...in the waiting room

...Best of 2011

2012-01-27T01:47:00.002-05:00

Top 2011 Music:
Indian - Guiltless
Evile - Fire Serpent's Teeth
400 Blows - Sickness & Health
Helms Alee - Weatherhead
Rabbits - Lower Forms
Today is the Day - Pain Is a Warning
Earth - Angels of Darkness...

Top non-2011 music
Nirvana - Nevermind [20th Anniversary]
Black Breath - Heavy Breathing
A Flock of Seagulls - S/T
The Who - Quadrophenia [Reissue]
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life
Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
The Smiths - Box Set
108 -18.61
Pulp - Different Class
Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb
The B-52's - The B-52's
Janet Jackson - Control

Top 2011 Movies
Drive
The Muppets
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
American: The Bill Hicks Story
X-men: First Class
13 Assassins
The Troll Hunter
Super

Top Books I Read in 2011
Everybody Loves Out Town
Ubik
The Pixar Touch
Inside Scientology
Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
Boozehound
The World in Six Songs
Rat Salad: Black Sabbath
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
Everyone Loves You When You're Dead
A Short History of Nearly Everything

Top 2011 Games
Skyrim
Batman: Arkham City
Portal 2
Plants vs Zombies (Android)
LA Noire
Battlefield 3
Uncharted 3
Atom Zombie Smasher
The Path of Go

...All 2011 Reviews

2012-01-27T01:33:00.003-05:00

Recommended in Bold

Music:

Void - Sessions 1981-83
Obake - Obake
Indian - Guiltless

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Leviathan - Massive Conspiracy Against All Life
Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore
108 -18.61
The Who - Quadrophenia
Bauhaus - 1979-1983 Vol. 2
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream [Deluxe]Evile - Fire Serpent's Teeth
Indian - Guiltless
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life

All Else Failed - This Never Happened
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Trash Talk - Awake [EP]
The Smiths - Box Set
The Cure - The Head on the Door
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
Nirvana - Nevermind [20th Anniversary]
Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Twice Upon a Time

Today is the Day - Pain Is a Warning
Yob - Atma
400 Blows - Sickness & Health
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

A Flock of Seagulls - S/T
Helms Alee - Weatherhead
Pulp - Different Class

R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant [Deluxe]
Tom Petty - Dam the Torpedoes [Deluxe]
Wiccans - Skullduggery
These Are Powers - All Aboard Future
Iceage - New Brigade
The Psychic Paramount - Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural
Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb
The B-52's - The B-52's

The Men - Leave Home
The B52's - The B52's
Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill
Radio Control - Hot Audio
Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb
Battles - Gloss Drop
Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Cave In - White Silence
Janet Jackson - Control

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
Rabbits - Lower Forms
Earth - Angels of Darkness...
Chic - The Definitive Collection

Blacklisted - Heaver Than Heaven...

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

Ghost - Opus Eponymous

Sweet Cobra - Mercy

Blacklisted - No One Deserves to...

Iggy Pop - Kill City [Remix]

Movies:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Young Adult
The Muppets
Hugo
Drive
Cowboys and Aliens
Harry Potter 15,000
Hobo with a Shotgun
American: The Bill Hicks Story
X-men: First Class

13 Assassins
The Troll Hunter
Source Code
Super

Books:

Rat Salad: Black Sabbath
Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
Everybody Loves Out Town
Boozehound
Inside Scientology
Imbibe!
The Longevity Project
The World in Six Songs
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
Emotional Design
Drive
Ubik

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead

The Big Short

Esquire Guide to Style

The Pixar Touch
A Short History of Nearly Everything

Games:
Skyrim
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Uncharted 3
The Path of Go
Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword
Brink
Plants vs Zombies (Android)
LA Noire
Portal 2

Atom Zombie Smasher

Bulletstorm

...New City, New Job

2012-01-17T13:15:00.001-05:00

I'm in Seattle now! I start at PopCap in February.

...I have a new web site

2011-09-10T13:25:00.001-04:00

Hey I have a new website, sylvaind.com. I spent a few days making it in HTML, CSS, with a tiny bit of Javascript. The new site is mostly focused on my career so I'll keep blogging here for now. Send me any thoughts!

... Cheap new cds at Newbury comics this week

2011-06-07T18:56:00.003-04:00

...pics from the last couple months

2011-04-20T21:49:00.000-04:00

Here's some pics of recent outing. I just got back from my friend Joe's wedding in Boca Raton...so happy for them!

Trash Talk at the Middle East

Trip to Ports-mouth

Out of 20 pics I took at Karaoke, this was the only one that came out good

The weather was as good as could be expected

almost there...

Let's get started...

Joe looks just like his pops!

Will is my doppelganger taking pics on the other side

Aww

Aww (2)

Add caption

The Kiss!

You did it!

Party!

THE Dance

Tradition

On the dance floor


The food was sooo good

...some reviews of the Fender Squire Strat and Rock Band 3

2011-03-25T20:40:00.002-04:00

http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2011/03/focused-practice-redux/
http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2010/11/focused-practice-in-games/

http://www.destructoid.com/review-rock-band-3-fender-squier-guitar-controller-197063.phtml

...Download my GDC talk

2011-03-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

You can check out the presentation Jason Booth and I gave about how Harmonix created Pro Guitar in Rock Band 3 here!

...currently in sf!

2011-03-04T13:58:00.002-05:00

Here are pics from my phone...now back to the Maniac Mansion postmort.

...In San Francisco next week!

2011-02-26T13:44:00.000-05:00

I'll be in San Francisco next week attending GDC and giving a talk with my coworker Jason Booth. Excited to see old friends and eat yummy burritos! If you going to GDC come by and see my talk!

DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Wednesday 1:30- 2:30 Room 134, North Hall
DESCRIPTION: How do you go from an insane idea like Let's teach non-guitarists how to play a real guitar in ROCK BAND 3 to a genre changing product in 20 months? We will detail the process used to rapidly prototype this concept and evaluate ideas, through initial prototypes to user testing and final production. We will discuss our need to re-invent music notation for guitar, and how we applied traditional game-play metaphors and techniques to the process of teaching. We will also detail the complex interdependencies created by designing and manufacturing your own hardware, which is both freeing and terrifying at the same time. The Pro-Guitar mode in ROCK BAND 3 ended up going far beyond our original goals, and we will explore how pushing past those goals exposed inherent limitations in our model.

...Busy February!

2011-02-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

Ok January sucked and was crazy snowy. February has turned out to be pretty amazing weather and otherwise. Don't believe me? See pics for proof! I'm currently hard at work on my GDC talk for next week - updates about that soon.

New Years!:

Bryn and Naoko playing live:

Party at Dean and Christina's:

Doomriders and Sweet Cobra:

Dancing twice at Heroes Night:

Saw the end of the Freedom Trail:

...Full list of 2010 Reviews

2011-01-27T22:49:00.002-05:00

To recap here are my recommendations for 2010:

Here's the full list of everything!

Call Me Lightning - When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
Daft Punk - Discovery
Eyehategod - Dopesick
Footloose - Official Soundtrack
Grinderman - Grinderman 2
INXS - Kick
Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Squirrel Bait - Squirrel Bait
The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
Tron Legacy Soundtrack
Chambers - Old Love
Weekend - Sports
Total Abuse - Mutt
Off! - First Four Eps
Black Cobra - Bestial
Slayer - Hell Awaits
Middian - Age Eternal
Castrovalva - Castrovalva
Castrovalva - We Are Unit
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine 2010 Reissue
Girl Talk - All Day
High on Fire - The Art of Self Defense
Earth - Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction
Kylesa - Time Will Fuse Its Worth
Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow
No Age - Everything In Between
Torche - Songs for Singles
Cancer Bats - Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones
Ida Maria - Fortress 'Round My Heart
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Fugazi Live Series: Volume 1
Fugazi Live Series: Volume 2
Fugazi Live Series: Volume 4
Floor - Floor
Isis/Melvins - Split EP
David Bowie - Station to Station
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder
Against Me! - White Crosses
Trash Talk - Eyes & Nines
The Cure - Disintegration [Deluxe Edition]
David Cross - Bigger and Blackerer
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
Van Halen - 5150
Doomriders - Black Thunder
The Ghost of a Thousand - This Is Where the Fight Begins
The Method Actors - This Is Still It
Crime in Stereo - I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone
High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine
Black Breath - Razor to Oblivion
Universal Order of Armeggedon - S/T
Doomriders - Darkness Comes Alive
The Thermals - The Body, the Blood, the Machine

True Grit
Tron 2.0
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inside Job
The Social Network
Catfish
The Town
Machete

Jackass 3dPiranha 3d
Scott Pilgrim vs. the WorldBest Worst Movie
Inception
Toy Story 3
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Iron Man 2
Kick-AssA Prophet
The Crazies
Shutter Island

Books:

Dressing the Man

The Power of Eye ContactThe 4 Hour Body
How Music Works
Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga
Grifftopia
The Little Book That Beats the Market
The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet
Sex at Dawn
The Skinny on Real Estate InvestingThe 4-Hour Workweek
The Design of Design
No Country for Old Men8 Steps to a Pain free Back
Got Fight?
101 Things I Learned in Business School
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Perfecting Sound Forever
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
George Lucas Blockbusting
In Defense of Food
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

Games:

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Nba 2k11
Angry Birds
Game Dev StoryEA MMA
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Super Meat Boy
Dead Rising 2
Halo Reach
Dead Rising: Case Zero
Monday Night Combat
Limbo
Red Dead Redemption
Starcraft 2
God of War 3
Heavy Rain
Bioshock 2

...2010: My favorite music

2011-01-25T22:32:00.002-05:00

Here's a list of music I got in 2010 that I enjoyed and would recommend. Man I bought a bunch more than this but a ton of them were on the cusp of being reccomendable...Note a lot of these didn't come out in 2010:

Doomriders - Darkness Comes Alive

Dunno how I missed this in 2009 but it's pretty much what I look for in hardcore.

Floor - Floor

Imo this is even better than Torche.

Trash Talk - Eyes & Nines
Grinderman - Grinderman 2

More consistent than the first. How is it that I like this but not Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds?

No Age - Everything In Between

On here for the first 2 songs.

Black Breath - Razor to Oblivion

Yeah I realize this is from 2009 and they released an album this year. Haven't heard it yet though so it'll have to wait until next year.

Fugazi Live Series: Volume 1
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres

Ok in case you're wondering where the last 10 years of Melvins albums came from, listen to this.

Call Me Lightning - When I Am Gone My Blood Will Be Free

These guys like the Who; I like the Who.

Tron Legacy Soundtrack

Ok ignore this...I'm a big Tron fanboy.

Honorable Mentions:

...2010: My favorite movies

2011-01-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of movies I saw in the theaters in 2010 that I enjoyed and would recommend:

Inside Job

Fantastic documentary that ties together all the events and players that lead to our current economic situation.

The Social Network

David Fincher can turn most anything into a thriller.

Inception
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Black Swan
Best Worst Movie

Came out of this movie in a really good mood. It's a documentary about the culture that surrounds a movie that is really bad but really good.

Piranha 3d

This one might not be so great to watch at home, but in the theaters it was a blast.

Catfish

Documentary about a facebook relationship that was never what it seemed. Try and see this without reading anything about it.

Jackass 3d

Honorable Mention:

Machete
The Town
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shutter Island
Tron 2.0
The Crazies

...2010: My favorite games

2011-01-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of games I played in 2010 that I enjoyed and would recommend. This list does not include 2 games from my company Rock Band 3 and Dance Central that I would consider top 10 :

1. God of War 3

The most incredible, dynamic levels I've ever played.

2. Dead Rising: Case Zero

3. Dead Rising 2

4. Red Dead Redemption

Really well acted. The time period really suits open world gameplay.

5. Starcraft 2

I haven't ever played a game so many hours and sucked so bad.

6. Halo Reach

7. Game Dev Story

I love simulation games. I've always wanted a sim-game based on running a game company....

8. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

9. Monday Night Combat

10. Limbo

Honorable Mention:

Angry Birds
EA MMA
Bioshock 2

...2010: My favorite books

2011-01-09T10:59:00.001-05:00

Here's a list of books I read in 2010 that I enjoyed and would recommend. Not all of these came out in 2010 though:

Grifftopia

I haven't read as many political books this year as I have in past years for some reason. Perhaps it's because it gets me all worked up and I can't sleep. This one is a must read.

Sex at Dawn

Curious why men and women sometimes have trouble with monogamy? Why do women have multiple orgasms and men don't? Is it possible a women could change how she feels about a man when he stops wearing condoms? All these and more answered

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

The best book I've read on game design.

The Power of Eye Contact
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Someday I hope video games have a tomb of a book like this.

Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga

Ok Jimmy Page and John Bonham were big time jerks.

8 Steps to a Pain free Back
How Music Works
The 4 Hour Body
The Little Book That Beats the Market

Pretty simple way to take care of your own investments. There's even a mutual fund the writer started that does it all for you (I just invested in it).

Honorable Mention:

...excuse me, where are your hoes at?

2010-12-29T22:03:00.001-05:00

First pics from my Nexus S!

"U don know how to cookn..."

Dad doing his Al Bundy impersonation

Mom posing (post groaning)

Sis working on her present for Dad

With Verizon she actually has coverage!

Andrea and Aja in the usual spot - first flash photo

It was a giant

She didn't finish it

Love my moms

...and sis

...and myself

... and Dad

Stopped buying CDs for a week or so and got them as presents!

Aww hell no, what's up dog

"Who wants a body massage"

Happy Birthday

...

Fleamarket finds.

We went skating for Andrea's birthday. They rink lied about playing "Old School"

Edit: Extra Bonus Video:

...Android > All

2010-12-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

My Iphone died recently which really pushed up my timetable for switching to Android. It's weird going a couple weeks without a smart phone but the Nexus S has been worth the wait. Had to wake up early on my vacation and head to Best Buy though.

I went to BB 10 minutes before they opened and 5 people were already there. By the time the store opened there were 8 people. The store had only 8 units too! They didn't have T-mobile so they were only selling the Nexus S's unlocked for ~$500. I originally wanted a contract so I went about calculating what an unlocked version plus T-mobile month-to-month would mean monetarily.

Turns out by my calculations I'll be saving money after year and a half this way versus doing the $200 + more expensive contract. Btw why is it so hard to see rates online for mobile companies for phones that are already unlocked? I had to call T-mobile to find the prices out and even then the first guy didn't understand.

Pics in the next post...

...Legend of Zelda prototype

2010-12-27T09:12:00.003-05:00

Cool early version of the Legend of Zelda (NES): http://forums.lostlevels.org/viewtopic.php?t=2471

...Florida bound for the holidays

2010-12-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be down in Plantation from Dec 15 - Dec 28...Challah!

...I'm giving a GDC presentation in a few months

2010-12-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

I'll post more info in the coming weeks. Here's the synopsis: http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/12147

...Whole Lotta Jerks

2010-11-28T23:18:00.001-05:00

I just finished Hammer of the Gods. They were all pretty wild but Page and Bonham were serious dicks!

...OXM podcast

2010-11-01T22:42:00.000-04:00

I did an interview on OXM's podcast about lot's of fun stuff here.

...some misc Rock Band 3 stuff (and pics!)

2010-11-01T17:48:00.000-04:00

Check out the Boston Globe's article on Pro Guitar containing some quotes and video of me here.

Also check out the pics I took for our Credits. The first one was used in the game.

...Rock Band 3 Reviews!

2010-10-22T15:58:00.000-04:00

Have been amazing! So glad that people like our labor of love. Click the header or here to check out reviews.

My favorite quote so far:
"Rock Band 3 is as close to perfection as any game is ever likely to get..."

...Rock Band 3 and me on VH1 this weekend

2010-10-19T13:49:00.000-04:00

Haven't seen it yet but a segment was filmed here at Harmonix for VH1's Top 20 Countdown. I'll be playing Pro Guitar! If you're up ridiculously early or have a dvr check it out :)

Airtime:
Saturday 10/23 3:30am
Saturday 10/23 9am
Sunday 10/24 7:30am
Tuesday 10/26 8:30am

...these are pics from NY and Chicago trips

2010-09-20T23:14:00.001-04:00

After travelling a bunch for work the past couple months for some reason it made sense to keep on traveling this past month!

This deli in Manhattan had one of my favorite things to eat, New Herring. This is super yummy and all over Holland in the summer.

Jesus breaks if you don't keep your legs together.

The first night in Chicago Mom, Dad, and my sister went to this heavy metal burger bar/restaurant. Check out Megasus on the shelf!

No Exaggeration, the "Led Zeppelin" was one of the best burgers I've ever eaten.

Frozen custard ftw.

Can't wait till I get a better camera phone! This is Andrea and Paul about to do Karaoke - an awesome Prince rendition.

...Pro Guitar Rock Band 3 Blog and Previews

2010-09-15T22:48:00.002-04:00

A new designer blog is up. I wrote this one to provide more detail into the design and mechanics of Pro Guitar:
http://www.rockband.com/zine/rb3-features-pro-guitar

Some previews of what it's like to play Pro Guitar:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/14/rock-band-3-pro-guitar-preview-the-guitarist-vs-the-guitar-her/
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/14/rock-band-3-guitar-trainer-preview-fret-nice/
http://kotaku.com/5637998/pro-guitar-mode-makes-rock-band-3-harder-slightly-confusing-socially-redeeming

...another trailer with more Keyboard interviews

2010-09-08T09:59:00.002-04:00

...Rock Band 3 Keyboard trailer

2010-08-22T20:22:00.001-04:00

...more press previews about Keyboards

2010-08-18T20:36:00.001-04:00

Here's some links to previews about playing real keyboards and training in Rock Band 3:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/17/preview-rock-band-3-keyboard-pro-keys-and-keys-trainer/
http://rockbandaide.com/7443/rock-band-3-keys-preview/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rock-band-3-keys-preview

Read this blog post I wrote up to find out more about Keys and Pro Keys in Rock Band 3:
http://www.rockband.com/zine/rb3-features-pro-keys

Here's a video of Daniel talking keys on Xplay a G4 TV show. Drake is playing Keys behind him and I'm playing Pro Guitar:
http://g4tv.com/videos/47033/E3-2010-Mad-Catz-Interview/

...and these are the first half of 2010 recommendations

2010-08-16T19:41:00.000-04:00

The year is over half over, pretty slow for reviews... Here's what's on my list so far in reverse order from when I experienced them:

Music:
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
Trash Talk - Eyes & Nines
The Cure - Disintegration [Deluxe Edition]
The Ghost of a Thousand - This Is Where the Fight Begins
Black Breath - Razor to Oblivion
Doomriders - Darkness Comes Alive

Movies:

Best Worst Movie
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Crazies
Shutter Island

Books:
No Country for Old Men

8 Steps to a Pain free Back
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Games:

Limbo
Red Dead Redemption
Starcraft 2
God of War 3
Bioshock 2

...pics from the road

2010-08-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from various media outlet's offices:

Game Informer's game library was not surprisingly humongous.

Marcos getting down like Britney.

This would make a nice headrest on the plane.

Daniel was creeping out a couple nearby Future magazine people...

...Press stuff this coming week

2010-07-31T22:29:00.000-04:00

I'll be in LA and SF Sun-Tuesday and Minneapolis on Wed-Thursday. Telling press about your game is pretty easy when it's as good as Rock Band 3 :)

...and I took these pics at Comic-con 2010

2010-07-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

Was in Sand Diego for less than 48 hours - that's a long way to go! Next week I'll be doing the same - we're flying to LA, San Francisco, and Minneapolis and then NY for press.

Dean standing in front of our stage. There were lines all day every day waiting to play!

We started off by playing Everybody Wants to Rule the World in RB3. Then we showed off a full song in Dance Central.


Half the Crowd...

Drake said something...he talks fast...and well. Good Job Mr. Drake.

...Comic-con MTV games panel video

2010-07-27T12:43:00.001-04:00

Here's a short writeup. Pics coming soon!

Here's the video of the whole thing including us playing Tears For Fears:

...in San Diego this week?

2010-07-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

I'll be down in San Diego for the better part of Friday and Saturday. We'll be talking about Rock Band 3 and Dance Central. Come by and say hi. Here the info:

12:30-1:30 MTV Games— Harmonix have revolutionized the world of music video games with groundbreaking titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, bringing virtual rock to your living room. This year, the world's premier music video game company is set to rock the world again with Rock Band 3 and Dance Central, bringing gamers ever closer to the real thing. Join the Harmonix team for a fast-paced panel discussion, insane performances, and some fun surprises! Room 4
Categories: Games

...Harmonix takes 3 Official E3 Awards

2010-07-06T15:25:00.002-04:00

http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/winners.html

Rock Band 3 won best Social/Casual Game!

...E3 EP Party Pics

2010-06-29T21:02:00.000-04:00

Check out these really well done pics from Hal Bergman. I was pretty sick and still look alright!

...talking about Rock Band 3

2010-06-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to the latest Harmonix podcast where Pope interviews me about Rock Band 3 gameplay: http://www.rockband.com/zine/episode019

...RB3 previews stolen from Dan

2010-06-23T21:58:00.000-04:00

...E3 2010 Pics

2010-06-20T15:40:00.001-04:00

Check out our booth before everyone got there:

I managed to get a ton of pics next to the Pro Guitar display:

The Dance Central girls were loving the Beatles setup. Well one of them looked unhappy until I turned on no-fail:

The Dance Central Area has a really cool setup:

We had 3 Rock Band 3 stages - this was the smallest:

Bryn and I had 1 break the entire time, during which we took this shot:

We spent most of our time in one of the private rooms giving demos and letting people play the Pro Guitars:

Holy crap there was a lot of stuff to tear down:

And at the end there was a party on the roof of the Standard where we stayed. My coworkers jumped in the pool and caused mayhem. I pretty much just went to bed as I was sick all week!

...pic from a video from a web site of me on a day in a place

2010-06-13T18:18:00.004-04:00

Oh cool, a newer video has been posted:

...Rock Band 3 in USA Today

2010-06-10T11:41:00.001-04:00

They have a long video in which I'm interviewed here about Rock Band Pro:

More articles:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/06/rock-band-3-the-songs-announced-so-far-/1

http://kotaku.com/5559801/rock-band-3-teaches-you-to-rock-with-real-guitars--keyboards?skyline=true&s=i

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/10/rock-band-3-keyboard-revealed-by-usa-today/

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/10/rock-band-3-keyboard-revealed-looks-like-a-keyboard/

...I want to learn to drum like this

2010-06-05T10:49:00.002-04:00

...the feel of Halo 3 versus Modern Warfare

2010-05-15T23:09:00.001-04:00

So I've been playing the Halo: Reach beta lately. While playing I was reminded me of a conversation I had with a Bungie employee a few months after the release of Modern Warfare.

He asked me what I thought of MW and after a few minutes of discussion I said something like "I feel like I am good when I play Modern Warfare but when I play Halo I often feel like I suck." He asked why I thought that was and I at the time I didn't have a good answer. Playing Halo: Reach reminded me of this and got me thinking about this again. Sorry that this isn't exactly topical but I seem to never let a question go until I have some kind of answer for it :)

Here are some facets to the games that made MW more of a general positive multiplayer experience to low-level player like me than Halo 3:

The Time it takes to kill enemies

Relative to MW, players in Halo 3 multiplayer can take a lot of damage from weapons before they die. I am told high-level players really enjoy this aspect as it leads to prolonged encounters. For low-level players however it often feels like good planning and positioning matter much less than your ability to keep your reticule on an opponent. I often come up with a good plan that allows me to flank my opponents rear, only to have them turn around and blow me away. This even happens when I join another teammate who is currently engaged with a high-level player.

Weapon and equipment acquisition

In MW, players choose the weapons and abilities they are going to use before they start the map. MW players can also change this loadout whenever they die. Players know what they are going to use while in the level and can change their strategy as they choose. It is easy to experiment with different weapons and abilities until you find a combination that works for your style.

In Halo 3, weapons are spawned at designer-specified locations on the map at specific intervals. This style of gameplay skews kills towards players with good map knowledge and familiarity of weapon behaviors. Learning the ins-and-outs of each map and weapon takes time investment and isn't necessarily transferable between maps.

The player leveling system

Halo 3 has a player skill system that is based on Trueskill. As you play games and win or lose, your ranking number can increase or decrease depending on the rank of who you are playing and how you do. There is also playlist specific experience values denoted visually by icons. The iconography, while a little vague, never goes down in rank.

MW has an experience number for players that only goes up. The better you do in a session, the faster it grows towards the next number. Each level brings with it new abilities or weapons that the player can choose to use. Underneath the hood, MW does have a system for smart matchmaking (Trueskill?) but this number is not outward facing. As a low-level player, I find this system of only positive rewards much more fulfilling.

Just for fun I decided to take a look at the last time I played Halo 3 online: here. This is very typical of matches I've played in Halo 3. The top 2 players have around double the kills of the other 3 people on the team which seems pretty typical. I have more assists than kills which was pretty common.

...look what I just bought

2010-05-13T21:59:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I just re-bought these 3 albums. 20 years ago I had all these on tape :)

...New Yacht Rock

2010-05-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

After 2 years, finally a new episode of Yacht Rock:

...First Karaoke of the year pics

2010-04-02T23:29:00.000-04:00

A bunch of us got a room at Do Re Mi for some serious singing.

Guess the song!

BChan's first ever karaoke song.

All together now!

Fin.

...Pax East

2010-04-02T23:22:00.001-04:00

Dan, Casey, Brian, Chris and I had a Harmonix designer panel at Pax East. Around 800 people came to see it.

I took this right before we started.

...Rock Band 3

2010-03-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

Has been announced for Holiday 2010!

...interesting insight into the structure behind successful movies

2010-02-28T10:36:00.001-05:00

http://www.screenplaymastery.com/structure.htm

...Hell Yeah (Caught Up In You)

2010-02-09T18:26:00.000-05:00

...Late 2009 Pics

2010-02-07T16:42:00.003-05:00

Mom's brisket - if you don't like brisket, you haven't tried this.

Christmas party pics.

Birthday cake and dinner. Yummy lobster.

The Jesus Lizard!

Best Arcade left in America? Funspot - the place where records are broken....

I finally got a comfy couch. But it's leather and huge! Problem solved - got a cover and rearranged the living room. Combine that with my new home theater and my place is a good place to relax again.

Recently got back from a work trip. Check out this crazy-nice hotel room...

Sara had a birthday party too...

...My Best Movies of 2009

2010-02-01T21:51:00.003-05:00

Top 5:
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Anvil
3. Food Inc.
4. Avatar (3d)
5. Up

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are
Zombieland
Moon
Gomorra

All my 2009 reviews are here.

...My Best Books of 2009

2010-01-29T22:59:00.003-05:00

Actually ~~strike that~~...these are the top books I read in 2009. I barely read anything that came out in this year :)

Top 5:
The Road
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
Understanding Comics

Honorable Mention:
The Wisdom of Crowds
Anticancer: A New Way of Life
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers
Power of 10: The Once-A-Week Slow Motion Fitness Revolution

All my 2009 reviews are here.

...My Best Music of 2009

2010-01-25T21:58:00.003-05:00

Top 5:
1. Coalesce - Ox (not the EP)
2. Converge - Axe to Fall
3. Ladyfinger(ne) - Dusk
4. Kylesa - Static Tensions
5. The Horrors - Primary Colours

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Megasus - Megasus
The Beatles - The Beatles in Mono (Box Set)
Nirvana - Bleach (Remastered)
Baroness - Blue Record
Lightning Bolt - Early Delights
Nirvana - Live at Reading
The Jesus Lizard - Head (Remastered)
Yob - The Great Cessation
Zu - Carboniferous
Gallows - Grey Britain
Trash Talk - Trash Talk
Rumplestiltskin Grinder - Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
The Bronx - The Bronx 3

All my 2009 reviews are here.

...My Best Games of 2009

2010-01-14T20:56:00.002-05:00

Top 5:
1. Batman Arkham Asylum
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
3. Uncharted 2
4. UFC Undisputed
5. 'Splosion Man

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Pixeljunk Shooter
Assasins Creed 2
Trials HD
Fifa 10
Peggle (Iphone)
Shadow Complex
Resident Evil 5
Death Tank

I'm not including 2 games I worked on that I think were great, The Beatles: Rock Band and Rock Band Unplugged :)

All my 2009 reviews are here.

...All Reviews for 2009

2010-01-10T15:37:00.003-05:00

Here are all the books, games, and music I got in 2009. I'll post my best of lists in a few days.

Recommended items in Bold.

Music:
Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
Baroness - Blue Record
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Coalesce - Ox (EP)
Slayer - World Painted Blood
Jemina Pearl - Break It Up
Working For a Nuclear Free City - Businessmen & Ghosts
The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers
Lightning Bolt - Early Delights
Tides - Giant
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
AC/DC - Backtracks
Hall & Oats - The Essential Darryl Hall & John Oats
Converge - Axe to Fall
Nirvana - Bleach (Remastered)
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Danzig - Danzig
Nirvana - Live at Reading
The Jesus Lizard - Head (Remastered)
LCD Soundsystem - 45:33
The Beatles The Beatles in Mono (Box Set)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Legacy - Beyond Hurt Beyond Hell
Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers of Romance
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Yob - The Great Cessation
Zu - Carboniferous
Coalesce - Give Them Rope She Said V2.0
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (Special Edition)
Coalesce - Ox
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Tweak Bird - Reservations
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Gallows - Grey Britain
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today
Trash Talk - Trash Talk
Death - ...For the Whole World to See
Ladyfinger(ne) - Dusk
Kylesa - Static Tensions
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair
Rumplestiltskin Grinder - Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
Megasus - Megasus
Portishead - Third
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
The Swell - Tonnage
Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
The Bronx - The Bronx 3

Movies:
An Education
Avatar (3d)
The Road
Where the Wild Things Are
A Serious Man
Capitalism: A Love Story
Zombieland
It Might Get Loud
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Humpday
Moon
The Hurt Locker
Food Inc.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Public Enemies
Tokyo
Up
Tyson
The Hangover
Drag Me to Hell
Star Trek
Anvil
Crank High Voltage
I Love you Man
Watchmen
Gomorra
The Wrestler

Books:
The Wisdom of Crowds
David Cross - I Drink For a Reason
Anticancer: A New Way of Life
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
The Cartoon Guide to Physics
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
Power of 10: The Once-A-Week Slow Motion Fitness Revolution
Game Feel
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008
Fretboard Logic
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Understanding Comics
The Road
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
Hip: The History

Games:
Pixeljunk Shooter
Assasins Creed 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Fifa Soccer 10
Uncharted 2
Demon's Souls
Madden 10
Halo ODST
Batman Arkham Asylum
Trials HD
Peggle (Iphone)
Shadow Complex
'Splosion Man
Battlefield 1943
Ghostbusters
UFC Undisputed
Fallout 3
Resident Evil 5
Death Tank

...Bioshock AI Q&A with Dean Tate

2010-01-04T15:24:00.003-05:00

Dean Tate is a Senior Designer at Harmonix. Immediately previous to his time here at Harmonix Dean worked on Bioshock and Bioshock 2 - specifically working on AI and level design. Seeing an opportunity, I decided to have a Q&A with Dean. The questions here primarily focus on Bioshock's AI and their integration Bioshock's levels - I think this aspect was particularly well done in Bioshock. I hope you enjoy peeling back the curtain a bit to see how it was done and what was learned.

Sylvain: How much of the AI in Bioshock is scripted versus autonomous?

Dean: A great deal of our AI was scripted but we worked really hard to somewhat mask that fact. In a lot of games, it can be really obvious when an AI is scripted versus when an AI is systemic. This is something we really wanted to avoid. In a lot of cases, this just meant exercising some restraint; one thing that can make scripted AIs appear to very obviously be scripted is when they display some whacky behaviour that you never see the systemic AIs use. So for example, Splicer AIs in Bioshock take cover, but they don't use cover animations. So we avoided having situations where the player would enter a room and AIs would be scripted to be laying in wait behind cover and then pop out and attack. We wanted consistent behavior between our systemic and scripted AIs.

We also worked really hard to blur the line between 'scripted' and 'systemic'; our AI scripting system, with enough designer crafting and tweaking, could very gracefully handle having an AI that is scripted become systemic without players noticing the transition. It also allowed players to intervene and affect when that transition occurs. Dealing damage to an AI for example to stop it from continuing down it's scripted path. I think everyone on the level scripting teams took great strides to use this ability to great effect and avoid crafting situations that were very obviously scripted. Scenes that occur behind bullet-proof glass, for example.

Sylvain: What kind of high-level (and low level) systems were used for AI thinking? How did you interact with the system (did you manipulate data or edit script logic or just go into code)?

Dean: I didn't touch the low-level code at all, which was all handled by our AI Programming Lead, John Abercrombie. A lot of our AI system was hard coded; things like how our ecology functioned and how AIs viewed each other, AI abilities and weapons functionality and behaviour, etc. Getting those things right was just a process of heavy collaboration and back and forth iteration. At a level above that, I had access to and could tweak all of the numbers that affected discrete AI behaviors. Things like AI movement parameters, attack parameters (how often an AI attacks, how far from the player it tries to remain, under which conditions it will initiate different attack and movement behaviors or weapons, etc). I did all of this by manipulating data in text files. Very high tech stuff (snort). Experimenting with changes to an AIs behaviors was quite a laborious affair that involved (if I remember right):

-Opening the correct text file

-Finding where I wanted to make a change to the text file data, and then saving the file

-Closing the file

-Running our level editor, and opening up one of my AI testing levels

-Tweaking a set of scripts so that they're spawn the correct AI (the one I had changed) when the level ran

-Baking the level content and data changes to a testkit

-Testing my changes to see if the desired effect had been attained, often while making sure a bunch of debug info was being displayed so I could be sure I was seeing the effects of my changes.

-Rinse, repeat

Each of these steps was important. For example, if I made a change to a parameter in the text file and then forgot to save and then close the text file before testing the change, the change would not take effect (I remember this because I made this mistake all the time!).

Things could and would often go wrong, and I'd need to repeat the entire process. I also sometimes ran into what I called "Placebo Parameters": parameters that were supposed to effect AI behaviors, but that in fact hadn't been hooked up yet in code (or, more often, weren't working because of a newly introduced bug). I'd tweak the value over and over again, checking the effect it had on the AI's behavior, stroking my chin and thinking "that didn't seem to make a difference...", tweaking the value some more, working towards getting the desired effect, before finally realizing "Hey! This isn't actually doing anything!" The lesson learned was that when a programmer gives you a new value to tweak, you should first set it to a minimum or maximum value and test it out; then, you can be sure it is doing what it is supposed to do.

And then, at a level above my base behavior editing and tweaking, level designers had some control over AIs through the use of our scripting system. The ability to initiate or cancel specific behaviors, toggle behaviors on and off, give AIs movement and navigation orders, etc.

Sylvain: Wow that's quite a long process for each change! How did you deal with changing an AI's behavior and making sure that it didn't mess up how they worked in all the other areas of the game?

Dean: It was quite a laborious process. When you're making incremental changes to any system, you want to make one change at a time, test it, make another small adjustment, test it again...making large sets of changes all at once makes it much harder to catalogue the effects of each individual change.

Making sure that changes didn't have unexpected knock-on affects was tough. Whenever large sets of changes were made I needed to make sure that our QA and Design teams were well aware of the changes and kept an eye out for abberent behaviors. Designers would focus on making sure any scripted sequences they had already implemented didn't become broken (thankfully, this didn't happen often) and QA would make sure that interactions between our AIs and other game systems (weapons, plasmids, etc) didn't become broken.

Sylvain: What kind of perceptual model did the AI use? What were the main parameters you had control of?

Dean: Wow, I'm remembering some pretty old stuff here. It's been years since the game was released, so I hope this is all accurate. To the best of my knowledge, it is.

The most interesting fact about our perceptual model is that Big Daddies are essentially deaf and blind. They have very little need for any sort of perceptual model up until the point that they have a target to attack. If that target is the player, than they will employ vision if they lose sight of the player; however, their vision is essentially 360 degrees and very long range, so basically if they lose the player they'll try to get within line of sight and then continue to attack. So if you think it's hard to lose a Big Daddy once it has started attacking, now you know you're not just imagining it.

Sylvain: I'm assuming then that they has a simple timeout after which they stop looking for you?

Dean: That's right. If I remember correctly, once a Big Daddy has chosen a target to attack, it won't return to a neutral state until the target is dead (this includes the player). Splicers are different. They will pursue a target they have lost sight of, and eventually lose interest and return to a neutral state. This happens after a timeout period that kicks in once the AI has lost sight of the target and then traveled to the target's last known location (AIs hold absolute knowledge of a target's location for a few seconds after they lose sight of it)

Our splicers used a perceptual model that is extremely similar in design to that used in other Irrational and Looking Glass games such as System Shock 2 and Thief, only tuned differently. Splicers are much more aware in general than their counterparts in those games, and when it comes to vision, hiding in shadows is much less effective for the player (splicers will have a harder time spotting you than when you're out in the open, but not to the degree that they do in, say, in Theif 2).

To go into a little more detail, splicers rely heavily on vision. They have near and far forward facing vision cones that have quite a narrow arc. If the player falls within these cones, it'll take the splicer some time to notice their presence. The amount of time is based on factors such as lighting, as mentioned, and the amount of the player's body that is obscured. The splicer will notice the player more quickly if the player is within their near vision cone, and longer if the player is standing within the far vision cone.

Splicers also have peripheral vision cones. They have peripheral vision in an almost 180 degree forward facing arc. If a splicer sees the player in their periphery, they will exclaim "Hey what's that!" and turn to face the player, putting the player squarely in their forward facing vision, giving them a chance to actually spot the player and then attack, unless the player reacts quickly enough to duck out of view before this happens. This was a tricky thing to balance; we wanted our AIs to be much more aware than in previous games, but still wanted situations to occur where it didn't feel like they were so absolutely aware of the player's presence at all times that there was no middle ground between "neutral" and "attacking" (for example, it didn't feel good to have a splicer immediately attack a player that it had spotted in its periphery).

Splicers also have backwards facing vision cones. If you sneak up behind a splicer, it won't hear you coming; it'll literally see you coming, because it has eyes in the back of it's head. This is spooky as hell and you will now have trouble sleeping tonight.

The tricky task I had in tuning splicer vision cones was in hitting some numbers that worked well in most situations across our game. All of Bioshock's levels are quite different from each other, and there is much environmental variation; large spaces, cramped spaces. Brightly lit caverns and dimly lit closets.

Finally, sound and hearing played a lesser role in splicer perception. Sounds could be tagged as "investigative" and given a radius. If a splicer hears one of these sounds, and it's source is in LOS, they will turn to face it, at which point they're relying on their vision cones to spot a possible target. If they hear one of these sounds and it's source is out of LOS, they will path to its location while always facing the source, and again, vision becomes key.

Sylvain: How did you handle spawning of enemies that wander around the world?

Dean: Bioshock levels are chopped up into regions, each of which has a desired population level that is split along the ecology lines; protectors (Big Daddies) and aggressors (Splicers). That desired population level is in most cases satisfied with scripted spawns or initial spawns when the player first enters the region; the player will enter the region, and it'll then be filled with AIs that spawn at designer-specified points and then do what they're told; either designers tell them to follow some scripted behavior, or the AI will do something systemic. Splicers will patrol (patrol points and paths are designer crafted), Big Daddies will seek out Little Sister vents, and then escort their Little Sister to dead bodies that hold Adam. We called these bodies "booty". Booty can be designer placed, or be dynamically spawned when a splicer dies.

When a region's population drops below the desired level, our population manager takes over. It'll wait a designer-specified amount of time before spawning in new enemies, and it'll spawn them at points which the level designer has specified. These points hold a bunch of variables that designers can change; enemy archetypes spawned, the chance for each type to spawn, and patrol path assignment. The system is actually quite simple, and very similar again to the spawning manager used in System Shock 2. Designers could tune spawning manager variables for each level, and for each region in a level; so there can be regions that have a high respawn rate, or a low respawn rate, differing population levels, etc. We used this to make some areas feel more dangerous or "busy" than others. Because every level designer could tailor-tune the system for their own specific level, we needed to develop some ground rules and best practices to ensure the system was somewhat consistent game-wide.

Sylvain: Did you have any strategies to avoid enemies killing each other when the player wasn't nearby or was this not an issue?

Dean: I'm a little iffy on the exact details of the LOD system we had in place (LOD stands for Level of Detail). I think it was something quite simple: AIs would deactivate their attack behaviors if they fell outside of a certain range of the player. The design also didn't really allow for random battles to break out amongst AIs unless the player was already close-by; in fact I don't think they can break out randomly. This could happen at some point reeeeeally early in development, and it basically created mayhem and chaos and an ecosystem that was impossible for players to understand. They would always end up coming across either battles in progress between Big Daddies and Splicers, or, much worse, rooms full of dead bodies. The former was bad because it made it very difficult to telegraph to players that Big Daddies only attack when provoked (which had been something quite unheard of in this genre), and the latter was worse because it made encounter pacing an impossible task for designers.

Sylvain: Finally, how did the AI evolve through the project and what lessons did you learn?

Dean: Our AIs evolved massively over the course of the project, though the basic archetypal foundation of each individual AI remained intact almost from day one; the grenadier (Nitro Splicer), assassin (Houdini Splicer), ranged aggressor (SMG Splicer, Pistol Splicer), melee aggressor (Melee Thug), the gatherer (Little Sister), the protectors (Big Daddies); we settled on the behavioral basics of each of these guys very early on, and then over the course of the project iterated on the details of their behaviors massively.

The Big Daddies are a good example of this. Early on, we intended to make these guys hulking, lumbering masses of muscle and power, and we stuck to this goal quite literally for a very long time. Their movements were very slowly, they had delayed reactions, were easily outran, their attacks were hugely damaging but had a long windup period, etc. As the game evolved from a slow-paced stat driven fps/RPG (that's rpg IN ALL CAPS!...fps in low caps...) into Shooter 2.0 I pushed to make our Big Daddies much more agile and reactive once they had become aggressive. I wanted there to be a clear difference between "neutral and mellow" and "angray!". I really enjoyed seeing player reactions to the huge behavioral switch that came when a Big Daddy decided that it needed to defend its Little Sister. "OH GOD, I THOUGHT THEY WERE SLOW!" players would scream, as a Bouncer smashed into their face with the speed of a freight-train, or a Rosie became impossible to outrun.

Another example of design aimed at "sticking to your base and iterating on the details" is the grenadier (AKA the Nitro Splicer); we knew early on that we wanted an AI that threw explosive projectiles. That was the basic design (and totally original, right guys?). As time went on, we layered more interesting behaviors and system interactions on top of this design base to make this AI more interesting; the grenadier gained the ability to throw Molotovs, to drop smoke grenades like chaff when retreating, and let loose a devastating kamikaze attack. Players could also catch their grenades by using the telekinesis plasmid.

Starting with a simple yet strong design base was I think in the end a very smart move (I'm not taking credit either; I very much worked on the details of each AI, but came into the project once they already had a strong base laid out). Though the basic design for each AI archetype wasn't exactly imaginative or completely original, we managed to create something fresh with each archetype by living in the details. This meant little wasted work. In fact, we shipped with almost every AI archetype that was originally conceived and designed, bar one Big Daddy archetype that made it very far into production before being cut; though you may see him re-appear sometime in the future, *wink*.

I'd like to point out one interesting thing that came out of the design process; these days, a lot of good AI design is focused on ensuring that AI states and behavioral intent is fed back to the player clearly, usually through the use of VO. Basically, AIs will scream out to the player what it is they intend to do. "I'm hiding!" or "Here comes a grenade!" or "Take cover!" or "Flank him!" or whatever. Our AI VO writer (and Audio Director) (and fellow Australian) (and my best mate!) Emily Ridgway pushed against this idea from very early on. She made the stylistic and creative choice to use our AI VO to help sell the idea that each splicer is a twisted, ruined husk of a person. A lost mind overtaken by dementia, paranoia and confusion. They're not battle-hardened soldiers employing military tactics against the player; they're lost and scared and want you to go away. And so, when writing lines for our splicers, she made the conscious decision not to have them clearly state their behavioral intentions. This was met with quite a bit of resistance, which I'm glad wasn't successful. I'm quite happy with the idea that in Bioshock, you never quite know what a splicer is thinking or planning...

I feel like I should end my response to this question with one big overarching "lesson-learned".

Let me think...

I know!

If you're going to end your game with a fight against a giant naked bronze man, you better really mean it.

...wow what a year

2009-12-31T11:50:00.001-05:00

One of the best years I think I've ever had. I'll have some new posts coming soon. Stuff to come:

- Pics from the last few months
- Q&A with Dean Tate (Senior Designer at Harmonix)
- Best of 2009 posts

...Fugazi will be here all week

2009-12-03T10:22:00.001-05:00

Amazing link for Fugazi fans - here.

...DFA...

2009-11-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

I miss this band...

death from above 1979

K A W A N | MySpace Video

...for 10 years

2009-11-19T13:20:00.000-05:00

I just realized last night I've been making games for 10 years this month!

...Harmonix on Jeopardy

2009-11-05T12:54:00.002-05:00

...Harmonix voted #3 place to work in the Globe 100

2009-11-05T09:43:00.003-05:00

...Daily Show

2009-10-13T09:43:00.000-04:00

This segment was awesome last night:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/13/daily-show-destroys-cnn-f_n_318295.html

...RIP Ron

2009-10-04T18:10:00.002-04:00

1999-2009

...P-town

2009-09-28T17:01:00.000-04:00

Went to Provincetown in Cape Cod with Allison this weekend. What a cool place. She found an awesome room with a fireplace in the middle of town for really cheap.

...and I had lobster mac n' cheese.

...Director's Cut Pics

2009-09-10T22:21:00.000-04:00

By request:

...Amsterdam and Berlin pics

2009-09-08T18:50:00.000-04:00

It was a pain in the ass getting there but it was worth it! Here's some pics from Amsterdam and Berlin:

Yummy...I ate a lot...

I tried to make my best "Bro" face...

I work with one of the 2 guys in this band. I saw the poster at the huge flea market in Berlin.

This bear gets around...

Actual piece of the wall with recreated art...

If I lived in Berlin I'd go here ALL THE TIME.

...and then I'd wind up here.

This guy stood up quite a bit on our bus trip around Berlin. I was determined to take more interesting pics than he did by getting him in my shots...

Mom and Sis walking the streets of Amsterdam...

...More Beatles press

2009-09-03T09:49:00.000-04:00

Possibly the most positive review I've read for a game, and definitely the best for a game I made:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/arts/television/06schi.html?_r=2&hp

(btw - Amsterdam Berlin pics coming soon)

...I am a Jelly Donut

2009-08-14T03:29:00.001-04:00

In Berlin now...pics to come when I get back...

...whoa, John Hughes ruled...

2009-08-07T12:17:00.000-04:00

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

...It's been an awesome summer so far

2009-08-02T19:18:00.000-04:00

Just got back from roller skating and then berry picking...I've done so many cool things these last few months:

Clambake on George's Island
Much house parties
AC/DC in Gillette Stadium for Free!
Going to see the Red Sox
Mike Runy's Wedding in NC

See the pics below. I go to Amsterdam soon for two weeks! And in one month, The Beatles: Rock Band.

...Cheaper Beatles: Rock Band

2009-07-16T10:54:00.000-04:00

Friends, here's a relatively cheap way to get The Beatles: Rock Band. Hurry only a couple days left:

- Trade in $50 worth of games
- Get a 50% coupon
- Use both to get the bundle for cheap

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_84701651_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000395991&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-2&pf_rd_r=0JRDXK5EMQEGKQRBWYKZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=482460011&pf_rd_i=979418011

...Reviews for 2009

2009-06-28T02:29:00.000-04:00

Here's a running list of what stuff I'm checking out this year. Recommended items in Bold.

Music:
The Beatles The Beatles in Mono (Box Set)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Legacy - Beyond Hurt Beyond Hell
Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers of Romance
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Yob - The Great Cessation
Zu - Carboniferous
Coalesce - Give Them Rope She Said V2.0
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall (Special Edition)
Coalesce - Ox
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Tweak Bird - Reservations
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Gallows - Grey Britain
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today
Trash Talk - Trash Talk
Death - ...For the Whole World to See
Ladyfinger(ne) - Dusk
Kylesa - Static Tensions
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair
Rumplestiltskin Grinder - Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
Megasus - Megasus
Portishead - Third
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
The Swell - Tonnage
Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
The Bronx - The Bronx 3

Movies:
It Might Get Loud
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Humpday
Moon
The Hurt Locker
Food Inc.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Public Enemies
Tokyo
Up
Tyson
The Hangover
Drag Me to Hell
Star Trek
Anvil
Crank High Voltage
I Love you Man
Watchmen
Gomorra
The Wrestler

Books:
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
The Cartoon Guide to Physics
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
Power of 10: The Once-A-Week Slow Motion Fitness Revolution
Game Feel
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008
Fretboard Logic
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Understanding Comics
The Road
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
Hip: The History

Games:
Batman Arkham Asylum
Trials HD
Peggle (Iphone)
'Splosion Man
Battlefield 1943
Ghostbusters
UFC Undisputed
Fallout 3
Resident Evil 5
Death Tank

...Harmonix Designer Emails (#2)

2009-06-20T10:48:00.000-04:00

Dan Teasdale

Welcome to the designer email thread, Mr. Brian Chan! In honor of him joining the thread, I have a topic that he might have some idea on how to solve:

Item Hoarding

As a collector, I find myself hoarding powerful weapons and never using them "in case I need them later". I did it with airstrikes in Mercs 2, I did it with nukes in Fallout, and there's probably a bunch of games that I've repressed doing it in.

Is this good? Is this bad? How do you think designers can solve this, or at the very least balance a game where people won't use the most powerful weapons?

Brian Chan

Thanks, everyone, for presenting me with such a warm welcome. I'm looking forward to learning a great deal from all of you. And thanks, Dan, for asking me something I can actually answer (I'm still in that muddle of new terminology and culture shock that comes with switching workplaces [and cities]).

When a player finishes a game with "leftover" items, it can be either a positive or negative indication. On the positive side, the leftover items suggest that the game presents choices, with the items representing the path not taken. If players vary as to their leftover items, even better-the game presents meaningful choices and allows for alternate solutions. On the negative side, leftover items might signify poor communication to player of item utility or scarcity. That is, the player might not have used the item because he or she didn't understand its value or how common or rare it was.

The problem is summarized by the notion that, if players cannot experiment, then they cannot plan. By providing safety nets for experimentation (and failure), designers can discourage item hoarding.

I like when a game provides the player with some sort of consequence- free sandbox in which to "try before you buy." Often, games do this via gated tutorials. In a game where balancing is achieved via scarcity or resource cost, it's nice to give the player "freebies" so as to whet their appetite. And, if an item is a higher- magnitude version of another item the player is already familiar with, then this fact should be made abundantly clear to the player.

A few games solve the scarcity problem without sacrificing balancing- by basing the economics on (easily) renewable resources. In Bioshock, I don't mind testing out new plasmids because EVE is relatively plentiful. In World of Warcraft, all resources can be translated into time, which is a resource that the game's players don't seem to mind spending prodigiously.

Chris Foster

I thought I came to Harmonix after past jobs strategy games and MMO's so that I didn't HAVE to think about balancing uber items of destruction!

I can think of a few tools to balance hoarding versus wanton nuke-spamming: consequences, limitations and scarcity.

Consequences are ways to say that using a superweapon isn't all wonderfulness and smiting, but that there are potentially painful tradeoffs at work. If a super item is going to create lasting negative faction somewhere in your game, or hurt your character/base while crippling someone else's, then you can make people think more strategically about its use.

Limitations are ways to make sure a superweapon isn't always useful in every situation. I think there are a bunch of limitations that aren't appropriate here, since if a weapon is too limited, it's by definition NOT super. I'd be more interested in limits that make the weapon harder to use but no less potent, such as a missile that is slow moving and therefore somewhat easier to avoid, or a weapon that requires prolonged manual control to hit its target in the most destructive manner possible.

Scarcity is a double-edged sword, as Brian called out. Having plentiful resources in your game, but a significant cost for the best weapons, can be a pretty potent balancing factor. You can see this in everything from Civilization to Death Tank. (And if you haven't played Death Tank multiplayer, stop reading this and play it now.)

Dan Teasdale

I'm going to channel a conversation Sylvain and I had after I sent the email, and in turn steal his thunder. Hopefully I'll misrepresent it and he can come in and make it sound more awesome.

So, the biggest problem I have isn't on the spamming end - making something less appealing to use is kinda easy. My problem is when things are so powerful in a way that's not a direct tie to my standard weapons, with the direct example being airstrikes in Mercs. I'll swap my normal weapons up to the most powerful instantly, but I'll hardly ever launch airstrikes unless:
* I've cornered myself in a save and have nothing else to use
* The game forces me as part of a mission objective

Sylvain then brought up Halo, which solves this problem so elegantly that I didn't even realise they'd solved it. Essentially, restricting you to two weapons means you can never hoard a weapon. If you get a superweapon, your incentive to use it is that you'll be able to pick up another weapon soon, so you'll happily spend the small amount of resources.

Thinking forward to Fallout 3, they end up in this weird mushy area. You have your inventory, and when it's full you'll start burning through some of the cooler things in order to make room for other cool things. The problem with that though is that there's still enough room to carry lots of weapons, so the "superweapons" you're burning are things like medical supplies and stimulants.

(As a side note: It's unnerving how many pacing and design problems Halo solved compared to how revolutionary people think of it as being - especially so considering how much designers didn't enjoy it past the first few levels (myself included). Say what you want about the level design issues in the second half or the cookie-cutter narrative, but things like balancing health for encounters rather than levels, or getting players to experience more cool things by reducing their amount of choice, these things have ended up changing how people balance all types of games.

Funnily enough, designers never give Bungie never credit for it because of the other issues in the game. At the same time, Half-Life did the exact same thing but flipped (standard mechanics, amazing narrative innovations) but it's the game that people reference in terms of the turning point of FPSes. For mechanics designers, it's mildly depressing food for thought :) )

Chris Foster

While waiting for Sylvain to take back what's rightfully his, I'll chime in with this observation.

Your Halo anecdotes remind me that good game mechanics are really like good film editing. When I studied film in college, one thing that was hammered into me is that bad editing -- like an jump-cut, or someone facing left talking across the room to someone who's supposed to be looking at them but is ALSO facing left -- immediately draws attention to itself. However, good editing is invisible editing; it works so well that no one realizes it's working, and all of its subtle emotional and psychological manipulations occur while no one is looking.

When a game mechanic does exactly what is necessary to produce fun, then it's likely that no one will notice that the mechanics are even there; they're too busy having fun. And while that can be a little tough on the designer's ego, remember that the flipside is someone calling you out for your BAD design decisions. I'll call it a fair trade.

Sylvain Dubrofsky

Thanks Dan! I realize at this late hour that the deadline for this email is tomorrow and you typed up a lot of stuff I immediately thought of from my own gaming experience so I won't have to lose too much sleep :)

I remember finishing Half-life 1 having used primarily pistol and crowbar throughout the game. I had all this ammo left over for all these cool weapons that I barely used. The same thing happened with RE 4. I must have had 30 grenades when I finished that game!

Halo had a nice natural solution for the problem. As an aside I am a fan of the series (especially Halo 1 and 3) and think the innovations the game generated are often overlooked - primarily: checkpoint saves, dedicated melee and grenade buttons, 2 weapon slots, dual wielding, regenerative health and the FPS-style driving controls.

I agree with the Brian in the previous email that I prefer getting each new weapon (or any item really) in an environment where I can freely experiment with it - AND that fact is made clear to me. Also agree with Chris that Death Tank rules :) I find if I get too many weapons in Death Tank I get overwhelmed so I tend to only concentrate on 3 or 4 powers at a time.

The biggest improvement in this area was a personal change. I've changed my tune since I was younger and started "trusting" developers more. By this I mean that I will now use my best/funnest weapons first and trust I will continue to get ammo drops such that I won't be stuck with just my pistol and melee weapon. This trust worked very well in Half-life 2 - they had very well paced ammo caches and the tension of getting low with my best weapons had a nice release when I found the next cache of ammo.

...E3 2009 Mega Post

2009-06-10T22:10:00.000-04:00

E3 2009 was amazing. Started out by watching the Microsoft Press Conference with the other Harmonix employees in our lunch room. We all knew all the Beatles would be represented onstage and that we would have HMX employees demoing the game live. It went over really well:

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/launch.php

An hour later I hopped in a plane for LA and showed off the game to press and fans for 3 days straight. I have sung those 10 Beatles songs enough to last a lifetime now! And I still can't nail the low harmony in I Saw Her Standing There...Speaking of Harmonies, I'm happy to say that was one of the features I worked on. Wired has a nice writeup for how it works:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/06/beatles-rock-band/

I also got the chance to go out a bunch with my old friend Darion (his blog is linked to the left). Thanks for the good times and letting me crash at your place for 2 nights.

I guess there's video out there on Fox news, G4, and the Xbox dashboard that people saw where I'm singing/demoing the game. But all I have today are pics!

We has parties every night after the show. Here I am on the first night playing with Giles Martin!

Got this from Joystiq.com. It's me and Nate playing with some conference attendees.

This group was awesome. I loved watching them slowly learn to harmonize.

The calm before the storm of the first day. We had 3 booths (Wii, Ps3, Xbox 360), a psp setup, and a rest area with meeting rooms. Oh yeah and a huge theater that was like Abbey Road Studio 2.

Setting things up on day 1.

We also had this huge list of all 700 Rock Band songs.

The inside of the theater where presentations were done every half hour.

We also had a Lego Booth and this area in the main hallway. This one was for the Pepsi sponsored contest where people could shoot there own videos.

That's the actual car from the movie!

Darion took me to a club called Einstein's. Unfortunately he couldn't get in with his sneakers so I went in quickly to check it out. Cool place!

In my very small amount of spare time I walked around and saw Eliza Dushku signing posters for the game Wet.

...The Beatles: Rock Band

2009-06-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/trailer.php

See what I've been proudly working on :)

...E3 next week

2009-05-31T14:42:00.000-04:00

I'll be there demoing The Beatles Rock Band. I'll post some links soon :)

...a couple early reviews for Rock Band Unplugged

2009-05-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

http://kotaku.com/5270546/rock-band-unplugged-review-its-the-frequency-kenneth

http://psp.ign.com/articles/986/986116p1.html

If you have a psp and like Rock Band you should pick it up. I'll be at E3 next week where we'll be showing this off (in addition to The Beatles!).

...some recent pics (Including GDC and Harmonix Bowling)

2009-04-04T19:32:00.000-04:00

So I was just in San Francisco for GDC. Meet lots of friends, had great food, and enjoyed awesome weather.

Helen was thirsty at the airport.

Had some drinks with my friend Pete on top of the Marriot. How come I never did this when I lived here? Beautiful view...

Virgin Megastore is closing :(

But Virgin America airlines just started and pretty much rules. Time flies when surfing the web.

Hmx bowling day! We all made outfits in a couple hours and spent the rest of the day bowling....cool zep inspired shirt.

A couple more awesome shirts...

Mitch (on the right) was on my team - the Amazing Jason Kendallpins

Speaking of Jason Kendall...I saw his band Megasus play in Providence. If you get a chance to see them I highly recommend it.

...I'll be in SF next week for GDC 2009

2009-03-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

For those going to GDC I recommend Dan Teasdale's talk Friday morning: https://upload.cmpevents.com/GD09/a.asp?option=G&V=3&id=607061

I've seen it twice now and it's a good one.

..,best of best of music lists

2009-03-16T16:13:00.000-04:00

This sites got you covered in terms of what people think is the best music:
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/

...Kindle and E-readers

2009-03-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

Something I've been thinking about lately:

So I have a prediction. Within a medium time-frame (4-7 years), e-readers and digital books will do to books what the ipod and mp3s did to cds. That is, they will become good, cheap, and easy enough to use that it will be super mass market and the minority of people will actually be buying physical books.

I will probably be interested in an purchasing an e-reader and reading books electronically (in parallel with normal book reading) but not until they get way better. Here's some of the things that will have to happen to get me interested:

- MUCH cheaper. I'm talking $100-$150 range.
- Bigger screen that is practically edge to edge.
- Much longer battery life - I don't need another device to plug in ALL the time.
- Ability to get subscriptions automatically downloaded to the device easily (I want magazines monthly and the local paper daily).
- Color screen so I can read magazines and comics.
- Ability to buy physical books and have them come with the electronic version.
- I may be willing to live without some of the above if the device easily surfed the web via WiFI.

...the Beatles game has a link!

2009-03-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

...Top of 2009

2009-02-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

Interesting year of purchases last year. Probably the least amount of gaming I've done in 10 years...I also think it was an off year for games. Not the best year for music or movies either imo. Still there were some good things:

Music
Torche - Meanderthal
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
The Bronx - The Bronx 3
Triclops - Out of Africa
Future of the Left - Curses

Honorable mention:
The Death Set - Worldwide
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer

Movies
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Wall-E
The Dark Knight
The Wrestler

Honorable mention:
Burn After Reading
Mongol
Iron Man
American Teen
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Games
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Rock Band 2
Braid
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Anything missing?

...it's halfway through it

2009-02-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

So by all accounts it's been a crazy winter. So far it's been record snow fall records for a single day and for the month. Boston has welcomed me with weather as bad as can get and I have survived.

I have learned so much about living in cold weather...the biggest change being that I now goto the gym more as opposed to walking home all the time. Oh yeah, I've learned the real reason why old people move to Florida from here. It's really easy to bust your ass on the ice out here. I haven't fallen yet but it's bound to happen eventually.

In other news I probably have to get braces...the Tom Cruise similarities keep coming :) <--brace-face.

Some pics:

Some party and post-party pics. That place was like the Nakatomi building....Yippie-Kai-Yae

It started with the Lake Freezing...somehow I found this fascinating.

Oh look, how cute it snowed a bit.

Yay, a reason for the cold!

WTH!? This is pretty much how it's been for the last month!

I saw a band called Fucked Up at the Middle East. The show was great, highlighted by when the large singer jumped up and grabbed a ceiling pipe, only to have the pipe burst and spray out water...

...things to review later (updated constantly)

2009-01-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

So some stuff I haven't got to (and am waiting for a new template). Stuff I recommend in bold.

Music:
Tonnage - The Swell
The Bronx - The Bronx 3
Descendants - Milo Goes to College
The Nerves - One Way Ticket
Black Elk - Always a Six, Never a Nine
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
Portishead - Dummy
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Black Flag - Loose Nut
Joy Division - Les Bains Douches
Joy Division - In the Studio With Martin Hannett
Does It Offend You, Yeah - You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Youself Into
Devo - Oh No! It's Devo
Coalesce - 012:2
Aerosmith - Rocks
M.I.A. - Kala
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Earles and Jones - Just Farr A Laugh
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Cancer Bats - Hail Desroyer
Melvins - Nude With Boots
3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades
The Beatles - Love
Sigur Ros - ()
Local H - 12 Angry Months
Guns N' Roses - Lies
Van Halen - Van Halen (remastered)
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap
Mission of Burma - Vs.
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
The Death Set - Worldwide
Fugazi -Steady Diet of Nothing (remastered)
Idiot Pilot - Wolves
Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
Torche - Meanderthal
Elvis Costello - This years model (rhino version)
Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
Triclops - Out of Africa
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Fight Amp -Hungry for Nothing
Cancer Bats - Birthing the Giant
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
Joe Lally - Nothing is Underrated
Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
The Hives - The Blank and White Album
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Girls Against Boys - Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby
Disfear - Live the Storm
Black Mountain - In the Future
Future of the Left - Curses
*Shels - Laurentians Atoll
*Shels - Sea of the Dying Dhow
Akimbo - Navigating the Bronze
Chavez - Better Days will Haunt You
The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
AC/DC - For Those About To Rock
Ont Blod - Grizzly Twister
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
High on Fire - Death Is the Communion
A Place to Bury Strangers - A Place to Bury Strangers
Austerity Program - Black Madonna
The Very Best of Herman's Hermits
Against Me! - New Wave
Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops
Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men
Halo of Flies - Music For Insect Minds
The Cure - Faith
The Jam - This is the modern world / all mods cons
Black Flag - The complete 1982 Demos
Public Image ltd. - Public Image
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
The Hope Conspiracy - Death Knows Your Name
Modern Life Is War - Witness
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Totmoshi - Ladron
These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
Death Proof (OST) - Various Artists
Melvins - A Senile Animal
Unsane - Visqueen
The National - Boxer
Battles - Mirrored
Ho-Ag - The Word from Pluto

Movies:
The Wrestler
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
Milk
Religulous
W.
Burn After Reading
Pineapple Express
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Wanted
Mongol
Stuck
Iron Man
American Teen
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Girls Rock
The Signal
In Bruges
Cloverfield
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
The Savages
I am Legend
No Country for Old Men
Control
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Shoot 'em Up
Stardust
Superbad
The King of Kong
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Simpsons Movie
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ratatouille
Death at a Funeral
Sicko
Black Book
28 Weeks Later
Knocked Up

Books:
The Road
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
Hip: The History
Outliers: The Story of Success
Cobain Unseen
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
My Stroke of Insight
Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What To Do With My Life & Started Driving a Yellow Cab
Right is Wrong
American Hardcore
Songwriters on Songwriting
Michael Moore's Election Guide
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality
How Do You Work This Life Thing?
Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Nirvana's In Utero
Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone
Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
A Voyage for Madmen
The Tipping Point
The Game
Blink
What to Eat
All I need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned From the Toxic Avenger
Noam Chomsky - Failed States
Douglas Coupland - JPod
David Sklansky - No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice
Einstein
Buddha (vol 1-8)

...what WAS Star Wars about?

2009-01-15T12:47:00.000-05:00

http://vimeo.com/2809991

Brilliant...

...loans that change lives?

2008-12-31T13:14:00.001-05:00

This sounds like a really good idea: http://www.kiva.org/

...I can't get this out of my head

2008-12-21T22:25:00.001-05:00

All night long...and that damn Beatles song - yeah THAT one.

...to put on my wall

2008-12-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend was busy - in addition to the Harmonix Christmas party and the new karaoke night at Razzys (pics of both to come soon), I bought art!

Proceeds went to the artists who were in need.

This one is called Musical Notes by Charles Huiritz.

I don't know why this jpeg is 90 degrees! Anyhow it's called Shirley Temple by Jill Brooks.

Not sure what the hat is called or who did it (EDIT: Yasmin Arshad). I'm calling it Talll.

...it's fall - uh wait it's winter already

2008-11-30T21:05:00.001-05:00

The seasons are a changing. Time to buy more winter clothes! Good thing the price of oil is down :)

The Konks with singer Kurt from Harmonix.

Election night/Obama party.

The line to vote was hundreds of people long!

Halloween was fun this year. I had a lot more pics but they were mostly blurry...

California dreaming on such a winter's day...

...happiest dog ever

2008-11-17T13:56:00.001-05:00

...hmx - number 11

2008-11-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

So my company is the 11th best place to work for in Massachusetts:

http://www.boston.com/jobs/topworkplaces/2008/topworkplaces_chart/

...oh no

2008-11-07T19:29:00.001-05:00

Will Smith staring in a remake of Old Boy...crap

...yes

2008-11-05T11:28:00.001-05:00

we can!

...the Beatles

2008-10-31T11:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday (ha), we announced one of the games I'm working on. It's the Beatles!

s