Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Contemplating Gencon Indy...
So, me and TUO are thinking about headin' to GenCon Indy. Of course, we are always motivated by meeting up with friends there. Any takers?
Sunday, May 28, 2006
TUO Rocks!
I got TUO a PlayStation 2, Guitar Hero, and Katamari Damacy for her birthday. She's hooked on GH: she named her band The Ragged Magpies and has been rockin' out every day since!
TUO rockin' out!
TUO and Pandora, her GH alter ego
Katamari Damacy is a weird little game, and TUO can only play it in short stints without becoming motion-sick nauseous, but I think that one is a winner for her as well. The gist of the game is this: your father, the King of All Cosmos, has destroyed all the stars, and has charged one with making new ones. How do you do this? By rolling up things into katamari balls and making them into stars. Really simple concept, but it's tricky pushin' the ever-growin' ball around. Oh, and if you don't roll the katamari ball in time, the King of All Cosmos tears you a new one. Really, he's a big jerk. :-)
TUO rockin' out!
TUO and Pandora, her GH alter ego
Katamari Damacy is a weird little game, and TUO can only play it in short stints without becoming motion-sick nauseous, but I think that one is a winner for her as well. The gist of the game is this: your father, the King of All Cosmos, has destroyed all the stars, and has charged one with making new ones. How do you do this? By rolling up things into katamari balls and making them into stars. Really simple concept, but it's tricky pushin' the ever-growin' ball around. Oh, and if you don't roll the katamari ball in time, the King of All Cosmos tears you a new one. Really, he's a big jerk. :-)
Canada Trip - Spring 2006
The Canada trip was great! Thanks to Bne and Ferlak for letting us stay with them at their swingin' bachelour pad in Calgary. Also, a big thanks to Suz, Rilla, Alan, Jeff, and John for making the trek from Saskatoon to visit us. Last but not least, I'd like to thank Calvin, Malcolm, Steve, Seamus and Jen for visiting with us in Calgary, and Brock and Hillary for visiting us in Edmonton. It was great to see all of you again!
I guess I was too busy socializing to get many pictures. We went to the Calgary Zoo on Sunday, and got a bunch of animal pics. Here's the ones that matter; ladies and gentlemen... the otters!
River Otter
Lake Otter
We took a day trip up to Edmonton and got a chance to visit with TUOs siblings and finally meet my sister-in-laws' twins.
Of course, now it's everyone's turn to come down and visit us in Cali!
I guess I was too busy socializing to get many pictures. We went to the Calgary Zoo on Sunday, and got a bunch of animal pics. Here's the ones that matter; ladies and gentlemen... the otters!
River Otter
Lake Otter
We took a day trip up to Edmonton and got a chance to visit with TUOs siblings and finally meet my sister-in-laws' twins.
Of course, now it's everyone's turn to come down and visit us in Cali!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
E3 2006
E3 has come and gone for another year. I was sent down to work at the AGEIA booth to show off the PhysX in Issue 7.
My co-worker Ray and I at the Figueroa Hotel. The hotel was older, but had a nice style to it.
Blurry pic of the Figueroa lobby
Fortunately, the hotel was just a couple of blocks from the LA Convention Center, making for a nice short walk to and from the expo every day. The building itself was covered in massive stories-high game posters; I heard the Gears of War one (pictured in the center of my pic below) cost $70K. Wow. I guess it's a small drop in the bucket for a big gaming company, but... wow.
Outside the convention center beside alien drop pods
The AGEIA booth was demoing a bunch of games using the new PhysX engine graphics, which enabled real-world physics for persistent debris, and all other kinds of groovy-cool stuff. For a more detailed explanation, read this. We incorporated PhysX into all the powers and destructible objects in I7, taking the CoV ragdoll physics to the next level.
My bleary-eyed self on day 2 of the expo
My co-worker Ray doing some Mayhem!
I gotta say, it was really a cool experience working as a CoV developer at E3. I did some interviews, met with a lot of CoH/CoV fans, and answered a lot of questions. While a CoH/CoV few fans were ornery (why does the training room download have to be SO big?), the majority were really great. More than a few said, "Thank you for making such a great game! We love it!" This truly gave me the warm fuzzies. Coupled with the experience of meeting other devs who who just as jazzed about making cool games, it really made me feel good about being in the industry and bringing enjoyment to so many people. Huzzah!
Cool Stuff at E3
NCSoft, publisher of CoV, had a great-looking booth this year showing off a LOT of new games. Some of the coolest ones included Tabula Rasa (sci-fi MMO), Dungeon Runners (an updated Diablo-style hackfest), and ExTeel (a mecha-combat shooter).
The band Mutaytor on the Play NC stage
The PlayNC booth area
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (MMO) had some demos running at the FunCom (makers of Anarchy Online) booth. While it could use a lot of polish, the game has potential. I mean, what red-blooded male WOULDN'T want to take on the role of a savage Cimmerian? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women! By Crom!
R:tAG the Ukrainian!
I got a chance to try out Hellgate: London as well. The feel of it is VERY cool, a sort of holy-techno-warriors-meets-demons-in-an-apocalyptic-future type feel. Check out the website, and watch for the release.
Hellgate: London booth
Webzen was really pushing Huxley this year, supposedly a "FPS MMORPG". I got a chance to play in a squad-vs-squad battle, which felt mostly FPS with little RPG. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one; it should be out this fall for the Xbox 360, so I might pick it up if there aren't any better contenders.
A sapien marine from Huxley
The thundering MMO developer giant Blizzard showed off the first expansion to the stupidly successful World of Warcraft. They revealed the new Alliance race, some blue-skinned hoofed critters called the draenei. So now the Horde has a pretty race (the blood elves) and the Alliance has these guys. Maybe things will balance out a bit more in the PvP zones? That remains to be seen.
Ow! I got a hangnail!
Pirates of the Caribbean Online is in development, and I got a beta invite. Woot! However, first glance makes me think it might be a bit too 'kiddie' to be fun, but I'll see how the beta plays. The ESRB might still rate it ARRRRRRRR! (sorry, couldn't resist)
The chair from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Yarrrrr!
The Obligatory Babes of E3
And of course, what would E3 be without booth babes? Those sultry sirens of silicon(e) may have restrictions placed on them, but that didn't stop them baring their... errr... 'talents' again this year.
These were soliciting for some hoop-shooting game
A Korean Webzen 'future-girl'
I don't even remember what they were promoting
Call of Duty 3 girl in her... fatigues?
Probably NOT their real hair
My co-worker Ray and I at the Figueroa Hotel. The hotel was older, but had a nice style to it.
Blurry pic of the Figueroa lobby
Fortunately, the hotel was just a couple of blocks from the LA Convention Center, making for a nice short walk to and from the expo every day. The building itself was covered in massive stories-high game posters; I heard the Gears of War one (pictured in the center of my pic below) cost $70K. Wow. I guess it's a small drop in the bucket for a big gaming company, but... wow.
Outside the convention center beside alien drop pods
The AGEIA booth was demoing a bunch of games using the new PhysX engine graphics, which enabled real-world physics for persistent debris, and all other kinds of groovy-cool stuff. For a more detailed explanation, read this. We incorporated PhysX into all the powers and destructible objects in I7, taking the CoV ragdoll physics to the next level.
My bleary-eyed self on day 2 of the expo
My co-worker Ray doing some Mayhem!
I gotta say, it was really a cool experience working as a CoV developer at E3. I did some interviews, met with a lot of CoH/CoV fans, and answered a lot of questions. While a CoH/CoV few fans were ornery (why does the training room download have to be SO big?), the majority were really great. More than a few said, "Thank you for making such a great game! We love it!" This truly gave me the warm fuzzies. Coupled with the experience of meeting other devs who who just as jazzed about making cool games, it really made me feel good about being in the industry and bringing enjoyment to so many people. Huzzah!
Cool Stuff at E3
NCSoft, publisher of CoV, had a great-looking booth this year showing off a LOT of new games. Some of the coolest ones included Tabula Rasa (sci-fi MMO), Dungeon Runners (an updated Diablo-style hackfest), and ExTeel (a mecha-combat shooter).
The band Mutaytor on the Play NC stage
The PlayNC booth area
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (MMO) had some demos running at the FunCom (makers of Anarchy Online) booth. While it could use a lot of polish, the game has potential. I mean, what red-blooded male WOULDN'T want to take on the role of a savage Cimmerian? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women! By Crom!
R:tAG the Ukrainian!
I got a chance to try out Hellgate: London as well. The feel of it is VERY cool, a sort of holy-techno-warriors-meets-demons-in-an-apocalyptic-future type feel. Check out the website, and watch for the release.
Hellgate: London booth
Webzen was really pushing Huxley this year, supposedly a "FPS MMORPG". I got a chance to play in a squad-vs-squad battle, which felt mostly FPS with little RPG. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one; it should be out this fall for the Xbox 360, so I might pick it up if there aren't any better contenders.
A sapien marine from Huxley
The thundering MMO developer giant Blizzard showed off the first expansion to the stupidly successful World of Warcraft. They revealed the new Alliance race, some blue-skinned hoofed critters called the draenei. So now the Horde has a pretty race (the blood elves) and the Alliance has these guys. Maybe things will balance out a bit more in the PvP zones? That remains to be seen.
Ow! I got a hangnail!
Pirates of the Caribbean Online is in development, and I got a beta invite. Woot! However, first glance makes me think it might be a bit too 'kiddie' to be fun, but I'll see how the beta plays. The ESRB might still rate it ARRRRRRRR! (sorry, couldn't resist)
The chair from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Yarrrrr!
The Obligatory Babes of E3
And of course, what would E3 be without booth babes? Those sultry sirens of silicon(e) may have restrictions placed on them, but that didn't stop them baring their... errr... 'talents' again this year.
These were soliciting for some hoop-shooting game
A Korean Webzen 'future-girl'
I don't even remember what they were promoting
Call of Duty 3 girl in her... fatigues?
Probably NOT their real hair
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