KONG!!

Wow!! I went to the midnight showing of Peter Jackson's King Kong on tuesday night. What an incredibly beautiful film. I can't believe the emotion in Kong that they gave him. I just don't know how they would change anything to make this film better. Artistically it's so rich and beautiful. Also it was the perfect cast for the film. Kong is so fierce in the battles. You can tell why he's the king of the jungle. The film was incredibly action packed. It was one of those films that didn't seem like over 3 hours long. Go see it!

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Well it's finally here on DVD. I guess this is an era at the end. I've been following and loving Star Wars since I was a kid of 7 years old in May of '77. I'm glad to have all 6 movies so I can finally sit down and watch the entire saga. I'm sure I'll still collect the figures and different things. I'll have to post up pictures of my office here once i get them stitched together. I am a little sad about it though. I'm also somewhat mad at myself for not getting myself into a better position in my life earlier so I could've worked on these new films. I wasted so much time in my life when i was drinking and doing drugs. Oh well can't change that now I guess. I can only move forward.

Chicken Little

Chicken Little is coming to theaters soon, Nov. 4 to be exact. It's cool to be a part of something this big. I got to be a part of creating the video game to the movie. Seeing all the chicken little merchandise out and about is cool. There is also Chicken Little at Mcdonalds in the Happy Meals now. This is a pretty exciting time for me and the future of my career. Being a part of Disney, Buena Vista Games, is pretty cool. I hope to be a good part of Disneys upcoming feature films and how games are related to those films.

Shadow of the Colossus

Wow!! I went and picked up this game today. What an eye popping experience. This game is from the makers of ICO. That was a fantastic game as well. Shadow of the Colossus is something I have never experienced before. You are fighting these different Colossi, which are roaming the lands. You have to figure out how to climb up them to defeat them. Check it out if you haven't already!


On a side note I cant' believe that Autodesk.. owners of 3D Studio Max.. have purchased Alias which produces Maya.. What is the world coming too..

Tak Happy Meals

McDonalds now has Happy Meals featuring Tak. How crazy is that. I have been a part of these games for Nickalodeon. I can't believe it's big enough for McDonalds to make toys for Happy Meals. The other thing is we did the game for Chicken Little and that's going to be next months happy meals too. Anyway go get your Tak toys from McDonalds. They may be the only toys produced.

Protesting 25 to Life

There was a protest outside my work on Monday over the game 25 to Life.
A cops daugther from Roosevelt wanted to protest the game since her dad was killed in the line of duty. Mark Shurtleff and other police families were at the protest.

Well they sent us home at noon on monday to avoid any mishaps..

I thought the whole thing was blown out of proportion and I think it was a way for Mark Shurtleff to get on TV...
Its really sad when people go off about things they know nothing about.. We are developing the game for Eidos. They came up with the content along with a company called Highway 1. We are just making the game as to their specifications, but people in the public can't grasp that concept. Anyway there is no way this game isn't going to go on the shelfs. Eidos has sunk millions into this and if a few dozen Utahns think that it isn't going on the shelf because of them they are sadly mistaken..
It's funny how Shurtleff said that they were postponing the game because he called the Eidos president. What a Joke.. it's being postponed cause it's not finished. It was going to get postponed whether this protest occured or not.

The game isn't as bad as Grand Theft Auto... I don't think.. That being said it is bloody. Kids should definatley not play the game.. That much is for certain but that is why we have ratings.. Parents need to be the parent and take the responsibility.. There are definately things in the media about the game that are not true. I keep hearing there are drive by shootings in the game that you can do... NOT True... The other thing is you hardly ever hear that you can play the cops killing the gang members... All the media is concerened is your killing cops.. How many other games out there do you kill cops in? I can think of several off the top of my head...

The thing that pissed me off about the protest was all the flag waiving and signs saying "take aim at avalanche" and crap like that.. I love police officers and I love america it's not like we are some damn nazis or something. That being said I think everyone has every right to protest the game, but please get your facts straight before going off.

Also If we did not take this contract we would have had to lay off like 30+ people. We didn't want to do that.

One more thing where is the media while we are making all our family friendly games? We have been doing that for years. yet there is never anything in the news about that. We are known for doing kids games.. but when we do one questionable game then they are all over us..

time off

It's been a while since I've updated here..
I've been on vacation for a couple of weeks. Although I decided to take on a freelance job in the time I was off. So it wasn't much of a vacation. I can't believe Tak: The Great Juju Challenge comes out tomorrow. Another game under the belt I guess.

volunteers

Well I spent yesterday at the Red Cross for training. I am going to be volunteering some of my time at Camp Williams. They need people for 12 hour shifts. 7am to 7pm or 7pm to 7am. Im not sure what I'll be doing but hopefully I can handle being on my feet that long. Since I'm used to sitting on my butt all day at work. I just felt like I needed to do something. So I should be getting a call from the Red Cross in the next day or 2 to be signing up for some times. Work is fine with it since we happen to be in down time.
Listened to 2 news last night and we have raised over 1.5 million for the people affected by Katrina. Hopefully that money will keep rolling in and we can do our part. I know that people are still suffering in the wake of the hurricane. We must continue to assist these people. At least make them as comfortable as we can while they are our guests here. I was really glad to hear last night that they are starting to pump out the water and have the levies sandbagged.

*more*

How You Can Help Hurricane Katrina Evacuees Temporarily Living In Utah

Contact Information For The Governor's Office
The State of Utah has set up a toll-free phone number for people and community service organizations who want to volunteer time, help, advice and expertise to the hurricane relief effort. That number is 1-866-873-2437.

In addition to the toll free number, an email address, katrinavolunteers@utah.gov, has been created for the same purpose.

The United Way is accepting monetary donations to help hurricane evacuees temporarily living in Utah. You can donate by calling 801-736-8929.

If you would like to donate clothing to victims of Hurricane Katrina that are in Utah, the governor’s office suggests you donate to the Crossroads Urban Center at (801-359-8837), the Salvation Army or Deseret Industries. Do not take clothing directly to Camp Williams.

Food donations can be taken to Salt Lake area Harmons stores, the Utah Food Bank, or you can contact your local food pantry by calling 211.

To donate supplies for the pets of Hurricane Survivors who are now at Camp Williams call Bluffdale Animal Control and ask for Patty Hoaglund at 870-1504.

relief effort / remixes

We raised some good money here in Utah for the katrina relief effort. Last I heard it was over $641,000 but it may be more than that now.
You can still donate online at the Redcross. I've heard we are going to house around 1000 people from Louisiana at one of the military bases here and I heard last night on the news that there may be a prison here that is being unused and has another 1000 or so beds that may be opened up for use. It just doesnt seem enough. I guess every bit helps though. I'm sure that $641,000 will go extremely quick. I hope the government gets in there and gets some stuff done.

I just heard that the donations are at over $800,000 now.. awesome!!

Just got back from Airwaves... handed in the remixes I did of Nine Inch Nails' song Only. It'd be cool if they played one of them on the air. If I win tickets that too would be cool but I'm definately not expecting it or worried about it.

Feast or Famine

Well I work in the video game industry and I'm either working tons of hours or have very little to do.. thankfully I have very little to do right now.

I brought a kid in the neighborhood in today to test a game. Chicken Little. Although we didn't need him he kept bugging me and my wife to come in cause some of his friends got to come in a few months back. I'm sure they were bragging about being able to test a video game. Kids.... So I told him we needed him although the game is done and at sony right now waiting to go gold. Anyway guess he had a good time. At least with school starting he can brag to his classmates about it. I know I would have when I was a kid in school.

A lot of craziness going on with the flooding and hurricane aftermath in Louisiana and Mississippi. I'm sure I'll donate some money here at some point. I probably need to wait another check before we do that.

laters...
road

first blog

who knows if I'll even use this thing.. but might as well have one..