Honda - When things just work...

I love this not only because it is a Rube Goldberg Machine but also is a great metaphor for game development sometimes. When you have this idea that is made of a million unknowns and then some how you string it altogether to create a boss battle or puzzle setup, the feeling is pretty much like the what you see in this ad. The part the player never gets to see is the failed attempt after failed attempt at trying to get these complex gameplay sequences working. Anyhow I found this neat and relative to what we do on so many levels I just had to put the video up… well ok I was testing to see how to put a video up but this was sort of relevant?!?

The story behind this ad is awesome so give it a read because it really brings home the trial and error experience of working on a game production. It sounds like they had a lot of “Show Stopper” bugs during the development of this commercial… I hate when a producer walks over to my desk with one of those bugs, HATE IT!

God of War on a Train!

So while I was on my vacation in Spain we were riding this train from one city to the next and this guy was reading a gaming magazine… Just as he opens past the inside over there is Kratos, I cannot seem to get away from him. It’s been three long years of working on Kratos day in and day out trying to get him feeling right and playing solid so seeing him on a train in a foreign country was sort of my personal reward for all the long hours. My deepest thanks go out to David Jaffe and Cory Barlog for trusting me to not fuck up the main character in their masterpieces!

Spain was an amazing trip! We visited Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, San Sebastian, and Madrid. I celebrated my 30th birthday at the Guggenheim with my girlfriend who wore her Frank Gehry earrings for the occasion, so that was quite a special day. We also visited the Prado Museo and Reina Sofia Museo in Madrid, the Guernica by Pablo Picasso was an amazing site to see in person. The Sagrada Familia was another amazing site which I could not help but snap a crap load of photos for our art team, the place was that inspirational. The Mediterranean Sea was beautiful but I got a little sunburn that day and was called Lobster Man for about 2 days after that by my girlfriend. Other highlights included much eating of gelats (gelato) and aquarius this crazy gatorade type stuff that was quite delicious. Since my sleeping schedule was a little messed up I played a lot of DS, which has an amazing battery life thankfully… Lost in Blue was the main focus and relevant since everything was sort of foreign to me, especially food menus in Spanish. So that was my trip in a nutshell, I highly recommend the visit if you have the time and means, it was SO CHOICE!

The Flash Game of the Week was really fun but I have decided to only do once a month so that I do not become lazy and only update the blog with flash games every week. Here is the last one until June at which point I will begin the once a month Flash Game Update… Sorry this one is a little tough to figure out since it is in Japanese but I had fun with it all the same. If this game had more levels and a gentler learning curve I might play it for hours. Go play PLUPON now!

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Flash Game of the Week: 04/30/07

The game this week is The Last Stand! It’s a zombie survival game which is one of my favorite genres for both films and games. The game pits you (a lone survivor?) against the ensuing mob of undead; the only thing separating you from them is a shabby barrier and your trusty handgun with unlimited ammo. Are you lucky enough to make it through the night?

The game is fairly simple because all you can do is move around inside your barrier and shoot the zombies before they destroy your barrier and eat your brains shortly after. The Zombies come in the form of average zombies, fat zombies, running zombies, and dog zombie. The gun mechanics are pretty straight forward and create a spinning plate scenario where you are firing, moving to a new location under attack, and reloading the weapon. Once you make it through the night you get points to spend on one of three categories to prepare for the looming night: repair the barrier, search for weapons, and search for survivors. The weapon selection is pretty cool and changes the gameplay up and the survivors are great because they add to the overall defense of the barrier. Once all the weapons have been discovered it is just a race to see how long you can last without becoming a mindless zombie yourself from the repetitiveness…

Oh this game is a memory hog or at least it was for me, slowdown was creeping up around day 6 from all the zombies and bullets on screen. For the record my machine is really old so that was prolly the cause as a friend had no issues at all... so if you have an old machine beware!

Good Luck and Have Fun!

p.s. The blog is going on vacation for two weeks while I run around Spain with my girlfriend!

Flash Game of the Week: 04/23/07

The game this week is The Fancy Pants Adventures! It is a platformer with an awesome stick figure art style and speedy gameplay making it feel like a cross between Comic Zone and Sonic The Hedgehog. Mr. Fancy Pants can run, jump, and roll his way to some unknown goal in hopes of finding a new level to further test his platforming skills. The animation is top notch and the music really brought the whole thing together, this is a must for any old school gamer!

Like I said this is a platformer in the truest sense of the genre because all you do is run and jump through the level. What is great about the game is that the physics of the character are very fun; he gains momentum when running altering the jump, which can then be combined with hills and ramps to create super fun launching pads. The run also allows him to run along curved paths for that Sonic loop-de-loop feeling which can then be turned into a roll by pressing the down arrow key. Mr. Fancy Pants wields the holy grail platformer mechanic... the controllable jump! Both the horizontal and vertical control feel natural which is a huge accomplishment, other than the frame delay on jump activation and moments of slowdown the jump was spot on. The sense of scale to the levels was awesome and made me want to explore all around which actually landed me into a secret level where I got the Wall Jump ability. After that I was hooked and cannot wait for more levels to play.

Speaking of more levels, Level 2 Demo is available now! The game overall feels much smoother and responsive. It also includes some other adjustments to Mr. Fancy Pant’s abilities such as a Slide, Ledge Hang, Wall Jump, Hand over Hand Rope Climb, and a CANNON! Give it a shot and lets hope someone snatches this thing up and puts it out on Playstation Network with a level editor!

Good Luck and Have Fun!

p.s. Thanks to Omar for sending this my way!

Flash Game of the Week: 04/16/07

Sometimes to a fault I am a creature of habit so I am starting a new habit, called Flash Game of the Week! From now on, Monday is going to start with me posting a link to my current favorite flash game. I hope you get as much fun out of them as I have!

The game this week is Indestructotank! It has juggling, explosions, and a combo counter people and that is all that really needs to be said but on top of that it has an EXP system to increase the probability of juggling. Basically you pilot this tank that is indestructible and crash into the enemy armaments to launch the tank into the air to smash into the enemies.

The design of the game hinges on the player’s ability to keep the tank floating in the air racking up as many enemy kills from one initial launch. The more combo hits and distance covered the more EXP gained. The EXP is then used to purchase a greater frequency in certain types of enemies; I think you are starting to see the vicious circle here! Like any addictive game there is a greed factor, the tank has a fuel gauge and when it runs out the tank explodes immediately. The trick is not to get so greedy that you keep a combo going on too long before banking the EXP, which only happens when the tank hits the ground. I was pissed the first time I had a 20+ combo and the tank blew up before I could land to hit the EXP plateau and refuel.

Personal Best:
Max Combo = 26
Max Combo Score = 1494
Max Height = 164
Max Experience = 1770

Good Luck and Have Fun!

HIPPOPOTO­MONSTRO­SESQUIPED­AL­IAN

That sure is a mouthful and by a mouthful I mean monster disintegrating death ray of spelling power found in Bookworm Adventures! Let’s be honest I am a terrible speller so the folks over at Pop Cap created just thing to help me conquer my spelling deficiency, a sort of turn based Scrabble RPG. I love me some games with learning!

The game sends Lex, a wisecracking bookworm, off on an adventure to save whom else but the princess. The princess is whisked away through the pages of three books, which are filled with mythological beasts, pirates, and monsters all standing between Lex and the princess. Each level is broken into a few fights with a climactic boss fight yielding a hidden treasure Lex can then use to boost his abilities. The hidden treasures range from damage upgrades to status boosts; one of my favorites was the Bow of XYZ that added extra damage to any word using one of those letters. In between levels there are mini-games, which can yield items and special tiles to aid Lex in his quest for the princess, which serve as a nice distraction.

The spelling gameplay is centered on a 4x4 grid of tiles, each containing a letter and colored dot. The colored dots serve determine the strength of the tile; there are bronze, silver, and gold dots and the strength increases in the same order. Length of word increases the amount of damage dealt per word spelled so when coupled with the dot system it creates a simple relationship for dealing damage. Sounds easy enough right, well now come the RPG elements; the creatures can cast spells and use special moves to change the status of with the tiles and Lex himself. Most of the status changes are variations on damage over time, wait X turn, and lose a turn. Now to be fair the designers also included almost all of the same abilities for Lex to use against his foes by allowing his tiles to care special properties. All of these systems work together to make the player create strategies for spelling based on the potential of their own tiles and the abilities of the creature. It may sound like a lot to take in but the game is paced to introduce these systems in such a way that once you think you have the hang of one element a new one comes into play and the learning starts all over again. Without this the game would have gotten quite stale and boring within the first 15 minutes, so kudos to the designers for keeping it fresh!

Now I am going to ramble a bit about all the little touches that made this game so endearing. First the dialogue is pretty funny Lex and the creatures all have personality and make you want to actually read the text bubbles. The sound effects, character models, and animations further the personality of the creatures to something rarely found in games these days. Mouse clicking on Lex himself makes him perform funny little animations that feel like taunts, silly and fun for no reason at all. Oh yeah Lex can level up as well with the traditional EXP gained from each creature he defeats yet another nice nod to RPG genre. If you actually die all of the mini-game re-spawn to help you build up potions and special tiles for the next fight, the system can be abused by just dying time and time again to buff up for the later fights. I am glad this is in there for the people that might be great a spelling but suck at the strategy aspect. Overall I loved this game even though I suck at spelling. Give it a shot if you have time… demo found at Pop Cap!

p.s. Here is a much more colorful and well written review!

Back to School

The wonderful vacation from work is over and tomorrow I go back to school so to speak. I think the time off was much needed but I kind of wasted most of it you could say because I was mostly trying to adjust back to having a life outside of work. I did not take any grand vacations due to scheduling conflicts with my girlfriend nor did I go back home to see the family like I should have, instead I read a lot, relaxed, and caught up on a lot of games and various entertainment. Oh and I reconnected with some friends whom I have not really talked to since E3 last year.

The one thing that is certain is that the best cure for a block in creativity is to become bored and honestly for me this is totally true! I have had more ideas for random things that I would like to either make or get involved in during my break than anytime in recent memory. Also not having to be anywhere lets me indulge in my favorite creative activity which I have dubbed "The Archimedes Shower". I know this may sound a littel weird but I do a lot of thinking in the shower and usually come up with many of the ideas for God of War gameplay mechanics while I am showering. I cannot count the number of times I would go home during crunch on God of War 2 baffled by some logic issue with a boss fight or broken system within Kratos himself not knowing how I was going to fix it but in the morning after a little bit of sleep it would always dawn on me during my shower how I might go about fixing these problems. I hope by coming "clean" about my secret muse I do not jinx it!

One of my favorite things to do during my vacation was to go back through all the old designs I have worked on and see if there were any seeds that could be nurtured for future projects. I kind of forgot how many games I worked on that were cancelled during my first few years as a designer. If you scroll down you can see the games, which I have been credited on during my 7 years in the business. So I have shipped 6 games in 7 years which is a super good ratio if you ask anyone in the industry but check this out I have also work on 3 games which were in development for at least 3 months and another 3 games which never made it past the proof of concept phase. Looking back at those numbers after completing a monster game like God of War 2, I wonder how many games I will actually ship before I turn 35… my guess is two if I am lucky with the scope and scale that next generation is demanding.

At first I was really bummed out by this realization, but then I thought about it: no matter what game I was working on I always worked just as hard no matter if it was good or not. So what keeps us coming back for more, is it money, fame, love for the craft, a sense of completion or some ill proportioned mix of those things? For me it’s the thought of not doing it that brings me back. I know I could do something else that pays more with normal hours I would be bored out of my mind and miss it more than words.

So I am going to walk into work tomorrow like a bright-eyed freshman on his first day of high school, we’ll see if I get to take the girl of my dreams to the senior prom! Sucks to know I will be shoved into a locker many times before the prom.

God of War 2 Launch

Sony let the kids out to play for a night up in San Francisco and it was quite an entertaining evening. Cory put on a show like only he can do and even got us up in front of the media for our 5 minutes of fame, thanks Hollywood!

I could go into detail about all the crazy fun things that went on that night but I am going to link to the 1Up coverage. You can see the backsides of Derek, Todd, and myself along with Mark McDonald of 1Up fame here… thanks again for meeting up with us Mark!

So here are a few pictures April and I took during the night.

God of War 2 Dev Team Members (sadly not all of us)

Nate (level designer) and Derek (combat designer)

Cory and Carole Ruggier (Voice of Athena)

Cory and Harry Hamlin (Voice of Perseus)

1Up Crew!

The 1Up kids were also kind enough to have us over to the office the day after. It was cool to hang out and see how the other side lives. Everyone was really friendly and genuinely happy to shoot the shit about games which is awesome because when you work in the industry you tend to get jaded after awhile. I really wanted to play some fighting games with them because its rare to find people down to play anymore but we had to catch a plane so maybe next time, good luck in the VF tourney Ryan! Thanks again to Karen, Brooks, Jason, and Cesar for hanging out and making the night even better!

Sorry for the short post but I am tired and need to sleep…

Opening a can of worms

It was hard to even write this post because I kind of just wanted to ignore what was going with all of the coverage. Until I got a phone call from a friend who was like dude you are drinking now, WTF!

I never imagined so many outlets would pick up the whole car story but I was so wrong. At first I thought it was kind of funny because lots of friends and co-workers were making light of it but then it all went a bit sour. Kotaku thought the story was kind of boring I guess so they decided to give it a little more spice by saying I was drunk. OK this is where I sort of draw the line because personally I have never taken a drink ever, not to say there is anything wrong with that, but for me it has just been something I stayed away from as a rule.

I am not mad at Kotaku but more puzzled as why did they felt the need to imply this falsehood, was the story too boring? I mean at least Joystiq took the time to figure out how much the bet would cost me and even went on to make speculation of the blog entry being a marketing ploy, I can assure you this not the case. Although I can see how this could be the case with the fowl up by Sony in the past which we all have a good laugh at, its like sometimes you win and sometimes you get made fun of on the internet. That being said I cannot really complain about being made fun of on the Internet, I was stupid and deserve it… hell I made the post just for that reason. In the end feel free to continue to make fun of this situation because I am laughing about it (except the drunk thing) but try to at least read the post, maybe even fact check, or ask for a comment like a journalist. It makes me wonder how much of anything I read on some of these sites is not quite accurate which really makes me not interested in reading them at all but then again it’s the internet so whatever. In writing this I am surely asking for more reticule but I’d rather set the story straight so here goes.

The bet was stupid and I will probably not honor it just because we make idiot bets like this all the time and no one ever pays up. The April fools joke comments sound like a good way out as well! Maybe I will rent the car for a day or something just to make fun of the bet itself, we can drive around Santa Monica like we are rich for a day and then return it as we return to reality. I wish game developers were paid enough to roll around in nice cars and such but the reality of it is that most game developers live in apartments with roommates or perhaps a condo with their girlfriend or boyfriend. Now this is not to say that we are not paid well, I cannot complain in the least because I do have a place to live, a car to drive, and food on the table. I mean we love what we do so we work crazy hours to bring great games to the public because honestly that is all we want as well, I love playing great games and even bad games because I know someone sat down and put a lot of effort into creating that experience.

We at Sony Santa Monica also try to put ourselves out there to the people. Everyone tries to answer questions, leave our work emails open to the fans, write blogs, etc... so when people made comments like I was trying seem all rich and snooty that made me feel bad but it was my own fault because I can see how the post could be taken that way. I would like to say I am sorry for that.

Also I am NOT really trying to persuade people from buying the game, I guess my dry humor does not come off so well in type. I just want to clear that up because I hope the game sells well because the team worked very hard to create something for the fans and hopefully new fans.

At the end of the day I am just a guy doing what he loves and hopes people love what I am doing… knowing this makes it easier to be away from friends, family, and life while you are creating these games… thanks for reading.

Restless

When I get tired my mind begins to wander and fills with Nostalgia… it’s like comfort food but for the brain. I love feeling like a kid and me feeling like a kid is Ohio… sure most think I am crazy when I talk about home but I love it, I miss it, I want to go back about every other day. Ohio is my Nostalgic Neverland, filled with sights of secret G.I. Joe forts, kickball games in St. Joseph’s parking lot, and that TV where I first took on Gannon. It’s all there, the building blocks of my imagination; the skill set that allows me to wade through the vast ambiguity of being a game designer.

I’ll be completely honest; I would love to build my entire video game career around Nostalgia. Connecting the dots from the "now" to the "then" so to speak always seems to trigger some sort of reaction in people’s minds. I mean the games I respond to most usually make me feel like a kid again because some “First Experience” has been tapped into which holds a special place in my universe because it was a “First Experience”! Take Calling All Cars for instance… made me think of this cops and robbers tag game we played as kids called Jail Break. I remembered the first time I played that game it was great, 20 kids running around 2 city blocks telling kids to go to jail or freeing all the kids from jail. Even though Calling All Cars does not play like this tag game exactly, it has some of the same elements at the macro level, small playfield, cops, robbers, and a jail, which triggered the response in me.

Could designing games that trigger an emotional response be that simple? Just tap into a “First Experience” and bam you’re done! Of course this is not the case but it could be the building blocks for many games to come by selecting some “First Experience” which almost all people deal with in their lives. I mean to be honest I would say Fumito Ueda and his team are already doing this, it could be argued that both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are about a “First Experience”. Ico seems to be about a “First Love”, perhaps even “First Kiss”… I know I would go out of my way to never let anything happen to the girl that touched my life like that for the first time. Shadow of the Colossus seems to be about “First Loss”… again I would do just about anything to get back my great grandmother when I heard she passed away. I know that even if I were correct in saying these games are about those feelings, the theme alone is not something that will carry the game but if the theme is strong and true then it will resonate with people far beyond the idea that it is just a game.

After all that I find this a little interesting. Ask someone something about their own past and once in a while they will usually start by saying something like “The first time”. I love me some Nostalgia!

What was I thinking?

Ok, when you work a lot and hang out with the same people everyday you tend to do stupid things because you are bored and wished you had a real life. Normally these stupid things are relegated to food eating challenges and hey do this and I will give you a dollar but one day we (God of War designers) were really tired, I mean really tired and this crazy bet came up. The bet kinda goes like this if God of War 2 sells 500,000 copies by April 1st I have to lease a Maserati Quattoporte for one year and drive these idiots to lunch everyday. It was pretty funny at the time and everyone was laughing because it was so outrageous which was cool because it was the only bright spot of that day which is really sad if you think about it. So here is the car...

Well the bet spread around the office and people would not stop talking about what color I should get and if they could go for a ride or how fucking stupid I am for making a bet like that. Don't get me wrong because I like to tease and don't mind being teased a little but I might have to blow my entire savings on this bet, NOT COOL AT ALL. The worst thing about it is that all I get out of it if I win is like free lunch for a year or something stupid like that which proves how tired I was during the inception of this whole thing.

Now the game is done and the first reviews are out and OH SHIT people like it which is great but bad for me! I thought this was a safe bet and there was no way we would ever do those kinds of numbers first month but then I start hearing about pre-orders from Gamestop being great and all this other stuff and now good reviews... I am so screwed!!! So if you are a gamer and overall mean person then run out and buy God of War 2 day one and have a laugh at my expense as I become bankrupt. Now if you a gamer and overall nice person run out and buy God of War 2 after April 1st and feel good knowing you saved me from becoming bankrupt.

Regardless of our sales, Congrats to all the people involved with God of War 2, we busted ass on this thing for 2 years and finally it has to come to an end, well almost since we are still a month away from ship. Oh nevermind that the picture is from the future, it's cool Kratos is good friends with John Titor... (pictured credited to our own Jimmy Olsen, Sir William Weissbaum)

Special thanks to the Derek, Jason, Adam (Combat Team), and the Animators, I could not imagine working with anyone else... Level Designers you are special too so don't feel left out!

Oh and that Cory guy for not making me take the long and lonely Bruce (ok is was David on the show) Banner walk a few years ago with the sad music that was rejected from All My Children during the credits of the Hulk TV Show. I will totally be in the documentary next time if there is a shot of me walking to my car with the backpack and that music playing after you yell at me, PROMISE!

Saint Peter let me into heaven...

The picture says it all, but does not perpare you for two imacculate Astro City cabinets with perfect monitors, perfect american sticks, and perfect japanese buttons running head to head ST... yes Heaven is in LA! Thank you so much to Derek for driving and to Peter for setting this up and having us over. Two hours plus, 106 matches later I was still feeling like it was not quite real. I mean SPD was coming out and 720 even showed up to the party! Derek was raging with Ryu like always while Peter was showing us every trick in the book with New Ken... it got a little dirty when Peter summoned Old Sagat but hey he is fun to play too! Heaven ended a little after midnight much like a Cinderella Story.

It's hard to believe the game is 12 years old but I still play it every chance I get. While I do not get to play that often, it's crazy when you do get to play because people seem to pop out of nowhere to play. When that happens you know the game is special! I guess that is why I wanted to get into video games as a career, I wanted to be a part of something like that... I thought going to Sony would make that happen and it did with God of War. Now with God of War 2 it feels like it might happen again which is a real blessing but I will shut up before I jinx it. Hitting BETA feels good but the hard part is coming, polishing and tuning this monster before it ships early next year, fun fun times ahead. Anyhow check Cory's Blog because I am sure he will have more to say about Beta and God of War 2 in general.

Pulse...

Hey everyone, the blog is still alive I assure you of that! However my ability to conjure up anything worth posting has been minimized by the heavy demands of the God of War 2 work schedule a.k.a "The Red Schedule". I really tried to create a real update with something meaningful about game design, then I tried to write something about how I design, and finally this is what you get because my brain is mush. The blog will also not be updated much until the game is finished because well I like to focus. Cory and Derek are much better at updating with interesting stuff anyhow so see them for the dish on the game. I promise to get back to this thing in full force when "Boredom, the cure for creativity" shows up in March or shortly thereafter.

In other news I am not the biggest purchaser of Video games but the whole process of going to EB sucks balls. Everything has to be pre-order or hidden in the sea of used games without real boxes! If anyone knows of a good mom n' pop style game store in the Santa Monica or surrounding area other than Hyper Game please let me know. I used to work at a small store back in Ohio and miss those days of the people actually caring and wanting to sell games without warranty quotas or pre-order sales.

Case in point I want this, but cannot even pre-order it at the store. I need to pre-order it online, oh well times are changing.

Childhood Games - Part 1: DS Activity Book

Maybe I am just a nerd and liked elementary school way too much but I was addicted to Activity Book style assignments. They always felt like a puzzle or a game instead of actual homework. Normally I would not just post a game idea for everyone to read since one day I might get to make that game but since an Activity Book game would work best on the Nintendo DS and Sony had nothing like the DS I will make an exception. Hopefully someone will read this and go out there and make this game, which I would then buy and enjoy for hours on end.

The game would contain crossword puzzles, word jumbles, word searches, mazes, connect the dots, and even a coloring book with a grading system for staying within the lines. I mean really that’s it… nothing more to do just hundreds of these things to do for five minutes at a time. The point of this game is there is no point to this game other than to waste time and complete a task to feel good about completing the task but then again most parents will already argue that all video games embody this at the root level so what’s one more added to the mix. I think crunch time makes me want these kinds of games the most and that is why I fall back on fighting games since I can just turn my brain off and play from a previously built base of knowledge which requires little thought to recall for an intermediate level play. Also the game would be full of awesome little characters gauging your progress with witty wisdom regarding your skill level, wonderful completion sound tones like obtaining an item in Zelda, and topping it all off with a quick and intuitive menu system themed much like of a trapper keeper just for old time sake!

Back to the DS… so the question I have been going over in my head since I purchased a DS Lite is how long until kids are actually using this type of technology to learn in a classroom setting? Better yet could this be the place my design skills call edutainment home when the game industry casts me aside for some young kid willing to work twice the hours for half the pay? In all honesty it actually sounds kind of cool, making neat cute games that fit into tight little boxes that actually help a child to learn, I mean if we can corrupt the minds of the youth as the government says we do could we possibly help them to learn as well? Ok so enough with the questions and poor sentence structure and on to list of possible games found in my imaginary DS Activity Book. I admit this is a terrible way to express what would be found in this game but I am tired and don’t feel like doing all the work for someone else but if you would like me to complete the work feel free to email me and we can work something out under the table like back in 1989 when I was sticking it to the man by not paying taxes on my 700 dollar lawn mowing season.

Numbers:
- add / subtract / multiply / divide
- percentage / fraction / decimal
- square / square root
- prime numbers

Words:
- crossword
- word jumble
- word search
- word rhyme

Images:
- coloring book
- connect the dots
- map quiz
- i spy

Sounds:
- animal sound
- instrument sound
- simon
- name that tune

Cards:
- crazy eights
- go fish
- old maid
- slap jacks

p.s. Veronica Mars Season 2 August 22nd!

E3, the party is over...?

After working all week towards a playtest I decided to catch up on my news and the bomb shell that E3 will not happen next year was waiting to explode on me. Tired and sad I am heading back to work to tell Kratos the news... right after I make a pit stop for an apple bear claw!

Industry Events Calendar?

If you are like me and do not get out much for whatever reasons, you probably get a little pissed when you miss something that might be interesting enough to make you go out. So here is my little attempt to remind all of us of upcoming industry related events. I wish there were a comprehensive website out there which had a real calendar with cool links and ultra neat html but no such site exists. So I tracked down as many as I could like the DNA of world icons needed to create Serpentor! I will try to do this once a month until someone with much more free time takes the lead and creates the Serpentor Calendar for Video Game Industry and Related Subject Matter… if you know of anything else going on please feel free to let me know and I will add it to the list!

California Extreme Arcade Pinball and Video Game Collector’s Show

Evolution: US World Fighting Game Championships

San Diego International Comic-Con

Atari Age: Classic Gaming Events

Women’s Gaming Conference

The Game Initiative

Video Games Live

GameDev

IGDA

p.s. Veronica Mars…

Jon Stewart totally reads my blog...

Well let me think he does since I saw coverage of video games on his show the other night. Now get some guests on there to talk about the topic from our industry!

Anyhow here are the clips for your viewing pleasure, writing about them seems pointless since they speak for themselves.

Exhibit A: New Era – Journalism

Exhibit B: Old Era – Editorial

Based on the clip below I went out and bought the book and while I do not agree with the whole of it so far there are some pretty interesting ideas. I plan on finishing it this holiday weekend and a review will follow later next week. Have fun grillin and chillin on the 4th of July or blow some shit up instead.

Everything Bad Is Good For You

p.s. this lame update is even lamer now that I see jane and cory have posted about the same topics awhile ago, oh well... great minds think alike?

Akward phone calls...

Oh, hello… what’s that you say, would I like to leave my current job? Funny you should ask this since I am at my job now! If you have not guessed yet this is a recruiter doing their job by asking me if I would like to leave my current job mid project to be placed into a position they feel I would be perfectly suited. I am in fact so perfectly suited for this position that it is of little consequence where or what the position will be. Let’s go jump off a bridge while we’re at it Karen (fictitious name of a false name of the real person calling me)! I wish I could push the sarcasm aside but when I am sitting at my desk and Karen calls me and I tell her thanks but no thanks and no more than 30 seconds later Derek’s phone rings with Karen on the other end, well how can one not poke fun.

Ok, to be fair lets establish what a recruiter is trying to do before I give my 2 cents. A recruiter is someone that might be able to assist me in creating a better future for myself in the video game industry by finding positions, which match my skills for usually more money than I am currently being paid. They are also trying to bring talent to teams trying to realize an AAA product, so the publisher is well served by recruiters in this example. So in a perfect world it looks like I am getting more money for my work, the publisher is making an AAA product, and the public is playing a great game then how can I wag my finger Steven Colbert style at recruiters?

First off as I was sort of mentioning before the phone call starts with a lie. The name given by the recruiter on the phone is rarely the real name of the person. What a great way to build trust when discussing the future of my professional career. Most already know this as well but that nice new awesome salary deal they just got you means they are getting 20% of that salary as a commission, good looking out for umm me I guess. The thing that really pisses me off is the devil on the shoulder aspect of a recruiter calling someone, temping them with more money and exciting projects while they are committed to a current project. Now all of a sudden ethics has become the issue and the recruiter does not care about ethics so the person has to go through that internal struggle of what is best for their career and family while battling the guilt of screwing over current team members. Depending on what kind of person you are this may not be a factor one way or the other but for some this can become a very stressful situation. I know when people leave in the middle of a project I get bummed because I know it is going to be all the more difficult to finish the game with the same level of polish without them. The best-case scenario is you lose a “bad apple” while the worst-case scenario is you lose a “friend” or “super star”.

The issue of money is a gray area when it comes to recruiters. Even though they get 20% they are still getting the client more as well which is a good thing. The Game Developer Salary survey and recruiters are about the only thing beyond inflation that will help employees gain a better wage. Here again I must admit some good can come from talks with recruiters. Management must hate the idea of recruiters when it comes to this because it gives the employee a bit of ammo during that next review.

The subject of unhappy employees is the one issue where recruiters make perfect sense. Under this circumstance I believe recruiters are doing nothing but good by trying to help someone leave a situation, which is making a negative impact on their life. The recruiter is the coast guard towing the lifeboat to shore after a terrible storm where rebuilding can begin.

In the end I don’t hate these people after all they are just trying to do a job but I do fear what they can do to a team that seems to gel and work well together. The constant temping of working on the next great superhero game, getting a 15% pay increase, or moving to a new location where housing is more affordable can make anyone think twice. I guess that is where being in love with what you are working on and working for a good company help to keep you on the straight and narrow, even though the calls roll in weekly.

Please let me know what you think about this because my mind flip-flops on this subject all the time.

p.s. Sorry it took me so long to update but the game is in full swing so the updates are going to be sparse.

p.s.s. The 1Up Show has this awesome Beach Boys inspired summer theme song so check it out!

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21,

I have been sick on and off since E3 to the point where I had to take Friday off from work to shake whatever it was that had me tossing my cookies once again. So I plopped down on the couch for a few days of what I hoped to be healing and relaxing fits of boredom. Thursday night was filled with awesome History Channel documentaries entitled anything about anything DaVinci Code, which I am naturally an expert on after watching the 6-hour block of programming. I was feeling a bit better Friday night so the lady made arrangements for us to see this The DaVinci Code film… halfway through I started shivering and my eye was twitching from a terrible migraine. Long story short, the movie was entertaining and I yakked once after exiting the theater and once again when I got home.

Wow, are you still reading? Ok here is the real reason for this post. Why in the hell are video games on a media blackout when it comes to talk shows fueled by entertainment industries? I was flipping through the channels catching talk show here and there and it dawned on me that I have never once seen a single person from the world of video games on one of these shows. One might ask who the hell cares, just a bunch of old people watch the likes of Jay Leno and David Letterman. Ok smart guy so what about Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, and Carson Daily they have younger audiences. What it really comes down to is that appearing on these shows signifies some sort of relevance in pop culture whether it is an actor/actress, singer/musician, or the fruitcake lady, they all are doing something people want to know about right now thus they appear on these shows to advertise why they are important. Are we not doing something that people want to know about, oh wait they only want to know about us during the commercial breaks in 30 second bursts.

The finger can be pointed in many directions as to why the game industry has no presence within these media outlets. For starters publishers make games not creative human beings with vocal cords. I could go on being sarcastic about this but it really pisses me off to know not a single marketing person from a large publisher can land Will Wright, David Jaffe, Sam Houser, or anyone else pushing the medium onto one of these couches. Here is the reason it really pisses me off, Steven Spielberg! I love this guy’s movies for the most part but now he is linked with games through some EA deal and he is going to be the one on the late night talk show couches singing the praises of this amazing new storytelling medium called video games. Even when this happens I will be cheering because well it happened but inside I will be a little sad it was not one of our own.

I feel better now so it’s back to work on Monday…

p.s. 1Up Show keep making me proud!

E3: The vomit inducing headache machine of doom...

E3 made me sick on thursday but before all that I was having a great time and even went back for more on Friday, that's how good the show was this year. God of War 2 showed quite well from what I could gather so all the late nights and time away from the world as a whole were worth it for 3 days under the gaming world's microscope.

Michael Cheng pulled some strings for us so we did not have to wait in that abyss that was the Wii line. Once we skipped that thing we landed inside to find chaos and more lines with no system in place to move people in and out of the area, I did manage to play a few games just to get a feel for the controller. I want to believe but for now will hope they allow for personal calibration for all titles because it was either too senesitive or completely unresponsive, for now I am fence sitting. Nintendo had a massive DS showing although I must say the games all seemed a bit more mainstream and licensed oriented which sort of bummed me out but such is the way in the middle of the consoles lifespan. Speaking of the DS, I bought a DS Lite and OMG what a sexy little machine. I was a hater on the original DS so I am discovering the world of DS for the first time with the DS Lite plus New Super Mario Bros. comes out this week!!!

The 1Up Show kids totally made an effort to show us a good time by sending tickets to the Ziff Davis party along with a t-shirt for Derek due to his medical condition. We showed up to the party and they would not let Derek's girlfriend in so we pulled some trickery and threw the arm band over the fence for instant access. The party was crazy crowded but there was lots of food and they even had one of my favorites, Vanilla Tootsie Rolls (I pocketed a gang of these before leaving)! That Jane girl was kind enough to chat with us over some loud music for awhile along with some freelance writer guy that was quite entertaining yet I forget his name, sorry. Overall it was a nice way to end the first day so thanks again to the 1Up Show!

Cory Barlog, was part of an awesome panel series entitled Cracking the code of creativity, give it a read because the people knew their shit! Cory gave the God of War combat team a shout out too so that made me smile too bad he blew me off for some aussie reporter after the panel ended, I think the Hollywood nickname may return.

Overall show highlight for me was sitting down with SaiTong Man the combat designer on Heavenly Sword for about and hour to chat about all kinds of stuff. The guy was awesome and when we found out he was a Street Fighter kid it all made sense as to why that game feels so good upon first picking it up. It will be fun to see that game develope over the next year in conjuction with our own and even a nice healthy rivarly will begin or maybe we will just hire the guy! (just kidding of course)

Ok, I am really just rambling so I will stop for now because everyone has covered E3 so much already that anything else I write you have already read somewhere else.