My First Two Retail Levels

I found a video online showing gameplay of the two Extreme Ski tracks I designed in MotionSports Adrenaline.  The aspect ratio on the video is a little weird, so things look a bit stretched, but it's the only video I could find.  It shows the version for PS3 Move; of course it's also available for Xbox 360 Kinect.  The video is 8 minutes long, and shows both courses.  The second course is the one I'm most proud of.  Hopefully this video inspires you to go out and buy the game!  Enjoy!

Work PC

a photo by notme2000 on Flickr.

Sometimes I need reminding.

By Design

This month a lifelong dream of mine came true.  After years of hard work and dedication, two moves taking me across most of Canada, countless hardships but also great memories, overcoming many self-doubts along the way, I was officially promoted to Game Designer.  Accomplishing something you've wanted your whole life makes you take stock of everything that led up to it...

I wish I could say I remember the very first time I played a video game.  I find it hard to picture any version of myself having difficulty understanding controls, not intrinsically knowing to go right in a side-scroller, knowing falling off the screen usually means death or that enemies are almost always killed by jumping on them.  But I imagine it must have been the case.  I do remember the era I got into gaming though.  I was exposed to it through my cousins, Bill and Rick.  Bill was especially into gaming.  I remember we'd go over and play Mario 1 & 2 for a while, and then our moms would play some NES spelling game together.  I even have a memory of going over to their place the night Mario 3 came out for the NES.  We were all so excited.  I remember finding a secret in level 3 and being so proud.  It wasn't long after that I got my own NES for Xmas.

From then on I was hooked.  And even from an early age I loved the idea of being able to design levels for the games I loved.  I'd see the game's levels and get ideas of my own I wanted to implement, but obviously this wasn't possible to an 8 year old kid in a time before internet offered all kinds of hacky solutions.  So instead I started drawing elaborate Mario levels in pencil in giant note pads.  I'd have entire games drawn, split into worlds and sub-levels.  Whenever my friend Tim would spend the night my Mom would drive to pick him up, and as soon as he got in the car I'd hand him the notepad and he's start playing through my "levels" right there.

As I grew up some games started coming out with level editors.  I remember finding an old NES game with Mario in it called Wrecking Crew, and I used to make levels for my brother to play.  Then I found a PC game called Jetpack, and again designed levels for Tim and my brother to play.  It was shareware and only let you save one custom level at a time unless you bought it, but I quickly learned I could move the level files to a  backup folder and just put whatever level I wanted to play/work on in the proper folder with the right filename.

When I was entering my teen years Duke Nukem 3D came out for pc.  And with it came the Build engine.  This was before the days of youtube training videos and online guides, the internet was still in its infancy.  But somehow I managed to teach myself the Build engine through trial and error.  I must have designed dozens of levels for that game.  By then Tim lived in Saskatchewan so once I'd finish a level we'd play it over the modem.  At first it was all deathmatch levels, but I started to find coop levels with NPC enemies really fun to build.

Eventually I decided to design an entire Duke Nukem 3D campaign.  12 maps that could be played either single player or coop with an over-arching story/theme etc.  It took 6 months but when I was done I played it with Tim and we had a blast.  I then submitted it online to several Duke Nukem 3D custom maps communities.  It quickly became one of the highest rated campaigns.

For a few years after that my level design hobby, and even gaming in general, took a back seat to teenage drama, girls, drugs, booze and music.  This lifestyle left me lost and directionless.  I was getting older and had no idea what to do with myself.  I knew I wanted to make something of myself, but I was also afraid of failure.  I tried once or twice to get back into Level Design as a hobby, but the tech had come so far I felt left behind and gave up.  For a while I tried to convince myself I was happy where I was, but it was a lie anyone could see through.  Then I found joy in photography and for a while tried to make a career out of that.  As I was beginning to see success I quickly realized I preferred it as a hobby.  Still, my sense of adventure and ambition was growing, with nothing in sight to spend it on.

I still didn't know what I wanted out of life, but I knew I wanted much, much more than I was getting out of it at the time.  I was in my early 20's now and hadn't made much tangible progress since I was a teenager.  I decided to take an epic road trip to try to find myself, and get some answers to these questions.  I went by myself, something that terrified me.  I'd been a pretty sheltered, dependent person my whole life so to do something this big by myself was scary.  And that was the point.

The road trip was a huge success, though I didn't realize it immediately.  When I got back I knew I'd grown, changed in some fundamental way.  I just couldn't quite define it yet.  But as the months went on I realized how claustrophobic I was feeling in Winnipeg.  I didn't fit in my old life anymore, and needed to get out.  I decided to move to Edmonton, for a change of scenery and a new experience.  I made some calls and my cousin Bill, who now lived in Edmonton, said I could stay with him.  This was the same cousin who'd let me come over and play his NES when we were kids, and now he was living in Edmonton working in the video game industry for a studio named BioWare.  He then told me he could probably get me an interview for a term tester position.  I still didn't quite know what I was looking for in life, or what exactly I had to offer, so I didn't recognize the opportunity I was being presented, it just sounded like a cool job for a few months.

I had a going away party with all my friends, had a dinner with my extended family, and prepared to leave.  At the time I assumed it would only be for a few months, but that would still be the longest I'd ever been away for.  When the night of my departure came, I packed as much of my belongings that would fit into my car and headed off.  I'll never forget that moment, walking down to my car with my friends, hugging them all goodbye as I got into my car, fighting back tears.  And as I drove off I watched them waving at me in the rearview mirror.  I think on some level I knew I'd never be coming back...  One of the hardest, most emotional moments of my life.

I arrived in Edmonton and got settled in, and started at BioWare.  Within a few weeks of working there I started to suspect this was what I was meant to be doing, and that I wanted to make a career out of it.  The first game I worked on was Dragon Age: Origins and I knew it was one I'd be proud of the rest of my life.

At the time I figured QA was good enough.  I'd gotten this far, and I shouldn't get "greedy".  I knew I wanted to be a Designer, but even after everything I'd been through recently and all the growing I'd done I still wasn't ready to believe in myself that much yet.  And maybe I was right not to, I had a lot to learn.  I had no idea how office politics worked, how industry in general worked, let alone this industry.  But I didn't believe I ever would, and that was a mistake, but one I would soon begin to remedy.

After a few months I knew this was something I had to do, and made the hard to decision that I would not be moving back home to Winnipeg.  I fought hard for a contract extension and then immediately set my goals to taking on more responsibility to prove myself for an eventual permanent full-time QA position.  By constantly volunteering for extra tasks, and making it known I was interested in QA Design (where your feedback is more about design elements than technical glitches) I was eventually moved to the PRC team.  PRC stands for Post-Release Content.  In this case I would now be working on Dragon Age: Awakening, an expansion pack for the original Dragon Age.  My role was now QA Design, and once the acting QA Lead moved on to another position I took on a lot her responsibilities, and was essentially doing the job of a full timer.  I was giving design feedback that was incorporated into the game, running my own meetings, training and assigned new QA Term Testers, etc.  I loved the new responsibility and the professional growth it afforded, and I really loved getting to give Design feedback.  I still wasn't quite ready to see what should have been obvious though, that what I really wanted was to be a Designer.

I was told several times they were looking to get me a full-time position, but honestly, BioWare was somewhat bloated, and the economy was in tough times.  EA instituted a hiring freeze, and I knew things were going to be tough.  That meant for me to get hired, someone else had to be let go.  I just kept on working hard knowing sooner or later, in some way or another, it'd pay off.  But then I also found out an EA policy stated that anyone on contract couldn't stay on contract for more than 1 year without 3 months off in between.  It was a policy instated to prevent the abuse of contract workers...  As Dragon Age Awakening was finishing up, so was I.  I'd managed to get my contract extended 3 months past my 1 year mark, the only term who managed to do so, but even then, my time came and I was let go for 3 months, though I was promised I'd have a job waiting for me once those 3 months passed.

I decided to go on EI for those 3 months since I knew I'd have a job waiting for me in 3 months, and looked at this as an opportunity.  I decided to spend my 3 months off learning the Unreal Engine.  As I mentioned, I'd tried it a few times before, but this time my cousin pointed me to some excellent free training videos (3DBuzz).  I forced myself to follow a strict routine of waking up by 10:00 AM, and spending most of the day learning the engine.  Within 2 months I was designing professional grade levels, and documenting my progress on Facebook, my blog, and other mediums, and got feedback from many people at BioWare.

When I returned to BioWare after my 3 months off I was put on the Content Team of Dragon Age 2.  I had several people comment that they'd been following my Unreal Engine progress and were quite impressed at how quickly I picked it up, and the initiative to do so during my 3 months off.  Chad moved out to work at BioWare as a term tester like I head, hoping to get into the Art Department, and life was going great.

Then, within a few months into my second contract another EA mandate reared its ugly head.  I, along with all the other QA Terms I'd been hired with now on their second terms, found out EA had a strict mandate that states no contract workers could be used more than twice on contract.  Again, a rule in place to try to prevent the exploitation of contract workers.  The idea was that if they were good enough to use twice, they should be hired.  Of course the hiring freeze was also still in effect...  So things weren't looking good.  But then 3 QA positions within BioWare opened up.  Two in Edmonton and one in Montreal.  I of course applied for all three.

The application process was pretty intense, mainly because so many people were applying.  I have to imagine close to a hundred people applied for the positions across all of BioWare's studios.  They made a short list of candidates after taking a preliminary test.  I was ecstatic to learn I'd made it to the short list for two of the three positions, the only person to do so.  The positions I was considered for was either the Edmonton Dragon Age position, or the Montreal Mass Effect 2 position.

Around this time I was also contacted by an old work acquaintance about a job possibility as a QA Lead at a smaller studio in Halifax called Longtail Studios.  While my goal was to get one of the BioWare positions, I wasn't about to turn down opportunity in an industry that presents it so rarely.

When the results came back from the BioWare hiring committee I hadn't been selected for either position.  I was told it'd been a very close call on both counts, but that didn't change the fact.  My options then were to either stay at BioWare as a term tester hoping for another position to open up, which I knew was incredibly unlikely, or pursue the Longtail Studios offer.  I obviously did the latter.  And after being flown out for an interview, seeing the studio and the city, the idea started to grow on me.  It admittedly felt like a consolation prize at the time, but a consolation prize was more than many of my fellow term testers at BioWare were getting, so I couldn't pity myself too much.  By then I was just beginning to believe MAYBE I had what it took to get into Design.  During my interview with Longtail I was asked what my long-term goals would be and I said eventually I'd like to try my hand at Design (I also said maybe Production, which I think I could be good at but would probably find much less rewarding personally, though certainly not financially).

Once I got the call telling me I was accepted, it was a whirlwind of change.  My start date was in 2 weeks...  I gave me notice to BioWare, started packing and making moving arrangements with Longtail (they paid for moving expenses), and getting everything in order.

I decided to stay in Winnipeg for a week before moving on to Halifax, so I left Edmonton early.  After a nightmare fiasco with the movers, Chad and said our goodbyes and I drove off, leaving Edmonton behind me.  This time I knew I'd probably never be back, and it was heart breaking, no easier than leaving Winnipeg.  I'd grown so much in Edmonton.  When I'd arrived I had no idea what I was looking for, or really even who I was.  Now I was leaving with a clear vision of myself and my goals.  Edmonton will forever be the city I found myself in, and I miss it to this day.

After a great week in Winnipeg it was off to Halifax.  I won't lie, I was terrified.  This was even scarier than moving to Edmonton.  This time I had no one I knew in the city to make me feel at home or show me around, and it wasn't for some low responsibility entry level job, this was a full-time salary position with some high expectations.  I was nervous!  The city felt much different than the prairie cities I was used to.  In fact working on a peninsula meant driving really didn't make sense, so I was forced to start taking the bus and eventually sell my car.  But as the months went on I began to realize I was not only capable at my job, but that it was really beginning to foster confidence in myself.  I'd implemented and rolled out a new bug database for the studio, handled relations with our off-site QA team in India, interviewed and hired new QA Term Testers, begun researching and implement ion new Agile Scrum software for sprint planning, and more.  And I was getting great feedback.

After my first project with Longtail Studios shipped, a PS3 Move dancing game Dance On Broadway, we had a wrap party.  During this party it was made clear to me by some higher-ups that I was definitely being eyed for Design after I'd volunteered to help the Design Department a few times in my down time.  I was excited, but also nervous.  After all these years and successes, I was still afraid I'd fail when it came to what really mattered, my lifelong dream of being a Game Designer.  But I didn't let it show, and expressed full enthusiasm for the chance.

I was put in the Design Department for our next project, the one I'm on now, an extreme sports game for Xbox Kinect and PS3 Move, Motion Sports Adrenaline.  I was eventually made the Acting Level Designer on the Extreme Ski tracks.  I spent the past five to six months designing some awesome tracks I can't wait for people to play.  All this was in a Junior position however.  My title within Longtail was still officially QA Lead, and I was still making QA Lead salary.  I helped hire and train more QA to replace me in my absence, but for the most part I was no longer in QA.  But this was an amazing opportunity to learn what exactly being a Game Designer meant, and to then prove that I had what it took, not just to the studio but to myself.

Our acting Lead Designer, Nick, mentored me, and I owe so much to him for doing so.  He really took a chance for me, and I think saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself.  As the project was coming to a close it was time for my probation review.  I don't want to get into specifics, but it was very positive.  I was told I'd done great work, given advice and direction on how to continue to grow as a Designer, a never-ending process, and then, at long last, officially promoted.  The kid who drew Mario levels in notepads, hacked Shareware games to make levels, and taught himself 2 game engines to design levels, was now officially a Game Designer.  Three years climbing within the industry paying off.  The countless pitfalls, self-doubts and legitimate reasons to quit along the way weren't enough to keep me from achieving this.

Not many people get to say they grew up to do the thing they always wanted to.  Not many people can say they truly love going in to work in the morning.  I don't know many people who wouldn't love to get paid to be creative.  And even though I worked my ass off to get here, and made countless sacrifices along the way, I still feel incredibly lucky.

Updating my LinkedIN profile I realized I think this is the first time I finally feel like I "made it".  I have a well-respected job-title in the industry I love, the work is extremely rewarding, and I get paid a handsome salary that I can live quite comfortably at.  This is the first time I don't feel like I'm just trying to get in, to prove myself.  For the first time I truly feel like I'm in, I'm here.  It's also the first time I've ever really felt like a grown up, a man.  A man covered in tattoos who makes video games for a living...

Sometimes I wish I could go back and tell previous versions of myself it was all leading here.  I could tell the kid who thought of Level Design as a hobby that someday he'd get paid to do it, the teen who was anti-establishment that he'd some day work at one of the few industries that accepts you for who you are.  Or maybe I wouldn't tell them at all.  because all that uncertainty and confusion is what drove me to search for more out of life.  It's what led me here.

I turn 28 this week and I'm a Game Designer.  This entry was written on a plane on my way to Winnipeg for a vacation.  Returning to where it all started.  To recharge between projects, and celebrate with friends and family.  And when I get back to Halifax, I will begin a new chapter.  One that starts with me as a Game Designer, and takes me to new places, presents new challenges, and new adventures.  I have plans for my career, and it's only just now beginning.

Supporters

Supporters, a photo by notme2000 on Flickr.

My Dad texted me this pic of him and my bro wearing DA2 shirts. They were having a BBQ at the lake. Miss them :(

Entanglement

“The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived.” - Erwin Schrödinger

Taking a chance is often an intimidating task.  All possible outcomes race through your mind.  Each play out simultaneously, indefinite until measured.  It’s easy to leave it to theory, to chalk it up to superposition and move on with your life.  Giving something that matters a definitive state can be a scary thing.  But they say the only things you live to regret are the risks you didn’t take.

Over the past few years I’ve learned betting on myself pays off more often than it doesn’t.  As success bred confidence I found it easier and easier to take a chance on myself.  And my life is so much better for it.  But this lesson was learned so late!  I can't help but reflect on all the chances I never took.  My life is filled with regret.  So many parallel lives playing out simultaneously in my mind, lives that could have been, should have been.

So many chances to shine were spent hiding in the dark.  So many ambitions silenced under my own guard.  Too many dreams of my youth never made their way to my waking life.  I've loved, but never took the chance they might love me back. Most of them never even knew.  I imagine a life where I told every girl, took every chance, and risked for every reward.  A world where every possibility was sparked into existence through my observation.  I’d have gained more than I lost.  I’d have taken 2 steps forward for every step back.  I’d ride the wave of probability.  Who knows how far I’d be if I hadn’t waited so long to open the box.

I’m still young, despite being the oldest I’ve ever been.  I can go forward with this knowledge, and try not to repeat the mistakes that haunt me still.  But they will haunt me forever.  I may never forgive myself.  Regret is the most diabolical of mechanisms.

Growing up, it seems, is the collapse of possibility into the reality.  Better late than never.  If we don’t take risks, life ends up being nothing more than a thought experiment.  So many dualities denied any kind of fate, left for eternity in limbo.  Parallel lives, both living and dead.  And neither.

Ghosts In Space

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan

Nine Inch Nails. Saturn in cold empty space. Happy Monday.

Techsploration

So about 2 weeks after the film crew who shot the video in my previous post were in, another film crew came to Longtail Studios to shoot a different video.  This one focused on a co-worker of mine, Tina, who encouraged women to work in the video game industry.  That video just went up too!  More cool footage of my workplace, and I have a couple cool cameos in this one too!  Check it out!

Check out the video!

Nova Scotia–Your Studio Belongs Here!

A few months ago we had a film crew come in and shoot some footage at Longtail as part of an initiative to show the advantages Nova Scotia offers the video game industry.  It features Silverback Studios and ourselves, Longtail Studios!  The video finally went up.  It’s filled with great shots of Halifax, and Longtail Studios and all the cool people I work with, and I made it in a few scenes too!  Check it out!

A great guy I work with, our Technical Director, Sandeep, narrates the Longtail section!

Google+

By now most people have heard of Google+ (“Google Plus”).  It’s basically Google’s version of Facebook.  Google has their hands in almost every facet of the internet, and they have a pretty good track record of winning.  They overthrew Yahoo as the major search engine, and then took the email crown away from Hotmail.  When Google Video didn’t pan out they just up and bought Youtube.  Everyone is wondering if they will successfully pull people away from Facebook with Google+ and become the new social network leader.

They’ve managed to create quite the hype around it by only sending out limited invites while it’s in beta.  Similar to what they did with gmail.  It’s a smart marketing ploy, and it works.  Chad got some invites from some of his friends in the 3D art community and sent me an invite which I then passed on to a few friends of mine and I finally got a chance to try it out.

There are some fundamental differences from Facebook I hated at first, but now realize are just differences.  They’d take some getting used to, but the work.  Mainly, you can’t post to someone’s wall.  A profile is for outgoing broadcasts only, no dropping by and leaving a message.  Instead that is pushed to the person directly, with the option of being visible to others, all through the “stream”, essentially Facebook’s news feed.  I find in a few cases like these, in an effort to make things more simple, it instead complicates them.

Google+’s most hyped feature is “Circles”.  You can group friends into different circles, and choose which circles see what.  So if you’re posting pictures from a wild party you can make sure not to post it to the “Work” circle.  For privacy reasons this is awesome.  And for more control over your feed it’s great too. 

One concern I have though is Google+’s philosophy seems to be one of exclusion, and this, to me, is not what social networking is about.  I’ve made several connections on Facebook because someone posted something that revealed we had a surprising common interest.  If that person had chosen who to send that link to based on their assumptions by placing friends into Circles we’d never have discovered we had common interests and formed that spontaneous connection.  Facebook seems to be about connections, where Google+ almost seems to be more about cliques.  On Facebook acquaintances can become friends.  It seems on Google+ a casual acquaintance would file you in the “someone I don’t care about” circle, and never post anything to that circle.  To you, that person would barely exist on Google+.  On Google+ strangers stay strangers.  Facebook, to me, is all about opportunities through connection.  I’ve made friends, met women and even GOT JOBS through surprising connections on Facebook.  I’m not sure any of those would have happened under Google+’s method of exclusionary social networking.  In fact, in some ways Google+ feels more like a chat room than a social network.

On the subject of chat rooms, one of my favorite features of Google+ is the “Hang Out” feature.  You pick a circle (or all circles) and you broadcast that you’re just “hanging out”.  It’s basically a webcam chat room that anyone in that circle is free to join.  Group webcam is something Skype charges for, and Google+ brings it for free.  And you can watch YouTube videos together, which is an awesome feature.  Seeing your friend’s reaction when the baby sneezes milk out it’s nose on YouTube is pretty cool.  It wasn’t without its problems though.  Brett couldn’t get sound working unless he left the Settings tab open.  Several of us got browser crashes while trying to use it.  And the quality and memory usage was generally worse than Skype’s.  Still, an amazing feature, and one that is surprisingly free! 

It’s this kind of integration into so many other facets of the internet that I think could really make Google+ a contender.  Instead of a messages tab like Facebook has it’s integrated right into Gmail.  You can “+1” a webpage right from Google search (Google+’s version of “liking” something), etc.

But this integration also led to an extremely sour first impression of Google+.  Blogger is owned by Google.  This blog is run on Blogger.  Whenever I use an image in this blog it’s uploaded to Google’s image hosting service Picassa.  Google+ decided to use Picassa for its image hosting.  So when I created my Google+ account using my Gmail account, it auto-linked to my Picassa album and posted all my blog photos to everyone in my social network, including pics of half-naked celebrities from things like my crush lists.  Not stuff I want plastered into everyone’s feeds.  But if I messed with the privacy settings at all for those albums, the image links stopped working for my blog and I lost 4 years worth of images for this blog.  So I had to decide to either lose all the images on my blog, or to save them, have them published for everyone to see in Google+ right on my profile, and every time I add a new pic to the blog it’d add it on my profile as well.  Not impressed.

Looooong story short, to fix it I had to create a new gmail account, transfer my Picassa albums to it, transfer this Blogger account to it, wait for Google to process the 2 transfers and then reset my Google+ Picassa account.  The whole time I was praying if it didn’t work none of it was irreversible.  Totally ridiculous and not something I should have had to deal with on a fresh account for a new social network.

But my account is finally truly fresh.  This blog and its images are now truly separate from my Google+ account.  And to be fair, Google+ is still in beta.  And Facebook is far from where it started, so Google+ will presumably evolve as the needs of its customers become clear. 

One thing I don’t think anyone wants is further division among social networks.  It’s already annoying having some people who use Facebook and some who use Twitter.  Not to mention the professional social networking on LinkedIn.  Google+, with its Circles feature, could theoretically replace them all.  There’s a “Following” circle meant for following people you don’t know but find interesting, just like Twitter.  But you can also post videos and pics to your friends and tag them when they’re in them, comment on them, etc., just like Facebook.  And if they add a few more professional options you could theoretically have work history and resume just like LinkedIn.  I’d love to see consolidation in social networks, but I’d hate to see further division.  Only time will tell which Google+ ends up being.

If anyone wants to try it for themselves leave a comment with your email and I’ll send an invite!

Empires & Allies

A Facebook game finally sucked me in.  A bunch of people at work started playing it, and they practically forced me to join.  But it’s actually quite fun!  It’s like Starcraft meets Cityville.  And in an office environment, it’s exactly what it was meant to be, a social game.  Sort of like having an ongoing board game you play whenever you have a minute.  Never thought the day would come I played a Facebook game…

Dragon Age II: Legacy

Dragon Age 2 Legacy DLC Trailer

DLC for Dragon Age 2 is coming.  Chad did a lot of art assets for Dragon Age 2 DLC, and in fact the sword that is prominent through the entire trailer, and even gets its own scene basked in light, was done by him!  Here’s the asset he made in its own image:

Pretty cool!

Indie Game: The Movie

Pre-ordered this a while ago, take a look and if you like it you should pre-order too.  You don’t actually pay until it comes out.  God bless Kick Starter.  Watching this trailer, I can tell I will connect with this movie deeply.  A proper documentary on game development has been a long time coming!

P.S. I just realized the startup making this movie, Blinkworks, is based in Winnipeg!

I want to see this movie!

Crunch!

It’s that time again.  Crunch has arrived.  Working 60 hours weeks for almost a month now.

Crunch is a bizarre time.  13 hour days mean tempers can run high, and diminishing returns are an industry fact.  But it’s also like being in the trenches.  It’s when a studio bonds, and you get to know the programmer to your left and the artist to your right.  It’s when bright minds work together to creatively solve major problems.  Everyone pulls together to meet a sometimes seemingly impossible goal.  The studio buys dinner for you every night, and everyone laughs and jokes around for a bit.  You get home, pass out in your clothes, wake up and do it all again.  And eventually that title ships, and you have tangible proof it was all for something.

I’m finding crunch a lot easier to handle now that I’m in a junior design position.  Designing levels until 11:00 PM is a much more rewarding task than staying until 11:00 PM waiting to test the latest changes.  For me at least, no offense to my QA brethren.

Things seem to be going well though, so fingers crossed and knock on wood, crunch SHOULD end soon and I can have a life again!

The Dark Side

Well, I finally bought a PS3.  It has a ton of exclusives I’ve always wanted to play, with more announced at E3.  And I had a ton of old games to trade in.  With the trade in and some other lucky promotions, I got one of the best deals ever.

• PS3 160 gb
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops
• Killzone 3 Collector’s Edition
• Infamous
• Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Little Big Planet & Wipeout HD (Sony’s Welcome Back promotion, since I technically had an account from when I briefly had a PS3 in Edmonton)
• HDMI Cables

  ---

  Total after tax: 200$

Now THAT is a deal!  The Killzone 3 Collector’s edition came with a cool dynamic theme for the PS3, all DLC, the OST and Making Of vid, an art book, an action figure and a cool bust of the Helghast.

I spent most of the weekend on Skype with Chad playing PS3.  Felt like old times having a videogame night with Chad.  I miss when we lived together in Edmonton, those were good times.

My PS3 experience hasn’t been perfect however.  The first night it started beeping and making really louds clunking sounds.  I returned it the next day for an exchange and the new one is working fine though, thankfully.

Also, Oliver was quite happy to see I finally got a PS3.  He’s an admitted PS3 fanboy (and Kanye fanboy for that matter…)

It’s been a lot of fun so far, and easily worth the cheap price I paid!  So far I’ve been playing Infamous and Little Big Planet.  You may have noticed I’ve added a PS3 ID badge to my blog now too.  Now I can be an achievement AND trophy whore .  Now back to playing!  If you have a PS3, add me:  notme2000

E3 Impressions

For those who don’t know, E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, and for gamers it’s like Xmas.  For people in the industry, it’s also the time of year when you get to see the landscape ahead.  What trends are popping up, what is the competition coming out with, and what new hardware will we be developing on?  This year is no different, and as a gamer, and someone in the industry, I have my fair share of excitement and anxiety!

First off, here’s the games that stood out:

BioShock Infinite:

While not a true sequel, but a spiritual successor, it appears to have the same intelligent combat, a political narrative dealing with Utopian idealism and domestic abuse, and some beautiful level design which incorporates a lot of verticality, something I love to see in level design. Looking forward to this one!

The Darkness II:

I was skeptical about this game. I quite liked the original, but a new studio is developing this one. But I have a few friends working on this title and I trust their talent. And Mike Patton is back doing the voice acting. But once I saw the gameplay, I started to get excited.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

While it definitely looks cinematic, I’m getting really bored of the army shooter, modern or otherwise. Still, this franchise and its ilk are a license to print money, so I’m sure it’ll be the best selling game of all time, like it’s 2 predecessors were. Interested to see its reviews after the mass exodus from Infinity Ward.

Battlefield 3

While there’s no arguing the graphics are absolutely beautiful, as I said in the previous one, I’m kinda done with the modern war shooters. From an industry standpoint I’m interested to see if EA manages to take the throne of the modern war genre from Call of Duty, as they’ve clearly invested a lot in Battlefield.

Far Cry 3

I enjoyed the other 2, but this one looks like it takes it to true AAA level. As always for this franchise, the graphics look great. The gameplay is hopefully as open as the previous 2. But the narrative looks particularly compelling. I like that they address the “immortal hero” of games that never seems to die. An interesting dynamic. One of the highlights of E3 for me, really looking forward to this one.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

I personally find it kind of rediculous that Assassin’s Creed has a trilogy within a trilogy (Ezio’s trilogy within the Assassin’s Creed trilogy), but to be fair the quality has been pretty solid. I had some pretty major complaints about linear level design and instant-fail missions in Brotherhood, but it was still a great game, and progressed the plot quite a bit. Gameplay was shown, and it was quite pretty, but this trailer is too cool not to use as the video. Some interviews hinted at the future of the Assassin’s Creed storyline and I like where it’s going.

Tomb Raider

A true Tomb Raider reboot has been a long time coming. I’ve never cared too much for the franchise, but this looks like it’ll draw me in. A more realistic, vulnerable and maybe naïve Lara Croft, gameplay and cinematics that look to borrow heavily from Uncharted (which is OK since Uncharted borrowed heavily from the Tomb Raiders before it), and an intriguing premise. These are things that make a game I look forward to. A surprise hit for me.

Halo 4

Meh. Even though the franchise was supposedly over, it’s back. Being developed by Microsoft after Bungie bowed out. This on top of a full on remake of Halo 1, it’s a good time to be a Halo fan. Shame I’m not, at all.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I missed out on the previous entries to the franchise, including Oblivion, but I did get into Fallout 3 a fair amount, which was often called Oblivion with guns. The new engine they use here makes for some truly breathtaking expansive environments. I think this will be the game that finally gets me into Elder Scrolls.

Ninja Gaiden 3

During the previous generation of consoles I was on PS2. The Ninja Gaiden franchise did very well for itself but it was Xbox exclusive, so I never really got into it. I tried to later, but the games are known for their “old school NES difficulty”, and frankly I don’t like my games frustrating. I know a few people quite excited for this title though, and it certainly looks to have stayed true to it's gory roots!

Hitman: Absolution

I really respect this franchise for the varied approaches the player can take, and the uncompromising importance of smart gameplay. However, as I said in my previous entry, I don’t enjoy frustrating gameplay experiences personally, and these games are built on them.

Darksiders II

I absolutely loved the original. I love the design of Zelda games, but its focus on the younger audience leaves a lot to be desired for me. Darksiders was like a Zelda game re-skinned for adults, and that was fine by me! You played as War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Looks like in the sequel you’ll be playing one of the other riders, Death. And I hear it takes place simultaneously to the first. I can’t wait for this one.

Prey 2

The original Prey was a game of walking on walls and ceilings, and portals before Portal. You played a Native American abducted by aliens trying to save his girlfriend. In this game you play an intergalactic bounty hunter, taking in targets. The gameplay shown matched the trailer. A lot of people are really excited about it, I’m not sure that I am. I don’t want to chase people for an entire game… During an interview it was said the lead from the first game is still present in some fashion, and the game isn’t “just” chasing. But I still have my doubts, personally.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Now that I’m making decent money I finally plan on buying a PS3 and getting into the other side of the hardcore gaming market. I’ve missed out on the Uncharted franchise, even though I’ve heard almost nothing but good things. I’ll have to play the first 2 first, but this game will be a must play once I get a PS3. It’s been advertised as amazing in 3D, and that’s how I plan on playing it when the time comes. Naughty Dog does such an amazing job of seamlessly blending cinematics and gameplay.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum was a surprise hit from an unheard of studio, RockSteady, and it ended up winning a ton of Game Of The Year awards, and justly so. I LOVED the first. It’s one of the very few games I went back to play through again. The new one is bigger, it’s now an open world. I am giddy with excitement for this game. I hope they do it in 3D as well, as the GOTY edition for the previous one was great fun in 3D!

Mass Effect 3

I have a few friends at E3 pushing this game, including Reid, so it was great to see it get so much attention. Mass Effect 2 was one of my favorite games of all time. A game that raises the bar of what a game can be. It told a story complex and emotional in a way a movie just can’t accomplish in 2 hours. The fact that I worked at BioWare with the people that made this game for 2 years has no bearing on that statement. One of my favorite games ever. So Mass Effect 3 is something I’m dying for. I knew all of this before the announcement but now I can finally talk about it. Kinect support in Mass Effect 3! This is a common theme in Microsoft’s E3 conference. Kinect is not just for casual gamers, but hardcore too! While I’m not a fan of the idea of responding verbally, then having Shepard paraphrase it in-game, the idea of voice commands for squads instead of having to pause combat is a GREAT idea. The trailer does little in showing off the epic story that will take place in Mass Effect 3 (we finally see Earth in the Mass Effect franchise, but under dire circumstances as the Reapers are finally out of hiding, hell bent on culling intelligent life from the galaxy, for mysterious reasons), but I chose this video to show off voice commands in use. One of the most highly anticipated games for me.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

This game was nowhere on my radar. Then they showed a pretty nice CG trailer, but anyone can make a cool CG trailer. But once I saw this gameplay footage of 4-player coop I was sold. This will be a great game to play with friends. Another thing shown off (not in this video but you can find it if you look) is Kinect support for weapon customization. Basically it has a Minority Report type interface for customizing your weapons, which appears to have insane depth. This game is one I’ll be forcing my friends to buy so we can play together. I love me some co-op.

Twisted Metal

This game will get 10/10 from me if on nostalgia alone. From what I’ve seen though, it’ll hold up as a great game for newcomers too. In an era where realism reigns, it’s nice to see some games that aren’t afraid to go over the top. They focused a lot on the single player story mode at E3, which looks interesting, but honestly, no one’s buying this game for the single player… I can’t wait to drive down memory lane with this game, and blow things up!

Saints Row The Third

I played the first Saints Row, and liked it more than GTA3 at the time. The controls were tighter, the action was more satisfying and the customization was great. I missed the second somehow, but the third is looking great. Like I said for Twisted Metal, I love when a game studio isn’t afraid to take it over the top. You can beat someone with a giant purple dildo in this game. So ya, there’s that. It looks fun, and I’ll play it.

Dead Island

This footage isn’t technically from E3, but it’s the best gameplay footage out there. Open world zombie survival game with heavy RPG elements. For those that haven’t seen the cinematic cg trailer, google Dead Island Trailer and prepare to see the game trailer that spread through the gaming community like wildfire. An amazing trailer! Anyway, after seeing gameplay, I’m looking forward to this game, even though first person melee is not something I generally like.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Aside from this idiot interviewer, this video gets the game across pretty well. 4 player coop, very arcade like. Looks to be cashing in on Left 4 Dead. Honestly, not too excited for this one. Looks a little too frantic for me. But I’m sure many will quite enjoy it!

Motion Sports Adrenaline

And look at this! A casual game being made for Kinect and PS3 Move. I wonder who’s making this game… And I somehow have the feeling the designer for the Extreme Ski levels is gunna nail it! Just sayin…

Also, I found this to be awesome, and a great deal for 499$!

PS3 3DTV Bundle

Not many people seem to agree with me on this, but I think 3D gaming is the future! I had Nvidia 3D Vision for my pc in Edmonton and used to love playing WoW in 3D. It just drew me into the environments, and brought the level design to life! So I'm happy to see Sony pushing 3D so hard. And the 2 player full screen features is awesome!!

And let’s not forget Nintendo.  Everyone was waiting for their conference because Nintendo had confirmed they’d be unveiling their next console, tentatively called Wii 2.  Nintendo’s conference came, and for the first 80% it was fluff.  A few new games, nothing amazing or even worth putting in this list.  Then they announced the console:

Wii U

Yep. It’s called the Wii-U. Sometimes I feel like Nintendo is trolling the gaming community. Or just seeing what it can get away with. But after the Wii went from being a joke at it's announcement to a revolutionary console that finally brought gaming to the mainstream, I don’t know what to expect. All I know is I was not wowed. One surprise came after this trailer though. Nintendo, while staying loyal to its casual market, is re-dedicating itself to the hardcore market. Many of the games on this list, it was announced, will also be release on Wii-U. Batman, Darksiders 2, Ninja Gaiden, etc. Of course they’ll come out way after their initial releases on other consoles, since the Wii-U doesn’t even have a release date yet. I do like the screen controller idea. It leads to some very interesting design possibilities. Especially in multiplayer. Finally a player can have a secret from other players. In it’s simplest form, imagine a game of poker where other players can’t see your cards! None the less, most people agree Nintendo’s conference was pretty lackluster, even including a new console!

So that was the bulk of E3.  I missed a few things, but got the major stuff.  It was a great E3, and I was really happy with the focus on the hardcore gamer crowd. The past few years have been all about the casual gamer. As someone who works at a studio that makes casual games, I have nothing against them, but it was nice to see my main gaming interests being served at E3 this year. E3 is still going on so I’m sure some cool gameplay footage is coming and some informative interviews, but the bulk of the announcements have been made.  I’m super jealous of my friends there this year.  One of these days I’ll make it down there!

Dancers

Playing Dance On Broadway at the SMU Career/Science fair a few months ago. My co-worker Clifford posted pics on Facebook, followed soon by a video…

Rome: 3 Dreams Of Black

A few years ago I had just moved in with my cousin Bill in Edmonton and started my job at BioWare as a QA Term Tester.  I was realizing this was the industry I was meant for, and was really excited about it.  Many nights when I’d get home I’d talk Bill’s ear off about how exciting it all was for me.  He gave me great career advice and of course shared my passion and we often talked about random ideas or directions we’d like to see the medium of gaming take.

One idea I’d had for a while was for a band to release a “game” as a music video.  A heavily scripted, interactive scene set to the band’s new song.  It had a lot of artistic potential.  Well a band finally did it, and they did it well.  They took it one step further with adding user generated content to it, so it’s not just interactive but networked.  I love seeing gaming as a medium branch in new directions and try new things. 

Please check out the “video”!  All you do is move around the mouse when the icon changes to look around and effect your environment.  It is meant to be run in Google Chrome.

P.S.
A video of the making of:

Making the interactive video.

FibreOp

I switched my internet to FibreOp today.  A few weeks ago I came home and checked the mail and had a flyer saying FibreOp was available to my neighborhood now.  For those who don’t know, it’s a new infrastructure for internet that is still very new and not available most places.  I immediately called.  For only 20$ more than I was paying for my old internet I could get over 4x faster downloads and 30x faster uploads.

I had it hooked up today.  Check out the difference:

Old:

New:

I’m downloading season 1 and 2 of community.  A total of 10 gigs.  Both should be done in a littler over an hour!  I could get used to this.

Free Copy Of Dance On Broadway PS3

Got my free copy of Dance On Broadway Ps3 today! Thanks Longtail! Now all I need is a PS3 and a Move controller. Oh, and a working PSN...

Airport Blogging

Airports are a familiar locale for me lately. Ever since things with Longtail started with a flight to Halifax for the interview, I spend about 6 days a year in airports and on planes. On a single-direction flight, like today's Winnipeg to Halifax trip, I see 3 to 4 airports (departure, arrival and layovers) and fly on at least 2 planes. I know Toronto Pearson International Airport like the back of my hand. The shoe shine guy remembers me whenever I decide to get a shine.

It's not like I'm some kind of crazy jet-setter living out of my suitcase, but it does give me a small window into what that kind of life would be like. I often overhear the flight attendants or pilots talking, forgetting what city they're in or what the local time is. I could see liking it, and hating it. I have no plans on going on tour for anything any time soon though, so it's all just fun what-ifs.

Today my layover in Toronto is 3 hours. I'm sitting in a cafe eating a hot dog and fries next to a window overlooking the tarmac. More than half the people here are using iPads.

I often meet people during layovers and have interesting conversation. Usually that's Toronto, but sometimes the layover is in Montreal too. There was one guy I met who was an admitted gambling addict who told me the story of the night he won 100,000$ and still managed to lose it all within the month. There was a couple from Germany who were traveling the world on her Dad's inheritance. A few creepers too who I regretted starting conversation with. I also have a frustrating habit of meeting really nice, cute girls on layovers. Frustrating because obviously nothing is going to come of it, once one of us has to leave for our flight we never see each other again. That's also kind of cool though, these spontaneous brief interactions.

You also see a lot of emotion in airports. The sorrow of a couple splitting for a long period of time, someone leaving their home for their ambitions, etc, but also the joy of couples reunited where they can't keep from crying and kissing like highschoolers, or someone returning from their tour of duty to their relieved family.

I should probably get out of this cafe and go to my terminal, boarding starts in a bit under an hour, and I want to get a seat in the waiting area before they fill up. I'll write an entry about my trip from Halifax, soon.