THIS IS WHY THE INTERNET=GOD DAMNED GOLD!!!!

Adam Orth at LucasArts sent me this and I just fell on the fucking floor. This is just gold man! GOLD!

David

Sniff...Sniff....

DAMN YOU KOTAKU!!!

This is a link to the Kotaku Darksiders game review.

Glad to see most other reviewers don't feel the same. However Kotaku usually has pretty good reviews so I'm not sure what to think. Ah hell, I'm gonna get it anyway as I've been looking forward to it since I played it at Comic Con a few years back (and really dug it). Love the main character and world design (just a Joe Mad fan I guess). Here's hoping the rest of the game has something special to offer!

Anyway, so there's that. :(

David

ps. Ugh, this is why Twitter was so good. Easier to do a quick tweet about this...ah well, I'm just in the sadness phase of losing Twitter.

pps. Speaking of Joe Mad, remember Danger Girl? That was J. Scott Campbell but it was the same line of comics and it hit when Battle Chasers came out. Man I loved Danger Girl. Battle Chasers was great too but Danger Girl was my fave of that time. Shame the DG games were never any good. And every time they try to bring the comic back, seems someone has to put their own damn spin on Danger Girl. Screw that- I want classic Danger Girl back! :)

My very fast thoughts on the indie game scene...

First off, let me make this clear: my 2009 game of the year is Flower.

Now I have yet to finish UNCHARTED 2 (playing thru it now) and so that could top it. BUT I 

mention it because:

a- many folks have asked me what my 2009 GOTY is.

b- I need to make it clear- before I go off- that I'm a fan of all games, mainstream and indie 

alike.

HAVNG SAID THAT (yes, I watch Curb):

SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH THE OBNOXIOUS AS HELL INDIE GAME MAKER 

ATTITUDE.

Yes, I get the irony of a loud mouth, obnoxious guy like myself telling folks to shut up for the 

same behavior. So this is kinda tongue in cheek. But it's also kind of serious.

Here, this clip MEGA64 made for the IGF sums it up better than I could anyway:

Granted, this funny as hell clip was made FOR the IGF and so I imagine it's meant to be a

badge of honor that supports the indie game dev community. And I get that and I sort of 

respect that. On one hand, I want to say: good for the indie game makers who are pushing

back against the mega corps that rule the gaming roost. I'm down with that fight, even tho I'm
not participating in it.

But at the same time it occurs to me that the indie game scene seems to be trying awfully hard these days to make it clear how cool and indie they actually are. One would think that the 

games they make- because clearly they are so artsy and amazing and meaningful and more 

communicative than anything mainstream games can shit out- could communicate that 

message for them. But I guess not. Hell in some cases you've got indie game makers publicly calling out other indie game makers for NOT being indie enough or not being worthy at all of 

the independent badge.

Well here's what I told a buddy of mine who makes indie games and who was called out for just that very crime (he had had mainstream success and now is finding success as well on the indie scene):

If you really want to be indie, stop giving a fuck about being indie and just be; just keep doing ya'lls thing and fuck what anything thinks. THAT- to me- is hella indie. Hell, the people who go out of their way to make it crazy clear they are indie seem a tad suspicious to me anyway. If they were really so indie, wouldn't that be clear from their games? Why do they have to keep reminding us?

Lots of games from the indie game community wear their angsty-ass hearts on their sleeves and- as an outsider- it's fucking annoying. We GET it: you're intelligent, you're free thinkers, you think the mainstream is beneath you and you are here to save the day. Yadda-fuckin-yadda.

Do you REALLY want to be grouped in with that bullshit mentality given how entertaining and accessible your games are? 

So ya know...there's that.

I dunno- I just hate it when mainstream games are so vilified. As a guy who LOVES mainstream games (playing and making them), it just seemed to be a good time to stand up for big, accessible, in your face, good old fashioned entertainment. 

And for my friends in the indie community: I LOVE some of your games (clearly) and crazy respect what SOME of you guys/gals do. Hell, if I have the talent, perhaps one day I will make an indie game as well. I think some of you are onto something. But it's not the only game in town and I sure wish some of ya'll would remember and respect that fact from time to time.

But for the rest of you assholes, get yourself a copy of this and shut the fuck up :)

David


ps. I know the formatting on this is shit. But it's 3AM and I don't have time to deal with it right now. When I came back to blogging last week I found BLOGGER had changed their interface and beats the hell out of me how to make it work. I'll get around to it in the next few posts but I'm frankly too tired and bizzy to deal with it right now. Hope ya'll don't mind too much- thx! 

RAMBLIN' MAN RETURNS

NOTE: Youtube seems to be having a problem with this video- I'll look into in a bit if it's still not playing end of day- sorry folks, park's closed. Moose out front shoulda toldja...


Ok, this one is pretty damn rambly- sorry bout that.

Happy New Year ya'll!

David


By the way, even since I got my new Mac, my video and audio have been out of sync. 
Promise I'll figure it out before the next one- totally sux. Sorry bout that!

Ok, and here are the pics of my now clean, memorabilia-free office :)

Making Room For The New...

Cleaning up my office in preparation for the game's script/story work. I need to get started and finished this week and a clean office tends to help me focus. Also, given that my brother and parents were in town this last week and we were short on bedrooms, I pulled out my couch/fouton and slept in here. So it's just a total mess. Plus, prepping for a very focused, very busy 2010 and the best way to start is with a clean slate.

Usually when I clean I just tidy up, but there's a sense I have of needing to make some significant alterations; to toss and/or file stuff I have not used in years in order to make room (both literally and energy wise) for new things to come into my life. So there's LOTS of old design notebooks and research books heading into the garage.

Thought I'd share some of the chaos!

David

ps. oh the graphic novels are a stack I'm gonna take over and donate to the library, get some new geeks into comics :)  Oooh, wait, 2 of those are someone else's that they lent me! Phew! Glad I caught it in this post- had totally forgotten! I guess those are staying put till I see Mr. Foge again! Sorry Richard- close call! 

Is there a proper way to tweet?!?!

Just like I musta missed the 'how to be super cool and get tons of chicks' class in junior high, clearly there was a Twitter class in the last 2 years that I musta been too busy to attend. Cause clearly there are some folks out there NOT having a good experience with my tweets.

Now if they are just elite, snobby pricks (i.e. 'waaah, you typed in CAPS and in my little stupid world where letters can hurt you, that means your are yelling at me! I so sad now!), I really don't care.

But as an all around nice guy AND a game designer, I do like to give folks the best entertainment experiences I can. And it's got me wondering a few things about twitter...well really, it's got me wondering one main thing:

Do you guys like to see people you follow tweet a lot or just 2-5 times/day?

To me, I don't have twitter on my cell and I use tweet deck so I just have a window open and when people tweet during the day, it's just another little piece of info to suck up my attention for 2-5 seconds. So I dig it when I see a block of tweets from Kevin Smith or Brian Michael Bendis (whom I both follow). And I don't mind if they have to use 3-4 tweets to make a point cause I have the overall thread opened on tweet deck for context. And I follow them cause I'm interested in their take on the world so to me, the more the better.

But I've had a few messages since I've been back where peeps are like, "I ain't following Jaffe no more, he spams twitter with blocks of updates"...and it makes me wonder: do most people feel this way?

And if so, why? Is it cause they follow on a cell phone and every time someone they follow updates twitter, they get a little chime and they gotta look down at the phone? I can see how this would get annoying but again, that's not how I follow people...to me, the more tweets from someone the better.

So help me out...what do you guys/gals like to see from people you follow? And yeah, I know it's my account and I can do what I want but again- annoying pricks aside- if I can communicate to folks better, I'm all open to learning the best ways to do that.

Thanks ya'll!

David

Thanks For Coming Out Tonight...

Yeah ok, so I’m back early. At the bottom of the blog you’ll see the names of the 3 folks who first called me out on it and- thusly- won a copy (be it download code or an actual disc) of our next game.

I had wanted to do a whole redesign of the site, maybe switch over to Wordpress and do it all snazzy. And I still may, but just not enough time in my life for that these days (which is a great thing) so it’ll have to wait a bit.

So why did I come back early? Why did I come back at all? Well, I have three explinations:

#1- Fuck the haters. While I was offline, I had so many people tell me they dug the blog and/or dug the work we’ve done over the years, that it occurred to me that I was ignoring all of the great support- and there is tons of it- and was only listening to the haters on the net. Stupid me, I know. I have no plans to do that again. And then when I found this clip of Kevin Smith talking about much of the same sort of thing- and saw how much better off he seems focusing on fans vs. haters- I knew it was time to head on back to my online home. I may have posted this clip once before but it really stuck with me over the last few months. Here ya go:

#2- DUDE HUGE- I was sitting in front of Cliff Blezenski the other night at the really fun Spike VGAs. I turned around and chatted with him for a few and I asked him if his blog was coming back. In typical super cool Cliff fashion he smiled and said, “Nah dude. Blogging is so 5 years ago”. And while I realized that he was right, I also realized I still like doing it. Life’s too short to not do the stuff you like. And so...here I am.

#3- JAY Z- Riffing a bit on #1, an early Jay-Z song- Izzo (H.O.V.A.)-opens with Jay speaking the following lines:

‘Thanks for coming out tonight. You coulda been anywhere in the world, but you’re here with me. I appreciate that’

Now as unhip as it is to admit, I'm only NOW getting into Jay-Z and I only heard this song- for the first time- about 3 weeks ago. And when I heard those opening lines, it occurred to me that people take time out of their lives to visit my blog, read my tweets, visit our EAT SLEEP PLAY site, and most importantly, play and discuss and support our games (and in doing so, they are promoting our games). And I was just hit with a real strong sense of gratitude that made me want to get back to connecting with the peeps who really get behind and support the stuff we make.

So there ya go! Those are my reasons. And it's good to be back!

I'll be twittering more than I blog and vblog just cause we're all very busy with the game (and it's only gonna get more busy) but I'll be around either way.  Oh and no, we're not ready to announce the game. So you can ask- and I'm grateful that ya'll care enough to keep on asking- but as of now, no news on that front.

Ok ya'll! Nice to be back- hope everyone had a great holiday and has some fun stuff lined up for New Year's Eve!

Talk soon-

David

For the record...

Not sure if anyone still comes here since it's been password protected for so long but it's the only way I can respond to some press BS that hit today. This- by the way- is just me responding to some press inaccuracies and does not reflect me coming back to blogging. So no free games ! :)


Hope you are all well- chat in a few months when we announce our game- later!


David


ps. ever since I got this new mac my youtube videos have been out of sync- I'll check into it when I get back to blogging in Feb/March when I return...

Used Game Sales Ramble

I wish I knew why my sound sync is off these days- but anyway: here's where I ramble on about used games...it's long...and out of sync.... Sorry! :)

You Can't Teach A Dog To Sing...

Just to clarify a little on my views on the whole 'Destructoid/Can Games Mean Something More' thing...oh and someone mentioned liking to see a debate/discussion between me and the Destructoid author of the piece...would LOVE to do something like that when I have the time; it would be fun :)

But so just to clarify:

#1- I don't actually CARE if people view games as art or only entertainment or whatever. Don't want, need, or care about debating 'what IS art, anyway!!' That's just labels to me. And plus, yes, the debate over 'what is art' is too tired to even care about anymore. I'm not a junior in high school anymore which- to me- is around when that very relevant discussion should occur...and be put to bed. So my issue is NOT with 'when will we get to a place where the best work in our industry can be seen as art!' I really don't care. And anyone who is a real artist should not- in my opinion- care either.

#2- My main point was that the author's take- I forget his name and frankly am too tired to go back and check :)- but his point seemed to be that games can be more relevant to the real world and can speak more to the human condition than the violent power fantasy games that line the shelves. Some have pointed out that the Destructoid author was talking to gamers and not game makers. Sure, I concede that. But it makes no difference; the gist of his issue was the same: games can and should be more relevant. Now to that point, I say:

a- one COULD argue that the human condition IS violence and dog eat dog and video games capture that brilliantly, in many ways more so than any other medium by actually putting us INTO the experience and allowing us- after the fact- to analyze how and why we behaved in a tense, terrifying situation. Instead of having the privilege and luxury to sit and ruminate on 'the horrors of war' or the 'state of man' by watching Saving Private Ryan or Schiendler's List, games allow us to see how we would REALLY react in violent situations. And what does it show us about the human condition? It potentially shows us that all the cafe chillin', coffee drinking big brains sitting around pondering the fate of man would revert to our animal base in an instant order to survive and in order to win. So there is that. But to be fair, that's just me playing devil's advocate. I don't REALLY think that is what is going on. But ya know, there's a theory for you.

b- there ARE games out there that may not speak to the human condition (altho there are some that try) but there are commercial games out there that are not about violent power fantasies. Mario Kart was the best selling game IN THE WORLD last year. Not really a power fantasy. Same with Bejewelled or Bookworm or Pet Society or Tetris. So while there are few games that strive to meet the lofty goals set forth in Mr. Destructoid's video, it's wrong to act as if most/all games are violent blood baths. And a good % of the successful games are NOT violent.

#3- My key point in my video rebuttal was that IF it was possible or desirable to make games mean something 'more', we would have been further along by now. In the last 4000 years since the world's first game was known to be played, how have we been doing merging meaningful, human condition-striving stories, feelings, and emotions with game mechanics? Sure we have video and 3d worlds and motion controls now and YES those matter in the quest. But they don't matter so much that it would make sense that ONLY NOW is the merge of meaning and gameplay beginning to be possible. We should have seen at least SOME VERY PROMISING SIGNS along the way during the last 4000 years. But we have not. And using Chess or GO doesn't count in my book. Yes, those are POSSIBLY metaphors for other things but what those games stand for is not readily apparent to most players and only apparent to some once the metaphor has been explained to them. Few if any finish chess and- totally unprompted- say: 'ya know, I think that game I just played was about something MORE than just the surface...it seems perhaps it was about war and the futility of war...'

#4- My other point on this is that EVERYONE who loves games can and should have an opinion on this. I was not saying that only game makers should be able to discuss this. But I don't think it's fair to just sit and bitch about what games should/could be without being aware that big companies in the game industry DO TRY at different times to crack this nut and that the problem is not simply that we just don't wanna do it. That's just a bunch of bullshit. What I was also saying was, as an industry worker who has pitched games and been in pitches, people have either tried this and it never got off the launch pad (not cause stupid execs who are just greedy bastards but cause the design sounded boring and/or there was no clear direction on how the designers wanted to achieve their lofty goals and so no one wanted to make it) OR the attempt at emotion was made, the game shipped, and it didn't really resonate with enough people that it became a watershed moment.

#5- Also, remember- even fun, summer movies- the good ones- have heart and character and are ABOUT more than just power fantasies. IRON MAN certainly was, as was the DARK KNIGHT. So you'd think in the last 30 years of video games, even amid the big blockbuster power fantasy type games that we- admittedly- love to make, that SOMEONE would have SUCCESSFULLY slipped some meaning in their game. Going big and actiony is not anathema to character and metaphor and meaning. And look, I know game makers who have tried it (I won't mention the games or the names) but I've had them TELL me that their games- one of which was a MASSIVE HIT, and one of which was a dud- were metaphors for the Iraq war for example; or for going back home to where your soul really is. Hell, I've tried it before mysef. And NONE of us have succeeded at a level that matters enough for me to go, "AHH! We're onto something!"....as I've said before, it took years and years of work to establish character and meaning and game mechanics that mirror emotion and game play that is metaphor and in the end, very few were moved or affected by it. And the ones that were- while they applaud our efforts- are MUCH More affected by an average prime time television show. See, when we fire with all our ammo, all our effort...we still can't come close to an episode of CSI in terms of emotion. Granted, that's just us. Just cause WE can't do it, doesn't mean it can't be done. But I'm just saying that even our best game makers have not come close to an average level of emotion or meaning that you get from the TV. And yes, I've played ICO and SHADOW and PASSAGE and TODAY I DIE and BRAID and FLOWER and SEPTEMBER 12 and many others. And SOME of those games I've loved out right and are in my top 10 games of all time. Some I didn't love as much but at the very least I appreciated them for what they were doing. And so I am saying is that I am aware of the 'emotional cannon of games' and I still stand by my statement. Granted, it's just my opinion. Your mileage may vary. But I cry at fucking coffee commercials so I'm easy; easy enough that you'd think a great game with artistic and emotional intent would have gotten to me. But so far, nothing worth shouting about.

#6- Finally, I really think when the brain is engaged in gameplay, the thematic falls away. You could give me photo real graphics and smell-o-vision and jack the thing into my brain and put me on that beach landing in Saving Private Ryan and I would NOT be affected in the same way the audience watching the film was. I would not be thinking about the loss of life or the pointlessness of war. I would just be trying to 'solve the puzzle' of 'what is the safest way to get to the bunker at the top of the hill'....because games are simulations...for real life or for fantasy life, but they simulate an experience. And when you are LIVING AN EXPERIENCE- just like when you live your life- you are not appreciating the artistry of it. You are just living it. I really feel it's only thru outside observation of an experience (your own or that of a character that you relate to in SOME way) can we actually be affected and have our thoughts provoked. This does not happen during the experience. At least, this is my take on it.

Now all this is not to say, "Don't try!"...I would LOVE for games to have the ability to affect us more. How neat would that be! But I'm just saying that it's wrong to present the case that games could be so much 'more' if we just tried harder and just wanted them to be and the only reason we don't have our watershed game version of American Beauty or Casablanca or Gone With The Wind is because we just are not willing to be artists. That's bullshit. We're trying and many of us are STILL trying. I'm just saying that, so far, ain't noting happening yet. As for me tho,I've lost interest and would rather focus on what I feel games do very well than try to get them to do something else that other mediums already do crazy good. I mean, what's the point? Why not just go make a movie or write a book? It's like trying to teach your dog to sing. You can KIND of do it; he'll make some sounds that KIND of sound like singing and some folks will sort of go, "Hey it sounds like he's singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!' ....But end of the day, if you want to hear some great music, why not just go listen to an actual song? Doesn't mean you shoot your dog. He's great for other stuff. Just not singing. So why force it?

Games as Art?!? Oh Lord, THIS again?!?! :)

And here's his original post:

Ok, back to work- later!

David

ps. no clue why my sound is always outta sync...

How I Wish Video Games Were Summer Movies...sort of :)

...and here's the link to Totilo's Kotaku article.

Take it easy, ya'll!

David

Let This Fucking Day End...

Sometimes you just need a day to be over.

Today is such a day.

 It’s just too depressing of a day to stay awake any longer.

For reasons totally unexpected the Michael Jackson memorial affected me at a much deeper level than I was prepared for.

Perhaps it’s because his was the voice of my generation. As a little kid, me and my brother competed in dance contests our nanny put on just for us while blasting her 8 track of OFF THE WALL. I also had the albums of OFF THE WALL and THE WIZ. We would listen to MJ on Solid Gold (at least I think it was Solid Gold), a variety music show we watched when my parents were getting read to go out on most Saturday nights.

Then came Thriller and the amazing videos that we simply could not get enough of. Our VHS copy of Thriller -that we'd taped from MTV- was so corrupted from constant playing that I kept waiting for it to snap and the tape to get all tangled and wound up in the heads of our first generation VHS player. 

I remember camping out at the Birmingham Civic Center downtown just to catch a glimpse of MJ. He and the rest of the Jackson 5 were rehearsing the Victory tour in Birmingham (even tho, for some annoying reason, they never performed it in B’ham). So we went downtown (myself, my brother, sister, brother-in-law) to see what we could see. What we saw were MASSIVE crowds just waiting for a glimpse. And we got one…just a glimpse. Jermaine, Tito, and the rest of the brothers who I can’t really name stood out on a balcony and waved for 5-10 minutes. I think one of them actually gave a speech via microphone, talking about how grateful they were to be in Birmingham. And then- after what seemed like forever- came Michael. He rushed out, waved and smiled and then rushed back in. It was over in about 5 seconds. But damn, there he was: Michael Jackson in the flesh.

 And a few months later, my sister and brother in law drove me and my brother to Atlanta to see Victory. It was kind of shit, truth me told, but it was still cool to see Jackson on stage doing his thing.

 And hell, I’ll admit it. Even in high school and college, I was a fan. I remember going to the mall to buy Bad the day it came out. I liked it, too. Good tape. I also bought Dangerous and I dug that. Damn, I even went and saw Captain EO at Disneyland (‘hit the red button Hooter!’) and thought it was kinda…well ok, that was pretty stupid but whatever.

But so I dug the man’s work. And I dug the spirit that he seemed to put into his work. Now this feels stupid to say so let me preface it by saying: I am fully aware of and ok with the fact that I don’t contain .1% of MJ’s talent nor .1% of his success. But that said, I always felt creatively connected to him. Not from a musician or dancer standpoint. Lord knows I can’t do either.  But there was something about the way it SEEMED he saw the world and the energy it SEEMED he put into his work that I related to and admired and aspired to in terms of my own work. Now I say SEEMED cause cleary, the man was a showman and who knows how much of the image that he projected was real. But it was real enough for me to take inspiration from it. 

And now it’s gone. And that makes me sad.

Sad because it makes me realize that even talent like his is mortal. And if someone as talented and successful as Michael Jackson can be snuffed out so quickly and so unexpectedly, what does that say about someone like me who doesn’t possess anywhere close to his gifts?

Sad because he will no longer be able to create for the world. Hell, I'm sad that he will no longer be able to create for ME; no longer able to share the gifts that have inspired me since I was a child. 

Was he a freak or a monster? Maybe. Possibly. According to some, most definitely.  According to others- and certainly according to 12 jury members- he was not. But who knows. Not me. But what I do know is that he was a genuine artist whose work touched and moved my soul. And I am sad that he is no longer here to do so.

Sad because the biggest icon from my generation is now gone. I imagine only Spielberg dying will have more effect on me in terms of the death of someone I don’t know.

And mostly sad because of his children, specifically his daughter who broke my fucking heart today when she spoke. As the dad of two small kids…two small GIRLS, I could feel her pain so acutely and wanted to do SOMETHING to help her. But I could not. No one can. I know she will move on, as countless young children who lose a parent eventually move on. But right now, tonite as I type this (and for a time to come) this little girl is in a world of pain and it really does make me very sad.

So you know, there’s that going on. 

THEN on top of all the Michael Jackson stuff, I’m in Foster City as I write this. Foster FUCKING City. I was never more depressed in my life than when I lived here. And I am back, for my Sony meeting. Looking forward to the meeting and grateful to have a job where I get to make games and do creative work. I’m not complaining about the work. But I fucking hate being in this city. To me it represents the death of spirit, of creative work. To give you an idea, the hotel I am staying in gives away a free set of golf clubs if you stay in the hotel for 25 nights. I mean, that comes about as close to hell on Earth as I have ever experienced.

I just wanna go have a great meeting tomorrow and then hop a flight the fuck out of here and get back to my dear So Cal.  Back to the sun, the beaches, the laid back feel. 

Being here literally zaps my energy. It is my soul’s Kryptonite. And I can’t wait to go to bed. And I can’t wait to go home.

 Sleeping with the curtains wide open tonite so the sun can hit me in the am and I can start fresh. This day- while needed- has been shit. And I’m ready for it to be over.

 Nite ya’ll!

 David 

My Freaking Eye + Summer Movies + Six Feet Under+ MJackson's Brain!!!

Not sure why the sync is off...ah well, you get the idea :)

David

I FUCKING LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!I

If anyone is gonna haunt a place, it's Michael Jackson! I mean, DAMN that is cool! I so wanna visit Neverland on Halloween one day. And shit...check this story out...burying the man without his mother fucking brain!?!? Fucking creepy!!! Kellan- our art director out at Eat Sleep Play- just told me he thinks it would be great if they stuck his brain in a giant robot! How neat!!!


And look, I am a MJ fan. I dig his music and dancing. I so feel for his kids right now. But as a pure consumer of pop culture, all this creepy, ghostly, missing brain shit that is starting to bubble up now that he's gone is just so fucking entertaining. But that said, I wish the man were still around.

David

BABY! BABY! BABY! BABY RUUUTH!!!!

Sloth Love Chunk!

Yes I realize in light of the post under this one that now ass hole sites are just gonna start using this picture. Whatever. Have fun, cocksuckers.

But I wanted to share :) This is my right eye! OH MY GOD! I have a sty in the damn thing and it's- clearly- gotten infected. So I'm on some antibiotics and hopefully in a day or two I won't look like Sloth...or TWO FACE...or whatever. But for now, I do. Been wearing my sunglasses wherever I go cause I feel like such a freak.

Also, I'm back to blogging and thrilled to be but I'm disabling comments on the blog from here on out. Doing it for two reasons:

#1- I really have loved and been so so grateful for all the kindness and interest and good conversations I have had over the years with posters on this blog. 95% of it has been nothing but good times. But 5% is just pure negative bullshit and I'm at a phase in life where I just wanna clear all the negativity in my life away and really steer clear of that sort of vibe.

#2- While it doesn't take alot of time away from my day to day to respond and read comments, it does take some time. And these days, I'm just too busy to do more than put up a post. The time it takes to check back and respond to questions and such (and I do feel compelled to be a good host and respond where appropriate) is just too much time away from the work that- I hope- you all care about more than a response on a blog.

So I hope you'll still come visit me if you like the blog. As the game gears up to be announced there will be lots and lots more news. And I'll still be twittering as well if you REALLY need to reach me. And as always, please say hey when you see me at Comic Con and GDC and E3 and the like. It's always such a thrill to meet folks who love the work that we do.

Take it easy ya'll! Chat later in the week!

David

ps. to the regular posters who have been with the blog for years- thank you SO MUCH for your support and interest! It really has been a joy chatting with you!

Dear Mother Fucking Gaming Sites:

Please for the love all all things Holy...stop posting these OLD, OUTDATED pictures of me (that are also crazy shitty pictures of me from almost 5 years ago) when you run a story on me. There are plenty of newer pics you could use to be more- you know- accurate.


Am I being paranoid or do you think they do this just to make me look fucking stupid?

David

Holy Fucking Cow People...

is the shit!!!

I stumbled upon this today, forget how. But a biz buddy of mine- Raph Koster (he of my fave game design book ever written and if you love games and have not read it, shame on you! ) has just beta launched his groundbreaking new site which I can only describe as The Sims meets Personalized MMO meets Youtube.

My little space- where I can visit and hang with blog readers- is now embedded in the side window over to the right...come by and visit with me from time to time :)

BUT my site is .5% of what this site is capable of! There are games and intricate spaces and so much customization that it blows your mind.

Raph and his team have done a hell of a job and I imagine Metaplace is gonna be one of the next big things when it launches for real in the next x months...amazing job Raph! Visit the site...and be sure to come hang we me in my Metaplace!

David

ps. don't play in that small window...click on the FULL SCREEN part of the window to get a bigger size to play in...

Return of the Mack

Hey ya’ll- feeling like blogging again. I imagine I’ll be doing a mix of twittering and blogging for a bit as the game gets- and stays- crazy busy. So if you follow me on Twiter- and if you don't, what the FUCK is the matter with you?!?! :) - I'll twitter when I do a new blog post as I don't imagine the blogs will be as regular as they use to be (at least not till the game announce happens)...but who knows. I'm digging blogging again so maybe I'll just go back to a regular sked. I will let ya'll know.

So I figured I’d ramble a bit, if you don’t mind:

RAMBLE TOPIC #1: RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!

This is me, right now:

Kids are at the grandparents so I got to sleep in and am now about to blog, read the LA TIMES, and enjoy that wonderful blend of Diet Coke, Starbucks black coffee, and just a touch of peanut butter on a cinnamon raisin bagel. Ahhh, the simple things in life do indeed rock much.

RAMBLE TOPIC #2: SONY GREENLITE VIDEO COMPLETE! AND IT'S SWELL!

Well, I have to say, I’m pretty darn happy with our video for the Sony greenlite meeting next week. The gang at Sony San Diego Post Production did an amazing job of cutting and producing a great video. They did an even better job of putting up with my perfectionist tendencies ☺ . So thanks guys! And while the game is still kind of early (the graphics on the video range anywhere from 85% complete to 35% complete) I think the spirit of the game is front and center and anyone who watches it should be able to get a good idea of the kind of game we're making. And that’s why I’m so happy- cause I LOVE the game we’re making! I think it’s really cool and really fun. Will the folks in the meeting this Wednesday feel the same? Hope so! But all you can do is put the vision that you and the team love out there and hope for the best. But for me, I’m real happy with the video and real proud of the team. Will let you know how it goes.

RAMBLE TOPIC #3: BONUS MATERIAL ON OUR NEW GAME...

I think we’ll try to put these greenlite videos on the actual Blu Ray as bonus content so folks can see how far the game has come and as a neat behind the scenes look into the process that goes into ‘selling’ the game to the various worldwide Playstation divisions. I've been doing some thinking lately about our bonus features on the disc and I think there’s TONS of stuff we could put on there for folks who dig that sort of thing.

RAMBLE TOPIC #4: VICTORY!
Holy Hell...Entourage returns in just 8 days!!! Fuck Smoke Jumpers...Vinnie Chase is back! By the way, the game ain't great, but I think it's pretty cool that HBO.COM has a VIKING QUEST hack n' slash Flash game you can play!

RAMBLE TOPIC #5: FUCK HUNG!

As a soon to be 40 year old (2 years away) who is newly separated, the show HUNG on HBO- while well made- is depressing as fuck. I don't think I'll be watching anymore of that, thanks very much.

RAMBLE TOPIC #6: WHEN MARRIAGE 'EXPERTS' GET DIVORCED...

When the ex and I were trying to ‘save’ our marriage, we read a number of books on the subject. If you’ve been married- or are married- you may know the type of books I’m talking about: how to spice up/fix the marriage, how to get the spark back,yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, this morning I read where a woman who wrote one of the books we had read- which if I recall seemed pretty good at the time- is now going thru a divorce of her own. While I feel for her (she’s blogging about her experience and she’s clearly going thru a tough time), this also makes me very happy. I’m not happy that she is in any sort of emotional pain. But I’m thrilled to continue to find out that in relationships- as in the movie biz- ‘nobody knows anything’. Because SO MANY people like to put up this front of 'my relationship is great! Aren't we a healthy and normal family?!?" when- it turns out more and more- that a normal relationship/family is nowhere close to the fairy tale version. And the more the idea that 'normal does not equal perfect' gets out there, the healthier our society will be.

RAMBLE TOPIC #7: KINDLE in the house! Well, it's actually in the neighbor's house...

I finally know someone who has a Kindle! Our across the road neighbor just got one for her birthday! She’s out of town for a few weeks but when she gets back I’m making a point to go over there and check it out. Amazon really needs to partner with Best Buy or some other retailer so folks can get these things in their hands! I hear, once you get one in your hands and mess with it, you HAVE to have one. But alas, Kindle has been out for over a year and I've STILL yet to lay my eyes on a real one. I will still probably hold off on getting one of my own till they do color and they have magazines and more newspapers (that’s the stuff I love to read, versus books). But I’m sure in the next few years I will be a proud member of the Kindle nation...or the Apple version, which- if rumors are true- is coming sooner than later.

RAMBLE TOPIC #8 CURRENT PLAYLIST

Games I’m playing:

HOTEL DUSK- started slow but growing on me.

TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD- LOVE IT! Late to a party that I realize was never much of a party as most folks kind of poo-poo’d this game but I’m really, really digging it. Some amazing looking environments and classic Tomb Raider play...along with classic Tomb Raider problems but those don't bug me too much.

INDY JONES AND STAFF OF KINGS- I’m sorry to my friends at LucasArts but this is a pretty poor game and a sad excuse for such a strong license. No one sets out to make a bad game and- to be fair- there are some great touches in the title that really- in some ways- feel more Indy than Crystal Skull ever did. But the gameplay is dull and repetitive and doesn’t come close to giving the source material the kind of respect it deserves. Come on LucasArts…get with the fucking program and start making games worthy of your amazing talent and amazing IP. And yes, perhaps soon, that will happen...if you know what I mean :)

KLONOA- Just picked this up…eager to get some playtime in today.

PIXEL RANGER-

Holy FUCK! This Facebook app is amazingly addictive! PLAY THIS NOW! Hell, play all the games from METROGAMES on Facebook. They are all fucking great! Although I have to admit, Pixel Ranger was crazy fun when me and a Facebook buddy were jostling for top score. But my top score is 110,000 and then he goes off and scores lke 350,000 and now- great as the game is- I think I'm kind of done as the competition was a huge motivator to keep playing and I have NO IDEA how I could ever get close to that score. Help me Billy Mitchell...you're my only hope!

Ok, enough for now. I think me, the Ex, and possibly her father are gonna go try to find a showing of Food Inc. today before the whole family settles in for the fireworks tonite! We are real lucky that, from a single spot just up the street from our house, we can see 3-5 different firework shows from places all over San Diego!

Have a very safe and very fun 4th for all those who celebrate such things.

Talk soon-

David

TWITTERING FOOL

For the next few weeks anyway- perhaps beyond- I'll be in Twitter mode only.

So busy with the game these days that I just don't have the energy/desire to do the blogging thing.

Our EAT SLEEP PLAY website should be up soon and I'll be doing blogging from there and I'll let you know when it hits.

But for now, I'll be tweeting several times/day (if not more)...it's the perfect way to communicate with folks who dig our work without taking away energy from the work itself!

Talk soon you guys/gals!

David