Quick Project Update

Just wanted to drop by and give a quick update on the projects I'm currently working on at Gameloft's NYC Studio. I can't really say anything about them in their current stages other than what I'm about to say.

The project I am the head of (listed as 'Gameloft Solo Project') is going to rock your fucking socks off. It's not like any mobile game you've ever played. Granted, mobile games are not incredible when put next to a game on the 360, but it's a casual title that will be easy to pick up and play and enjoy, and it does have depth for those who want it. You guys will enjoy it. As soon as the dark shroud of the deadly NDA rises, I will pose some stuff on it (I hope).

Pretty Damn Funny

Greatest Moment of My Life

It's pretty out of control that a meeting like that has reached the far corners of the internet. I'm the only one that got a game signed by him at that lecture, so this had to be about me. Because right after I did it, I called up my brother and told him about it, and, well, I pretty much said that.

Someone commented on the joystiq website that said I live a boring life if meeting Miyamoto was the greatest moment of my life. That guy can suck it for the rest of his life. When you meet the man that is the reason you're in the industry you're in, then you're going to say it was one of the greatest moments of your life. I don't give a crap who you are.

GDC 2007 - March 9th, 2007 - The Final Leg of the Adventure

Day three kicked a lot of ass, but was scheduled a lot lighter than the other days, with only two lectures scheduled.

The Light and Dark Sides of 2D Gaming

The first was one that struck a particular chord with me due to the fact that I love 2D game design. It's what I grew up doing and it's my specialty, so I am much more at home in that field.

The lecture was given by famed Castlevania creator Koji Igarishi, in his first ever public speaking session. That being said, he did a great job. He spoke about how he develops for 2D and how there are pros and cons to these type of games. He focused solely on action games.

Of the more interesting things he said, he mentioned that the reason Castlevania is still thriving is because of the North American market. Aonuma-san said something similar the day before, stating that the reason a realistic Zelda was made was because sales were poor (by comparison) in North America.

Igarishi-san chats it up.

Afterwards, he was kind enough to talk with a few people, including myself (via translator, of course). I told him that I was behind him 110 percent and thanked him for being the front-man in keeping 2D games alive. Igarishi-san was very humble and graciously bowed his head at every little thing anyone did or said. I got him to sign the notes I took during his lecture. "Arigato, Igarishi-san," I spoke as he returned the pad and pen to me. He bowed his head again and thanked me as well, and then said something in Japanese which I will just assume was 'you're welcome'.

Badassery.

Next up was Killer7 and Contact creator, the founder of Grasshopper Manufacture, Goichi Suda. Goichi is very much a man who paves his own paths. He is good friends with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and spoke a lot about his relationship with such an important producer in Japan.

I commend Suda-san for attempting to look ultra badass in pink. And also for not knowing how to stare into a camera.

He also spoke a lot about 'Punk' games, which was something he himself coined. Punk games are games that stray from the beaten path and aren't afraid to be different.

"Hello i made killer7 lol look at my pink shirt"

It was cool hearing him talk. Afterwards, I asked him (via translator) about where he got the funding for founding his company. He said that surprisingly, it doesn't cost as much money to open your own development studio as I may think. He told me that if that was my goal, to start at it while working professionally. Sneaky!

Does anyone know what this says? Anyone at all?

With the last of my lectures done, I spent the next two hours relaxing before hitting up Video Games Live. I unfortunately have no pictures from this night because cameras were not allowed.

The show itself was spectacular. There were special guests abound, from Kondo-san, the Video Game Pianist (yes, THE Video Game Pianist), to the reunited Lucasarts music team (they fucking played Monkey Island). It was a hell of a show with four encore performances. Koji Kondo himself got up on stage and played the Super Mario Brothers theme on piano. It was like seeing Beethoven perform.

Afterwards was a place where people could mingle with sound designers and other people in the industry. I actually wound up doing a lot of networking and I even made a few new friends. I met the people behind the soundtrack for God of War I + II, along with the man behind the WoW soundtracks. I got to shake the hands of the Lucasarts music team and even signed the backstage pass of one of them at his request.

I also was very lucky to meet SEGA's Jun Senoue, who is the creator of the music for most of the newer Sonic games. He wrote and performed most of the music for the Sonic Adventure series, and was the guitarist in Sonic Adventure's theme song "Open Up Your Heart". The dude can shred pretty hardcore. Senoue-san and I hit it off, so much so that he gave me one of his actual guitar picks, a business card, and a CD with his signature on it. (Oh, he speaks English by the way). It was really cool getting to hang with him.

There was one man I recognized but couldn't put my finger on. I approached him and said so. When I asked him who he was, his reply was "It'sa me, Mariooo!". And then I proceeded to laugh my ass off. I KNEW I recognized that face. It was Charles Martinet, the voice actor for the Super Mario Brothers series. He was very kind and very awesome. It was great hearing him do some of his stuff in person.

I got to talk with conductor Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico for a few minutes - they're the co-founders of Video Games Live - and I thanked them for putting together such a great show. It is the perfect way to get game music to the masses, where it belongs.

I also met Stephen, who is a sound designer right here in New York. He met Virt the day before and I guess Virt mentioned me because once I said 'Gameloft', he said 'Oh, you must be the guy Virt was talking about. He said I had to meet you at some point during the week'. So we wound up hitting it off, being from New York and all, and he said we had to stay in touch and get together sometime back in NY. This shouldn't be hard, as I'm moving to Brooklyn sometime in August and he happens to live in Brooklyn.

I met Ken Lobb as well. He used to compose all of the music for Rare before he left. He was such an asset to the company that they named a gun in Goldeneye after him. I had a big piece of paper that I was getting everyone to sign as I met them, and I had him write 'They named the Klobb after me'. He was happy that I knew that. He was very cool, too.

Ken and I wound up taking a walk while looking for taxis to get us to our respective hotels. On the way, we spoke about which conference was better - GDC or the Dice Summit. I was saying GDC because of the amount of information you can get out of it, and Ken said that he preferred the Dice Summit because there was one track, so everyone wound up getting the same information. We wound up disagreeing on that topic, but strongly agreeing on how much ass Goldeneye kicked.

I didn't get home until close to two. Yesterday was spent being jet-lagged out of my mind thanks to Daylight Savings Time and the 3 hour difference. Imagine getting on a plane at 1:30 and landing at close to 10 at night. It was ridiculous. I didn't go to sleep until six in the morning and didn't wake up until 3. Something tells me getting adjusted is going to be a pain in my ass.

But let me talk in conclusion here. Simply put, the Game Developer's Conference is the single most important conference in our industry (even if Lobb disagrees, sorry Ken!). The wealth of knowledge an the way that professionals reach out to other professionals in such an environment is invaluable. It's really the best place we have to put our heads together to better the gaming industry. It needs a lot of work, but I believe that we're headed in the right direction.

GDC 2007 - March 8th, 2007 : The Second Best Day Ever

FUCK YOUUUUUU

The hits just keep on coming. Today was chock full of stuff. I've put it in sections for your convenience.

Shigeru Miyamoto Keynote

Since between meeting him in person and watching him do a ton of stuff during the GDC awards show wasn't enough for my selfish ass, I also attended Miyamoto's keynote today. We were in the third row with a perfect view of the stage. Reggie Fils-Aime was sitting a few feet away from me and Carlos. I got to meet him after the keynote, but more on that later. Furthermore, while waiting in line for the keynote, the one and only GameJew himself John Mann interviewed me, and I told him the legendary story of my Miyamoto run-in. The more I talk to people, the more unlikely I realize my situation was in those fateful moments.

Miyamoto-san shows off one of the prototype Wii controls

It's actually quite hard to explain the impact that Miyamoto's keynote had on me. He is such a unique, incredible soul, so full of literal magic. You can't help but feel different when you're around him. The guy is simply incredible and his lecture let us get a very personal look at the inside of his mind.

The number one thing that he keeps in mind during every moment of developing a game - the look on the player's face as they play and experience it. If his creative vision makes the player's face look any less enthusiastic than it was, then it was the wrong way to go. Such is the way of the Miyamoto.

I have plenty of video and pictures from the keynote. I'll try and get some up soon.

Reggie, Kicking Ass and Taking Names

After the keynote, I manuevered over to Reggie, who was short on time but still had a moment to take a picture with me. Actual dialogue before the picture was taken:

Me : We have to take an angry face photo.
Reggie : Ha, everyone always asks for the angry face, but I don't usually do that for pictures. You want the angry face, get Phil (Harrison) back in here.

There was a lot of press around us and the people that were in the immediate vicinity roared with laughter. For the first time of many today, I am caught in the awkward moments of 'I'm about to laugh but I am trying to look cool'.

I am aware of how much taller Reggie is than me.

A Chat with Peter Molyneux

After the keynote, Carlos and I had the distinct honor of having a 10 minute or so conversation with the game design veteran from across the pond, the wonderful Peter Molyneux, creator of Populous, Black and White and Fable. He demo'd the most recent version of Fable 2 and dropped my jaw with the most realistic dog I've ever seen in a video game. Your character has a dog in this game that is your companion - every single dog is different, and changes with you, both mentally and physically. It was simply amazing.

Molyneux had a conversation with Carlos and me shortly after he signed my brother's copy of Fable.

Jeff's life is made better by me.

When he turned to me, he smiled and extended his hand. "And you are?" he asks in that enthusiastic voice of his. I smile and shake his hand sturdily. "I'm Joe Laurino, Game Designer for Gameloft." He smiles and says "Ah, Gameloft! So, let's speak Designer to Designer for a moment, if you don't mind, Joe. I just have a few questions I want to ask and wanted some critiquing on some aspects of the build I showed today."

He proceeded to ask for my opinion on various aspects of the demo, most importantly the dog. My words came out sort of jumbled, but I think I got the point across. I told him the animation was incredible, which it really was, and he laughed when I told him I thought the work they did on the tongue was amazing....which it was.

So then Carlos asks if we can take a picture with him. He says he'd be more than happy to, and I turn to move to the other side of him so I can get into the shot. During this, I step on Molyneux's shoe. I didn't step on his foot, just his shoe, so he wasn't hurt, thank christ. "Oh god," I say trying not to laugh, "I just stepped on his shoe." He laughed very hard at this, and I just kept looking at the camera like I totally fucked up, but the result is this amazing picture.

Me : I totally. Just stepped on his foot.
Molyneux : OH MAN LOLLOLOLOLL
Carlos : ^____^

He is one of the coolest people I have ever met, and I'm not just saying that. It was a serious honor for me to get to speak with Molyneux and be spoken to as a professional.

The Game Design Challenge, Meeting David Jaffe and Alexey Patjinov

After a lunch break, me and Carlos decided to go early to the Game Design Challenge. After securing the best seats in the house, I went to go you know, use the restroom. When I return, Carlos is deep in discussion with none other than God of War designer David Jaffe. Carlos is a huge, huge fan of Jaffe so he was pretty damn psyched to be meeting him.We spoke for a good 15 minutes or so - though a lot of the dialogue went on between Jaffe and Carlos. He remembered Carlos from his blog.

Two fucking awesome people collide.

So when it was my turn to introduce myself, mentioning Gameloft got Jaffe to go "No shit, Gameloft! Man, Prince of Persia 2, that was what I wanted fucking God of War mobile to be like."

I raised my brow. "So...aren't you making it like that, then?"

He said some things I won't repeat here, since I'm not sure Jaffe would appreciate that.

Did I mention that Jaffe curses about as much as I do? No? Well, he does.

I mention that between the two of us, we could probably get something going. I give him my business card, and tell him to e-mail me if he wants to keep talking. He says definitely, so I'm feeling pretty special at this point. Oh yeah, he told me to join his fucking blog also. No, he really said 'join my fucking blog'.

Finally. A loudmouthed, out of control game designer that's almost as short as I am.

So we sit and get to watch the awesomeness of the Design Challenge, which utilized a Needle and Thread interface as this year's challenge. Alexey Patjinov won it easily with his title called 'Stitch and Cross'. It is a game concept that literally dropped my jaw from how simple and fun it could be.

Left to Right : Alexey Patjinov (pitching Stitch and Cross), Eric Zimmerman, Harvey Smith, David Jaffe

For those unfamiliar, Alexey Patjinov created a little game known as Tetris. He is a mathematician from a completely different generation than most of us. He is humble, kind, and exudes warmth. After he won, I shook his hand and congradulated him. He was kind enough to pose for a picture with me.

Patjinov was not, unfortunately, very good at english. The things he said were absolutely hilarious and it was hard not to laugh. For instance, I handed him my camera without thinking when he agreed to the picture. He looks to it, looks to me, I look to it, and look to him, and we both laugh as a kind lady takes the camera from him and takes the picture for us. Right before she takes it, Patjinov says this, I shit you not ;

"I was goings to say, I am supposed to be making photo with you."

That's why my face looks like it does in that picture. I am fighting back laughter so bad it hurts.

Patjinov's first line during his pitch, I am not kidding : "Hello, this is me."

Eiji Aonuma : Reflections of Zelda

The Reflections of Zelda talk was insightful in that it showed that even a game as incredible as Twilight Princess, developed by one of the best companies in the industry, still has many issues internally during it's production. Aonuma, who is the Miyamoto-appointed Director of the Legend of Zelda series, spoke a lot about the different difficulties he and his team had while developing Twilight Princess and how making innovation in that game did not come easy. He tells about how he was guided by Miyamoto more than once during the game's lengthy production.

LOL OWNED NOOB!!!!!

I got to shake his hand and thank him, but was shut down by security when I asked him to sign my brother's copy of Twilight Princess. Sorry, Jeff!

And now I am back at my hotel room and I'm trying to soak it all in. I have a lot of serious thoughts going on in my head, but it's far too overwhelming to try and post here. I will be revamping my official website soon so that it's more intuitive and I'll have a much more easy time talking.

This concludes day two. Tomorrow is a talk with Koji Igarishi of Castlevania fame about 2D gaming, a discussion with Killer 7 creator Goichi Suda about developing original IP's and founding your own small company, a design document discussion, and the Video Games Live concert.

GDC 2007 - March 7th, 2007 : The Best Day Ever

That could not be a more precise statement. Read on to find out why.

When we last left me, I was preparing for what would probably be a day to remember. Ahead of me was the legendary Koji Kondo's panel, 'Painting an Interactive Musical Landscape', followed by the Game Developer's Awards.


Things started off right. I met up with Jake (virt) and the Head of Audio Worldwide for Gameloft, and we proceeded in. We got seats in the front row, right behind Tommy Tallarico. I even had the guts to go up and get my original copy of Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past signed by Kondo.

Kondo-san signs my game as Tommy Tallarico looks on, sadly wondering why nobody cares about him

I was happy. His three core principles of developing great music were well laid out and he truly showed how he composes. His three key elements are Rhythm, Beat, and Interactivity. I'll discuss them in more detail at a later time. So I was happy. Great lecture, great person, and I even got my game signed. Could it get any better?

Nobody could have prepared me for what would happen next.

A girl passes me with a magazine that has another very interesting signature that's immediately recognizeable on it. I immediately ask "Where?!" and she grins and turns around, pointing to the other side of where we were sitting.

I don't see where I'm going exactly, but I head over there anyway. I'm still in the second row. I turn to my left, and this is what I immediately see.

My heart stops beating.

Holy shit. It's my idol. And he's standing there looking directly at me, smiling. He lets me take a picture of him (too far away to take one with him). Somehow, I remain calm. No stuttering or freaking out here. I am very proud of myself for how I handled the situation. Still, it's hard to get into a scenario like this and not be a little fangirlish, even if you are a professional.

I approach him the best I can thanks to the damn chairs. His attention is still trained on me. Now I'm standing almost in front of him. For some reason, nobody else is getting in my way. I smile back to Miyamoto and bow. He bows back.

"Konnichiwa, Miyamoto-san," I say with a smile, handing him the copy of Zelda from earlier. He looks at it and looks back to me, smiling and nodding. He obviously recognizes what it is. I have, at this point, used up all of my Japanese. There's a pause as he continues looking at it. "I've had that game for a long, long time. It's one of my favorites." I know he doesn't understand me, but his translator tells him what I've said and he nods enthusiastically.

"I was wondering...if you could sign it," I ask carefully, making a 'signature' gesture. He is still smiling and nods, holding his hand out ... for a fucking marker.

Oh. God. I don't have a marker.

"Oh god," I laugh as I look to the side where people are watching this occur, "Please tell me someone has a marker over here." Everyone laughs, they seem to be enjoying all of this, and one asian guy steps up to the plate and withdraws a bushel of markers. "Which do you want?"

"Dude, any one, seriously." I say, and he laughs again and hands me a silver one.

Miyamoto then proceeds to sign the game. As I watch, I am feeling rather confident and normal. So, I crack a joke.

"Miyamoto-san, I know you can't understand me, but I want you to know that I love you and I want to marry you."

Everyone breaks into laughter, including myself and his translator, who wisely does not translate what I've said.

Miyamoto has a little difficulty signing the game with this marker, but he succeeds and hands the game back to me. Now I say something serious as he extends his hand for a handshake.

(I should mention that the signature looks much better in real lifes, lols)

"You're the reason I'm in this industry, thank you for being such an inspiration." His translator translates and he bows to me again. I bow back and proceed to run to virt like a little girl. I didn't have the time or the space to ask for a picture with him since shortly after that it was time for him to leave, but there's always time for that in the future.

So in case you didn't read all of that, I met Shigeru Miyamoto today. I had him and legendary music composer Koji Kondo sign Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past and he fucking shook my hand. On top of that, I told him, to his face, that I loved him and wanted to marry him. Top that.

The GDC awards were incredible. I'll update on that later. Lots of video was taken, plenty of Miyamoto, Blezinski, and even the creator of Tetris are present. You'll see.

Introduction

Thanks to the kind people over at Blogger, I now have my own official blog hosted on my server. They took a lot of the guess work out of making the thing, since I'm not as sharp at PHP as I used to be, so thanks a ton for that, guys.

Anyway, I will be tweaking this blog over the next few days, so be prepared for changes here and there.

My first posts in this blog will be about my wonderful experiences at GDC. Get ready to have your face rocked.