these people never been to the Internet--the whole Internet? When did "we can't do this on our own" become an acceptable answer from the company making the game? It won't be the "influencers" who see the profit from the game, so why should they be necessary for development? They invite the influence of whom, exactly? Anyone that can sign up? That doesn't make for any sort of "community" whether it be of artists or otherwise.

Oh, and, hang on. When did Lenovo stop making printers and junk like that? I'm meant to believe they're a company that gives a crap about gaming because they think customers will buy their newest line of basic, garrish accessories? Sure. Of course. When do the "Lenovo Gaming" t-shirts come out, too? They'll be trying to sell velvet basketballs next. Gaming gear isn't a community pool, you can't just hop in because you sell an entry-level gaming rig. There are companies entirely devoted to gaming products like Razer, who, for all of their faults, make an effort to support and nurture gaming communities as well as the industry at large. It's rude to stick a hand in just for a cash-grab from the gaming demographic, but it's downright despicable to also task them with designing a game that you to sell back to them (especially without sharing any of the profit).

All that aside, I am interested in the idea as a social experiment. There are basic game mechanics in place; the game will be a MOBA-style game similar to what is already popular in that style. The users first submissions come as part of completing the three "missions" comprising a walkthrough of their website and thus there are plenty of submissions to fill the endless stream of tiles that comprises the bulk of Lenovo Game State's website.

But a single, flashy website doesn't leave me believing in Lenovo's gaming spirit. No hype man, and certainly no mini-team of creatives, is going to convince me that the company wants to be doing any of this at all, but rather deigns to it for the sake of an easy dollar. Moreover, there is no guarantee that this experiment won't completely fail. Currently, user "LukeGarvey" holds the top spot for submissions, and it is not undeserved. His illustrations look like they belong in a game developer's art book.  However, the rest of the users on the so-called "leaderboard" are hardly inspiring. 

As of now, their focus should be on marketing because the project is doomed without more attention.