tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116057412008-09-26T12:10:35.191-07:00WEEZiE 13: MENTAL RHAPSODYweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-73374521368116952432008-09-26T11:46:00.000-07:002008-09-26T12:10:27.454-07:00Excuse me, but I'm taking a pole....OK, first off, I promise, this will be the last political post unless I run into another stupid white person.
I was at the Saddle Room last night saying goodbye to Matt and enjoying crappy, cold bottles of Budweiser. Chris (who is full of all sorts of great ideas and I really hope I get to work on the Bakersfield SWAT game with him some day) was just at the end of telling us about monkeys going weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-46515197289506056442008-09-14T09:06:00.000-07:002008-09-14T15:20:19.344-07:00Responsible VotingAh, it's that time again when I tell you all to vote responsibly this November. To reiterate what I say time and time again, I don't care who you vote for as long as you vote intelligently. That means no gut instincts or personal biases or falling prey to political smearing or scare tactics. That means, no voting for (or against) Obama because he's black. No voting for Palin because she's a womanweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-41674320953934510012008-09-13T23:31:00.000-07:002008-09-13T23:35:35.113-07:00Follow Your Instincts TMTonight I went to my buddy's birthday party. I decided to wear Derek Jeter's Driven Black: a mysterious blend of exotic saffron, blood orange, and precious woods. I have two words for my experience: WOW!weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-84857365293244410402008-07-18T21:40:00.000-07:002008-07-18T22:24:50.324-07:00Watchmen Motion Comics
Alan Moore ranks highly among my favorite writers and Dave Gibbons has been one of my favorite artists ever since I saw his Dan Dare work in the 2000 AD's my Nano (UK Grandma) used to send me from England. Watchmen is an amazing collaboration between Moore and Gibbons and one of the finest pieces of contemporary fiction I've read. Don't let the term "comic book" or "graphic novel" dissuade you weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-919399074911672512008-06-16T21:04:00.000-07:002008-06-16T21:21:04.691-07:00blah blah blah"I'm an intelligent man," he said giving me a wild stare that begged me to challenge him, but I was already in the process of tuning out; focusing my attention over his shoulder on a cheap clock on the wall that he said would be the "probable target of anybody who wanted to break into his home for a quick fix." When I was a lot younger, I learned a trick in college speech class: if you get weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-50036628127754157062008-05-23T11:16:00.000-07:002008-05-26T21:49:36.938-07:00Indiana Jones ATKOTCS review (non-spoilerish)With the exception of an overly anthropomorphic monkey (a portent of awful things to come like Jar Jar Binks and a nuclear gopher family), Raiders of the Lost Ark was a terrific piece of film making that successfully paid homage to 1940's cliffhangers without becoming a parody. Its follow-up, the Temple of Doom, was a large scale screwup that largely ignored everything that made its predecessor weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-45755804864853386702008-04-22T09:25:00.000-07:002008-04-22T09:29:55.045-07:00StenchThe smell is insanely bad and leaving the windows open to air it out is not a great idea right now since the temperature mysteriously dropped this month. The bottom line is that something died inside my wall. In the crawlspace. That's the word from the building maintenance guy. In his words, "I'm going to have to hire some tiny Mexicans to get in there since I'm too big, y'know?" I just respondedweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-13258604852248716132008-04-06T21:36:00.001-07:002008-04-06T21:54:50.574-07:00So, there's a guy on my front lawn...When I got home tonight, I noticed something unusual on the lawn outside of my apartment: a man. Maybe in his late 50's or early 60's. It was a little hard to tell because it's dark outside of my apartment when I don't have the living room lights on. He didn't seem to move when I passed by him to open my front door, so I went back to take a look at him.
"Hey man, are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm ok. I'm weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-66936300502770724662008-03-17T21:06:00.000-07:002008-03-18T09:19:13.809-07:00Feeling oldieI've been distraught now for a couple of months ever since I realized that 80's music (an all-encompassing term I hate by its own limited value) is now being marketed as oldies. For example, here's a heinous compilation available from Varese Sarabande: Then-Totally-Oldies-80s-Vol which is a perfect example of the mentality that is smushing good and bad music alike into a one size fits all packageweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-54336258992181550142008-01-29T10:43:00.000-08:002008-01-29T11:01:45.231-08:00On Game Design: recruitersIn the videogame industry, nobody likes news like this: Game Over for Tomb Raider boss. People who've been working in videogame development for a long time probably know that the industry is far from being a picture of stability: developers lose valuable contracts, publishers release triple-A bombs, and companies reorganize at the slightest hint of financial trouble. More senior development staffweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-81240315886968980462008-01-22T20:10:00.000-08:002008-01-22T20:55:37.671-08:00Personal Game History: Jurassic Park Rampage Edition
I was surprised today to moderate a comment about Jurassic Park Rampage Edition! The really weird thing is that we were briefly discussing the same Jurassic Park game at work today in relation to the upcoming Tomb Raider Underworld game that we're working on at Crystal Dynamics! Unfortunately, I can't be more specific in why we were talking about it, but possibly in the next few months I can weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-88748292439024462952008-01-02T10:08:00.000-08:002008-01-02T10:16:49.594-08:00Goodbye KyleKyle Mannerberg was a fellow designer at Crystal Dynamics. I'm not sure how or why he died, but he passed away during the latter part of December 2007. I remember Kyle as a very quiet guy with a dry sense of humor and a great book collection. I could always go by and shoot the breeze with him about movies, H.P. Lovecraft, what a crappy place Namco was to work at (during the early 90's), and all weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-18471830768515738462007-11-05T20:16:00.000-08:002007-11-05T21:38:15.833-08:00Where's Weezie?Quick update! The project I'm currently working on is heading towards something called Vertical Slice. By definition, Vertical Slice represents a cross section of the game which contains all the game play that the eventual finished product will have. At Namco, it was called P1 (1st playable). At other companies, it's just been a looming date. I think we're in really good shape for the most part weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-4556338110935784192007-07-02T17:49:00.000-07:002008-02-01T14:01:53.071-08:00On Game Design: asking questions of the interviewerHere is a perfect example of a man who fails to get enough information before embarking on a course of action:
Other than trying to mess with Bruce Lee, this man's biggest mistake was not only failing to ask the right questions, but not pursuing the right answer. "Wash your shtyle?" provided him with only a vague answer which he then turned into another question which garnered no further weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-9362820207580300792007-06-23T11:01:00.000-07:002007-06-23T23:51:05.847-07:00On Game Design: further exploration of the video game designer's portfolioIn last year's Game Developer Game Career Guide, I made brief mention of a video game designer's portfolio:
"Artists have portfolios that showcase their fine art skills and work from the projects they've been involved with. Examples of game design work are often something that job-hunting game designers just don't think about or don't think they need. However, examples of game design work can beweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1168798219695370312007-01-14T08:46:00.000-08:002007-01-27T21:20:07.726-08:00Children Of Men and IdiocracyWell, this review has been sitting around on my hard drive for a couple of weeks due to extensive shenanigans caused by Norton Internet Security 2006 and bad ATI drivers. The short version of the story is that I’d get these weird errors when closing Windows like can’t stop cpp.exe and a bunch of other crap. On top of that, an ATI PC video recorder device I got came with a bunch of old ATI driversweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1159414153119068152006-09-27T20:07:00.000-07:002006-09-29T06:51:22.586-07:00Bad Mexican food 09.26.2006
RESTAURANT: Una Mas Taqueria
ADDRESS: 683 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA. 94025
BURRITO: regular carnitas:
carnitas (braised pork)
pinto beans
Mexican rice
salsa
SO, i've decided that I think this whole bad Bay Area Mexican food deal is actually amusing. Rather than recoiling in disgust when I get something odd in my tortilla, I now find it completely hysterical! What's more, i'm going weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1158378449973332102006-09-15T20:00:00.000-07:002006-09-15T20:59:44.916-07:00Bad Mexican food 09.14.2006I grow increasingly frustrated in my ongoing search for good Mexican food in the Bay Area. I get recommendations from various sources: friends, word of mouth, and restaurant reviews, but it's all for naught. Each bad experience somehow tops the previous one while simultaneously wasting my money, time, and effort and straining my sources' credibility.
This week, I came across a San Francisco weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1153183158613688382006-07-17T17:37:00.000-07:002006-07-17T17:39:18.626-07:002006 Game Developer Career GuideOK, I swear. This will be the last time I mention this. If you want to take a look at my article (as well as a piece by fellow contributor Tom Carroll), just follow this link and you can download the digital version: http://www.gdmag.com/archive/cg06.htm. The actual print version should be out next month. Be sure to let me know what you think! All criticism warmly accepted!weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1152332981363086072006-07-07T21:20:00.000-07:002006-07-07T21:53:45.150-07:00Good Mexican FoodAnyone who's spent any amount of time around me up here in the Bay Area has heard me bemoan the lack of good Mexican Food. My excursions away from the chain places to the local establishments have resulted in horror story after horror story: barely spiced meat strung together with cartilage like a charm bracelet, gristle hidden in ketchup-like red sauce, a piece of hide thrown in with the carne weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1150493924911260762006-06-16T14:30:00.000-07:002006-06-16T14:40:55.503-07:00Videogame Hall Of Shame: PS2 VectormanI don't think anybody really saw the PS2 version of Vectorman develped by Pseudo Interactive. What a monumental piece of crap! It had absolutely nothing to do with the previous titles other than the name. Seeing that it was a product I was particularly proud of, I actually contacted the developer with some well-thought-out, constructive, positive design suggestions which were summarily pooh weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1148260802848398002006-05-21T17:59:00.000-07:002006-05-21T18:20:02.870-07:00Sunday Drive 05.21.2006SL took me to the Mountain View Cemetery after lunch. She said it was big, but I didn't really grasp the real size of it until we'd driven about a half mile into it. Through the front window of the car, the graveyard seemed endless and the arrangement of tombstones and crypts made it look like a great army had come to rest on the hillsides. In the valleys and lower hills, grave markers hung at weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1146635037809322922006-05-02T21:52:00.000-07:002006-05-02T22:43:57.856-07:00Coachella 2006Snippets and thoughts, ok?
Palm Springs: this ranks as my #1 most hated city in California. It's hot. It's dumb. It's rude. It's tacky. Drunk fratboys hang out of the windows of passing trucks furiously pumping air guitar to last year's rock at whoever cares. Women walk around with their bodies hanging out of pants that are many sizes too small. God help us all.
Coachella Day 1: hot. Sweat weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1145204216973721432006-04-16T08:52:00.000-07:002006-04-16T09:19:43.170-07:00Land Of the DeadThe San Jose Flea Market
The Flea Market has grown into a small city with a life of its own. Come and explore our more than 8 miles of colorful alleys and treasure-laden corridors.
This is where capitalism comes to die. Like the fabled elephant’s graveyard, the rotting husks of shops and stalls are organized into a tight grid that still somehow manages to convey chaos. The blurb on the websiteweeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11605741.post-1144293540667322872006-04-05T20:07:00.000-07:002006-04-05T20:23:48.250-07:00Tomb Raider Legend reviewhttp://ps2.ign.com/articles/700/700372p1.html
My favorite part of the review: "Too bad the animal fights are still retarded. Wild dogs and lion fights seem to be just like they were before. It takes like 5-7 shots to kill one of these things."
Yeah, y'know what? I totally agree. The animals are retarded. In retrospect, it was a simple case of too little, too late. Personally, I probably would weeziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12730427769609120767noreply@blogger.com