The Still of the Night Causes a Storm in the Mind

So E3 has come and gone once again leaving gamers everywhere in awe of all the cool new tech and gameplay concepts developers have come up with over the last year. This year’s E3 was actually a bit of a let down in comparison with last year’s. For the most part the final marketing push for the new products we saw last year are just now getting underway and that’s what this year’s E3 was all about. Microsoft announced the formal name for Natal (Kinect) and Sony’s motion controller is now officially titled “Move”. Nintendo is the only company to announce something new and truly revolutionary with its 3DS portable console that allows users to play 3D games without the need for any gaudy glasses. This would have been truly amazing had this information not been leaked 2 months prior to E3.

The biggest thing I personally took away from E3 is that the gaming industry is finally getting too big for me to purchase every cool new thing that comes out or even experience everything period. The industry has been supporting 3 big consoles for two generations, mobile phone gaming is now huge and growing, social games and sites like Facebook now have a piece of the pie, and that’s not to mention the old PC crowd or the new streaming services like OnLive and Gaikai. The game industry is F-ing HUGE!

It’s no surprise that I personally like the mobile space (particularly when a phone is involved). I’ve always favored on-the-go gaming because it’s so easy to share these experiences as an indie developer trying to show people my work. As a gamer I’m not much different. Portable experiences are the easiest to share and hook up with other people. I also used to really enjoy the arcades due to the social nature. After that I prefer social experiences like the Wii, then multiplayer titles like Halo, followed by single player console games, single player PC games, and finally real-time multiplayer online titles of any sort.

Considering the fact that I’m more of a social gamer it may seem strange that I’m not too big into online games. I’ve always been keen on multiplayer programming having developed several Internet networked titles myself but when it comes down to it, if I’m going to play games with other folks I’d rather do it in person. Either that or it’s just a phase since I haven’t renewed my Xbox Live subscription in two years

With the industry growing at such an alarming rate it’s going to be difficult to choose where to spend hard earned gaming bucks. Mobile is cheap and easy. For me it’s a no-brainer that I’ll be buying some more iPhone games this year. Chances are as well that Nintendo will get some money from me for the new Zelda and 3DS console. Beyond that it’s a tough call. Surely, I’ll pick up a few Xbox 360 games and perhaps a PS3 game like Little Big Planet 2 finally (after having the system for 3 years the only game I ever purchased was MGS4).

Anyway, it’s time to go. I’m busy programming something great but wanted to drop down some words about E3 2010. For the most part I was a lot more impressed by last year’s show but of course I’m ever excited for our industry. Ta ta for now!

In 1997 I came up with a game concept. That concept was a fun and simple 2D building demolition game where players would plant charges and try to level a cityscape. I developed this concept about a year after learning some BASIC programming on my TI-85 calculator and before I entered college. At the time it’s safe to say I didn’t really have the skills to do the concept justice.

Fast forward to 2006. I sit down at my computer one evening and I finally prototype this concept now calling it Debris. I develop a working sim with blocks, bombs, and a caution tape line. The premise is simple, plant the bombs in such a way that upon detonation all the blocks fit below the caution tape line.

I work on this prototype for a few months (mainly tweaking the physics) and eventually show the concept to a company who’d published my earlier work. They write me back and tell me they don’t see any promise in this concept. They tell me they can’t suggest even a single bit of advice in order to make the concept more fun for them.

Their feedback of course stood in stark contrast with my vision as well as the feedback I’d received from several other people who I’d actually gotten to show the game in person. As with anything communication is key when unleashing a brand new game concept. I’m sure something was lost without myself involved to fill in the blanks as someone played this game for the first time. Such is the potential fate of any unfinished prototype.

In October 2007 I attempted once again to show off this concept.  This time at the Indie Games Con. Again, it’s turned down for publication by this company that had worked so closely with me in the past.  To add insult to injury, I’m told by someone I’d once considered a mentor that it “sucked”.  I went home dejected and dropped the development of Debris to work on Full Contact Debate another idea I’d had banging around my brain for years.

Of course there was one redeeming event which took place at IGC that year. The morning after I was told the game sucked I walked in an there was a group of 6 other developers standing around a computer laughing. As I walked up I realized they were playing Debris and they’d just realized you could take the helicopter out if you planted the bombs correctly. In the PC/Mac version of Debris the helicopter would go spastic and bounce around the screen taking everything out in its path. As they left a few of the guys told me it was a great game concept. Seeing their reaction to the title renewed my belief that eventually this would be a hit game.

Now we move on to October 2008. At this point I’d long given up the idea of pitching ideas to publishers with lesser vision than myself. Throughout the years I’d pitched concepts to a plethora of publishers and I was always disappointed with the results. Finally though, the iPhone and the App Store had arrived and there would no longer be a difference of creative opinions to stop the publication of any title. I jumped onto the iPhone development wagon as quickly as possible and I knew exactly what my first title would be.

Debris appeared on the App Store by December 5th 2008 and to my knowledge was the first 2D casual building demolition game created. When I originally developed the prototype I searched for other controlled demolition games and the only thing I found was an obscure PS2 game released in Europe but it was a more serious 3D simulation instead of a casual physics game. My prediction circa 2006 was that the most popular casual games were going to be physics based as opposed to the match-3 titles that dominated the early-mid part of the decade. Looking at the iPhone market today I was absolutely correct and I’m proud to say that I not only made an accurate prediction but I took part in the market with a handful of causal physics sims which I developed.

Now it’s the end of 2009 and it’s been the roughest year of my life. It hasn’t all been bad but it has been a roller coaster. As most people who read this blog know, I lost my dear mother to suicide on March 23rd. I have been depressed since then although certain events have been overwhelmingly positive this year, the loss of my mother casts a shadow over those events. To further add to my pain this year a title called Implode! landed on the App Store about a week ago and since then has risen up the charts into the top 5 best selling iPhone games. Implode! is Debris, it’s a casual 2D controlled demolition game and it arrived almost exactly 1 year after Debris on the iPhone.

Considering that I developed this concept sooo long ago I’m heart broken that I wasn’t the one to fully capitalize on the concept. When I developed it in 2006 I knew it had the potential to rise straight to the top. Unfortunately, being first isn’t always best and in fact some people would say it’s detrimental. This is one of those cases.

I rushed Debris out on the iPhone trying to take advantage of the devices unique abilities such as pinch/zoom, swipe momentum, and the accelerometer tilt. Unfortunately, using these special capabilities of the iPhone was ultimately a distraction from the core experience. Implode! for the iPhone is actually much closer to what Debris was originally for the PC/Mac. Plant bombs, detonate, and try to get the blocks below a line. The version of Debris I ended up putting out for the iPhone wasn’t received particularly well because the core was watered down in an attempt to make it iPhone-centric. Granted, some components of Debris are great fun but overall I let the core suffer in favor of design diversions such as tilt, zoom, and killing aliens with the blocks.

Still, I’m not jaded or angry (OK, just a little). Debris was after all the title that allowed me to develop my own concepts as my sole source of income. Without Debris I wouldn’t be where I am today. Furthermore, there’s no law against sequels and while Debris may not ultimately get recognized as the title that brought the casual controlled demolition genre into the limelight perhaps its sequel can utilize the success Implode! is currently enjoying to be an even bigger success.

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

A big dream of mine has always been to appear on late night TV with a host like Jay Leno because I created the next great video game. To me, this sort of accomplishment would signify the real rise of video games as a cultural phenomenon. Writers, actors, musicians, and animal trainers appear on these type of shows all the time, but you never see anyone promoting a video game unless they’re Tiger Woods which just doesn’t count. I wanted to see an actual game developer on late night TV, not someone else who just happened to have a video game made after them because they were good at something else.

Last night we finally hit the big time as Kudo Tsunoda took the stage to showcase Project Natal on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I had some mixed feelings about Project Natal as a gamer but I do think it will revolutionize gaming with regard to the mass market. The Wii showed everyone the door but I think Natal has the potential to really welcome everyone through it. However you feel about Natal though it was totally rad to see an actual game developer up on late night TV with Hollywood and all the rockers.

The funny thing was that I made a joke to my friend 2 days ago that Kudo looked like a Bono wannabe during his E3 presentation. What the heck though, if that’s what it takes to legitimize game development as an art form so be it. People like interesting people and Kudo definitely had that going for him at E3 and on Jimmy last night.

Of course I also think this breakthrough has a lot to do with the type of games we’re getting into these days. E3 was quite a bit different this year with all the human performances to go along with the games. Between the Wii and Rock Band we finally have games that appeal to people not just nerds. Before now the best the industry could muster was to mimmic Hollywood and make epic looking pre-rendered trailers.

At E3 this year the most boring presentations were old school gamer gamers like Modern Warfare 2 and God of War III … I almost fell asleep watching people play them. Second up was the epic trailers, which needless to say were also pretty boring. The best presentations were the Wii, Beatles Rock Band, Playstation Eye/Motion, and Natal demos where real live people were performing in sync with fine cinematic sequences in the backdrop along with real gameplay that the players were interacting with but in a way that was also entertaining for a crowd. By comparison the old school way of playing games seemed really archaic.

That’s not to say that I don’t like old school gameplay. I think it’s fine for 1-4 people to sit down and play together. However, it was never going to be an all consuming force like music or movies until you could simultaneously enjoy other people playing. The human element that music and movies contain was simply missing.

Anyway, congratulations Kudo and I hope to see many more game developers appear side by side with actors and rockers in the future!

I was lucky enough to get this fantastic contraption for Christmas and I’ve learned 2 things. First of all I need to get back to my exercise routine. Those who know me might remember that in 2005 I took about a 3 month hiatus from computers and picked up surfing, running, and lifting. I lost 40 pounds and got my six-pack back. Over the past 3 years I fought a good hard battle and was still in decent shape this summer. Unfortunately, after just a few months of dedicated game development minus my 3 mile run I’m almost back up to my gold standard

The other thing I learned was that not all cheap looking accessories are bad. The Pelican Wii Fit Starter Kit is one of those accessories. As I did my holiday shopping I kept an eye out for Wii Fit and never saw it. The one thing I kept seeing time and time again was this yoga mat balance board condom combo. To me this looked like an opportunistic extra that was completely unnecessary. Often, people complain about the moms and dads who don’t know anything about gaming picking up these extras completely oblivious to the suck-factor of the tag-along product. Well, my mother (a personal trainer in fact) found Wii Fit and gave it to my wife and I for Christmas. Of course, included with the bundle of gifts was a Pelican Wii Fit Starter Kit. Oh the horror!

The first night I hooked Wii Fit up I refused to open the starter kit. However, after working up a sweat and tracking dirt from my hardwood floors onto the balance board I realized that in a month or so the pristine white industrial finish was going to become sweaty off white gym sock finish real quick. The next day before getting my Wii workout I went ahead and opened the starter kit. The yoga mat was surprisingly high quality and had a lot more cushion than others I’d used in the past and the balance board sleeve was also of high quality fitting the board very well with all the details of the shape molded correctly. Furthermore the sleeve was nearly frictionless. Whereas the day before I was sticking to the balance board today I was comfortably gliding on and off. I’m sure the sleeve will need to be cleaned and eventually will wear down but Pelican produced something that I think improves the experience enough that I’d willingly pay $30 for another starter kit when the time comes.

Until next time, I stand corrected and sore …

It feels pretty good to release a game after having it kick around in your head for 11 years, kick around on your hard drive in prototype form for 2 years, and in general just gnaw at your conscience around the clock. Additionally, it feels even better to release it on a new innovative platform that really suits the gameplay mechanics.

Say hello to Debris for the iPhone!

Controlled demolition in the palm of your hand!