Category
professional
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games, professional
Inspiration and Gaming
I’ve mentioned previously that I’m reading the book “Masters of Doom,” and, after that, I plan on reading another title Inside Steve’s Brain
. In these books, and in the series airing on Science Channel, “Rise of the Video Games,” they all discuss the crazy, heady days of the late 1970s to early ’80s, when folks like Steve Jobs and John Romero were “hackers,” aka, people who lived and worked on the periphery of computing. These were people who aimed to revolutionize the experience of computers and gaming from the very beginning. They remind me so much of myself growing up, and the experiences I had with gaming and computers that influence many aspects of my life even today, from the things I choose to do with my free time, to my pursuit of “the dream job.”
Masters of Doom has proved to be an incredibly inspirational book so far. John Carmack and John Romero’s portrayals were so reminiscent of my childhood. I, like them, had a tendency to immerse myself in geek culture. From the comics and video games I played, to the Commodore 64 I would use to create my own little hacks.
Unfortunately, due to the combination of my inability to afford an Apple or IBM-PC, and just being about five years to young to really ride the crest of these emerging industries, I was pretty far behind the curve. And, honestly, I never even considered games as an employment opportunity in Junior High or High School. They seemed to be things that people “magically” created in their homes and delivered on big black floppies. Or games that were so hacked that you could only play for a certain amount of time before the game would crash. I remember playing titles like Ultima and Bard’s Tale for hours on end, then heading off to the arcade on base and spending waaay too much money on games like Super Mario, Dragon’s Lair, and Gauntlet.
For someone like myself, those games spoke to me. I was never the best player, or the smartest guy in the room, but I did have a passion for the subject matter. It wasn’t till college, when my roommates and I were discovering titles like DOOM and Quake, that I realized this could possibly be an industry I might be able to build a career in. Well, that one, and potentially this new industry, called the world wide web. But at the time, sites mainly consisted of an image on a screen with a bit of text. i couldn’t imagine anyone ever having the patience to sit and wait for a screen to load through a 900 baud modem.
Anyway, I think one of the reasons why I like these books and this series so much, is it reminds me of some of my happiest times…spending all night at my best friend Shawn’s house, playing video games and reading comics, and being able to have a shared experience with the various geek friends I had growing up.
I guess I just have a lot of gratitude for many guys whose egos were huge, but their ability matched those egos. Say what you will about a guy like Romero…not many of us have ever attained the level of success he had at his height. And I think that’s one of the main reasons why people trash his name so much these days, after the Ion Storm…and that is jealousy.
For me, I would gladly change places with Romero…for all his larger-than-life chest thumping, he at least had a moment of greatness in his life, a time when the work he did was enjoyed by many. And I think that’s what I want my career to boil down to…finding a way to reach people and inspire. Unfortunately, the opportunities feel as if they’re slipping by as I grow older more quickly with every passing year…so we’ll see.
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games, professional
Rise of the video games
The Science Channel has been airing this series over the next week. It’s about 6 episodes long and goes from the beginning, post-WWII and the movement of engineers vying to make interactive experiences along with the rise of powerful computing machines. It’s fairly thorough, and mentions some fairly obscure but technically relevant details such as the Uncanny Valley hypothesis and attempt to explain it to the common person. It also features many, many games industry legends and pioneers, such as Tripp Hawkins, founder of EA, and Ken and Roberta Williams, founders for Sierra and creators for games such as King’s Quest.
I’m absolutely enjoying this series and if you’re any fan of games at all, even at the most casual level, I urge you to check it out. It not only discusses games themselves but how they’ve been injected into our social consciousness and how our society has changed by the ways people have evolved in understanding and embracing the concepts of “play” and “fun.”
I myself am what you would call a hardcore, though lapsed, gamer. I’ve played many, many game titles, too numerous to count or even remember, and in every experience I always try to figure out in my mind what makes me keep coming back. The gamer experience has changed over the years, Miyamoto’s mario has gone from a tiny 8 bit sprite to a fully fleshed out 3D character in hugely interactive worlds.
My dream since college had always been to work in the industry, to be able to share my ideas and thoughts and to entertain people with my imagination. Somewhere along the way, those dreams were trampled a bit, and although I have a job I’m relatively stable at, I still can’t help but feel repeatedly like I’m not doing what I’d set out to achieve when I made the decision NOT to pursue a career in the industry I chose with my college degree.
My all-to-brief experience at EA Chicago really disappointed me and discouraged me from those dreams. I can’t help but wonder if there’s any room for someone with my ideas in that industry, or if it’s true and that the things I share, the things I imagine, can never come to be. I’d always been a fairly creative person, but for stability reasons have recently chosen to move into more stable career choices, but I just can’t help but wonder…is this it for me and my dream? Has the game industry gone from its golden era of imaginative technologists that had the sky as their limit when creating new experiences, to the same standard gameplay mechanics with yet another new coat of fresh paint on them?
I think that’s why I’ve recently found myself turning toward more “casual” gameplay fair….games that leave you with no real investment beyond the 10-20 mins at a time you’re able to spend away from real life, but still give you a sense of accomplishment. Games like Guitar Hero, Geometry Wars, Lumines…I enjoyed them all very much, and though they’re not the kinds of titles I and my college roommates engrossed ourselves with (like Doom and Hexen, Myst and others), they’re all just as satisfying.
So it’s going to be an interesting thing to see the games industry grow over the next 5-10 years. It’s changed…no longer do we have 5 guys in an office pounding out game designs…we have teams that can be as many as 100+, working long hours with no real job stability, trying to make a game that somehow rises above all the other noise in the market to become a multimillion dollar success that publishers need these days to survive. Somehow, I think the games industry, in trying to bottle “fun,” they forgot along the way that, in order to have a fun game, people need to HAVE FUN making it.
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fashion, professional
Thanks folks!
Thanks to everyone for the advice for work clothes. I actually stopped by a TJ Maxx, not expecting to find anything, and found DESIGNER brands! FOR CHEAP!
I was able to get a couple pair of Calvin Klein slacks (one a pair a sharp charcoal with pinstripes that I love), and a pair of Perry Ellis (haven’t bought anything from them in a long time…hmmm.) Also, found a hot CK dress shirt and a great looking Michael Kors paisley print shirt. I’m super-stylin now!
Next I’m off to Filenes Basement to find a more comfortable pair of dress shoes. I have a pair of Kenneth Coles that I absolutely love in patent leather, but they’re incredibly uncomfortable over time. That’s fine for interviews and such, but not for working in every day.
So thanks again everyone, I really appreciate it. I’m actually going to run over to Brown Elephant to see if I can find some cool vintage stuff, thanks for the advice!
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professional
End of the road
Looks like a layoff is happening today. I came in this morning with security at all the exits, we can't get into our company emails, and we have a studio meeting at 11am.
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professional
What have I been working on for the last six months?
It’s kind of a poorly kept secret that I’ve been working on a Marvel Fighting game for EA Chicago. I’m the producer responsible for cameras and opponent AI. Anyway, we presented the game to the world on SpikeTV last weekend. Here are the segments:
Segment 1
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24424.html
Segment 2
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24423.html
Segment 3
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24422.html
So now y’all see where I work and what we do.
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games, professional
Marvel Premiere
Here it is gang!
Tune into Spike TV tomorrow night for the episode on EA Chicago; air time – 1 a.m. http://spike.ifilm.com/index.html#shows/ss/sid=5/t=ss
The show will also be on GameTrailers.com so anyone can view it online this weekend.
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professional
Vancouver Tally
Vancouver is a beautiful city, even if we were too busy to really enjoy it much. However, we DID spend a ridiculous amount of money eating out, not to mention our hotel, The Opus Hotel, was pretty cool.
It was a bit exhausting directing people for 5 days on top of the constant bitching and moaning by my animation lead about how bad things are with our current project and the studio culture. I know that Quality of life isn't very good in the games industry, which is primarily why I'm looking to get my MBA, but man…listening to the complaints for an entire week can just bring anyone down. Add to that my propensity to get anxious and depressed pretty easily, it was a bit of a challenge to stay positive all week.
Anyway, we had some great dinners at Tojos, Bluewater Cafe, and Kobe Restaurant. We also dined at a bunch of local places that were terrific. I mainly ate seafood and sushi since the quality of fish in Chicago just isn't as good as that found on the west coast. And I drank…a lot.
Lots of “girlie drinks” as the guys would say it, though I'd have to admit they were VERY tasty drinks. I'm really glad to be back though, and I have a lot coming up shortly that I need to focus on…my GMAT prep classes, the move, and prepping for the trip to summer camp. I'm looking forward to getting into the new place and heading out for my vacation…not looking forward to the GMAT, which I think might have to wait till after summer camp since I haven't really had the time to put into studying due to my workload. I'm gonna try to refocus efforts, though, and catch up.
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professional
Where in the world is adam??
I'll be in Vancouver all week for motion capture shoots. It looks to be regular hours so we'll have time to go out to eat and maybe I'll run out for a drink at the local leather bar or something later in the week.
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professional
What I've been doing for the last 6 months in Chicago
Finally announced!!!!
EA Chicago to Head Development on an All New Marvel Super Hero Fighting Game. Yep, that's right, I've been working on a Marvel Comics title. And let me tell you, it's looking AWESOME. I'll hopefully have more details that I can share by end of August.
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professional
Want to know what I do for a living?
Around Comics just posted Episode 120, entitled “Comics and Games”. Basically, we sat around drinking their beer and talking about what I (and my coworker Mike) do for a living. If you ever wanted to know what it was like working in games (and no, we don't fucking play games all day
) and the stuff that keeps us awake at night, check it out.
adam schwenk
my personal site for all things geek, and, therefore, cool.
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