Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

On Tuesday I fly to San Francisco for this year’s Game Developer’s Conference so have drawn up a schedule below, (despite not being 100% fixed on many talks due to the amount of overlap on my topics of interest). Decisions are in bold, while same-time alternatives remain should I change my mind. Hope to see some of you there :)

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A spot of reminiscing was had this week after I spied my first ever project, Tom & Jerry: War of The Whiskers, (hey - we’ve all got to start somewhere right?), on the latest list of original XBOX games made compatible for the XBOX360. It brought back both good and bad memories to throw it in, (I no longer own an original XBOX), but best of all was seeing it in all its 4-player, HD glory. Why Microsoft made the recent compatibility change I have no idea - especially as they’ve yet to give and update for my copy of Spiderman 2, something I rubbed in to swinging-system co-designer Eric Pavone at work.

Perhaps they’re gearing it up for release under the XBOX Originals incentive on Live? That might make sense as the 360 is severely lacking in games aimed at children and Microsoft recently broadened the Family Settings in the 360’s latest dashboard update. More likely, though, it was a freebie that just happened to work after a general update as the game sucked balls for anybody above the mental age of 3 while simultaneously sporting a ridiculously steep difficulty curve.

In light of Kotaku’s recent gallery of games industry work desks I thought I’d add my own to the mix, taken late last year to accompany my testimonial on the Eidos Montreal website.

As you can see, I run a tight ship… I’m sure the sterile environment will change over time as we’d only been in the studio for a couple of months when the picture was taken. Yes, I do look like a cock with that awkward smile and pose, though in my defence I didn’t plan on wearing a shirt that “went” with the Lara poster - that was just sheer coincidence.

Last week was spent on an Eidos collaboration effort in Copenhagen, Denmark at IO Interactive, makers of Hitman, Kane & Lynch, and the amazing parody of American jingoism, Freedom Fighters.

The Danes were incredibly welcoming and we came away with not only an understanding of K&L’s 1000+ NPC crowd system, but also an appreciation of Nordic studios’ provision of three healthy meals a day for all staff, (plus take-out meals for families). It was certainly heartwarming to see the creators of such controversial adult-themed games end the week making gingerbread houses with their toddlers in the dining area.

In other news, Mass Effect hit 1 million sales this week - something of a relief as good reviews don’t necessarily translate into good sales. I still haven’t played the bugger yet though as BioWare are sending a Limited Edition copy and I’m too cheap to buy one before it arrives :-(

Yesterday we officially announced the project I’ve been working on at Eidos Montreal for the last six months - Deus Ex 3. Congratulations go to Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, Mathieu Leduc and the guys at Digital Dimension for pulling this teaser off in such a short time - it looks fantastic!

For fans of the original, don’t worry too much, - the team comprises former members of game series such as Far Cry, Splinter Cell, Assassin’s Creed, Army of Two, Eternal Darkness, Prince of Persia and Medal of Honor. I also like to think I know a little about Shooter RPGs laden with dialogue ;-)

That doesn’t stop the pressure though… For more info, check out our cool new studio website here.

So after nearly three years looking forward to it, I’m gonna miss all the hype and press surrounding the launch of Mass Effect due to being on holiday in Turkey - (no bad thing :). Thankfully I managed to catch this just before leaving - certainly looks a little inconsistent with the animation style of the game, (being more keyframe than mocap), but the sentiment really catches the mature experience of the game.

Whatever the review scores turn out to be, I am proud to have contributed to a game that provides much deeper an experience than simply new ways to kill little virtual men.

You know you’ve hit the big time when your cutscene gets a Penny Arcade strip all of its own, so congratulations to Brad on making headlines with his bi alien sex scene - reportedly the lone element that pushed the game into the Mature ratings bracket in North America.

I seem to recall him spending an awfully long time on this one, despite the ESRB’s guidance that naked bodies can’t be on screen for longer than 10 or 15 seconds - presumably after which time North American teenagers’ heads explode.

There’s nothing new here as Jade Empire also allowed same-sex relationships, though the consummation was hidden by a fade to black unlike the heterosexual variations. Interestingly, this wasn’t the result of homophobia within the team, but instead a quick fix to disguise the mismatches given the sheer number of different sized characters that could become intimate with one another.