Monday, June 30th, 2008
PC Gamer UK have a fantastic mini-article today where they took their 10,000+ game press release
database and did a search for the most popular words. The winner? “Product”. Nice.
Anyway, when I saw this description today from game.com I thought it was amusing enough to post:
SPACE INVADERS EXTREME is the most extreme embodiment ever made of SPACE INVADERS, the arcade classic that ignited an entire entertainment medium!
Saturday, June 28th, 2008
This is what, according to EA, I have to do to make Head Coach install on my laptop:
The game will now install from your windows desktop. Once it has been installed you may delete the Disk Images folder.
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Mode 7 worked very well this week – Ying on the DS and Bin on Photoshop – so I’ve called a half day today and let them go home early. EC is watching Andrea graduate in Cambridge and it’s a slow day, so I thought it’d be nice to get their weekends off to an early start.
Being a boss is pretty weird sometimes, but having a company that’s able to give a good atmosphere and pay people for doing stuff which is often fun feels great.
Friday, June 27th, 2008
I just read this 5-star user-submitted review/comment of Adulthood on the TimeOut website:
Posted on Jun 26 2008 15:52
Rating *****
I think the person that wrote the review needs a slap!
lol
I aint even watched it and I KNOW he’s chatting shit!
so what u think posh people don’t smoke crack? at least 7/10 posh man smoke charlie so I think u need a reality check ye lol
The film is real, just coz ur from some posh private school u dont knwo what irs like growing up in the hood so why not keep your opinions to yourself!
Golden. Web 2.0 at it’s absolute best.
Friday, June 27th, 2008
For all those waiting with baited breath to see which one of the these people won the Henley bi-election, I can now exclusively reveal it was won by none of them. The Tories got it. I forgot to vote.
I saw Wanted yesterday, and it did enough to entertain me for 90 minutes. It’s not a good film, in fact its pretty stupid. In fact, it’s extremely stupid and quite bad. Never mind. The Guardian reviewer thought it was a massive treatise against women… which is an interesting point of view.
I may go and see Hancock this evening, as the premise sounds fairly funny.
I played tennis last night. Training for the Village Tennis Tournament has begun.
I stayed in ISKA last night, and those of you who know me well are aware that I have a complex relationship with the house. But it was great last night, and reminded me I’ve had some great times there. Lizzie and I put down the deposit on our new place yesterday, and I’m excited about that.
We continue prototype work, and I think it’ll be ready to send off on monday. I’ve sent Brewis’ wife (!) an order for something I never thought I’d be ordering. And 30,000 of that something. Friends on facebook: this would be your biggest hint yet as to the nature of product X.
Synapse thoughts are going on in my head… I may do some stuff on Sunday. I’m a bit hungover today but nothing too serious. I’m probably not going to buy Top Spin 3 on the Playstation. Probably. I might reinstall Crysis… I really might reinstall NFL Head Coach 06. I may play bridge tonight, as my tennis folk are SHOPPING for the DSL Fete tonight and can’t play. Oh yes, you wanted this uninterupted stream of (my) conciousness.
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Basically, this week we’ve been fast-prototyping a game for a publisher. It’s an interesting idea, although it would be classed as “casual”. This would be along with our current two projects, not replacing either of them, and it is pretty exciting. It would also be very quick to do*. I can almost certainly tell you about it within the next month.
*famous last words of a game designer
The process of making a game which doesn’t have a lot of new/original/crazy systems to be programmed is interesting. It’s one hell of a lot easier, obviously, and it’s rewarding that something can be fun after 6 hours of coding. It doesn’t take away my desire to make something stunningly new with every game I make though, despite the fact that would be an easier life.
Bin has been doing some art for this game and he’s done fantastically so far. Good photoshop skills Bin!
In other news, I think Lizzie and I found a flat we’re going to rent today. It’s lovely and big and in Jericho and I’m quite excited.
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
German online magazine Looki.de didn’t like Determinance very much . I don’t know German, but I do know that 31% isn’t very good there either.
They hated the voices, graphics, music and sound; but they did like the quality of the german translation.
To be fair, it does sound like the guy was comparing it to current triple-A titles – it is a budget game guys. Never mind, getting reviewed at all is awesome!
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
I never, ever thought I’d be doing what I’m doing today. I can’t tell you what it is, but I can tell you that it is simultenaously something which sounds massively boring but it’s for something massively exciting. Oh yeah, I’m sure you are bored of posts which allude but don’t tell. Me too. Being professional is so boring.
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Fairly hungover today… not the worst though. Had a barbeque last night and I decided to make proper Black Russians (one shot Kalua, two shots vodka, nothing else) to get the party started. Yeah.
Being on sale in Germany (and aparently Portugal too, although we haven’t done a Portugese version so I’d love to know what language it’s in) is pretty cool. I’d love to actually hear from people who’ve picked it up in the shops, because I think you’re probably in a different context there and have a different idea of what a budget game should do. No one’s talking on the forums though.
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
I sent out a call for help from German GarageGames readers and Stefan Greven and Brian Wilson were kind enough to help. Still waiting on Brian’s shots, but here are Stefan’s pictures of Determinance on sale in Germany. Click to enlarge.
Woo!
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