A Game Designers Journey

Holy crap! It has been so long since I have blogged last. Mainly because I haven't had much to talk about. College keeps me quite busy, and it's the same old thing every day. But as most of you know, I have just returned from Seattle on a trip to Microsoft's Millennium campus. That's right, Xbox land!

This trip went a lot smoother than our last trip to Los Angeles. My wheelchair works! We celebrated my wheelchair still working when we got to the hotel by cracking open a few beers. :-)

One thing I noticed when we got to Seattle, the people there are extremely nice. So much so, that it was beginning to freak a lot of us out! Even the homeless people were friendly!

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon. We were not to be at Microsoft until Tuesday. We were all on break from college so we decided to take a mini vacation.

The night we got there, we decided to head on over to the Space Needle. It was already 8:00 PM, however we really wanted to see the city's skyline during the evening. I must say it was a spectacular sight. I personally enjoyed the Space Needle during the afternoon much more. You could see Mount Rainier. All the mountain ranges were absolutely beautiful. If you are ever in Seattle, the space needle is a must.

We didn't do much on Sunday. Our friend Toby, was visiting his parents in Texas and he took a flight to Seattle a day after us. So we stuck around the Airport until Toby arrived Sunday afternoon.

I really don't remember what we did on Monday haha! Don't you love those drunken hazes? Ah! I remember! We went to the Pike Street Fish Market. Unfortunately, we got there just as it closed. However, we found an elevator that took us to some observation deck/pier type thing. We took some really nice pictures that I will post below.

On to the day of reckoning! Before I go on to tell you about our experience at Xbox, I would like to explain how I got there. A guy from my college seemed to think our trip to Microsoft was a school sponsored event. He posted his anger on http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/10/03/537812.aspx . Even if this was a school sponsored event, his reaction was an embarrassment to our school, and very unprofessional. What makes him think that if he acts like that, it will get him anywhere?

But to enlighten you all on how I managed to land a grand tour of the Millennium Campus, it all started at E3 2006. Some friends and I from college wanted to attend and show off to some companies about a hands free game controller we designed for quadriplegics. I was on the Xbox forums one day and saw Trixie had a post that said, "E3 attendees, want to blog for Microsoft?" I of course, clicked on the link. I am a big fan of Trixie's. All she said to do was e-mail her my gamer tag. I did. Two days later, she emailed the back telling me welcome aboard! I was really excited. To make a long story short, I met Peter Moore at the after party. And ever since we have become good friends. Peter Moore is one of my heroes. He had a vision at Sega, that no one else saw except for Microsoft. His assistant, Lynn, has also become a good friend of mine.

I asked Peter if I could stop by and say hello to Trixie, Major Nelson, John Porcaro, Tony Hynes, and some others I know on the Xbox team. Three days later, Lynn responds with this long itinerary! You can check the itinerary here. Pretty crazy huh?

I really didn't know what to think. I was very surprised! Also very overwhelmed because Peter has given me so much already.

First thing we did when we arrived at the campus, was sign in at the front desk in building E. Lynn greeted us moments later and had us sign nondisclosure agreements before entering the premises. I must apologize ahead of time, I am not allowed to tell you exactly everything I saw, but I can tell you this, Gears of War and Halo 3 will make your heart explode! :-) That's all I'm allowed to say. We saw some cool features on the Xbox hardware that is coming up, and a first glimpse at the XNA express beta 2 release. I will get to that in a little bit.

After we got all signed in, we went to lunch with Trixie, Major Nelson, Tony Hynes, John Porcaro, Peter Moore, and Lynn Seeley. There is actually a funny story with this. One of the friends I brought along is very hyperactive. Sometimes he needs to be reminded that he is in a professional setting. Well, he and Trixie were teasing each other and giving each other crap. I really thought they were playing around. After lunch my friend starts randomly dropping the F-bomb around the campus. I had to tell him to chill out. A few days later I went out with my friend Eric, and he told me that he got a e-mail from Trixie that said my friend was mean to her. I started to think I missed something at the lunch table. No offense to my friend, but I was worried he was going to pull something like that in the first place. Because he is not really an Xbox fan. He doesn't even have a 360. So he had really no idea who Trixie was. I figured he was going to try flirting with her and things of that nature haha. But Trixie definitely doesn't need my protection! Anyway, she posted about it on her blog, and Eric seemed to be in a bit of trouble with Trixie. It really wasn't Eric's fault. Just a miscommunication. Trixie acted like I got up out of my wheelchair and beat my friends ass! Haha.. It really wasn't a big deal. If he would have pulled something like that, I probably would have! :-)

After lunch we had a long meeting with Peter Moore. We did a Q & A. Again, I can't tell you everything we talked about, in fact, there is only one question I could share with you.

Q: Do you think Microsoft will ever change their position about game's not been on the HD DVD player?

Peter Moore: Never. What separates us from the other guys, is that we offer choice. Sure, Sony can say our system is just as expensive as theirs when you include the price of the DVD player. But our point is, they don't give you a choice, we do. Not to mention we throw in King Kong HD.

Overall, it was a great meeting. I was fascinated and captivated by Peter's knowledge. I believe everyone else was too.

Moving on. Our last stop on the tour was MGS. No, I do not mean Metal Gear Solid you Sony fan boys! I'm talking about Microsoft Game Studios of course! I can't tell you about what we saw, or what we played, but I can tell you we got to hang out with the coolest game designers ever! I can't remember everyone's name right off hand, I met so many people that day. I talked to Josh, Eric, and Bob the most. They gave us some real good advice on how to make it into the industry, work as a team, and great game design tips. Most of everything they talked about, I already knew how to do. Which is why I'm considering applying at Microsoft, and finishing my degree in Seattle if I'm hired. My dream is to work for Microsoft, and be part of the Xbox Team. I may not know everything, but I am a fast learner and I live my life for this. I believe I could eventually be a great asset to their team. :-) Besides, Minnesota is too cold for me, and a major drain on my health.

While my friends stayed back and played the new games coming out, I left for Peter's office to tell him goodbye. Unfortunately, I had missed him by 10 minutes. He forgot there was an errand he needed to run. I stayed and talked to Lynn for a while. It was one of those moments where being confined to a wheelchair really sucks because I wanted to give Lynn a gigantic hug for everything she and Peter had done for us. :-)

After I said goodbye to Lynn, I went back over to MGS. We continued to hang out with Eric and Bob until about 7:30 PM. We really had a great time and I really didn't want to leave. Although I'm not working there yet, it already felt like home.

We were in Seattle for the next two days. We decided to go back to the fish market, return to the Space Needle, go on a cruise touring the harbor, and the last night we were there, we went out to eat with Chuck's family, and my good friend Eric Havir's family. He also works for Microsoft but not on the Xbox team. He was a fellow E3 Blogger like me. Enjoy the pictures everyone!

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in awhile. When I got back to Minneapolis, I came down with a nasty sinus infection that turned into pneumonia. So I have been sick ever since I got back. What a bummer right? The good news is, I'm much better now!

Last Monday was my birthday. Besides being sick, it was pretty cool. I received a package in the mail from Peter Moore. I got a Team Xbox Faceplate that he had autographed, a ton of Xbox 360 T-shirts, Zero Hour baseball caps, four new games, a Bungie-issued Halo sweatshirt, and an Adidas Xbox 360 jacket. I will post pictures of everything in a little while. I'll write more later this week.

By the time you get to the third day, you are glad E3 is finally over. I know some of you are reading this and saying, "that can't be true!" Honestly, it is. If you have noticed, my first post was absolutely excellent. My second post, not so much. It's because I'm so tired by the middle of the second day. I hear my friends complain about how their feet hurt, dehydrated, and sore all over. Even though I can't walk, it's mentally exhausting as well. Thinking about where you have to be, who you have to interview, who's interviewing you, what time to be there, and trying to be noticed to even have a chance to be in the videogame industry, can be very overwhelming. I appreciate the patience a lot of you have shown. I know I have over 400 people viewing my blog and look forward to reading what I have to say. I guess that means I better start posting.

My day started out kind of irritating. Northwest Airlines finally called me after almost a week regarding my wheelchair. I was on the phone with them for over two hours and was late to the convention. They were attempting to make deals with me over the phone, but I explained to them I will have to speak it over with my lawyer first. They did however, upgrade our seats to first-class in an attempt to try and soften me up. I am not sure where this lawsuit or settlement is going, but first-class is a start. For the record, I've never sued anyone in my life, but they ruined a $40,000 wheelchair and I'm not eligible for a new one for 2 more years.

Anyway, I finally got to the convention around 11 a.m. I headed over to the E3 blogger bus because I thought they were going to take a group picture of all of us bloggers. Major Nelson had to leave on a flight early, and everyone else was trying to get everything ready to put away and end the show. So not taking the group pictures is completely understandable. I'm making a documentary about the first ever E3 bloggers for Microsoft anyway and have interviewed most of the other bloggers. And the video has turned out awesome so far. I'll be sending the video to Major Nelson and Trixie to view and maybe put up on Xbox.com. It will be a few weeks until the final edit of the video, but trust me, you'll love it. I'm not in the video much, but Trixie is, so you know damn well it will be sexy!

Speaking of Major Nelson, I would like to apologize. Trixie had informed me that Major Nelson was not feeling very well and that he is usually a very active and conversational type of guy. I suppose a lot of us had a ton of stuff to deal with and meeting each other for the first time at a hectic place like E3, sometimes doesn't go as smoothly as you'd like. I'm sure I'll have the chance to meet up with Major Nelson in the future and rub off some of my crazy personality that I rubbed off on Kim, Tony, and John. So Major, if you read this, shoot me an e-mail okay?

Now, today I promised to answer all the requests that you all posted on the Xbox.com forums. So we'll start with Huxley. Huxley is a massive multiplayer online first-person shooter. The PC version of Huxley will be released before the Xbox 360. However, the Xbox 360 version will be released three to six months later. The PC version and the Xbox 360 will have cross-platform servers. The Xbox 360 version will include a new city that ties into the PC version storyline. Webzen, (the developers of the game) also stated the Xbox 360 version will have more customization when it comes to player creation, and solo missions will be an exclusive. Huxley will be released early 2007.

Rainbow Six: Las Vegas, let me start out by saying I am a huge fan of the Rainbow Six series. The new addition to the series literally made me so excited, that I interviewed every developer that was available and had worked on the game. Rainbow Six: Las Vegas uses the Unreal 3.0 engine, so you know the graphics will be top-notch. From what I have seen, that is definitely true. You have more options this time around during the many battles you will encounter. You can scale alongside a building and gain entry through any window on the building, you can slip a mini camera under a door and see where the terrorists or hostages are located, and once you locate the terrorists, you can mark them so your team will know their locations and take them out on your command. I don't have many pictures of the game, but I do have tons of video that I will post in a few weeks. Ubisoft is looking at a November or December release.

Regarding Gears of War and Halo 3, everything was really hush-hush. I have no more information than what you have seen on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

And finally, the booth babes! I have uploaded a ton of pictures and more on the way. The connection in our hotel has been horrible. We will be home Monday afternoon and I will upload more then, as well as work on the video.

Holy cow Batman! I just noticed I am in the Friday's Backstage Pass video on the Xbox Live Marketplace! And all this time I thought they edited all the party videos and pictures on purpose. Trixie is right, I am very paranoid lol. I'm just kidding, I learned all about minority filming when I attended college at Cal State for Theater Arts, but I switched to Game Design at Brown College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On a serious note, I know E3 is over now, but please keep on checking out my blog. I will update it regularly. I created this blog to track my progress in the videogame industry. I was an intern at Activision Value for seven months and have some knowledge of the industry. But blogging for Microsoft really opened my eyes to what it's like to work for Microsoft. They have a sense of family, something I really enjoyed and would love to be a part of someday.

So what are my final thoughts? Besides my wheelchair breaking down and my dignity being taken away by having to be pushed around, this turned out to be the best E3 ever! I had the privilege of meeting the coolest people in the business. Peter Moore, Trixie, Major Nelson, the PMS clan, Frag Dolls, GamerTag Radio staff, and the rest of the Xbox Team. Being there and meeting these great people, makes me want to try even harder to someday be in their shoes and help shape the way the world looks at interactive media.

Coming to you live from E3 2006! We're just chillin outside the Xbox 360 blogger bus, but we'll get to that later...

Last night I promised you the full coverage of the Nintendo Wii. This years Nintendo booth was extremely impressive. Tons of strobe lights, lazers, and hands-on demos. But let's get to the nitty gritty now shall we? The cost of the Nintendo Wii has yet to be announced. However, they are speculating a significant lower price than the other consoles on the market. There was a rumor going around online that the Nintendo Wii does not support high definition. Unfortunately, this rumor is 100% true. Although the Nintendo Wii does not have the superior graphics capabilities of the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, it truely is a next-gen system in it's own right. The innovative controller, believe it or not is 99% accurate and provides a whole new genre of gaming experience. Game designers, such as myself, can find hundreds of ways to make use of this new type of control. Check out the photos of the accessories line-up!

Right now I'm having a blast hanging out with Kim Page, the coolest Administrative Assistant at Xbox Live. She has the greatest sense of humor and is always smiling or trying to make someone laugh. She seemed to enjoy my company as I definately enjoyed hers. The Xbox Team then ordered a million pizzas, ok maybe more like 20. One of which flew across the street due to the wind and pizza slices were everywhere!! We then hummed "Taps" as we threw it in to the garbage.

Well hey, we're about to head back in and bring you more E3 live!