Thursday, October 02, 2003
COMIC BOOKS!
Ok, so I still can't sleep. I got about 3 hours last nite. Been on the computer screwing around since. I am so JAZZED to hit the Nyquill tonite! I can't wait to drift off into groggy land while watching Conan O'Brien with my wife and kid lying next to me! Life is full of little pleasures and that is one of them!
I think I will go pick up some comics in a few minutes. I have been so busy the last 3 weeks with the Sony milestone for the Tokyo Game Show that I have not been able to head down to HI-DE-HO (local comic store) and grab my books....I'm sure I've missed some good stuff. Oh well, I'd rather miss a few gems than have to ALWAYS be at the comic store on Wednesday afternoons (the day comics come out each week)...
Actually putting off reading Avengers/JLA and 1602....read the first ish of 1602 and dug it....bought the first ish of avengers/JLA but put it away without reading it...both of those seem like great, meaty graphic Trade PaperBacks to get when they are collected...they both seem like they will be much better reads when they are all tied together in one volume! Can't wait!
Been into comics since i was about 4 or 5...I think Spiderman was my first one...at least the first one I remember...my Uncle Bill sat me on his lap and read me a spidey comic and I was hooked...man I used to love to go down to Crestline Pharmacy in Crestline, Alabama...it was a little mom and pop drugstore and they had the squeaky comic-carousel rack and everything...and they had the magazine rack next to the comics where they stored those giant MARVEL magazines that were comics but giant sized....the first one I bought was the one where Spidey grew six arms and was like an actual spider! SO COOL!
Comics biz makes me sad now...I still love the comics but the styles are changing (going very Matrix, real world, serious) and the business model is just crazy (why pay 3 bucks for a 15 minute read ((tops)) when you can rent a video game for around the same price and play it for 3-5 days!?!?)....ah well, I doubt my kid will love comics...I'll intro them to her and see what she says but I get the feeling that she'll be into other things....but hey, she's only 3 months old...who knows how she will turn out! Maybe she'll be a geek chic! SWEET!
Ok, so I still can't sleep. I got about 3 hours last nite. Been on the computer screwing around since. I am so JAZZED to hit the Nyquill tonite! I can't wait to drift off into groggy land while watching Conan O'Brien with my wife and kid lying next to me! Life is full of little pleasures and that is one of them!
I think I will go pick up some comics in a few minutes. I have been so busy the last 3 weeks with the Sony milestone for the Tokyo Game Show that I have not been able to head down to HI-DE-HO (local comic store) and grab my books....I'm sure I've missed some good stuff. Oh well, I'd rather miss a few gems than have to ALWAYS be at the comic store on Wednesday afternoons (the day comics come out each week)...
Actually putting off reading Avengers/JLA and 1602....read the first ish of 1602 and dug it....bought the first ish of avengers/JLA but put it away without reading it...both of those seem like great, meaty graphic Trade PaperBacks to get when they are collected...they both seem like they will be much better reads when they are all tied together in one volume! Can't wait!
Been into comics since i was about 4 or 5...I think Spiderman was my first one...at least the first one I remember...my Uncle Bill sat me on his lap and read me a spidey comic and I was hooked...man I used to love to go down to Crestline Pharmacy in Crestline, Alabama...it was a little mom and pop drugstore and they had the squeaky comic-carousel rack and everything...and they had the magazine rack next to the comics where they stored those giant MARVEL magazines that were comics but giant sized....the first one I bought was the one where Spidey grew six arms and was like an actual spider! SO COOL!
Comics biz makes me sad now...I still love the comics but the styles are changing (going very Matrix, real world, serious) and the business model is just crazy (why pay 3 bucks for a 15 minute read ((tops)) when you can rent a video game for around the same price and play it for 3-5 days!?!?)....ah well, I doubt my kid will love comics...I'll intro them to her and see what she says but I get the feeling that she'll be into other things....but hey, she's only 3 months old...who knows how she will turn out! Maybe she'll be a geek chic! SWEET!
BACK FROM TOKYO
It is 4:21 am as I write this. I got back from Tokyo a few days ago and while I do not feel jet lagged (ala groggy and worn down) my clock is still off. The plan tommorow night is to take a cup or two of Nyquil (sp?) and get things back to normal...I loves the Nyquil! And I will be going with Nyquil...I love Rite Aid but thier generic brand makes me a bit groggy but doesn't put me out....
So here's why I was in Tokyo:
Sony- the company I work for- sent me to the Tokyo Game Show. I had to present a game I am lead designing/directing behind closed doors to the Sony folks in Japan and Europe...the idea is to see if any of the producers for those territories are interested in publishing our game overseas....from what I gathered, people seemed to really like the game so maybe we have a shot at getting worldwide distribution! We will see....so, while I was in Japan, I also got to go see the show....
TGS (the Tokyo Game Show)followed the same path that all gaming trade shows follow for me. That is, I get there and I get kind of depressed and want to go home. I look around and question my place in the industry, wonder about if the game i am working on will be a big hit, think that i should be doing something else with my life....and then, towards the end of the day I suddenly fall in love with video games all over again.
Maybe it is simply being overwhelmed by these massive trade shows that sends me into a depressed state. These things are giant, filled with lights, massive sound systems, crowds galore (I hate crowds), and all kinds of hype. It's like a giant video game circus! Sounds like tons of fun I know...and it would be if it were not my business. Hell, it IS fun, it's just that you first walk in and get hit by it all and go 'DAMN, how the hell can my game compete with ALL of these hundreds of games!?!?!'
Around the end of the first day (these things usually last 3 days total) I have gotten my bearings, I'm not so overwhelmed, and I'm able to wade thru the hype and realize that the stuff I am working on is pretty darn great and very competative with what is on the show floor....also around the end of the first day I look around at the usually 3-4 games that get me really excited about the career path I am currently on...and then I can't wait to go back the next day!
The game that rocked my world this time out was ONIMUSHA 3. I loved the first two games in the series and this one looks to be the best. It has gone full 3D this time and it rocks. Really hits home the need for a game development team to simply keep banging out the same genre of game over and over and over, with each iteration getting better and better. Eventually you look around and you are top of the heap! Great place to be I imagine and when you look at Capcom, they are the masters of the 3rd person action/adventure category (my fave genre). Onimusha, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, Maximo, Res Evil...man, they've made some good games!
Tokyo blew my mind....amazing city! Not much of a club going guy or party guy...more of a home body...but being in this amazing city made me realize that even a homebody like me can love a trip to such a grand place...would not want to live there but MAN was it fun to visit....
I went over with some Sony folks and one of the guys- won't mention is name but he runs one of the Sony owned studios and has made lots of great hits- brought his kid. Really neat kid, around 12 years old. We turned him on to THE STAR WARS KID (http://www.jedimaster.net/) and man, this kid just could NOT stop talking about that chubby dude! Awsome!
The other thing that was neat was that the kid (don't wanna name his name either) wants to be a game designer. And here he is- at 12- in Japan at the TGS hanging out with all kinds of video game makers...what an education for him! If he decides to get into games, MAN, he'll be SO FAR AHEAD of most other people getting into the biz! He could be the next industry leader! How cool is that?!?!
Other thing cool about Japan was how accurate- at least to me- LOST IN TRANSLATION was....what a cool flick!
Anyway, gonna try to sleep now....or watch TV....am I getting a sore throat?
All I know is I am off work till Monday....but being in Tokyo and seeing some great games really has motivated me to make the game I am working on even better! Can't wait to get started!
Oh, one more thing, I bought this really cool toy in Tokyo...it's from Square/Enix and it's a sword you hook up to your tv and get to play a 16 bit style dungeon crawn where you get to swing the sworld at the tv, block with it, call magic spells, etc...it sounds dorky but it is SO FREAKING FUN!!!! You actually kinda feel like you are a hero in a fantasy battle! It's great! Pick one up when they come out near you!
See ya!
It is 4:21 am as I write this. I got back from Tokyo a few days ago and while I do not feel jet lagged (ala groggy and worn down) my clock is still off. The plan tommorow night is to take a cup or two of Nyquil (sp?) and get things back to normal...I loves the Nyquil! And I will be going with Nyquil...I love Rite Aid but thier generic brand makes me a bit groggy but doesn't put me out....
So here's why I was in Tokyo:
Sony- the company I work for- sent me to the Tokyo Game Show. I had to present a game I am lead designing/directing behind closed doors to the Sony folks in Japan and Europe...the idea is to see if any of the producers for those territories are interested in publishing our game overseas....from what I gathered, people seemed to really like the game so maybe we have a shot at getting worldwide distribution! We will see....so, while I was in Japan, I also got to go see the show....
TGS (the Tokyo Game Show)followed the same path that all gaming trade shows follow for me. That is, I get there and I get kind of depressed and want to go home. I look around and question my place in the industry, wonder about if the game i am working on will be a big hit, think that i should be doing something else with my life....and then, towards the end of the day I suddenly fall in love with video games all over again.
Maybe it is simply being overwhelmed by these massive trade shows that sends me into a depressed state. These things are giant, filled with lights, massive sound systems, crowds galore (I hate crowds), and all kinds of hype. It's like a giant video game circus! Sounds like tons of fun I know...and it would be if it were not my business. Hell, it IS fun, it's just that you first walk in and get hit by it all and go 'DAMN, how the hell can my game compete with ALL of these hundreds of games!?!?!'
Around the end of the first day (these things usually last 3 days total) I have gotten my bearings, I'm not so overwhelmed, and I'm able to wade thru the hype and realize that the stuff I am working on is pretty darn great and very competative with what is on the show floor....also around the end of the first day I look around at the usually 3-4 games that get me really excited about the career path I am currently on...and then I can't wait to go back the next day!
The game that rocked my world this time out was ONIMUSHA 3. I loved the first two games in the series and this one looks to be the best. It has gone full 3D this time and it rocks. Really hits home the need for a game development team to simply keep banging out the same genre of game over and over and over, with each iteration getting better and better. Eventually you look around and you are top of the heap! Great place to be I imagine and when you look at Capcom, they are the masters of the 3rd person action/adventure category (my fave genre). Onimusha, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, Maximo, Res Evil...man, they've made some good games!
Tokyo blew my mind....amazing city! Not much of a club going guy or party guy...more of a home body...but being in this amazing city made me realize that even a homebody like me can love a trip to such a grand place...would not want to live there but MAN was it fun to visit....
I went over with some Sony folks and one of the guys- won't mention is name but he runs one of the Sony owned studios and has made lots of great hits- brought his kid. Really neat kid, around 12 years old. We turned him on to THE STAR WARS KID (http://www.jedimaster.net/) and man, this kid just could NOT stop talking about that chubby dude! Awsome!
The other thing that was neat was that the kid (don't wanna name his name either) wants to be a game designer. And here he is- at 12- in Japan at the TGS hanging out with all kinds of video game makers...what an education for him! If he decides to get into games, MAN, he'll be SO FAR AHEAD of most other people getting into the biz! He could be the next industry leader! How cool is that?!?!
Other thing cool about Japan was how accurate- at least to me- LOST IN TRANSLATION was....what a cool flick!
Anyway, gonna try to sleep now....or watch TV....am I getting a sore throat?
All I know is I am off work till Monday....but being in Tokyo and seeing some great games really has motivated me to make the game I am working on even better! Can't wait to get started!
Oh, one more thing, I bought this really cool toy in Tokyo...it's from Square/Enix and it's a sword you hook up to your tv and get to play a 16 bit style dungeon crawn where you get to swing the sworld at the tv, block with it, call magic spells, etc...it sounds dorky but it is SO FREAKING FUN!!!! You actually kinda feel like you are a hero in a fantasy battle! It's great! Pick one up when they come out near you!
See ya!
