Finished the game pitch with Phil Harrison up here in Foster City and now I'm sitting around SFO waiting for my plane to board (about 2 hours from now). It's not so bad really, nice break from the last few days of rush, rush, rush. It's very quiet right now...a whole heard of people just got on a plane at the gate next to me...so I'm just sitting here on the floor, cup of coffee in one hand, surfing the net with the other....check it:
Ahhh, Kotaku! My sweet, sweet Kotaku. Never lets me down with the goods...
MMmmmm, Burger King! Well...not really. I used to LOVE the BK fries and then they changed them about 12 years ago or so and they just suck so much now. BK sucks...
Anyway...so that's SFO airport at about 1:55pm on Thursday Nov 8th. Or at least a little corner of it. My little corner....I feel like Tom Hanks in The Terminal...:)
So as for the pitch: I got the sense the powers that be dug what we were pitching, enough to let us keep moving ahead and exploring the vision. So that's always good. Plus, pitching is always fun for me and since I loved what I was pitching, it was even more fun! It's odd...the pitch was a big meeting room with Phil and then a bunch of Sony folks (all of whom I know, like alot, and have worked with for years)...but this time I was on the other side of the table, this time when we were done pitching, instead of getting to stay in the room and hear about the other games Sony internal was making, we (me and Scott) were asked to leave because we're not allowed to know about the unannounced titles from Sony 1st party anymore... For a moment it was a little strange because for 13 years I'd been privy to those sorts of meetings, to that kind of info...so yeah, for a second I didn't like that feeling. And then it passed.
And then I was like: OH MY GOD! I REALLY AM AN INDY DEVELOPER NOW!!! And you know what? I fucking LOVE it! LOVE IT! I LOVED 95% of my years at Sony, no doubt. No regrets...nothin' but love for you baby/Sony....but now, now THIS feels right...I am so greatful for this opportunity...and I love I still get to be doing it with Sony. So win/win, bitches! :)
So all and all...a good day! Now I'm just really fried, ready to get home. Taking the day off tomorrow to go to LA with my wife. We get to get Indian food from GATE OF INDIA!!! Man, that food there....it's like gold if gold were food...and if you could eat gold food....so it's like gold food meaning it tastes so great and we love it....fuck off! I am tired!!!
Ok ya'll...that's all she wrote for now...chat soon!
David
ps. just got an email from Drew, one of the producers on the TM:HEAD ON port. He's at a focus group for the new, TM BLACK levels down in LA. He says we're getting 8's, 9's, and 10 out of 10 ratings for FUN FACTOR (the only rating I ever care about)!!! Man, that is sweet! I have no clue how many people buy ports and who is still buying PS2 games (I hope alot!) but man I think we've all done great work on this title. Head On looks great, the Lost Levels- if I may say so- are really fun, and I love all the bonus content. I hope people give us a chance! But either way, I'm feeling really really proud of the game the team has made right now. Great news from focus groups are always a nice way to cap off a day :)