Now, the Bad News

News hit the Internet pretty fast today as one of our QA offices suffered quite a blow. As part of our company's plan to return to profitability, the vast majority of our testers in Champagne,IL will soon be out of work. Being on the Nintendo Compliance team, I had no direct contact with them as far as projects are concerned (they concentrated on PS3/360/PC testing), but it's never easy to hear that co-workers have lost their jobs.

Best of luck, guys, and we all hope that you land on your feet soon.

First, the Good News

I totally forgot about this last week, but I have to give a shout out to the folks at Blue Tongue for the success that de Blob has achieved. Since launch in September, we've sold over 700,000 copies! Not bad for a non-Nintendo title.

Now if I can just find out how Deadly Creatures is doing...

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!

We Won A Major Award!

It may not have been the best year for us at THQ, but at least it's going to end on a high note. GameSetWatch has awarded our Jim Huntley, global brand manager, with the "The Mark Jacobs Award for Corporate Communicative Achievement" for the following quote:

The game All Star Cheer Squad was designed with the growing number of girls on Wii and Nintendo DS in mind. We strived to deliver an authentic cheer experience for those players and believe this partnership with CoverGirl is a unique opportunity to do just that. The CoverGirl brand and its spokespeople are instantly recognizable among our target demographic and will further immerse players in the competitive cheerleading world.

Oh wait, I guess that was sar-cas-m. It must be french. I hope everyone on this list have egos that aren't fra-gee-lay.

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.

Fun Friday: Big in Japan Edition

I have no idea what these videos mean but they're awesome in every way. Good luck in Japan, Saint's Row 2!

Up and Away

Pixar has recently released a second trailer for next year's new film, Up. As most may already know, THQ has the exclusive rights to publish games based on the Pixar license. A couple of summers ago saw the release of Cars and we had the second best selling game of the year only falling behind Madden. We had over a billion dollars in sales that year (with the help of a couple of quality PC releases and the WWE license) and things looked good. Fast forward a couple of years and things are not looking as rosy for my company.

One of the things that has taken the blame for our shortcomings have been the performance of this license. First, Ratatouille underperformed last summer and then Wall-E suffered the same fate this summer. Ratatouille's failure was justified because it was about a rat and people might find that "icky." But when Wall-E did the same, people said, "WTF? He's a robot, how did he not sell?"

I don't think it was a over saturated kids and casual market that did these games in (it didn't help), but rather that Pixar is creating movies that are way over our designers' heads.

I'm not saying that the designers didn't understand the movies; I'm saying that the themes did not translate into an interactive form very well. In fact, it's debatable if anyone could have done it at all. Games as art is a current hot button topic in our industry and the themes that Pixar put forth would trouble the best minds our industry has to offer.

Cars was a no-brainer: it's a movie about a car, who races. The design document must have written itself (I'm kidding). On the other hand, can Ratatouille or Wall-E be boiled down to a simple platformer? Remy teaches us in Ratatouille that anyone can become anything the want, regardless if he's a rat or a woman or French (sorry, I kid again). And Wall-E teaches us the importance of conservation and loneliness and the need to be loved even if you are just a robot with a single directive. Up looks like it depicts the feeling that life has passed one by and you're running out of time to seize the moment. These aren't simple concepts and they most certainly aren't conveyed by collecting 100 trinkets while hopping your way through a linear level.

I think our biggest weakness when it comes to the Pixar license is that we attack them from a literal angle and just allow the player to replay through the story. What I'd like to see us do is allow the player to step into the shoes so to speak of these dynamic characters and explore some of these deeper themes. I don't want to play the movie, I have the DVD for that. I want our license to create an experience that can be fun for all gamers but evokes the weight of the emotions that each film brings to the screen. It won't be easy, but I think it's possible.

Good Times

As I've mentioned before, 5th Cell are pretty good game developers. Apparently they're quite fun as well. When designer Matt Cox went on vacation, he returned to find his desk"drawn to life."

Let's see, a developer with talent and who likes to have fun, maybe they should be a part of out new strategic plan. Unfortunately, the executives don't ask me for advice very often.

Fun Friday: Oh No You Didn't Edition

Oh, yes we did! Of course it's been known for a while now but we are officially publishing 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, and admitting it. Of all of the titles that the Activision/Blizzard merger left up in the air, this is the title we pick up. Oh well, at least we couldn't make it any more ridiculous than it already is.

Congrats to 5th Cell!

For those of you who don't know, 5th Cell is the developer for THQ behind Drawn to Life and the upcoming Lock's Quest. I had a chance to work on both of these games and, while not perfect, they both demonstrate what a developer can do when they understand the platform they are working on. They are both unique in style and design and are a worthy addition to any one's DS library. Drawn to Life did well for us and I imagine Lock's Quest will do the same. I eagerly look forward to their next project. Good job on getting the credit you deserve and keep up the good work!

Gamasutra - The Gamasutra 20: 2008's Breakthrough Developers - 5th Cell

de Blob Devs Shaking Up Genres With Swords & Soldiers

The original creators of de Blob are at it again. They're bring a "side-scrolling RTS" to WiiWare. While I don't exactly know what that means, you have to give them credit for their creativity and sense of style.

Speaking of de Blob, it should be out soon and I'm still as excited for it as when we first got it in to test. I think we did the original creators proud and it is definitely our best Wii game to date. The controls actually feel useful with the Wii Remote; not tacked on. I just hope that Wii owners go out and buy it. Then, hopefully, we will continue to make more innovative products.

Swords & Soldiers: de Blob Devs Bringing Swords & Soldiers To WiiWare

I Love Dessert

In a post a while back, designer Raph Koster takes a common belief held in the industry and turns it on its head for me. It is common rhetoric amongst our ranks to place the blame for our increased risk aversion on the gamers, citing that the purchasing public is only out to buy sequels and established franchises. Hence, we have halo 3, GTAIV, MGS4, etcetera, ectetera.

But Raph makes a simlpe analogy for how this is wrong. Basically, we are used to saying that gamers like chocolate ice cream and if we ask them if they'd like more, of cource they're going to say yes. But the catch is: how is that same gamer going to know they want mango gelato if they've never had it? It's up to the developers and, more importantly, the publishers to start taking creative risks and offering crazy desserts we've never heard.

And, if you think about, many already are.

The glut of originality is starting to get stale, even for publishers. All you have to do is look at the the upcoming list of releases and there are a surprising number of original titles coming soon. Our proud to say that my company, THQ, has several titles coming up that I am really proud of, including de Blob, Deadly Creatures, and Darksiders. Even EA, a company a have historically dispised, has a number of interesting titles coming up such as Dead Space and There is also the upcoming Mirror's Edge.Brutal Legend and Wet.

As I think back, I have played a number of original games over the last year that I didn't know I would like until I played them: Zack and Wiki, Civ:Rev, No More Heroes, Portal, Puzzle Quest, N+, and Braid to name of few. Granted, many of these are smaller titles, but there have also been big budget risks such as Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed.

I have high hopes that the industry will find a balance point where sequels and franchises can coexist with the new and unproven. I say bring on more sorbert and flan! Now I'm hungry.

Raph's Website » Do players know what they want?

THQ Does Something First

This is old but I've been busy with the baby and work. I'm pleased that we at THQ have decided to do something that someone else hasn't already tried (well almost the first). So, that's encouraging. Unfortunately, it's unleashing Wall-E on the middle east.

Well, hopefully we'll at least get a chance in QA to look at it before any one else.

My Guilty Pleasure Resurfaces, Twice!

Viva Pinata is easily my guiltiest obsession of this current video game generation. I'm not sure if it was the cuteness of it all or the achievements or what, but I couldn't get enough of the original game. Now, with great excitement, we hear not one, but two bits of Viva Pinata news. It's enough brightly colored awesomeness to cause my head to burst forth with chocolate candy exuberance.

Firstly, there's the leaked info and screenshots for Viva Pinata 2 for the Xbox360. I expect to hear more at Microsoft's announcement later this week, but the screen shots imply some darker undertones and possible co-op(?). Plus, there's snow! Ooh, I can't wait to hear more.

Then there's the confirmation that Viva Pinata DS: Pocket Paradise (yes, that is the subtitle) is coming soon. It's not really news to me, I've been working on it for the last few months (THQ is publishing), but it's nice to finally hear about it in the press and everyone can get as excited as we are about this game. The game is a near identical recreation of the full 360 version minus a few things here and there and it works brilliantly with the DS Touch Screen. The game came in test nearly perfect, it was a dream to work with Rare. Don't tell them, but I spent a lot of time early on just playing the game. ;)

de Blob Is Coming Soon, This Time I Promise

de Blob Intro Trailer
I made some promises at last year's PAX that de Blob would be hitting stores early this year. Well the developers made me a liar, but it's for the best. In light of our struggles at THQ over the last year, the devs thought it was best to keep it in the oven a bit longer. The game is shaping up to be the best looking Wii game we have done and is set to do especially well with the gamers of all kinds. This time, I promise, de Blob is coming sooner rather than later.

Layoffs Suck

This is too bad. It appears that Sandblast Games (formerly Cranky Pants) will be closing after massive layoffs. Evil Dead: Regeneration was my second project as a tester. The game was fun if a bit repetitive. I haven’t seen much from them since, which might explain their situation, but it still sucks.

I was talking to one of my coworkers (a test lead) about this and he commented on how it seems like there are always news stories about massive layoffs at developers but that he feels safe in QA because that thing doesn’t seem to happen to us. Maybe it does happen and we don’t hear about it as much, but since I’ve moved beyond the level of a temp three years ago, I have yet to worry about my job security. I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Gimme a “W”, Gimme a “T”, Gimme a “F”

This is old, but it looks like our All Star Cheer game has some competition in Namco's We Cheer. I didn’t realize that there was such a demand for cheerleading games. Well, I guess they did make a forth Bring it On movie. At least our game uses the Wii Balance Board!

Fun Friday: Larry King Edition

I was going to post Zero Punctuation's review of Zack and Wiki, but then I found something way cooler. One of my friends at work created Larry King, including his entrance and custom move set, in SmackDown! vs. RAW '08 for a television interview between himself and WWE stars, including Vince McMahon and Triple H. The highlights are quite funny. You can also see more of the action here with commentary from the man himself.

Insert Foot in Mouth Week

There seems to be a running theme for developer quotes this week. Firstly, Greg Donovan, Producers for Saint's Row 2, lowered every ones expectations by reminding us that the game "won't be bug free" since no game is. Working in QA, I know the truth far too well on the bugs that get through to the final product but stating this up front is not getting off on the right foot.

Not to worry though, because Spark CEO Craig Allen one upped Donovan by telling us why most of us don't like his game, Turing Point: Fall of Liberty.

Turning Point, the idea there was really a high concept idea. I think that we're finding that the people who look at it like, "Is this going to be fun, something I can drop into, in a world I haven't seen before and have a good time?" really love the game. People that are looking at it with more of a critical eye of "Is this game revolutionary, is it doing play mechanics I've never seen before, is it driving new technology?" it was never meant to do those things. If people look at it in the right way, I think they really enjoy what they see. You can certainly look at it and say it's not revolutionary, so those opinions are certainly a lot more critical.

I guess that explains why I didn't like the demo at all. Not only am I not smart enough to get the concept but this first person shooter is not for core gamers. Duh!!!

Achievements: Good vs. Bad

Achievements are my favorite feature of this generation. From a design perspective, they present a significant challenge though. They can encourage a player to experience the game in a way he might not of thought to try. They can be a deciding factor in a purchase decision. Unfortunately they can also divulge a lack of creativity, budget or foresight.

The Orange Box did something with achievements that seems so simple and yet makes games that don't do it seem incomplete. There is an Achievements option in the menus throughout the game that, while most games bring up the guide to view the achievements and their descriptions, shows the player's actual progress towards each achievement. So instead of guessing how many kills you have accumulated towards one achievement or another, it actually keeps track of the actual number for you. Many games, like Gears of War, have achievements that require X number of something to unlock. I lost count of my Boomshot, Pistol and Execution kills after the first several matches. I would have needed a spread sheet near by to keep track of my progress with any certainty, especially when going for the 10,000 kill "Seriously?" achievement. Many games may not need this because the player's progress is self explanatory if, for example, he needs to get to level fifty and he's currently at level thirty-two. Still, after playing through Portal and Half-Life 2, I absolutely believe that Microsoft should add this functionality to the TRC's so that every game includes this feature.

On the other side of the coin, there are games that seem to forget that achievements can enhance a game, not just lift its rental status due to it's insanely easy achievements. EA used to hold the crown as the producer of games that usually handed out achievements like candy, but their title has been usurped by none other than my own company, THQ. The release of Avatar: The Burning Earth was probably going to go mostly unnoticed this holiday season. That is until everyone learned how criminally easy it is to acquire all 1000 gamerpoints in less than two minutes and thirty seconds. Enjoy the following video!