I'm Not Dead!

I've just been busy - firstly finishing up another hectic summer in QA. Then, in September, I was promoted to Associate Producer in THQ's Kids and Family group. I plan to start posting regularly soon!

It's Been A While

I spent the better part of my free time in May playing a 400 square foot game of Tetris as seen above. After laying about 1500 bricks, my masterpiece was complete and I had a (mostly) level, paver patio in my back yard. I think it came out quite nice and it was finished just in time for my son's first birthday. Wow, I can't believe how time flies!

Back from the Dead

Well it's been a while since my last post. Let's see, what's been happening? My son has become a wild animal now that he's nearly nine months old. I played all the way through The Force Unleashed (which was better than I thought it would), I started playing Castle Crashers (which was just as good as I thought it would be) and now I'm playing Fallout 3 (which is not as good as I thought it would be; strike that, it's just not as good for me as Oblivion was). I'll go into greater detail in upcoming posts.

In the mean time, at least I still have a job, for now. So go buy Deadly Creatures this week so it stays that way. Thanks!

Movin' On Up

As of this last Monday, I have been officially promoted at THQ. I am now a Compliance QA Project Lead. Which means I have people who report to me and my plans for world domination are well underway.

[/Manaical evil laughter and lightning]

Just kidding. Basically, myself and another former specialist have been promoted to take over more managerial and planning duties. Celebrations have been brief as there's much work to be done.

There Is Hope

Kaiden will be one moth old this weekend. Time has seemed to fly by but I am loving every minute with my son. On the other hand, I'm a gamer and that part of my life has suffered terribly.

It may sound selfish but I have probably put in only about eight hours of gaming in the last month, mostly in Penny Arcade Adventures and my progress in GTAIV has come to a screeching halt. For a gamer who was regularly putting in three or four hours at a time with a 360 controller in my hands a few times a week, this has been traumatizing. I was starting to feel that my pastime was slipping out of reach as I took on my new role as Dad.

But Kaiden fell asleep early tonight and I was reading through some old articles that I had bookmarked a while back. One of those articles was from way back on May 11th called "All Grown Up: A Gamer Comes to Grips With Adulthood" and has rekindled my hope that gaming will eventually return to my life.

The newborn phase was exceptionally difficult, but before long Kaz got in tune with the patterns of life in his new family. He needed his diaper changed less often, didn’t want to eat on a constant basis, and actually started sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time. It seemed like when we weren’t looking, my wife and I suddenly had a little bit of room to breathe.

Obviously, it will never return to the same level it was, but it's encouraging to learn that there is hope. Plus, I will eventually share many moments gaming with my son as he gets older. That is, when I'm not teaching how to do a Cruyff soccer move or how to build a potato launcher.

Baby Kaiden

If you thought Tim Schafer's baby was cute, wait till you see my son! He arrived early last Thursday morning, healthy and vibrant. I am still reeling from "new baby fog" but hope to find a posting rhythm soon. Life is beautiful!

Back to Our Semi-Regular Broadcasting

March/April have been crazy. Between buying a house, preparing for a baby and my grandmother's passing, it's been rough. The emotionally highs and lows have left me vulnerable to two colds (the current one which seems to not want to go away). Work has been no different, with the stress of getting another Disney-Pixar game to market day and date with the movie, the Wii Summit in Hollywood last week and I'm ramping up to head the newest SmackDown! vs. RAW Wii game. Needless to say, it hasn't been a picnic. Fortunately, I prefer to be busy as opposed to sitting idle. I plan to return to posting on a more regular basis, with more quick posts as opposed to more rambling ones. A lot has happened over the last month or so, but I'm not going to go back to rehash anything that has been beaten to death in the mainstream. I may comment on a few things but mostly I'm looking forward. Talk to you soon!

Back From Mammoth

I'm back! I spent the last week in Mammoth camping. Above is a picture of me chasing a bear out of our campsite. That was kind of scary, but Cinnamon (the Bear's name according to the camp host) was quite timid. Still, I knew that if she wanted to, she could have taken any one of us.

While camping I had the idea that a wilderness survival game would make an interesting serious game topic. You know, kind of a upgrade on the Oregon Trail format with some Snake Eater thrown in.