gewgaw

Just going through my pictures of Bhutan – and came across this:

It was just gorgeous there!!

It wouldn’t be right to post all my vacation photos without going through the huge backlog of pix I have sitting here on my hard drive.

First up: The Game Developers Conference: San Francisco – February 2008!

Phew!

This year GDC was a blur! My phone bricked, just before the conference. I taught 2 days, then had to jump from the Experiemental Gameplay session early (thanks for picking up my presentation, DC!!!) so I could demo BOOM BLOX after Lou’s talk. After all that excitement, all I wanted to do was eat steak, drink wine, talk with friends, and relax. Luckily all these options were available.

Trip Highlight: Going to see Hannah Montana in 3D with Warren after burgers, beer and baskeball!!

Trip Lowlight: Stupid Phone! Why so sensitive to spilled drinks??

:)

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic conference – especially the workshop attendees (you know who you are). You made this yet another great year for learning about how games work – and how fun people can be! And of course Jane and Ryan for a fantastic post-GDC party. I miss you all so much already! See you at TGS??

Another interesting take on the relationship between Wii sales and game rankings/ratings on sites like MetaCritic.

The article essentially asks: Is the current trend a short-lived bump in uncritical consumption resulting from the fresh perspective of the Wii? Or is it a trend towards brand-based purchasing that mirrors what we see in the mobile gaming market (where games “shelf space” is a bulleted textlist on the handsets themselves)??

But the unasked question (posed by a friend over email) is this: Perhaps it’s just true that games like Wii Play and GH3 are more appealing AND more fun for their audience than say… Okami.

It’s a hard question to answer. Where does “fun” become critical? When do users begin to develop a taste for games that expose *new* mechanics (say – like rolling a big ball over stuff to see if it sticks) as opposed to *familiar* mechanics (say – throwing a shot-put or boxing the daylights out of an opponent real or virtual).

I can’t say I understand where that line is… but some might point to the iPod as an example in another space. Not as easy to use if you’re familiar with older MP3 players… but simple enough that most everyone who gets one can figure it out. There was a time when I hemmed and hawed about buying an iPod because I wanted something big and technical – and I did finally get a 60 gig video model when they came out. But when it broke (zing!) I replaced it with an 8 gig nano – and I don’t miss the bulk of the former model, at all.

Am I less critical now than before – or more in tune with what is easy, effective – and fun to use? More importantly – will new efforts to bring in mainstream women and girls to the console (such as Wii Fit – examined here on its marketing merit) successfully capitalize on the urge for something fun, simple – and ultimately life-enriching?

Only the shadow knows!!

This morning I began my return to LA in ernest. It takes me about a week to adjust from being out of town on vacation – and a bit longer, when I’ve been so far away from all that makes my life … what it is.

The biggest single adjustment has been desk time: sitting in a chair in front of a keyboard and monitors for 6+ hours in a day. The new cube has wonderful windows which help – but my eyes are still extremely fatigued from staring just 16 inches into the future, where the cursor does my bidding. My right eye, tired from all this “work”, developed a little flutter which is only just going away.

Overall, things are pretty laid back right now, as most of my team is off on refresh, and the work I’m doing is exploratory. I can spend time thinking, writing, and catching up with people here on campus. But the work will ramp up soon enough (in about 2 weeks, I’m expecting), so I wanted to get some good patterns set up in advance.

So? I started taking yoga!

There were many jokes on the trek about “om” – which in Bhutan is the word for milk. Every night at the camp table, the staff would come around with thermoses of hot water and milk. “Madam… hot wota?? Madam…. om, more?” Being back, I realized there is *always* room for more “om” – especially since my landlady is an experienced, certified Iyengar instructor.

Diane is amazing for a number of reasons. For one – when her husband was hit by a car & suffered a devastating brain injury – she was the one who (through Yoga, patience and love) nurtured him back to physical and mental wellbeing. She travels to India yearly to study her practice, meeting many friends along the way. And when diagnosed with breast cancer last year she kept on travelling and teaching – continuing today, fully recovered with her steady and straightforward manner in tact.

She specializes in prenatal, post partum, senior and rehabilitative Yoga – so many of the people in my class today were rehabbing… or over 60. But so flexible, and pleasent!! Especially the seniors – who were immediately welcoming, friendly and curious. Plus, they use endearments like “sweet pea”!

Predictably, the lesson in all of this came when we moved from stretches and back relaxation exercises to inversions – the signature method of Iyengar. As the rest of the class hung upside down or did unsupported, rod-straight headstands… I sat in the L shape, legs against the wall. So much for the advantage of youth!!

I’m really looking forward to morning Yoga as the summer sets in. Even now, I can feel a difference. I’m much more conscious of my posture, as I type… the food I eat, the air I breathe. “Look from the outside world to the world within. Listen to the stillness inside.”

Indeed.

Back at work for the first time in about three weeks – almost everyone is out on refresh, so it’s quiet as a mouse! Also – I have a new desk – so it feels especially wierd… like I changed jobs completely. I’m in a corner desk now – surrounded by windows facing southwest… looking across Lincoln towards the park and the ocean. Wave if you drive by on your way to LAX…

On a sadder note: There was a package on my desk from Will Paicius, a retired developer who was teaching out at Ohlone College. I’d given a guest lecture to his class last year – and got a parking ticket! Will was hyper-apologetic, and promised to take care of it for me. Turns out he did – sending the citation rebuttal, and 2 booster ships for Pirates (El Corazon Dorado and… the Proud Tortise!!).

But before I could write and thank him – he had a heart attack and passed away.

Will was a super guy. He had attended the Game Design Workshop at GDC 5 times (!!) – and was always looking for new ways to teach. He loved games, loved his students… and will be missed.

Hello Kitty Online is now in official closed Beta. Hardcore gamers – get ready for the treat of your life!! Not only can you walk into tea cup buildings and sit on chair-sized candy…

… you can have your very own broom – or … fish… hat?

Kevin – I like your style!!

Another interesting article on Wii software sales:

Take Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It was one the most hotly anticipated video games of the year; it sold more than 1.4 million copies during the first week of its release, in early March, and broke records for Nintendo of America.

“We certainly have a built-in fan base for Smash,” said Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America’s vice president for corporate affairs. “I’m hoping that we can continue to generate success and awareness of the game.”

But sales dropped more than 90 percent over the first four weeks, according to estimates from VG Chartz, a team of analysts who study video-game sales.

Some major retail chains — including Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us — have already begun bundling the Smash Bros. game with Wii machines for sales online, a sign that the base of hard-core gamers who went looking for the game has been depleted.

Interesting bookend to this earlier piece on the difficulties of getting over a million on the platform.

Go MySims, go!!

:)

The rumors are true – I have just returned from a 2 week vacation in Bhutan!! It was totally, utterly life changing, in more ways than I had expected.

First order of business was laundry – woah, stinky socks!! Also, I lost my phone in transit – had to replace it for the second time in 4 months. A new record? This means that I am numberless once again so txt name + digits for posterity.

It is so nice to be back… but strange. Taking one last day of vacation to get acclimated, did an am hike. THE AIR IS SO THICK HERE!!

:)

Now I am going through the photos. I took maybe 3000 – and there are prolly 500 good ones in the bunch. Setting myself a reasonable goal to have them up by this weekend.

Next weekend – I will be back up in SF to distribute presents and wish Lulu a *sniff* sad goodbye as she ventures forth to Berlin. Damn, I missed her going-away party while I was huddled up in my sleeping bag! What was I thinking??