I went to the last "official" E3 last year and I was glad I did. I went to support FEAR 360/PS3. It was a lot of fun - lots of things to see and it was pretty huge. The crowds really got into the games and it was nice to see the people we make the games for enjoying them.
Now that E3 is more business and "E for Everybody" is supposed to be the consumer show (is that right?), it seems a little strained. E3 this year had plenty of news, but it seems a lot of people that I work with were quite restrained. Only the head of our studio and Business Development went to support "Fracture" for LucasArts. We got a lot of good press - which is great.
My game "FEAR Files" for the 360 got a press release and not much of anything else. That's fine - FEAR is a great franchise, but people want to see the series continuation and my project is 2 expansion packs.
We'll get the full rundown on Monday for the results first hand from the guys who went. This is a huge industry and maybe E3 was a little out of control with spending on the publisher end. But, you have to push the products - and E3 is like the Super Bowl of video games. Advertisers spend huge amounts of money for commercials, so why wouldn't an extravagant booth/presentation be any less? The worldwide media flocks to events like these and eats it up.
I don't think this will last. Spending will ramp up again and we'll be back to the same E3 we saw last year.
Some games I am looking forward to playing:
Unreal Tournament 3 on the PS3 - This looks like a knockout and you can create unique content. Sold. Plus my underpowered notebook can't run this beast.
Mass Effect - Big fan of Bioware. Looks pretty solid with the gameplay. Even better than Oblivion.
Fallout 3 - Seems like we are rolling into a golden era of RPGs.
Monolith's F.E.A.R.quel - Always interested in what Monolith does.
MGS4 - Still looks awesome. If this is Kojima's swan song he'll go out on top.
BioShock - This comes out in August. I'm really looking forward to this one. We got into a screening last year at E3 and we were impressed back then.
Killzone 2 - I need another game for my PS3, and this looks like one I will pick up.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Here we are now... entertain us.
So who the heck are you anyhow?
As my profile says - I am an Associate Producer for Day 1 Studios. Our company has made MechAssault 1 and 2; ported FEAR for the 360 and PS3; and have a new game coming out called Fracture for LucasArts.
Games are pretty much a big part of my life and have been since my Dad brought home an Apple II+ and I started programming games in Basic on it. Games were a hobby until I went back to school to learn how games are produced from the art side in 2000. I learned 3DS Max, Maya and other 3D tools.
From there I created a demo reel and looked for contacts - it turned out the President of Day 1 Studios was a friend of my old boss. I submitted my demo reel to him and it was promptly rejected by his lead artist (thanks lots, Tim... heh). I began working on improving the reel and then I got another call from Day 1 Studios.
It turned out they needed a "Content Manager" for MechAssault 2. I would manage all the artists and assets and get them into the game. It was the opportunity I had been waiting for. So I moved to Chicago and made MA2 and then was promoted to Associate Producer for FEAR 360 and PS3.
Right now I am working on a next-gen project that will be announced at E3 in a couple of days. Crossing my fingers for a good reception.
As for the blog name "NextGenSoldier" - in this era of next gen consoles it's full of promise and fun. However, sometimes it seems that you have to march up that hill for duty and consoles. But then it wouldn't be called a "job" would it?
I know I'm in an exciting industry and take nothing for granted. I'm incredibly lucky to be where I am and I work hard every day to make sure I can continue to produce at a triple A level.
That's my introduction... as for this blog... it will be full of random subjects usually pertaining to gaming, life and anything that crosses my mind that I need to write down.
As my profile says - I am an Associate Producer for Day 1 Studios. Our company has made MechAssault 1 and 2; ported FEAR for the 360 and PS3; and have a new game coming out called Fracture for LucasArts.
Games are pretty much a big part of my life and have been since my Dad brought home an Apple II+ and I started programming games in Basic on it. Games were a hobby until I went back to school to learn how games are produced from the art side in 2000. I learned 3DS Max, Maya and other 3D tools.
From there I created a demo reel and looked for contacts - it turned out the President of Day 1 Studios was a friend of my old boss. I submitted my demo reel to him and it was promptly rejected by his lead artist (thanks lots, Tim... heh). I began working on improving the reel and then I got another call from Day 1 Studios.
It turned out they needed a "Content Manager" for MechAssault 2. I would manage all the artists and assets and get them into the game. It was the opportunity I had been waiting for. So I moved to Chicago and made MA2 and then was promoted to Associate Producer for FEAR 360 and PS3.
Right now I am working on a next-gen project that will be announced at E3 in a couple of days. Crossing my fingers for a good reception.
As for the blog name "NextGenSoldier" - in this era of next gen consoles it's full of promise and fun. However, sometimes it seems that you have to march up that hill for duty and consoles. But then it wouldn't be called a "job" would it?
I know I'm in an exciting industry and take nothing for granted. I'm incredibly lucky to be where I am and I work hard every day to make sure I can continue to produce at a triple A level.
That's my introduction... as for this blog... it will be full of random subjects usually pertaining to gaming, life and anything that crosses my mind that I need to write down.
Monday, July 9, 2007
An idea that has come to life
After watching several of my friends start blogs I decided to start one. I guess I will see if anyone is really listening out there...
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