Evan Nikolich's Blog

How to Be a Team Player as a Game Designer

2011-05-31T15:38:00.015-04:00

Game development is a team sport. Multiple people working together towards achieving one goal, make a great game. It is rare to see a successful game made from start to finish by one person. Teams of people make games, and a professional game designer will work with many other designers, programmers, artists, audio engineers, producers, and testers through out the course of development. All these people have ideas on what will make the game they are working together on fun and successful. The responsibility of the game designers on the team is to not to just have great ideas and solutions to design problems, but to get the team to share their ideas. A designer needs to listen and go through their team's ideas and feedback, and to make sure the best and strongest ideas make it into the game. A designer needs to do more than solve design problems and come up with great ideas. A designer needs to facilitate communication and tap into their team's creative potential. It is important for a designer to check their ego at the door, and listen to their team.

A designer needs to foster an environment that promotes creativity and discussion. Team members need to feel like they can talk to the design team and give their own ideas and feedback on the design of the game. Having an environment that encourages people to contribute their ideas to the design is great for team morale. People feel like they are being heard, and will feel like they are owning a piece of the game. Having ownership will motivate people to work hard as they now have a personal investment in the design. A motivated team will be more willing to collaborate and help a designer arrive at better solutions to design problems. The more ideas and feedback a designer has, the better informed decisions they can make about where to take the design of the game.

Game development is a collaborative process. To make a great game, a designer has to be willing to hear the ideas and feedback from their team. Those ideas will not always be great, and the feedback will not always be constructive, but it's part of a designer's job to identify the good ideas and get them into the game. A strong designer is someone who identifies a good idea and executes on it. A strong designer does not come up with ideas and solutions on their own all the time. It can be tough to put aside one's personal feelings when it comes to their design work, as it is natural to be defensive of one's ideas. A designer has to work on letting go of these feelings, and has to keep their eye on delivering the best game possible to their customer. Game development is a team sport, and it's the designer's role on the team to identify best ideas and design solutions, no matter where they come from, and make sure they get into the game.

Being a Better Game Designer

2011-04-30T17:03:00.008-04:00

I have been making games for about 7 years now, the last 4 which I have spent as a game designer. I have learned a good deal about being a game designer in that time, and I thought I'd share a few lessons that I think have made me a better designer.

Always Champion the Best Idea
One of the big differences between a junior designer and a senior designer, is the senior designer will try to champion what they think is the best idea for the game, not just their own ideas. A seasoned designer is able to spot and recognize good idea for a solution to a design problem, and they are comfortable with the fact that that solution does not have to be their original idea. Game development is collaborative effort, and everyone on the project has ideas on what direction the game should take and what makes the game fun. A designer listens to their team, gets their team's thoughts and feedback, and critically examines it. The job of a designer is to take the seed of an idea from where ever they get the inspiration for it, and make it grow into fun and polished part of the game. Sometimes that idea comes for the designer's own mind, but more often than not it comes from somewhere else.

Appreciate All Disciplines of Game Development
Game development can be seen as six general disciplines: Art, Audio, Design, Engineering, Production, and Quality Assurance. Learning to appreciate all disciplines a designer is critical. A designer works with some one from every discipline at some point throughout development. Having a fundamental understanding of each discipline helps foster good communication, which in turn will create a better end product. For example, if a designer has a better understanding of color and contrast, they can better understand where an artist is coming from when explaining their vision for lighting in a particular scene. The designer can give intelligent feedback to the artist about the lighting, explaining how they see the lighting working with the desired design for the game, and foster a constructive discussion where both art and design work towards delivering a strong presentation for the scene. As a designer, have a hungry mind and be eager to learn about the five other disciplines of the game development. The better a designer can communicate with their team members, the better chance the team has of seeing their vision for the game become a reality.

Live a Full Life
Get out there an live. Experience new things and have interesting stories to tell. A big part of game design is about delivering an awesome and captivating experience to the player. The more life experience a designer has, the more experiences they have to draw on for their designs. A designer could be sitting down to map out a level for a multiplayer shooter, and the idea for the level starts with inspiration from some city streets the designer was wandering through last weekend. The level may end up looking nothing like the city streets the designer walked through, but the inspiration for the idea came from real life experience. So as a designer, as human being, take breaks from playing and researching games and go experience some real adventures. It will help refresh the mind and inspire new ideas.

Failure to Plan

2011-03-31T18:27:00.005-04:00

Today is the last day of March, I am sick, and I have not put together worthwhile blog post on game development. This purely due to my failure to plan accordingly. The lesson to be taken away from this is if you set a goal for myself, make a concrete plan so I can achieve that goal. Having an idea to do something is great, but it's abstract. Actually make a plan to realize that idea, and it will now feel more concrete and have a better chance of getting done.

In this case, my failure to plan as left me with nothing worthwhile to post. Funny thing is, I have learned this lesson before, but I still stumbled. Guess I have to learn this lesson one more time. Before the month of April is out I will have a worthwhile post up.

Looking back at this blog

2011-03-09T20:14:00.009-05:00

I am taking a look at this blog for the first time in a long time. I've had this blog for 4+ years, and reading through my old posts brings back memories. It makes me remember of where I was in my life at the time of the post. It reminds how I was feeling at the time. My outlook on the world. My arrogance. My excitement. My disappointment. My sadness. Perhaps all those feelings do not come through in my posts, but I can remember how I was feeling when I wrote them.

I look back at a number of the of the posts, and I just think "what a jackass!" I guess I've grown up a bit. 28 year old Evan looks back on 23/24 year old Evan, and just kind of chuckles. I had no idea what my life had in store for me. All the ups and downs, twists and turns. One thing I wish I could tell my 23/24 year old self is to shut up and listen.

And I have shut up and listen, a bit. I'm not perfect, and I'm always working to be a better listener. Through listening, I tried to take away some lessons and practice on those lessons. In the process of listening and practicing I have gained a bit of knowledge over the last few years. I've learned to be more patient. To be more humble. To have more respect for those who have come before me. To relax. To nurture both body and mind. I'm sure I have learned many other things as well, but those stick out in my mind the most.

I think one of the most exciting things I have learned, though, is I still have no idea what life has in store me. It's quite a great feeling that there is still so much ahead of me. So much more to learn and experience. I look back at 23 as "my youth," but I recognize 28 is still pretty damn young, and I look forward to what is in store for me. Both the good times and the hard times.

I don't know if I should delete this blog, scrub my record of the stupidity of my youth, or keep it around. As a record, as a reflecting point. I think I'll keep it around for now. I like the history lesson.

Now to set a goal for myself. Actually write a worthwhile blog post about game development before the month of March is out. Lets see if I can hold myself to it.

Borderlands ships today!

2009-10-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

Borderlands ships today on Xbox 360/PS3/PC. Congratulations to Gearbox for getting a new IP off the ground. I got the opportunity to work on the PvP arena portion of the game. Check it and let me know what you think.

An iPhone game worth "premium" price tag: Civilization Revolution

2009-08-24T20:13:00.003-04:00

I picked up Civilization Revolution for the iPhone over the weekend for $5. Totally worth it. $5 is on the higher price end for iPhone games, but its essentially a straight port of the Nintendo DS version. It has all the things that made Civilization Revolution great on the console, just on a smaller screen. If you are a Civ fan, I strongly recommend it. Be warned, though, it eats through the battery pretty quick.

Learn from your mistakes!

2009-08-20T12:56:00.003-04:00

My buddy linked me a great blog post from Jeff Atwood's Coding Horror blog about learning from your mistakes. Examples he cites are Microsoft's Bob and William's Pinball 2000. Its a good read.
mistakes:http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001297.html

I got an iPhone

2009-08-13T21:50:00.001-04:00

I got an iPhone 3Gs yesterday. So far, very pleased with it. Got Wordfu in support of my studio. Now should I get on twitter and further my yuppie douche bag-ness?

July Recap

2009-08-09T21:48:00.002-04:00

I've been pretty busy with work and side projects, and haven't had much chance to blog. Here is my gaming recap for July in no particular order:

Fight Night Round 4
Halo 3
UFC 2009
BlazBlue Calamity Trigger
Battlefield 1943
'Spolsion Man
N+
Marvel vs Capcom 2

Lots of gaming. Hopefully have some more blog posts up through the month of August.

Borderlands San Diego Comic Con trailer

2009-07-25T19:45:00.003-04:00

Borderlands is a game I had the privilege of working on. My team and I worked on the multiplayer versus portion. Here is the latest trailer from the San Diego Comic Con:

Video Games | Borderlands | SDCC 09: Extended Gameplay Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Finally back on Battlefield 1943

2009-07-24T20:11:00.003-04:00

I had a frustrating series of events this week related to BF1943 and the EA servers.

Monday: I can't log onto the EA servers and play BF1943 on Xbox 360. I just chalk it up to a server maintenance problem, and work on a UT3 map instead.
Tuesday: I can't log onto the EA servers and play BF1943 again. I can't even log onto the EA servers to play Fight Night Round 4. Something is definitely screwed up. I check the forums at www.battlefield1943.com and I'm directed to file an EA customer support ticket. I file a ticket saying I can't log onto the EA servers for any EA game I own.
Wednesday: EA customer service rep emails me asking for my gamer tag, email, and other info. I'm a little frustrated because all that info is already tied to my EA account. but I give him the info anyways.
Thursday Morning: I am told by the EA rep that my account got munged when they were doing some sort of integration, so he said he erased it. Then he tells me to download the LOTR: Conquest Demo and log in to reactivate my account. Download a demo to reactivate my EA account with my Xbox Live gamer tag? WTF?! I'm also told to file another ticket if this doesn't fix the problem. I download the LOTR demo, again, try to log on, and it FAILS. I am so frustrated at this point, I just say forget it and go to work.
Thursday Night: I come home later that night, and try one last desprate attempt to log on to the EA servers via LOTR. It actually friggin' worked, I was shocked. I reactivated my account, and then go hop onto BF1943. I get into a match, I'm doing my normal thing, shooting heads and capping flags, and then I'm greeted with the in game message that I just reached private bronze. Right then, I realize "Shit all my stats have been wiped. I'm starting from square one." All my stats from Xbox Live EA games have been wiped! I was pretty pissed, but then I simmered down. Why you might ask? I finished at the top of the scored board in the match, and I just chalked it up as I just presitaged in like I do in CoD4 :)

So thats the saga. Thank god there weren't any unlocks to lose. Actually I probably lost my MOH: Airborne unlocks, but whatever. If EA wants to host their own servers, they gotta straighten their shit out. At least I'm back to playing BF1943.

Rock Band: Country Track Pack out today!

2009-07-21T21:24:00.004-04:00

A game that my studio and I worked on came out today. Hope you enjoy it. We sure had fun working on it

June 30th, 2009 - What Have you been playing

2009-06-30T22:03:00.002-04:00

I've been pretty busy lately after coming off vacation, but I have found time to get some gaming in the past week.

Fable II
I finished this up early last week. The ending was pretty anti-climatic for me. I won't spoil it, but it definitely lacked any sort of punch. I finished the game as a good game, but I don't see how playing as a bad game would alter the ending. Overall I did enjoy the game and it was worth the $30 purchase. Now my character is in hibernation, accruing 10,000 gold an hour while I play other games. I'll have to go back and wrap up some achievements next week.

Fight Night Round 4
I'm a huge Fight Night fan, since Fight Night 2004 on the PS2. The game visually looks great, and the new additions definitely change the game up. Height and reach play a big part in this game, as depending on your size you are either and inside (short reach) or outside fighter (long reach). They removed parrying as well, which was a big crutch for me, but it makes the game more realistic. You have actually work to slip punches and land counter blows, instead of just holding the parry button and make sure you're guarding in the right direction. Right now working through the legacy mode, and probably move to online soon.

So what have you been playing?

Update - I was on vacation

2009-06-24T20:15:00.002-04:00

I have not updated the blog in awhile because I was on vacation in Wrightsville Beach, NC. Hung out with some old college friends, and didn't have to do any work for a few days, so it was great. A quick update on what I've been playing: Fable 2, Gears of War 2, and Halo 3. I'll have another blog update in the near future.

June 8th, 2009 - What Have You Been Playing?

2009-06-08T21:49:00.004-04:00

I've planning some other blog posts, mainly game development related, but right now its another edition of What Have you Been Playing?

Halo Wars
I finished up the single player campaign. The last couple missions definitely had a "rushed" feel to them, and did not provide much of challenge. I kind got a hang of the controls at the end, but I still think there is a better control solution for the console RTS. Its kind of sad Halo Wars was Ensemble's last game, and you watch the credits role realizing its the end of era. I might try out some multiplayer, as I heard the average Xbox Live player isn't a very good RTS player :)

Fable II
Started playing Fable II after I finished up Halo Wars. So far, I'm liking it. The game is rough in some areas. Frame rate issues rear crop up a little too often, and the UI dog-shit slow when loading. For a game where I have navigate a lot menus and manage inventory, the UI should be fast. However, I do like there is a ton of stuff to do in terms of quests, NPC interaction, and buying up property. I'm definitely looking forward to becoming wealthy land owner.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
I've actually been playing this the last couple weeks and just have failed to mention it. We have a 3rd Strike cabinet at work and I play from time to time. I'm working on my Makoto and perfecting my Karakusa choke combos.

Oh and I played a bit of Tetris since it was its 25th anniversay.

What have you been playing?

25 Years of Tetris

2009-06-06T19:26:00.002-04:00

Today is the 25th anniversary of Tetris. Play some Tetris today. Heck I'll even give you a link:
http://www.tetrisfriends.com/games/Marathon/game.php

June 1st, 2009 - What Have You Been Playing

2009-06-01T22:39:00.004-04:00

In my attempt to make Mondays "What Have You Playing," I'm making another post :)

Halo Wars - Xbox 360
I'm kind of mixed on this RTS. I understand that the console controller can be limiting, but I still think a good RTS can be made for it. I like Halo Wars for its universe and that it is expanding upon the Halo lore. I like Halo Wars for its aesthetics. Its easy on the eyes, the audio is solid, and the CG cut scenes are very well done. However, the control really bothers me. The control has some good things such as the cursor sort of "sticks" to units, and the base building is streamlined. Commanding a large army is very difficult, though. The game encourages you to build up large forces, but its very hard to micro manage them because you can't group them. You can only select "All Units" or "Local Units." A basic manuever such as diverting and flanking the enemy is difficult. I've resorted to just building a large force and just chucking them at the enemy position hoping for the best.

In the end, I'm enjoying Halo Wars, but it definitely flawed.

Team Fortress 2 - PC
Still enjoying TF2. Valve has tweaked the unlocks, changing the time intervals you can potentially get unlocks, and adding achievement based unlocks for the Spy and Sniper. I haven't done any achievement grinding, but I have been getting unlocks via the time intervals.

I haven't playing much else. I've been working on some UT3 maps, so I've been devoting free time to that. What have you been playing?

Happy Memorial Day - What Have You Playing?

2009-05-25T14:01:00.011-04:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Its been awhile, but I feel inspired to create a blog post. Games I've been playing over this long weekend:

Team Fortress 2
Sniper and Spy updates came out this weekend, and a new unlock system for getting the additional items and weapons. I've been playing with my brother and Its been great fun. I've mainly been rocking the Demo and Heavy classes, as I suck as a Spy and I'm not much of the "hang back and snipe" kinda I'm finally getting the extra items with out having to whore out the achievements.

Dawn of War II
Playing through the single player campaign. So far, so good. I had some pretty bad technical issues with the game initially since I'm using Athlon X2 4400+ CPU, but once I got it sorted out, things are running smooth. DoW2 single player is definitely a departure from traditional RTSes. There is virtually no base building, and you only control 4 squads at time. The focus is more on leveling up your squads, exploiting their special abilities, and collecting gear to beef up your squads.

Gotta love transferable Live achievements as well :)

Metal Slug series
Busted out Metal Slug X and Metal Slug 3 on my NEO GEA AES to get my retro fix. Enjoying some classic 2D side scrolling action.

Other than that, I've been just hanging out and mucking around in the UT3 editor. I'm almost done shelling out a map that I'm pretty happy with. Will start play testing soon.

What have you been playing?

Best $140 I've ever spent!

2009-03-29T21:30:00.007-04:00

"LET'S GO NOVA!"

I spent the majority of Saturday night chanting that phrase down at the TD Banknorth Garden. I was lucky enough scalp a ticket 30 minutes before game time. I was able to get a loge seat and have a great view of the game. And what a game it was! Back and forth, like two heavy weight fighters in prize fight. Dejuan Blair was killing us inside, but we were able to answer back, and make clutch free throws down the stretch. With under 2 minutes left in the game, I came to the realization, win or lose, I was witnessing one of the greatest college basketball games of all time. With the game tied, 5.5 seconds left, and Nova under their own basket, tensions were running high. Reggie Redding gets the ball the Dante, who dishes it to Scottie Reynolds at half court, and Scottie drives to the bucket hard. He lays the ball up, it swirls around in the rim, and falls in with 0.5 left on the clock! To my right were dejected Pitt fans, and to my left were a grand father and his grand son celebrating the Nova victory with me. A truly amazing night!

Looking forward to UNC in the Final Four :)

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix = ftw

2008-12-06T18:18:00.003-05:00

Its been a long time since an update, but here's what I've been playing:

SSF2THDR
Gears of War 2
Call of Duty: World at War
MK vs DCU

I've been playing ALOT of SSF2THR this weekend. The online play is fantastic! Its almost like the person I'm playing against is in the same room. It definitely brings back memories of playing in the arcades in '94. However, people have started bitchin' me out online. My Sagat fireball trap is considered "cheap" and people are smacking me with "unsportsman like conduct" on XBL. I just came off a 7-match win streak with Zangief too. I've been working on my Zang, and I don't think many people expect it online amidst the Dhalsims, Ryus, Kens, and Akumas. I won 1 match with 2 perfect rounds, and I won another match use using Jab and low Round House. Vega is my poison, however. The fucker is too fast.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT A COMEBACK!

2008-10-17T00:20:00.003-04:00

I come home from a business trip in Dallas to see the Sox down 7-0 in the 7th. I was bumming, and started backing for my weekend in Philly. But god damn it, Sox fans were just treated to one of the greatest comebacks ever!

YES!

2008-10-07T09:25:00.003-04:00

Oh how sweet it is! Sox win 3-2 off a Jed Lowrie RBI single in the 9th.

Crap

2008-10-06T00:59:00.002-04:00

12 innings of baseball and the Sox lose. Beckett was off tonight letting up 2 homers. Not his usual playoff dominance. I'm guessing he's not 100%. Also the Sox had the bases loaded against K-Rod in the 10th and couldn't get man home. So disappointing! Lets hope the Sox finish off the series later tonight.

Brother's in Arms Double Time is OUT!

2008-09-28T22:19:00.005-04:00

I should have posted this earlier, but I have some interesting news. Brothers in Arms: Double Time for the Wii is out! After much hard work from Demiurge Studios team and the year delay, we are proud to see Double Time in a box, shrink wrapped, and on store shelves. If you are looking for a good Wii FPS, check it out.

It was bound to happen

2008-09-21T22:31:00.002-04:00

Pats get blown out 38-13 today against the Dolphins. Defense gashed, and the offense couldn't get anything going. The Pats just flat out looked bad for the first time in a long time. It was going to happen eventually. Hopefully they can re-group during the bye week and get back to their winning ways against the Niners.

Gore tech FTW

2008-09-20T00:48:00.002-04:00

Yep, stayed in tonight. Did some reading, did some programming, and did some gaming. I checked out Game Trailers and came across the Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway launch trailer over from our friends at Gearbox. Some intense gore tech:

Solid Win

2008-09-14T21:57:00.003-04:00

Pats beat the Jets today 19-10. No the prettiest of games, but the defense was solid, and Matt Cassel kept his team out of tough situations. Kind of reminds me of the '01 Pats, where Brady's main job was to manage the offense, and the defense controlled field position.

Two noteworthy stats today. 0 turn-overs and 1 penalty for 5 yards. That is disciplined, Bill Belichek football right there.

Check out my friend's blog

2008-09-09T20:10:00.004-04:00

A co-worker and friend of my mine, Eddie, has started up a blog as well. He's a software engineer, and his first blog post is about path finding using flood fill. Its a good post and even provides a code sample. Check out Eddie on Games here:
http://eddiescholtz.com/

Brady's Knee

2008-09-07T17:08:00.006-04:00

Image from espn.com

Damn, that did not look good. Cassel played alright, and the defense stepped up at the end of the game with the goal line stand at the 5-yd line. Of course the defense shouldn't have found themselves in that situation, giving up huge 68-yd pass from Huard to Darling. I'm just hoping we can make it to week 4 with .500 record, take the bye, and Brady will be back for week 5.

UPDATE: Rumor is Brady is done for the season. Fuck. Let the Matt Cassel era begin, I guess.

UPDATE #2: Brady done for the season. Shit.

A Much Overdue Update

2008-09-06T00:54:00.005-04:00

Its been almost 5 months since I last wrote a blog post, but for some reason I feel compelled to put an entry up tonight. Life has been busy, I've been pretty heads down with work, and I've been lazy. Whatever, no excuses! Then again, this is my blog and I can update it whenever I want :)

Since my last post the Celtics won their first NBA title since 1986, the Red Sox traded away Manny, and the summer has come and gone, and I've played many games. A brief run down of what I've played or am playing:

Grand Theft Auto 4*
Ninja Gaiden 2
Metal Gear Solid 4*
Soul Calibur 4
Geometry Wars 2
Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Braid*
Civilization Revolutions
Castle Crashes

* Played to completion

A nice list of games there. Soul Calibur 4, Geo Wars 2, and Civ Rev really can't be played completion. You just play them over and over again in quest to be the best player around. I've played through Castle Crashers MANY times. I love that game. It brings back memories of when my brother Kyle and I would play the crap out of beat 'em ups on the NES. Double Dragon, TMNT The Arcade Game, and River City Ransom definitely. Kyle and I didn't get along most of the time growing up, but when it came to co-op beat'em ups we called a truce. I'll never forget when sat down one day to play Double Dragon II and were determined to beat it on the supreme difficulty setting and get the real ending. It was tough, but we were two young lads on mission to get beat that game and we did. I don't remember the ending to the game, but I remember us being so stoked, jumping up and down, and giving high fives. Castle Crashers definitely brings back those great memories :)

I'll try to keep this blog more updated. I'm always having something stewing in my head to write about, but just never actually do it. I'll be sure to write the those "stewings" more often.

A Game Developer's Review: Super Smash Brothers Brawl

2008-04-06T16:58:00.006-04:00

Time for my review on Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. I am going to keep the same format I used on my Assassin's Creed review. I'll start with a brief introduction of how much of the game I've actually played. Then I will pick out 3 things I think the game does right, and 3 things I think the game does wrong. To finish it off, I'll wrap it up with a nice conclusion.

Intro
Super Smash Brothers is the third installment of the popular Super Smash Brothers series. Its a competitive 2.5D fighting game that mashes up characters from the Nintendo universe, and now recently characters from other game universes. Personally I've completed the single player Sub-Space Emissary mode, unlocked all 35 characters and 41 levels, and have had about 15 online matches.

WHAT WENT RIGHT
1. GameCube Controller Support
This is huge right here. The fact that Nintendo provided an option to use the GameCube controller instead of the wii-mote. The wii-mote is not good for fast, twitchy fighting games. The GameCube controller is comfortable, proven, and keeps the game familiar for returning players. I tried out the wii-mote controller for a few rounds and it was just too hard to pull off the exact timing for running, jumping, and pulling off moves. It could be quite interesting that the best selling Wii game is one that better without the wii-mote.

2. Depth/Replay
Unlockables galore and fantastic local multiplayer will keep you coming back to play. Many things were removed from Melee, namely wave dashing, changing up how air guards work, and slowing down the game. Its more inviting to a casual audience, but its still packed with depth. 35 characters and 41 stages provide plenty of variety. Yeah some of the characters are garbage and unbalanced, but its not so blatant that it will deter you from playing the game. If you not a tournament player, I'm sure the unbalances will be less obvious to you. The addition of the Smash Ball is cool, if unbalanced at times, but it adds depth. Every character has a "super move" now and it can be executed if they acquire the Smash Ball. The ball appears randomly, so you really can't plan for it.

Also the plethora of unlockables will keep you playing as well. Soundtracks, trophies, and stickers are all worthy of collecting. Particularly the soundtracks, there as so many to get and they are fantastic.

3. Visuals
Everything from has received a nice visual bump from Melee. The game will not knock your socks off, but it does run at a very smooth frame rate. I haven't noticed any slowdown at all when playing, this is key for all fighting games. The levels are rich and vibrant, and the characters are all easily identifiable.

WHAT WENT WRONG
1. Online Play
Epic fail in this category. No leader boards, no match making, no voice chat, difficult to use friend codes, and lag. Lag I cannot fault the developer Game Arts too heavily for. Fighting games and online lag have a ways to go, because fighting games are all about split second reaction times. When planning moves down to a few frames of animation, lag can make or break a match. We just have a ways to go until we acceptable online lag for fighting games.

The lack of leader boards, no intelligent match making, and no voice chat are what really hurts the online. Leader boards are not hard to pull off, just track some data, store it on the server, and post it. The idea of "we don't want to hurt players' feeling because they may think they are really good, but find out they are not" is fucking bullshit. I want to see my wins and losses at minimum. Also, the fact I cannot friend people I have played with is short sighted.

The lack of intelligent match making is unforgivable too. I am fully aware of the amount of work it takes to create an online match making system, but this is a big flagship title and nothing should be skimped on. Only ONE game mode for playing with randoms who at random skill levels? If you play with random players, you can only play 2 minute brawls. No stock matches, no coin matches, and it seems like the level is selected at random. Playing with friends is better. Its like playing with someone locally, you have all the options, but don't forget you need their TWELVE digit friend code before you can play them. Lets just use some sort of gamer handle system, Nintendo!

No voice chat is short sighted as well. I have to use my cell phone to talk to my buddy while I play? I've even heard of people of starting private matches in Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 on Xbox so they can chat through their headsets. Its ridiculous that Nintendo didn't incorporate chatting. Talking trash and chatting up is part of the online experience. Nintendo could have at least allowed voice chat in the friend-only brawls.

2. Sub Space Emissary mode
This is essentially the single player mode of Brawl. Its an adventure mode, where you travel from location to and travel through each local like a beat'em up. Characters are discovered and unlocked along the way. Sub Space Emissary starts out strong, but becomes rote and mundane quickly. By the end you just want it to be over and move on. Maybe if it was 4 hours instead of 7 hours it would be tolerable, and the only real reason to play is to unlock characters and trophies.

3. Tripping
Probably one of the dumbest things they could have done added to the game. You randomly trip if you are dashing across a stage. If it was predictable and took player skill to avoid, I might be okay with it. The fact that is totally random is bullshit. Why should something randomly happen that makes me totally vulnerable to an opposing player? It should not happen, that's what!

Conclusion
In the end Super Smash Brothers Brawl is a solid title. It does not deviate too much from what made Super Smash Brothers Melee successful. Maybe the game is becoming a repetitive and played out. You have to ask yourself if the game would be as good if it was just a random intellectual property and not Nintendo characters. Even still, the characters are solid, fun.

Brawl does fall flat on its face in the online category. What could have been a home run for online play is abysmal. Brawl could have been the Halo 3 of Wii online play, but lack of leader boards, match making, and game modes hurt it.

Do not let the poor online play, deter you though. Brawl is a solid title, that will be fun for years to come, and should be in your in your Wii's library of games.

Quick Update

2008-04-04T22:20:00.003-04:00

I've been kind of a ghost lately. I've been busy with work, delivered a milestone last week. Things that I plan to get out soon, hopefully this weekend, is a Super Smash Bros Brawl review and soon to follow that a Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 review. An idea I've been kicking around is waxing some design philosophy in my posts. I have a few topics I want to hit and share my thoughts on.

In other news, My NCAA Tourny bracket has done well, but the best I can finish in the office pool is 2nd :(

I also wonder, does anyone read this stuff :-P

Music and Life - Alan Watts

2008-04-02T19:41:00.000-04:00

Just awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4

NCAA Tournament Almost Here!

2008-03-19T17:50:00.002-04:00

NCAA is almost here. Less then a day till tip-off! I love the first weekend of the tournament. Dozens of games, glory and tears. Villanova drew a 12 seed against Clemson. I'm surprised they made the tournament with such a sub par season, but hey they're in.

I finally got online with Super Smash Bros Brawl. Its really hit or miss with the lag. I'll actually get my full impressions up this weekend.

The 5k didn't go so well, but that's what I get for not working hard enough. Lesson learned (again).

The night before the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km

2008-03-15T22:09:00.002-04:00

Months ago I signed up for a 5K race with some guys for work. Back then I was running pretty regularly. Days got shorter, colder, and I got lazy. Now its only 13 hours till race time! I am excited and nervous. My performance probably won't be where I want it, but it will be fun time. Any time there is beer, its a good time. For more info go to this link:

http://www.baevents.com/rasnaheireann/

Work computer back up

2008-03-12T17:33:00.002-04:00

Got my workstation back up and running by Dell yesterday. Power supply and motherboard were replaced. Everything is in full swing again and I'm back to making video games :-)

Still playing Super Smash Bros Brawl. Still can't find an online match. I'll have impressions up once I can get some online time, if ever.

Moved into the new office

2008-03-10T14:55:00.003-04:00

Demiurge Studios is now located on 130 Prospect St. We hit a few snags, like having to take apart and rebuild the Ikea desks because the assembler got them wrong, but we are in the new building. It definitely feels like we are becoming a "legit" company and not a mom-and-pop game developer :-)

My computer was broken in the move, though. Power supply seem to be shot. Hopefully it will be fixed by Dell ASAP :-(

I just picked up Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. So far, it seems like this game has the stuff of greatness. The online, at least, for me so far has been garbage. I wasn't able to successfully find a match yesterday. I'll post a more in-depth impression once I fell like I've gotten deep enough in the game.

RIP Gary Gygax

2008-03-06T00:11:00.003-05:00

I know haven't updated the blog in awhile. I've been busy and lost interest, but this has to be posted. Co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons Gary Gygax recently passed:
http://kotaku.com/363660/gary-gygax-co+creator-of-dd-dead-at-69

Now I'm not a D&D, but the man propelled so many RPG elements into gaming and inspired so many great games. Take Mass Effect, a game that we are working on at Demiurge is based around the D&D. BioWare, the company we are working with, garnered great acclaim and accolade when they did their work with the D&D franchise. BioWare is a stalwart developer in the games industry now and they can partially thank Gary Gygax for that.

I tip my hat to Mr. Gygax. Thanks for your contributions and inspiration.

Assassin's Creed = meh

2007-11-25T15:31:00.000-05:00

So I finished "Jade Raymond's" Assassin's Creed the other day. Let me just say this first, I am so tired of Jade Raymond. Ubisoft has been pushing her on us for the better part of 2 years and we get it. She's a very attractive woman working in games, yet kind of nerdy, and she gets all the fan boys hot. Its hard to hate on Jade, she is an accomplished and a legitimate developer, not some marketing figure head, but what about the 150 other people on the project? Jade Raymond herself did not create Assassin's Creed. There was a huge team that worked on it. Its the same thing with CliffyB (Cliff Blezinsk) and Gears of War. Cliff was the front man and it seemed no one else got any light besides Tim Sweeney because he's the major engineering force behind Unreal Engine 3. I think Bungie does it right spotlighting the studio, and several members from the team. It's Bungie's Halo and not one person. In the end individual game development super stars irk the hell out of me, Cliff irks me more than Jade because he just lives for the limelight, and Gears of War is better than Assassin's Creed.

This leads right into my review. WARNING, this does contain spoilers. Stop reading if you don't want spoilers. So Assassin's Creed is not a bad game, but its not good either. Its just average. Its does a few things exceedingly well, I mean like no one else does it better, but it does so many other things wrong. Here's the break down.

WHAT WENT RIGHT
1. Visuals

Assassin's Creed absolutely nails the visuals. The cities are just amazing and put together with pain staking detail. Climb to one of the high points of the level and you can see everything flawlessly and seamlessly. A great technical feat. Down on the street level, everything is very detailed and gives the feeling that the city you are in is truly alive. Its such an accomplishment to take on a vast city and craft it with such care that the player actually feels they are in ancient Jerusalem and not boxes on a flat plane.

The animations are truly great, as Altair bounds, grips, climbs, and swings are around. His cloak flows around him and truly looks deadly his is movements. The first time you kill someone with the wrist blade, just awesome.

One area that could be improved are the NPCs. They seem kind of stiff and lacking detail, but its minor in the grand scheme of things. For everything else Assassin's Creed nails, the NPCs can afford to be overlooked.

2. The Crowd Simulation
What really makes the cities feel alive are the people that live in it. The city is bustling around with citizens and soldiers alike. Merchants are hawking their goods, fanatics lecturing, and guards patrolling keeping the peace. They react to your actions as well; scattering if a fight breaks out, getting knocked over if you barrel through them, and make note of your odd behavior when scaling building faces.

3. Controls
The controls are a little awkward at first, but simple, yet make you feel like an expert navigating around 12th century cities. You control Altair with the left stick and the camera with the right. Bounding around is as simple as holding RT and A at the same time, and just make sure you're pointing in the right direction. Altair bounds around seamlessly and fluidly and you feel like an acrobatic master.

4. The Story (sort of)
The story doesn't set any gold standard, but it kept me intrigued and motivated me to push through the monotony that set on early in the game. Right off the bat their is a twist, you're actually in the future, having been captured by a shadowy organization. The organization has a machine that can play your ancestors memories. You are an ancestor of the elite assassin Altair, and contain memories with information crucial to the organization that is holding you captive. So you get this nice dual story, one of Altair as he proceeds through his adventures and the other of your imprisonment at this organization. It does get preachy at times, but that can be overlooked.

WHAT WENT WRONG

1. No Depth
This game is the definition of a shallow game. There are 5 gameplay scenarios that take place.

Interrogate
Pick Pocket
Informant
Eavesdrop
Assassinate

There are 3 cities, and each city has 3 people to assassinate. Each target becomes available at different times throughout the game, and can only can be assassinated after gathering intel. You gather intel by doing the first four actions. Interrogate requires you follow someone and beat them for information. Pick pocket has you go pick pocket an NPC's fanny pack and if you fail you just elude the guards and try again. Informant is a little fun as sometimes you're suppose to stealth kill a number of targets in a given time or run around and collect flags in an acrobatic time trial. Eavesdropping is probably the dumbest since you just sit on bench, listen in on a conversation and you're done. These 4 intel gathering techniques are used over and over again and never change. Its sucks.

Also, can't forget the assassination scenario. This usually ends up being a big build up, a big fancy cut scene that just comes down to a monkey shit fight when trying to kill the target. All the big assassination scenarios just always seem to start out with the guards alerted to your presence. Once and only once was I able to stealthily kill my target and it was the very first target of the game. Everyone there after was this huge combat engagement that was just a total pain in the ass.

2. Combat
Combat is cool at first, but then becomes a chore. The counter move is overpowered, pretty much guaranteeing a kill. There is a pretty cool kill shot with the counter move, but it gets old fast. The combat never changes as well. You just enter engagement, run or fight, and that's it. Nothing varies, nothing is different. Its like a bad beat 'em up where you can just abuse one move the entire length of the game.

3. Stealth isn't that important
As an assassin you'd think stealth would be incredibly important. Well its not, unless its a requirement to complete an objective. Each assassination of one of the Templar is just a muddled mess that boils down to whiping out your sword, fighting a dozen of so guards, and then killing your target. I can see not handcuffing the player with stealth only game play, but perhaps providing a reward system that encourages the player to play as an expert stealth assassinate would help. The player could play gun-ho style, but if they chose to play stealthily, they are rewarded.

4. The homeless NPCs
OH MY FUCKING GOD. I hated those NPCs. They were useless, annoying, and just got in my way at the most inconvenient times. The wonder the city begging for money just in like Central Square in Cambridge. The worst are the crazy homeless people that actually push you and knock you into guards at the most inopportune times. It sucks when you're trying to slink away from a kill and one of these people either stop you from escaping successfully and you have to repeat the whole objective. I want to play Assassin's Creed, not Central Square Creed DAMN IT!

And thats it. Assassin's Creed is fantastic visually and pulls off a technical feat with the crowd simulation. Other that than its shallow, easy, and repetitious. The game feels as if it were made as a tech demo, and not a full fledged game. It demos well, but after about 2 hours, probably and hour of actual game play, it just utterly falls apart.

Well the game is selling well, there probably be a sequel, and hopefully they can fix some of the poor and boring game play that plagues the game in its first attempt.

No Patriots Football today

2007-11-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

No New England Patriots football today. A bye week for my favorite NFL team. Still it was a good weekend.

Friday (Nov 9th) was the Rock Band release party. Harmonix, once again, hosted one hell of a release party. It was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Faneuil Hall. Demos of Rock Band were going on in one room, a full bar in another, and in a third room local bands made up of Harmonix folks were playing all night. I am so happy and proud for Harmonix. They are on the cusp of delivering their third killer product in 3 years (last 2 years were Guitar Hero I/II), and Rock Band is poised to their best yet. With BioShock from 2K Boston (Irrational) and Rock Band from Harmonix this year, I think the Boston games industry is about to turn a major corner. We are getting more and more respect, and no longer will Boston area developers get the "they make games in Boston?" Hopefully the talent will grow here and we can rival the West Coast in game development poweress.

Other than that, not much else going on. Call of Duty 4 shipped last Tuesday (Nov 6th) and has completely lived up to the hype. I was part of the multiplayer beta, and even now I still enjoy the multiplayer with its MMORPG-esque leveling mechanics. Its addictive as hell. The campaign was short (5 hours for me), but it was so well done, screamed high production from wire to wire. However, I think its time Infinity Ward implemented a cover-system like R6: Vegas and Gears of War. A semi-tactical shooter with out a peak-and-lean is frustrating and difficult since you have to expose half your body from cover to get a shot off, and if that half get hits by 2 or 3 shots you're dead. The AI opponents/friendlies take cover, blind fire, and etc. The player should be able to as well. Still a small gripe for a great game.

Also, Rock Band release party pics will be forth coming soon.

So where have I been

2007-11-04T22:56:00.000-05:00

So where have I been and why did I not post for 9 months. I guess it starts back in Feb '07 where I got really sick and hospitalized for an extended period. It was nothing serious, just an intestinal problem. I missed some work and had to catch up on that, and I just lost motivation to blog I guess. Well now I'm back to and trying to make an effort at it again.

So, past 9 months I have been working on Brothers in Arms for the Nintendo Wii. Its a port of the older Xbox games. The game hasn't shipped yet, but its coming out soon. I can't say when exactly, but before the end of the year. A game I did work on shipped back in early September, Medal of Honor: Airborne (MOHA). Game turned out okay. I think "okay" is a pretty fair assessment cause its a pretty damn mediocre game. At least the multiplayer is glassy smooth. Go Demiurge! Well I doubt anyone is playing the multiplayer since the launch of Halo 3. I also did some work on yet-to-be named project and also just started ramping up another project. Sorry, I can't say more details than that on those 2 games.

What else did I do? I went on a Caribbean cruise with friends from college. It was an awesome time, got to see some beautiful locations, partied it up, and got to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in along time. We also met some great people on the cruise and are still keeping in touch with them even now.

Other than that, not much else exciting has happened. The PS3 has been tanking, but I predicted that awhile ago :) The Wii has been far more successful than I ever expected its just loaded with crap software. The Xbox 360 keeps humming along with Halo 3, and Call of Duty 4 next week.

Also, how about them Pats! 9-0 baby! It was a nail biter in Indy, but in old fashion Patriots style Tom Brady lead a dazzling 4th quarter comeback.

Red Sox 2007 World Series champs!

2007-10-30T17:28:00.000-04:00

So yeah, sorry, I haven't posted in over 9 months. I'm a lazy bastard and I just haven't taken the time out to write. I know I should, I got many things to talk about from sports, to video games, to game development, to politics, to whatever life may throw at a person. However, the recent World Series victory of the Red Sox and some discussion with my friend Manny has motivated me to post. Hopefully this is the start of me regularly posting. My World Series thoughts.

So Mike Lowell as MVP, an interesting choice. I thought Papelbon could be deserving of it (3 saves all more than 3 outs, 0 earned runs), but batting .400, 1 HR, and 4 RBIs is pretty damn good too. Its like when Manny won World Series MVP in '04; there were multiple potential MVP candidates, but he happened to get it. In the end it has turned out that it was totally worth it to trade Hanley Ramirez to get Beckett and then the super bonus that turned out to be Mike Lowell. I hope Lowell can comeback to Boston, but I'm not sure he'll get the deal he wants here in Boston. He's going to want more than 2 or 3 years, and since he is the best 3rd baseman in baseball (A-Rod doesn't count, he's a short stop), he'll be sure to get any contract he desires where every that may be (fuckin' yankees).

Anyways, 2007 was an awesome season and its great to win 2 world series in 4 years. I was just so happy and relieved with the 1 in 2004, but with 2007 it was just fun as hell. Red Sox nation is truly privileged. Summer is officially over now, its full time football season now. Go Pats!!

Pictures of the damage

2007-01-28T19:17:00.000-05:00

As promised I got pictures of the damage to my head. Here is one of the staples.
And the here is the metal bracket that did the damage. Damn that bracket!

My head is fine, however, and I will have the staples removed soon.

12 Staples, Baby!

2007-01-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

Alright, so the Pats lost a tough one yesterday. They showed up strong, but then the defense just seemed to get ... tired? I dunno, but the defense played flat in the second half, and got rolled over. My hat is off to the Colts, they deserve the trip to the Super Bowl.

Anyways, on to more interesting news, and since people have been asking me, "How did it happen?" I will now recount the story of how I got 12 staples in my head last night.

So I was at my parents house, and just after the game ended, I was in the garage gathering my things and getting ready to head back to my apartment in Cambridge. I dropped something on the floor, bent down to pick it up, and quickly stood up slamming my head on something above. I reflexively put my hand to the top of my head, and when I removed it, I notice their is a decent amount of blood on my palm. My palm was a dark red and in the back of my head, I was just thinking "oh fuck, not now." I had been struggling with a nasty cold over the weekend and I didn't need a nasty bleeding head wound. I rushed upstairs and go to my mother:

"I need your help, get me a rag or a towel, or something."
"What, why?"
"I split my head open, hurry."

She rushes into the kitchen, proceeds to tell my dad, and I'm heading to the bathroom leaning my head forward and cupping my hands to catch the blood pouring from my head. As I am sitting on the toilet, the blood pooling in my hands, my father takes the trash can and tells me to bleed in there. I let go of my hands and the blood just splashes in the bucket. At this point I'm holding back some laughter, cause the situation just seems so ridiculous. I sitting there, a 24 year old man, my head with a gaping cut, my mommy tending to it, and my pops telling to bleed in a bucket and not on the floor. I think I was bleeding more then the time when I caught some shrapnel in the right temple at the firing range when I was 13.

My mom, applying pressure to the wound, as my dad comes back with wet and warm rag to begin cleaning the cut. My mom takes the rag and begins cleaning as I am handed another rag to wipe my hands of the blood. As my mother stops the bleeding, I get an ice pack from my pops and put it wound to stop the swelling. I starting to calm down a bit by this point, but I'm not feeling too much pain in my head.

Soon, however, I am starting to feel nauseous to my stomach. My mother is on the phone with the hospital to see which ER I will have to head too, and my pops fetches me some water. All the meanwhile my head is throbbing and my father is giving me the description of the wound, since I can't see it. "It's about 2 inches long and pretty deep," he said "but the bleeding has stopped. " That was good, cause I didn't know how much more blood my hair could take, it was soaked in it and it dripping off into the trash can. To give you an idea of where the gash is on my head, it is on the left side of my head and towards the back half.

The word comes down I have to head the ER in Peabody, and I hop into the car with my mom to go. I still have a wet rag to my head to quell any possible bleeding, and I'm starting to feel pretty nauseous. We get to the ER and start checking in. I am just rattling off whatever information the nurse wants. I was just flat out hurtin', and wanted to get stitched up and pass out. After 30 minutes of giving my information, getting my temperature, blood pressure, and so on, I get put into the service station and proceed to wait for the doctor. As I was sitting there on the table, I just wanted to lie down and close my eyes, but at the same time I wanted to remain alert. I took another wet cloth and wiped the dried blood off the bridge of my nose and my forehead.

The doctor comes in after about 20 minutes of waiting, and is kind of a jerk. Gives me some brief coordination tests to make sure I'm not suffering from a serious concussion and proceeds to tell my mum to leave. She leaves, kind of miffed, and he instructs to lie on my stomach as he preps the Novocaine and staples. The nurse come over with some water, puts some towels down around my back and ears, and cleans out the wound. The doctor proceeds to inject me with the Novocaine around the area of the cut. I felt 1 distinct poke and then 3 other more dull pokes. After about 2 minutes the doctor preps the first staple and tells me I'm about to feel a pinch. At this point, I really don't care, I just want the cut to be closed up and get outta there. He puts the first staple in and its kind of weird. I can feel something being pressed to my skull, I hear the click of the gun, and I feel the staple insert. No pain, however, and I can feel the staple pull close. The staples placed at either end of the cut kind of pinched, but it didn't hurt.

The doctor stops stapling and counts 11 of them. I tell him to put one more in cause it would be a nice even 12 and 11 is bad number, it's prime (I know, total dork). I don't know why, but I was in a joking mood, maybe I was loosing it a little. He said okay, probably knew I needed the 12th and he delivered it.

I cleaned up, walked out of the ER with my mom, and got home by 12:45am. I walked back into the garage to see where exactly I wanged my head. I initially thought it was the ceiling of the garage, but I hit the sharp portion of the garage door rail hanging from the ceiling. I knew where the exact spot was because little bits of my scalp was hanging from it. I went back upstairs, cleaned up (had to get the dried blood out of hair), and went to sleep with a throbbing head wound.

And there you have it. I went back to work today, just fine. My head ached a little bit, but nothing that could stop me from concentrating. I guess its a pretty cool story, nice war wound, just hurt like hell when it happened. It's a dull pain right now and I'll have the staples removed in 10 days. I do have a photo and I will post it later.

Happy New Year

2007-01-12T01:10:00.000-05:00

Just providing a quick update to the blog. I do have somethings to say, but haven't spent much time organizing my thoughts, so this entry will be brief. I promise to be more dilegent from now on updating this thing, cause I know some people actually do read this.

Holidays were a whirlwind. As you may have heard the PS3 fell out of the gate pretty hard and the Wii has been a roaring success. I have much to say on that, but later.

My father is doing just fine, and recovering very well from his open heart surgery.

I am now working on a new-undisclosed project for the Wii :)

Surgery was a success!

2006-12-07T01:13:00.000-05:00

My father's surgery was success! His mitral valve has been repaired and he is currently recovering in the ICU currently. The road to a full recovery will be a long one, but now my father can return to a full healthy state. Thank you to all for your support.

Life's Curve Balls

2006-12-06T00:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have been bad about keeping this blog up to date. It has been a combination of being busy and being lazy. However, certain events have occurred and driven certain things to a head, and I just to get some thoughts out of my mind and into written form.

Life loves to throw us curve balls. Just as you are getting into a groove or hitting your stride, and things seem to be going your way, something crops up. It always happens and life would be boring with out them. And just like curve balls, some hang and you can crush them out of the park, and others cause you stress as you struggle to deal with them.

I have just been thrown a curve ball. As I was enjoying time with my friends at Villanova on my birthday, I was informed my father had been hospitalized due to problems with his prolapsed mitral valve in his heart. In mitral valve prolapse, the valve flaps bulge (prolapse) upward into the left atrium rather than closing smoothly as the heart contracts (WebMD), and in my father's case blood leaks backward through the prolapsed valve into the atrium. This has caused his heart to work overtime and on Friday (12/1), his resting heart rate was at 140+ beats per minute (bpm). For refrence, your typical resting heart rate should be 60 bpm, and when you're at a full run you'll hit 140+ bpm. His heart was working as if he was running, even though he was just standing still. My father tried to pass it off as he'll just get better, and they'll get his heart rate back down to a respectable resting rate, but I know what was going to soon transpire. I have know about the prolapsed for several months and my father was given a 10 year window in which he could decide to have the operation to fix the valve. Myself and others encouraged to get it done as soon as possible, but being the stubborn and driven man he is, he wanted to push it off. Well, now the open heart surgery is immiment.

This was a nasty curve ball thrown at me, and I did not know how to handle it immediately. It came in fast and broke hard. I was more concerned for my father, my mother, my sibliings, and the rest family for how they were handling the news. I was not so much concerned for my state, but that I could not physically be there to support them. Not only until later, not until now did it set in for me, did I focus on my, thoughts. Even though the surgery is quite routine and common, it is still very intense. The man will have his chest split open, will be dependent upon a heart-lung machine for an extended period of time, and have his heart operated on. This is a man that has inpsired me, that has driven me, that has supported me, and has been model person that I hope I can be. Now he needs my help, my support, and its quite the internal struggle. I am nervous, I am concerned, and I hope for a sucessful surgery and quick recovery for my father.

Tomorrow morning (12/6) my father will have open heart surgery to repair his prolapsed valve and hopefully return his life to a normal healthy status. I have no doubt that he will pull, through, but "worst case" scenarios always creep into anyone's mind. I just ask that people keep him in their thoughts/prayers, and wish a full and speedy recovery for him.

Sony's Playstation 3

2006-09-11T22:47:00.000-04:00

So opinions have been flying around about Sony's Playstation 3 for awhile now and I think its time I pipe in. I want to start with a prediction I had all the way back in March '06. I orginally posted this on the www.neo-geo.com forums and here is the orginal link.

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140768

PREFACE: This is my opinion and not fact. I welcome others opinions for, against, or totally radical from either category. I look forward to your responses and own opinion.

So the PS3 has all been pretty much delayed until November of 2006 in Japan:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145919.html

EDIT: Offical delay announced: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145972.html
I won't be changing post since I went with the assumption it would release in NA and EU in Fall 2006.

I don't know what that means for us North American and European gamers, but probably winter 2007 for NA and spring 2007 for EU. I am, however, gonna go with the fact that launch will be universal in November.

To my point, though. PS3, if released this late, has already been defeated here in North America and Europe. Microsoft did stumble out of the blocks at launch but has installed a small user base that is going to keep growing while the PS3 is stlll waiting to be released. By the time the PS3 launches, Microsoft will command a large share of the market and the share that they don't command they will win over with a price cut. See this is where Microsoft is genius. The problem with the first Xbox is they locked themselves in long term contracts on fixed prices. So as the price of the Nvidia GPU went down to the rest of the market, Microsoft was still paying premium prices for an mid-level GPU. The same goes for the processor that Intel provided and the DVD drives from various manufacters. This killed them since they were all ready losing a significant amount of money on each unit sold and when the price cut came, the bill of materials was still the same. Now with the Xbox 360, Microsoft wised up and followed the route that Nintendo had taken with the GameCube. Contracts with adjustable declining rates. Microsoft will still spend a slight premium on their parts, since the ATI GPU they are using is custom to the Xbox 360, but it won't be exoberant. Hence the X-mas time price cut will be KEY since Microsoft won't take a major hit in the money lost in per unit sold, and when mommy and daddy go to buy a new game system for Johnny 8-year old and see the Xbox 360 for $299 with all the bells and whistles and then see the PS3 for $499-$599, well the choice is clear. Xbox 360 most likely have the same games, Johnny will be happy, and the parents saved $200-$300.

Now the one thing that the PS3 does have going for it is Blu-ray. Blu-ray is going to be expensive, but Sony is going to provide a gaming machine AND a quality Blu-ray player at the bargin price of $500 (predicted price, though. Definitely not set in stone). Taking into consideration that Blu-ray players now are going to be costing $1000+ and they won't drop much more by November 2006 since those hardware companies want to profit off their product are not looking to create and installed user base by taking a loss on their hardware and making up for it on software sales. If Blu-ray movies are in full force and in demand come November 2006, the PS3 could do very well for itself, but it is going to take longer than 8 months to establish Blu-ray as viable movie medium. People are very invested in to their DVD home theatres and upgrading to a 1080p TV and Blu-ray player may deter them.

My second point, and not so business related, is that the Xbox 360 is going to match and/or blow the doors off the first generation PS3 titles. Me personally as game developer, going over in detail the Xbox 360 hardware, there is wealth of power there that we all ready have a grasp on. I do not develop on the Xbox 360, but from an engineering stand point, it is mind boggling. Bottle necks are virutally gone, the potential for complex physics is abound, and the 64-bit RISC processors are damn efficent. I have recently seen the Unreal Engine 3 first hand early this week and it was jaw dropping. To put things in perspective, examining a gun in this pre-production game, the polygon count came in at a shade over 6,000 polygons. The detail was incredible and goregous. The average player model in the Source Engine (Half-Life/Counter-Strike) is only 6,000 polygons. It is truly impressive and even this level of graphical power is still in it infantile stages on the Xbox 360. Come November, when games finally release to the Xbox 360 that are polished and built for the system (not hasty ports like Quake 4, or even Call of Duty 2), it is going to push systems out the door in a hurry. A system that can match the PS3 and probably surpass it at first, and $300 less, the choice is clear. Now I understand some are you are thinking "graphics don't make games, gameplay does." And you know what, you're right, because you are educated gamers. However development usually focuses on joe-blow consumer who is easily drawn in by shiny objects and really could give a shit once the game is paid for by the consumer. A sad, a very true reality. (Side Note: Even though I am young and just starting out I am making it a mission statement that I will not settle for an utter crap game. I will leave a project if I feel what we are going to release is going to be shit. I still keep true to my gaming roots). Now the PS3 is incredibly powerful, but technology is very alien to me, and even to some very experienced and talented developers I know personally in the industry. The PS3 is going to provide a wealth of power, but until we can really wrap our heads around it, it is going to remain largely untapped and not blow the Xbox 360 out of the water until much later aka Xmas 2007.

So in conclusion, I envision the PS3 having amazing success in Japan. Sony has a strong fan base there and the Japanese gamers are clearly not digging the Xbox 360. However here in North America and Europe, the average gamer is gobbling up the Xbox 360 as fast as possible (which isn't too fast, since Microsoft has been slow keeping up with demand) and Microsoft is building their base while their developers and working on and in polishing some very impressive and visually stunning games. I'm sorry PS3, but I think you lost this war before it even started.

Last thoughts on the Revolution
Now I am really loving Nintendo's Revolution, believe it or not. Yes, at first I was very turned off by the "wand-like" controller, but I really think Nintendo going to have great success across the globe. See, they are not looking to compete with the Xbox 360 or the PS3, not at all. Nintendo view's the Revolution as a separate product all together, and will market it that way. I have not seen a Revolution, or even its specs, but its funky controller lets the mind run wild with new game innovations, which this industry really needs, and the back library that Nintendo is going to provide is brillant. Old school retro gamers and the casual gamer will gobble this unit up and at $99-$149, its quite affordable.

I did make some minor edits compared to the orginal post, but strictly for grammar's sake.

Okay, so my prediction was not 100% accurate, but it was damn close. The PS3 had piss poor showing at E3 with games that did not even rival the Xbox 360 (Gran Turismo HD vs. Gears of War and you see what I mean), and the Wii (which I refrenced as the Revolution before, because the name change happened after my prediction), absolutely crushed the PS3 in innovation. While Nintendo was showing how they will revolutionize the way we play games, Sony was busy showing "cool features" like "real-time weapon change" and a motion sensing control that makes you look like a complete schmuck while playing Warhawk. Oh and don't forget RIIIIDGGGEEE RACEEEEEEEERRRRR.

I think the part of my prediction that was spot on, though, was the pricing. I think Jerry "Tycho" Holkins of Penny Arcade fame says it best when asked why he's not buying one, "because its 600 fucking dollars!" $600 is extremely steep for a device that wants to be main stream. Only the 3DO, which failed miserably, and SNK's ultimate gaming machine that came down from the heavens and was targeted to the hardcore market only, the NEO GEO, were released at launch prices of $600 or higher. Neither system was a main stream success. The real kicker, though, is Sony will sell you the console for $600, but if you want to make use of its 1080p technology, you have to fork over even MORE money to get the appropiate HDMI cable.
Where my prediction is wrong is that Microsoft will most likely not have a price cut for the holiday season (they seem very adamant about standing firm at the current prices of $300 and $400), and I think its the right business move that they don't cut it. Their loss per unit is going down as the price of parts come down, and the have no real need to make a price cut since the PS3 is priced $200 above them. The Wii has no set price point yet, but predictions are fluctuating between $200 to $250, which is a hell of alot less than $600.

What I find kind of amusing is the Blu-ray crutch that Sony has been situating itself on seems to be crumbling. The current Blu-ray players are being made to look foolish to the "inferior" HD-DVD players, and the new cutting edge technology of Blu-ray has been having major production problems. Hence the extreme shortage of PS3's that will be available at release, 100k in Japan, 400k in North America, and the European launch pushed back to March '07.

I am also extremely tired of Sony's attitude towards the gaming market and the PS3. I refrence Holkins again as he says,

"All their [Sony's] spin has been trying to create the idea that it is a 'Luxury' console. Well, that's an interesting way to present that information. I'm not exactly sure I buy it. What's more I think gaming is something that people do. I think that gaming is the world's past time, and I think that it is becoming that more everyday. And I think when you throw something like that, it's a road block in front it."

Well said Mr. Holskins, well said. Gaming is not gauged by which platform has more bells and whistles, its about the games that are available, and how and whom you play the games with. Wii with its innovative control, Guitar Hero making ordinary folks feel like guitar gods, and Xbox Live bringing the console gamer finally into the online space that PC Gamers have been experiencing since 1997.

Now, I'm not all doom and gloom about PS3. I must give credit, where credit is due. The PS3 is one hell of machine. The sucker is powerful, only by the numbers, though. Its a bitch to program for, forcing you to think in a multi-threaded fashion. For those not up on computer science, programs are run as "threads" infinite loops that run until the user interrupts them. The PS3 forces you create many of these threads, but each thread is usually dependent on the other so you run into race conditions and major penalities for missed branch predictions. I just re-read what I just wrote, and its still pretty damn confusing to someone unfamilar with software engineering, sorry. Now you could make the arguement that just program in a single threaded fashion for the PS3. Well, you could, but all the horsepower that Sony has been billing is lost then. You'll only be using the main core, leaving the other 7 synergy processors (I wish Sony/IBM would just call them cores) doing jack. The true power of the PS3 is having all its cores work in tandem, which I am afraid to say, is very hard to with gaming software.

So basically, I say this to you Sony. I'm gonna buy your console at launch, but I'm not going to even open it. I quickly turn it around, selling to some parent with more money than sense, snag myself a Wii, a game or two, and pay the rent for the month.

Jerry Holskins comments were taken from gametrailers.com interview

How I miss College (and how I kinda don't)

2006-09-05T01:48:00.002-04:00

So I just came back from a long weekend spent at my alma mater, Villanova University. A fantastic school which I graduate from with a BS in Computer Engineering in December 2005. I still have many friends there and it was great to visit and reconnect with people I hadn't seen since May when I attend the graduation ceremonies. It was great to catch up and just enjoy the company of people who really cared about me and enjoyed having me around.

During this visit, many memories come flooding back of hanging out until the very early hours of the morning, having parties back-to-back-to-back, and just flat out enjoying yourself. My undergrad friends, even though very serious with their studies throughout the week (most of them I think are serious), were so carefree and lived with a zest that I have been missing for past few months. Its something I truly miss, seeming to have minimal responsibilities and living for each weekend.

On the flip side, I also remember the feeling of the dreaded Sunday "homework." I definitely do not missing doing problem set after problem set and bitching with my friends "when the fuck am I ever gonna use this?!" I just remember fundamentals of CPE homework with tedious boolean algebra, karnaugh maps, and logic circuits. Just stuff that would really put a damper on weekend.

Anyways, back to my "normal" life, the "working" world. Fortunately, I don't have to work, I get to make games. I did however learn a valuable lesson this weekend and I hope can infuse an amount of zest and carefree-ness back into my life. I am in control and its up to me to make it happen.

First post

2006-08-21T00:17:00.000-04:00

Testing my first post. Nothing special. Just sick of the myspace blogging, so now going with my blogger.