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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 6:31 am Post subject: |
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Hey, awesome! My second Xbox 360 red-ringed last night! Now I get to go through that whole process again! Wheeeeee! |
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dhex Breeder
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 10:29 am Post subject: |
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so what's the major design flaw with these things? _________________
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ryan .
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Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: |
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It's mostly due to overheating. More specifically, I believe, a heating issue with the GPU. It sounds like Lestrade missed getting a new model as a replacement by a few months. By most accounts - I think one to the contrary - he should receive one of the newer units that runs cooler and quieter. I believe those are the Falcon models, and they are apparently very solid. Fingers crossed! _________________ Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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So the fucking thing hasn't red-ringed yet today. I left it on and tried it out for a while to see. I don't know if this is good or bad.
However, I was getting awfully fucking tired of the fact that all my XBLA-purchased content was inaccessible offline. I'm sick of all my themes disappearing, etc, etc, So I phoned tech support and mother of fuck — it took 40 minutes dealing with a trio of idiots to come to the result that, at some point within the next 30 days, the content I have purchased may or may not be somehow, magically transfered to this refurbished Xbox.
What, are they going to fucking walk it over to my apartment?
Much to my continued frustration, I'm also having issues with my PS3. I keep getting error code 8004061C whenever I try to download trailers and demos now. I used to be able to download demos just fine. The even-odder thing is that a demo I thought was in error is now suddenly available to play.
The woman on the Sony line was really helpful and pleasant. She's convinced it's a NAT Type issue, which it may be (mine is 3; it needs to be 2), but I'm convinced that it's a hard drive issue. I also cannot, ever, under any circumstances, copy any JPGs or MP3s to my PS3. However, I haven't had any save game problems or anything like that — then again, I don't actually play games on my PS3, which makes troubleshooting difficult.
So the end result today is that I am about ready to throw in the towel. I have three next-gen consoles, and only one of them has worked as advertised out of the box; the Wii. Never in my gaming career has this happened, and I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't be so passively accepting of this.
I'm rolling around the idea of dumping everything. I know that probably won't happen, but I just can't accept the fact that I am buying legitimate products that don't work.
As an aside, I've never liked the idea of games consoles with hard drives. If my PS2 started doing something like this, I would pop out the game disc, remove my memory card, and fucking slap the person who sold me the machine until they gave me a new one. Then I'd continue on like nothing happened.
Now I can't do that! Now my fucking profile is tied to my hard drive and my console and my content is all over the fucking place and I can't even access it. Everything is so tied to these half-broken pieces of shit that my investment is like a tightrope walk. Will I lose all my game saves? Will my hard drive crash? Can I play a fucking game now instead of spending all my "gaming time" on the phone with half-witted morons?
What happened to plug-and-play? What happened to basic quality control? I don't mind having a goddamn supercomputer for a game console, as long as it has been given the care it needs and gives me the same beautiful user experience as any yellowed, busted-up Super NES can.
Needless to say, I'm pissed! I don't know what to do. |
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sediment .
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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The best part of that is, I had a hell of a time getting my DLC for rock band to register after just porting my HD over to a friend's house (since it's more convenient than bringing the whole console).
So yeah, maybe they will walk it over! _________________
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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Man, good luck with that whole "transfered to your new 360" thing. I had to resort to the BBB which I don't think crosses over to Canada. Perhaps you have your own? Anyways, if they don't give you the results you want within three phone discussions I recommend using the BBB (if you have one!).
Also, when you do get them "transfered" you're going to have to redownload EVERYTHING that you want playable offline. I had over 200 items (including games, themes, icons, and tv shows) and I'm probably never going to get around to redownloading all of them. I wish that everything DRM related was more like Steam (/pout). _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:38 am Post subject: |
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Good advice, Shaper. We do have a BBB here in Canada (though I don't know if it's called that, or something else) and I will gladly file a report if I have to.
I know about the redownloading (because I tried to do this as per Microsoft's support website); it's certainly a lame option. Luckily, I don't have that many items to download, but it's still a poorly thought-out system. |
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dhex Breeder
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:57 am Post subject: |
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that sounds like an unbelievably shitty process to go through each time one of these units decides it's had enough of this moral coil. _________________
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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SuperWes Updated the banners, but not his title
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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Lestrade wrote: | Warning! Warning! You will be playing my game on XNA later this year! |
WOO! Try right now! The XNA Community Games site went live a few hours ago and I reupped my subscription so that I can begin downloading other people's games! I'm guessing this won't be great any time soon, but it should get me workin' on my game with more of a frenzy. You too can play my boring game soon!
-Wes _________________
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:24 am Post subject: |
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That depends if I have working Xbox by then....:-( |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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Soooooooo... I'm quitting my job soon. I'm doing it so I can go freelance. I have contacts and a general plan, but no guaranteed income and no promises. Most would consider this suicide; I consider it a challenge! The idea is to make a career in illustration (no small feat, unfortunately) and sell my considerable web/production experience for a lot more money than I get paid now so I can have more time to pursue the things I like.
(I do still have my part-time job teaching at the local art university, which is handy.)
I need to work for myself or risk insanity. I'm going to be telling my work next week, and they are going to freak. I'm hoping to somehow scavenge some post-apoc work from them, but I have no idea if that will be successful or not. They need me a lot more than I need them, however, so hopefully this situation will work in my favour.
So if you see me posting around here a bit more, that might be why!
(Also, I swear to fuck I can hear the garbled radio chatter and intermittent chirping of the Combine outside my office window right now. It is disturbing.) |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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Good Job, more power too you. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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dhex Breeder
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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good luck, and don't forget to hold your previous employers over the barrel. _________________
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ryan .
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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Working on your own is really, really hard. In my case, I'm taxed heavily - self-employment tax, state, and federal - and need to find exemptions and credits and whatever else I can so I can be respectably poor. The relationships you build are always flaky, too, as when one long-time client left because we fit in a project of theirs in, I stayed up until 4am to finish and didn't get to the contact's email until 10, which had begun to be sent at 8:55 and gotten progressively angrier. So I sent it in at 10:10-10:15 when the deadline was 11, and explained why I hadn't responded sooner. Nope, no matter: I wasn't there to respond to his email whenever he wanted - he didn't bother to call - so the work, which was both good and turned in before the deadline, was begrudgingly accepted by a pissed contact who doesn't want to bother with us anymore.
On the other hand, we're at a place to where a few companies contact us in the first round, so I don't have to constantly beg. We've worked on 5-6 titles this year and have another 2-3 slated. And it's always better when you and the people you work with do a good job on a project that was coming directly from a company and not filtered through a boss, boss' boss, or middle agent. Earning your money from the ground up and making your own opportunities is exciting and fun. I would advise LinkedIn as well - it has been beyond helpful; and try to keep mostly business contacts on there and treat it like such, because you can get a good amount of work that way. So yeah, it has sucky parts, but it's mainly fun and exciting and all that good stuff.
Best of luck! _________________ Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the tips, Ryan (especially about LinkedIn; I'll get on that bandwagon immediately). I actually freelanced for two years prior to my current position, so I'm no stranger to the process. One of my closest friends took the plunge a few years ago and he's been bugging me to join him ever since.
I actually know a lot more about the business side of this industry than I thought (I'm not bragging; I'm rather kind of surprised). I've spent the last six years paying close attention to how my company does things. I'm more confident than ever that I'll be doing just fine, and in fact now I'm eager, whereas even a week ago I was more nervous than anything.
I'll keep you guys posted; thanks for the well-wishes. |
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dhex Breeder
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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lestrade, i may have illustration work for you in the next three months. (it would be a journal cover)
drop me a pm re: rates and your timeframe and whatnot. _________________
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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Success! My PS3 is finally working exactly how it should be; I knew it was a hard drive issue. Unfortunately, I had to restore the system to get it up to speed again, but I've tested it with everything that didn't work before and it's all good now.
It's a good thing the only game I played on this thing was Uncharted. I'm going to have to copy my PS1 saves onto it again, though. Once again, having a removable memory source for save games is much, much better than relying on a hard drive.
I have rechristened my PS3 "Meansucker," after one of the "demon voices" that used to plague Wesley Willis when he was alive. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Hello! I was going to announce my exit today and then EVERYTHING ASPLODED! For obvious reasons I can't go into details, but I can safely say that today was the most stressful day of my life, and the closest I've ever felt to total hopelessness. I almost had a nervous breakdown, and I assure you I don't use that lightly!
Please share your best Oh-fuck stories here! |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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wait... what exit? You were going to leave the forums? I'm confused here. And man... I've had some Oh-fuck stories lately and I honestly don't have the energy to post about them. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Scratchmonkey .
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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He was planning to leave his job, so I think that's what he's talking about.
I guess you can't say what happened? It sounds epic. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, let's just say it was like somebody tripped over the internet's power cord. I'm not out of the woods yet but I am not ghostly, cold-sweatingly white anymore. My god, I have never felt such panic before. All while sitting in a chair in a computer store wondering, "Oh hey, I wonder if they'll let me play this demo of Guitar Hero III on PC?"
Needless to say, I am backing up my home computer right now.
In more exciting, less career-threatening news: DUDES, THE GAME IS AFOOT. In just over a week, my game The Office Party (now slightly tweaked and much closer to its final incarnation) will be playable in the TOJam Arcade! I'm hoping that some of you area-dwellers (*cough*Aerisdead*cough*) will stop by and see what's going on. The aforelinked website explains things better than I can, so check it out and froth in hungry desire.
Here are some updated screenshots!
The Title Screen (Again)
Shitloads of People
Jumping on the Bang Bus
The TOJam website also has a page from which you can see and experience last year's games. I'm not sure when the 2008 page will be up, but I'll keep you all informed. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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TOJam tonight! TOJam tonight! |
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Cycle Mac daddy
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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That game looks pretty interesting!
MAKE SURE TO TELL US HOW IT GOES AND GOOD LUCK AND STUFF! _________________
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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Not that you need it, but, good luck! _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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Hello! This is a semi-still-drunk, after-the-fact post! The evening was incredible; so much cool stuff going on and so many people to talk to. Poor Jonathan Mak; I yapped his ear off! More on that later.
I have terrible photos from the event; I was happy with the reception The Office Party got; it didn't hurt that my pixel dudes were about a foot-and-a-half tall on the projector! It's all very exciting; I will post more after I get some sleep! |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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I want to see the photos anyways! _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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SuperWes Updated the banners, but not his title
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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I want mooooore!
-Wes _________________
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, my terrible photos are now online! You might notice a trend in the annotation; the booze has robbed me of the finer details of yesterday evening.
Here's what I can say, though: the venue was typically Torontonian; long, narrow, and awkward. The set-up was amazing—three projectors and twice as many laptops—but place was a bit difficult to move around without getting in the way.
Thankfully, many of my friends came out to show support, but I ended up being caught in conversations from all sides—including with our very own Aerisdead—so my other pals (and my wife!) kind of got ignored. The funny/sad moment of the evening was when I had planted myself next to my friend, Jonathan Mak and another game developer. I was talking myself hoarse (it was really loud), and my wife told me she thought it'd be best if she went home.
"Okay!" I said. "See you at home!" As she left to catch a streetcar, everyone looked at me like I was the biggest asshole in the world. "Oh, she's fine." I offered by way of explanation.
Ah, marriage.
The Office Party got a lot of really good feedback, despite the bugs that were present in the build being shown. I think its strength among all the other games was its bright, bold visual style. Projected large on a wall meant that my pixel people were massive, and they looked all the better for it. My wife made an excellent suggestion: "it needs a demo mode."
You could barely hear our sound designer's brilliant music over the din, but even still having it there made the game a much better experience. People were really reacting well to the game, from the silly voices to the ending screens to the way the character "wobbles" as he drinks more. The game was hardly ready for prime time, but I think it showed well. I caught a few people gazing for considerable lengths of time at the gigantic sprites, transfixed.
The way the show worked was this: each of the three projectors available had a schedule, and the games were rotated based on that. Someone told me that The Office Party "was up next"—like it was a speaker at a conference—and I hustled to camp near the projector so I could talk to people and answer questions. (Jean-Luc, the main programmer, wasn't in town yesterday, so I got to be the official representative.)
After the game was shown I tried to play a bunch of other titles, and then I got into more conversations. As I said, I feel bad for Jonathan Mak, and I'm sure he was happy to be rid of me. We've met before, but having an animated guy like me drunkenly carrying on about Dungeons & Dragons for Intellivision—I can't imagine that's anybody's idea of a good time. I'm sure he thinks I'm a complete idiot.
My friend Craig didn't though. We grabbed another round of beers and started waxing about all sorts of topics, from the idea of playtesting to the notion of communication. Then someone started playing Office Smash, and we were howling like a pair of meatheads at a UFC event.
Craig's game, The Scourge, elicited a similar reaction near the beginning of the night, when some players were trying to best each other. It was really something to see, and no doubt very gratifying for him.
So, I'd say the evening was a big success. I came off like a bit of a jerk, I abandoned my wife (who's perfectly fine, by the way), and drank myself silly. More importantly, I got to speak with a lot of great people, and to be inspired by some truly excellent work.
Jean-Luc and I are meeting tomorrow to discuss further revisions for the game. I still can't provide an executable for you folks, but I'll continue to keep you posted, if you like. |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds awesome. Damn Toronto and your indie scene.
Also, you should really find out the name of that gardening rts for me from your picture stream. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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It's called Plant Commander—I think I mentioned that in the image title. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:45 am Post subject: |
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Hey! Today's job-quittin' day! |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Hello all! Videogames Live played a free show this past Saturday at the ad-a-riffic Dundas Square here in Toronto. I forgot my video camera, but took some terrible-quality clips with my wife's cell phone. And, of course, I've compiled those lovely bits into a blurry YouTube video!
It should be noted that I missed the Metal Gear Solid suite because I was finishing MGS4 at the time. Time paradox! |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome. I've only been near one of those shows and it was when I was so busy with other things there was no way I could have made it. Color me a little green here. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: |
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You would have enjoyed it, methinks. I've now seen both shows—this one and Play!—and I think I like this one a little bit better. I prefer the MGS2-style Metal Gear suite in VGL to the percussion-heavy, MGS1-style suite in Play. However, Play seems to take more chances (as evidenced by my report about the Daytona son—yeeesh).
Either way, I highly recommend going to either show if you can. Just be warned that you will probably laugh at Tommy Tallarico as he tries to "rock" during "One-Winged Angel." |
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Man, I could blog about a lot of things, but I'm not really sure if anyone's that interested. I was reading random people's blogs today, and I can't believe how spoiled and rich 20-year-olds are these days. Reading about live-at-home rich kids' "woes" was a bit of a wake-up call. God, people.
I am ridiculously excited for Dead Rising Wii and I'm not even sure why. I only played the demo of the Xbox 360 version, but this new port has me scouring the web for any new information I can find. I think I'm just fascinated by how in the hell this game is going to work for Wii. Man, I wish I could buy Famitsu here in Toronto. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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OH MY FUCKING GOD THE DARK KNIGHT
TEN OUT OF TEN BEERS |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I fully agree. It's also one of the best Tragedies I've seen in a really long time. It seems that hardly any films have tragic endings anymore. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:07 am Post subject: |
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3 new NIN songs for rockband tomorrow! I'm stoked. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:32 am Post subject: |
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Oh crap, I totally forgot about this! Must... download... tonight! |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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So... I just wrote the copy for the ad looking for someone to replace me. It was very meta. It looks like I'm going part-time in September, and I think I can now officially start promoting myself as an illustrator. Exciting/terrifying! |
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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Mother of crap, I've been married seven years! Today is my anniversary, and I'm sick at home. Shitty. |
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Lestrade Bug Fister
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:22 am Post subject: |
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Yesterday my company went Mario Karting Fo' Realz – I could have used a few blue shells. I did power-slide, though! |
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Shapermc Hot Sake!
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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Lestrade wrote: | Mother of crap, I've been married seven years! Today is my anniversary, and I'm sick at home. Shitty. |
Congrats! I didn't realize you'd been married for so long. My 8 year anniv is coming up next month. Not the easiest thing in the world! I already have friends who are divorced. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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So my mortal enemy The Beguiling is hosting a launch party this Sunday for the Street Fighter Tribute art book! I am definitely going, and I might volunteer to help organize the SF tournament. Going to be fucking exciting either way. The Udon folks will be there, as will a large host of the illustrators who contributed to the book. (Sadly, I am not one of them.) Some of these folks I know, some I don't!
I will update with photos, etc. when I go. |
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Whoooo! Going to the Street Fighter book launch in a few minutes! Pretty damn excited!! |
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:16 am Post subject: |
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So I had this really bizarre dream last night about fending off a giant robot dinosaur in a high school gymnasium. There were at least a dozen people there, but I was the one who finally took the beast down—with a well-placed shin-shoryuken to the jaw.
Wow. |
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Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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Yay, my second Xbox 360 red-ringed! I'm on the phone now, mostly likely in vain. Who knows when I'll get it back. The last time, it took two weeks to get the shipping box.
I'm also dealing on the phone with Bell Canada, who are nothing less than 100% incompetent. Any Canadian who's had to deal with them will likely tell you a similar story.
Expect rage-filled posts for as far as the eye can see. |
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