I know. But its ok, really! I’m working on this awesome new game called Earth Eternal and I get to work in walking distance of possibly the best iced soy mocha on the planet!

Earth Eternal is a new entry into the exploding “play for free, pay for bling”* MMO market. It is among the first completely American developed games in this space, as most of the others are made in Asia and then localized for this market. It may also be the first 3D completely anthropomorphic MMO. Oh and somehow (I suspect dark magicks) it will run in a browser window.

I will miss that crazy group of talented and tenacious folks that make up Telltale Games, and I wish them the best in everything. But the future looks tastier than a boston cream donut, and I’m eager to take a big ol’ bite. I’ll let you know what the custard’s like.

*Thanks Seg!

Yeah well, we all knew that was doomed from the beginning. I think the people who actually blog during GDC either are obsessive compulsive laptop toters or else professional journalists. Since I am neither (my laptop weighs 7.5 pounds and I’m not luggin that thing all over the damn place!) I didn’t really have much of an opportunity to write anything while the conference was going on. I mean, I could’ve tried to do it on my DS with my Opera browser, but I still can’t figure out how to go back from a text field to the page the field appears on so I can click buttons like “save” or “submit”. Sooner or later I’ve got to sort this out. As it was, my post-GDC evenings consisted of limping back home, feeding my baby and crawling pathetically into bed. Hopefully I’ll remember this next year and not set such a ridiculous goal.

2) Post pictures before GDC next year (I still have some awesome ones from last year I haven’t shown you).

Hey, its not next year yet, is it? Anyway, I’ll have to see how many are worth posting. The only thing that stands out in my mind is that I took some pictures of the Wii Balance Board. Which I need immediately, incidentally.

3) Avoid tripping over incredibly stylish interior design elements at 3 Rings’ offices, falling on my face and spilling my drink everywhere.

This I managed to do. Or, I mean, not do. I did make it to the hush hush 3 Rings’ party, did have a drink, did eat lots of their yummy brie, did chit chat with some rad folks (including the devs of PMOG). I also did wish that the interior of my offices was nearly as stylish as this place. But I did NOT trip over the “sucker flanges”, which is what I am now calling those little spiffy looking spurs at the bottom of the columns in the main room which make you feel like you’re in a submarine designed by Lemony Snicket and which can cause just as much anguish as one of his books.

4) Stand in any given line for no longer than 10 minutes.

Take that lines! Not only did I make it to the Experimental Game Design Workshop in time to get a seat without standing in line, but I also simply didn’t go to any talks that required ridiculous linage. Which is a good thing, since I was about to fall over any second come day three.
5) If I get stuck in some stupid “overflow” room without audio for the Game Developer’s Choice Awards, leave.

This happened at the first SF GDC, and it so sucked. But this time, because of my parental duties, I actually didn’t even make the awards. Its the first year since I started going to GDC that this was the case. Thursday was my designated stay out late night. I had assumed that the awards would be Thursday night, as I think they always are. But they weren’t and my schedule got screwed up as a result. I am sad I missed the awards, but I had a good time at the Women In Games International mixer, and then I went home to my family. So it all worked out.
6) Avoid spending money on food by going to every party I can and filling up on miniature quiches and crackers with goat cheese.

The WIGI mixer had some lovely food; tasty little burgers, little potatoes with some stuff inside along with some other nummies which I can’t remember. Delicious. Best of all, it just kept coming and coming! Everytime I thought we had polished off the last of the goodies, some guy with a bowtie would bring out more trays of it.

Unfortunately, the bounty ended there. I simply did not wind up in enough locations with free food at the right times. Someone was always dragging me off to breakfast, lunch or dinner where I had to pay myself. Lame. My pal Jose got me into the Speaker’s party, and I did have some snacks there, but we had just come from dinner and there was a monstrous crowd around the food table. We then went to Three Rings’ party where I did enjoy some tasty cheese and bread as well as some other noshes, but I still just wasn’t that hungry. Note to self: Parties instead of dinner plans!
7) NO Red Bull!

The worst I did on the caffeine level was an iced mocha and a frappaccino on the same day. But I had barely slept the night before, so I needed it just to get through. I did avoid the Red Bull system shock though.
Only take home free schwag that I actually want.

I killed on the schwag this year. Seriously. I brought home one piece of maybe junk — it is a little squigey-like thing for cleaning dust off your monitor. And I did get plied with a Disney Online shirt I wasn’t too into — until I got it home and realized that it’s a girl-style shirt and fits me great and is really soft and a cool color. But I also got the best schwag I have ever gotten at GDC. Two free games, one is an Indie game that I’ll have to play and review here since the guy gave it to me for free. The other one is called Lost Odyssey and is an RPG for the 360 which I was dubious about at first but which has really caught my attention. I also got a 2GB key-chain drive with a 30 day trial of Eve Online on it (maybe that counts as three games?). And speaking of key-chains, I got one of those adorable Wiimote flashlight key-chains that I so coveted last year. I also took away a few nice pens. I’ll always take pens, especially if they seem half-way decent. So I would call this year total success on the schwag front.
9) Play more than 2 games at the IGF booth.

Failure.  Maybe some day I’ll learn to actually go to the IGF area and play games on the first day of the conference when I am fresh and excited, and not the last day when I am worn out and just want to crawl in a hole and sleep for a year.  The only one I put hands on was The Path, and then I got stuck early in the game and felt rather silly getting angry at my gothy girl for not ceasing her patty-caking with this girl she found on the side of the road.  I couldn’t get her to leave her new friend.  I’m still not sure if this was a bug or part of the game, but I was very self-conscious of my desperately pressing every single button while onlookers looked on.  It seems like the kind of game I’d want to play in the privacy of my own home, anyway (tho looking at the site just now it seems I can’t yet).  It’s lush engrossing quality seemed terribly diminished by the noisy clamor of the expo show floor.

10) Meet lots of great people, have lots of fun conversations, go to some great talks, and walk away completely inspired and exhausted. (Gotta have at least one I know I can accomplish in order boost my confidence for attaining the rest).

Yeah, this was a gimme.  We all knew it. I had an extremely fun time indulging in my game-industry geekery.  Although I miss the days when the conference was in San Jose, it being in SF this time did make it pretty easy for me to go out there then come home to the baby at night.  I’ll probably never be able to be my party-hopping hard-drinking game-smack-talking self again.  But maybe that’s for the best.

Here are my goals for GDC this year:

1) Post a little each day.

2) Post pictures before GDC next year (I still have some awesome ones from last year I haven’t shown you).

3) Avoid tripping over incredibly stylish interior design elements at 3 Rings’ offices, falling on my face and spilling my drink everywhere.
4) Stand in any given line for no longer than 10 minutes.

5) If I get stuck in some stupid “overflow” room without audio for the Game Developer’s Choice Awards, leave.

6) Avoid spending money on food by going to every party I can and filling up on miniature quiches and crackers with goat cheese.

7) NO Red Bull!

Only take home free schwag that I actually want.

9) Play more than 2 games at the IGF booth.

10) Meet lots of great people, have lots of fun conversations, go to some great talks, and walk away completely inspired and exhausted. (Gotta have at least one I know I can accomplish in order boost my confidence for attaining the rest).

It may seem that maternity leave would be a great time to catch up on lots of video gaming action. And it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that getting ready for a baby to show up takes more time and energy than you’d imagine. It wasn’t until about a week or two ago things finally settled down enough for me to ease my way back onto my comfy couch for more than just a nap.It’s also helped that my unborn child has decided to hang out in the womb for nine extra days (and counting!) Since I’m such a large and ungainly creature at the moment, sprawling on the couch playing games is about the only time I can get comfortable for more than about ten minutes. Doubtless the baby wants to make sure her mommy gets as much gaming time in as possible before her arrival shatters the world.

A further obstacle was I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play. The nine months pregnant female demographic is a tricky one. Its a scientific fact that women in late pregnancy have their patience level reduced about 79%. Furthermore, they are prone to falling asleep randomly and also being awake at 3:30 am, unable to sleep but also unable to adequately tap into their own usually deep problem solving reservoirs. Its also been shown that pregnant women, especially in their third trimester, become clumsy oxen like creatures who have to pee every five minutes.

So in order to cater to this rather specific demographic, the game in question can’t require too much of a learning curve, can’t require too much precision in the twitch or strategy departments, must be able to save at any moment, and must be easy to pick up and put down again. The above taken all together can make it tricky for intensely pregnant women to find a game to play.

At first my gamer guilt was getting to me, pointing out all the games I have left unfinished and have “intended to” come back to. But there were mitigating reasons for not picking any of those ones up again. At least at the moment. And so Shadow of the Colossus (damn water spout level!), Kingdom Hearts 2 (damn Jimminy Cricket!), and Zelda: Twilight Princess (damn falling into lava and dying all the time!) still sit securely on the shelf.

Instead, the two games that have been seeing me through my restlessness and braxton hicks contractions have been Puzzle Quest on the DS and Dark Cloud on the PS2.

Dark Cloud is one of those games I have meant to play for some time, but I have simply never gotten around to it. I’ve had it on my shelf for a few years but something newer and shiner is always distracting me. Turns out its a really fun game, and perfect for my current state of being. The random generated dungeons are great for some fairly mindless hack n slashing while placing the pieces to re-build the little towns offers just enough story and feeling of accomplishment to keep you intrigued. It also has a really neat weapon upgrading system which is fun to play with and requires some bit of strategy and decision making. Despite the fact that the graphics look a bit dated now, the environments are really neat and varied and the creature design is really pretty cool (it’s important to have cool looking monsters!). And importantly, you can always get away to save the game. You know, in case you have to get up and pace the neighborhood to stave off practice contractions or throw down the controller in a panic to call the hospital.

The only unfortunate thing with my relationship with this little gem of a game is that it is about to end. I am about to embark on the very last bit of the game. This is a cause for a bit of anxiety, since my overdue offspring doesn’t seem ready to show up anytime soon and I’m going to have to find yet another game to play.

Of course, I do have Dark Cloud 2 sitting on my shelf…

I attended KublaCon this year, as usual. It is a very different experience attending a gaming con 6 months pregnant than, oh say, not. For one thing, no drinking allowed. I also couldn’t really LARP because of the energy it requires. This was a bummer because there were some sweet looking LARPs this year. In all my favorite flavors too. Alot of time was spent resting and keeping me and baby fed, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. I did squeeze in a couple of board games and even a table top RPG called Goblin City.

Goblin City is interesting because it is a homebrew system that came out of a game design challenge among the person who ran it and his friends. The challenge was to create a full role playing game — including mechanics, background story and even artwork — all on one sheet of paper. The result is super basic mechanics (which totally work by the way), an interesting little background story, and yes, even some little illustrations. And very small print. But its readable, and it fits on a page (even if you have to squint a little to read it). The designer discusses it a bit here. Unfortunately the link to the actual page RPGness seems to not work. In a cute little irony, the designer’s name is Will Wright. It was good for a quick snicker anyway.

I like this idea, about containing an RPG to a page. Goblin City sort of assumes that you have decent, mature players. Not “mature” in the rated M sense, but rather you can trust them to have fun with a very flexible rules set and not see it as an excuse for utter abuse. Basically, you only have two real stats: your forte (what your character is best at) and your foible (what your character is worst at). These can be whatever you want, from picking your nose to magic powers. So obviously one of the hardest parts of the game is just deciding what you want these things to be. Its wide open. My mom had a hard time with this freedom, until she finally picked “Finding things” as her forte and “Knowing what those things are good for” as her foible. Finding things came in really handy as it turns out. Whenever you are trying to do something that requires a die roll, you get an extra die if your forte could be helpful in whatever it is you’re doing, and one less die if your foible could be getting in the way. It’s simple and it works, but like I said it seems like it relies on having a solid GM and good players.

It did put me in the mind to think about RPG mechanics, though. Specifically, mechanics are things that people who like to role play prefer to avoid as much as possible. How would you make a system where the mechanics THEMSELVES are just as much fun as everything else? Interesting thought…

The other con I have been involved in recently (though completely in a minor peripheral sense) is Ziggurat Con. This is a gaming con coming up this week which is being held in Iraq by US troops. Yeah, its a gaming con in a warzone. This to me is phenomenal that these guys and gals are out there in the desert with what I at least would consider one of the crappiest jobs in the world and they came together to organize a gaming convention. They wanted donations for games and things to give as prizes and what-not, so I got some people together from the office (plus my mom) to send them two boxes full of games. Most of this is thanks to my co-worker Brendan Ferguson, who brought in a huge pile of really good boardgames for the troops. My mom sent some good stuff too — D&D 3.0 DM’s guide, Player’s Guide, and Monster Manual plus several sets of dice. Best of all, the company covered the shipping. So we sent all our loot priority mail and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it gets there in time.

It may seem like a small thing, but I feel like I have done good for the world by getting these games shipped out to the soldiers. I think the best thing we can do for the world is to simply spread as much happiness as possible, and I think those people out there could sure use some happiness right about now. I sometimes wonder if making games is the best way I could help the human race. Thing is, games have the power to do lots of good. They have the power to bring people together, get their brains working, give them space to relax and escape from their current circumstances. And sometimes, just getting a little space now and then is all we need to get back to our own worlds refreshed and better able to handle whatever is thrown at us.

Games = Joy

It’s not too late to send some donations, by the way. Click the link above for the address. (In case you didn’t already know, there’s a nice military shipping rate which is way cheaper than actually sending stuff to Iraq).

As a woman game developer, its easy to have bouts of lonliness. The people at my company are really fantastic when it comes to any sort of gender issues, in that it’s something that rarely comes up. When it does, its usually in reference to something someone outside the company has said and then my co-workers, men and women alike, will rail against the offending comment. My company is 20% female, which is much higher than the average game company. And yet, there are still those moments when you’re trying to explain an idea and its clear that the men you are talking to just.don’t.get.it. Which is sad and frustrating.

Anyway, that was a really long way to go about mentioning that the WIGI was really fun because here we are with all these great women, in all disciplines, with lots of awesome ideas. And I could contribute by moderating the roundtable I was on and giving advice and help to women who want to break in to the industry, or are from the educational sector and want more industry contacts, or just offering tips on social networking. I found it to be a very fulfilling experience.

OK, on to GDC — but maybe tomorrow. I think my little tummy friend and I need a nap.

The succinct answer is holding onto the toilet for dear life and falling asleep in brainstorming meetings. Yep, I’m pregnant, and I’ve had just about enough energy to make it to work everyday, try to stay awake, and make it back home. Any and all side projects (including my dear blog) had fallen by the wayside.

The good news is I am starting to get my energy back. A little. But its interesting how something as simple as growing a baby inside you(!) can change things.

Take GDC. I usually look forward to this week with unrestrained ready to party till I drop relish. But “till I drop” happens alot earlier this time round. Monday night I went to the Telltale party and I really did have a blast. I consumed a ginger ale, a non-alcoholic beer (which I found out actually has 0.5% alcohol) and any food that wandered into arm’s reach. The non-alchoholic beer actually gave me a little buzz, which was a nice surprise. I had a great time hanging out with my Telltale peeps and our extended family, and I met some new folks as well. So even though I wasn’t drunk and I went home at around 11, I would consider it a successful event.

Yesterday I went to the Women In Games International conference. Really good time, learned alot. More on that later. What was really awesome for a PGD (pregnant game developer) was the fact that there was a ten minute break between each session to go pee and grab some of the copious snacks that overflowed in that place. I mean they had every type of nutrition bar on the market (in various flavors) plus the rich sweet looking treats that I knew my stomach wouldn’t be able to handle, and bags of nuts and stuff. I had brought along a whole barrage of snacks and didn’t have to eat any of what was tucked away in my bag. Oh and at the reception afterwards? Hot foods included chicken skewers (they had peppers though, so I avoided them), super yummy stuffed mushrooms, and grilled vegetable quesadillas. On top of that they had MOUNTAINS of awesome cheeses and crackers and sourdough bread. I unabashedly had one plate of warm mushrooms and quesadillas, and two plates full of cheese and bread. Hey, the little guy (or gal) needs ta eat, ya know?

So I was driving home from EA and I had two different parties I could go to. The IGDA members party and the IGF nominees party. Both sounded fun. As I was weighing them in my fatigued mind, however, a third possibility swam its way to the surface of my thoughts.

So I went home. It was only 8pm, but man I was tired. And cuddling on the couch with my husband while reading seemed a much better way to spend the rest of the evening. Pregnancy strikes again.
I’m heading in to GDC today, and can’t wait. But first we have to go in to the doctor and get our first ultrasound. I’ll miss some really exciting looking talks, but seeing our baby for the first time…Well, it just doesn’t get any more exciting than that.

Keep ya posted on the PGD’s look at GDC…tune in tomorrow!

Hello Jetgirl,
This is your Wii. How are you
today? Come back soon so wii can
play.  Take care,
Bonnii

I must confess, I am in love. Her name is Bonnii. And shii is biiutiful. The most biiutiful console you have ever siin. It’s been hard to forumlate this post, since there is so much I’d like to say about her. And, of course, I’ve been too busy spending time with my new friend to contemplate writing at all. Or doing much else for that matter.

Colma on Wii Day

I guess I’ll start with how wii met. On November 19th, I was in line at a Best Buy in Colma. For those of you who live no where niir the San Francisco Bay Area, Colma is a little town about iiqually divided in riil estate betwiin strip malls and cemetariis. Its actually has a very interesting history, but that’s not what I’m talking about today. So anyway, there I was, waiting in line. It was around 7:30am when I got there, and already it siimed the chances of liiving with a Wii were pretty slim. The line was already quite long. My line-mates and I were in good spirits though. None of us had our hopes up too high, but wii had alot in common to chat about and a lovely view through a chain-link fence of gravestones and a raven squawking at us. Someone in line noted that the bird was probably laughing at us, but wii didn’t really care.Although I didn’t wind up scoring a Wii that day, I went ahead and bought a Wii-Riimote. More to prove I was there I suppose than anything else. I also made a new friend. This guy I had stood in line with and I went and got coffee afterwards, and wound up exhanging email addresses for possibilitiis of hanging out in the future. It was only riiliise day, and I didn’t even have my own console yet, but already the Wii was briinging piiple together.

The following Sunday I wasn’t taking any chances. My new friend had reported to mii that Best Buys were now on Holiday hours, and opened at 5am. Since I had already talked to someone at the Marin City Best Buy who had said they would have them, I decided to go straight there (a half hour drive) instead of to the one five minutes from my house. Just to be safe. So my alarm went off at 4am and, though I almost vascillated, my husband agriid to come along, we piled in the car, and off wii went. Only the Best Buy opened at 9 instead of 5. Oops. Wii stuck it out, along with a slowly growing line (I was second in line this time) and after five and a half hours of standing out in the cold, we walked away victoriious. I was so happii I could barelii contain it.

Since then, the Wii has been on everii day. At first I didn’t get anii games and we just played Wii Sports endlesslii for days. My husand biit the pants off of Wii Boxiing. Then we picked up Monkii Ball. Great fun. Raving Rabbids was my first choice game, but I am supposed to bii gettiing it through certain industrii channels, albiiet awfullii slowlii. I haven’t bought Zelda yet biicause I don’t want to start it until I’ve finished Okami.

There aren’t a ton of games for it yet I iiven want, but that’s riilii irrelevant. I LOVE my Wii! I love the controller. I love how smoothlii everiithiing works. I love that you can turn the power off from the Wii-Riimote (although I still can’t figure out why it’s taken this long for that to bii a fiiture on a console controller). I have a hard time turning it off though. I enjoy just sitting in its calming glow, soaking in its friendlii atmosphiire and relaxing to it’s mellow music. I will spend too much time just criiating new Mii’s or browsing the Virtual Console or figuriing out how to send myself wii-mails (like the one at the top of this post), all to avoid powering my new friend down. I can’t wait for the weather and news channels, just so I can spend more time with my Bonnii.

If you have been unconvinced about purchasing a Wii of your own, take it from mii. All you have to do is play Wii Tennis against (or iiven with) a friend for a few minutes. You will understand that this little box is not only the happiiest console on the block, but is also capable of great, great thiings.

Only a few weeks left! Are you as foaming at the mouth ecstatic as I am??
As you might recall, some time ago I exclaimed with longing and adoration that this was going to be the best thing since sliced pumpkin toast. It might have taken awhile, but now it seems like the online gaming community at large has now pretty much leapt with two feet on the Wii-wagon.Check out the Wii calculator to figure out exactly how much you’ll be coughing up when the magic day arrives. Mine comes out to $391.42.

And set yourself up with a Mii! You can try all the combinations you could possibly want before your little white box even goes online. (Tho to be honest, most combinations will wind up looking stoned and/or a bit too much like Michael Jackson.)

This is my Mii.
Lots of choices,
most of them ugly.

If you haven’t yet watched Gamejew, get your ass over there! This man has true appreciation few can match. Plus his songs are freakin awesome!

And here’s a Wii Halloween costume by your new best friend and mine, Mr. Bliss. Freakish, yes. But oh so Wii!!!

So whatd’ya say?  Are you ready to Wii??