sweet psp loving!

Just a quick update today as I am pretty swamped with things here at work. First I want to give a big shout out to the freaking skills of Buddy Ramon and his God of War PSP mod. This thing is pretty damn cool. He is auctioning it off on ebay, so I think I am going to bid on this one. That way I can play Chains of Olympus on a one of a kind God of War psp! Plus part of the proceeds (Though I wish it was more than 15%, but it is freaking awesome he is doing it!) go to a good charity as well, (Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play Charity) so everybody wins here.

Here is the link to a story (Thanks to one of our Level Artists Chris Sutton for the heads up on this) as well as the link to the ebay auction!

Not too much else to report otherwise. This is a pretty crazy past few weeks for the gaming industry though…Peter Moore going to EA, Dyack and Co. suing epic over the Unreal stuff, God of War 2 getting nominated for awards right next to next-gen games…oye. It’s like the gaming equivalent of Armageddon. (Minus Affleck and Willis) All that is left is Reggie quitting and coming over to Sony…I think that is when I will truly believe the seventh seal has been broken and judgment day is upon us.

Still not much of a chance toplay my newly purchased copy of The Darkness…everyone here has said good things about it so I am anxious to get some time with it.

Cory

Help me E3wanKenobi...you are my only hope.

Well there has been a whole lotta’ stuff goin on lately. Been so busy I almost forgot about my little blog again.

First I want to encourage everyone to stop by the G4 website and vote for the game awards…we were lucky enough to get 4 nominations!!! That is pretty freaking sweet. I really was not expecting to get any love next to all these slick next-gen games. It also is funny that there are two GOW games up for awards. I am thinking of officially changing my name to coryB beforehand...that or Jade Raymond. Here's the links...even if you don't vote for us, you should stop by and vote.

Main link
Game of the Year
Best Action Game
Best Voiceover
Best soundtrack

The ‘not so E3’ E3 just finished up, which was pretty so-so. I think Sony had a really good show, that Killzone 2 footage was a sweet ending to the press conference. I really want to play that game now. I was not all that excited about the game, mostly because I wasn't seeing or hearing much about it, but after that...I want it now! It’s a bummer all that price cut stuff seemed to be the only thing people wanted to talk about. We showed Chains of Olympus to everyone and gave the press some hands on time with it. People seem to be really digging on it, which was nice. I also got to play Rock Band several times…which was probably the highlight of the ‘not so’ show for me. I can’t see myself playing that game in my living room unless I have a big party going, but in that kind of atmosphere that freaking game rocks!!! It was waaaaay harder than Guitar Hero or Guitar Hero II though. They said they were still tuning it so that is good...I just hope to god they keep that level of 'forgivness' that the other two games had. That way you don't have to be a freaking badass to still feel like you are rocking. The notes in Rock Band seem smaller, and you have to hit them dead on. Needless to say I was taking advantage of the "get your bandmates back in by playing well" feature quite alot cause I was failing out like a mutha'.

I also got to go to some EA gathering for the Sims: Castaway where they had a monkey you could take photos with. I guess it was actually a chimp, but whatever, I got to take a picture with a chimp. That was pretty cool, in fact I think it was even cooler than Rock Band. How sad is my life when getting a picture with a chimp is the highlight of my day? E3 kind of sucked, but the chimp rocked.

I got to hang out with some people I hadn’t seen in some time in my brief one day at the show, but I missed out on hanging with my old high school friend who works for Konami. Sorry Jason, we need to hook up when you come back into town again…or if I ever get time to go up north.

I still wish I was showing the game I am currently directing, ****************, but it is pretty far off from being ready to ‘wow’ people. I had a meeting with some Sony execs last Friday…one of them was a freaking Bitmap Brother…how awesome is that! Xenon and Speedball ruled. I tried very hard not to get all fanboy…you know…playing it cool. It was a trip to be breaking my game down to him and seeing him get excited. That was a good day. It was a good week I guess…Got to play rock band, got a picture with a chimp, and hung out with one of the Bitmap Brothers. It’s weeks like that that make the months of lost sleep worth it. Well kind of.

I also got to go hang out with the fine folks over at Insomniac games and check out the latest stuff they are doing with Ratchet and Clank Future. The game looks and plays pretty great. That type of game, the Racthet and Jak and Sly's, have never been my cup of tea but there is no doubt those guys know how to make a great freaking game. After seeing that stuff I think I am going to pick that one up when it comes out and give it another go...since I am out of games that I want to play on my ps3. It was also cool to be able to have two groups of developers sit down together and chat about the whole game making process. I wish our industry was more condusive to that kind of thing. It used to be, but that was waaay before my time. I thnk games would be better as a whole if we all did that more. Though I think the suits would disagree with me on that.

How about that crazy news about Peter Moore today? I can’t believe his salary and deal points were made into a news story. That kind of sucks for him a little…but whatever I guess it won’t faze him much. Seems like a lot of people are making moves these days, maybe it is something in the air?

I watched that freaking hilarious ‘translation’ video about the lyrics in the GOW theme. That thing has been passed around quite a bit at the office. So whoever did that…great freaking job…the Mulan thing still makes me laugh.

cory

Inside the Actors...err...Developers Studio

So, I did a few posts over at the playstation blog. Well actually I answered some questions for one, and then wrote up a little diddy for the other. There was a little hub-bub about the first post, which was the inspirations for me to write the second. (Though I was always planning a real post) I then saw a posting on Joystiq about the first post, which cracked me up as well as inspired me to write this post. Confused yet? I am.

Anyway, I couldn't sleep tonight, and since I can do pretty much what ever the hell I want over here on this blog, (made clear by my poor grammer) I decided I would write up my own interview with one of the greatest characters on TV. How I imagine it might go if the great JL interviewed me. I am sure none of this is really all that funny, but it's almost 2am and I can't sleep, so right now anything is funny to me.

I did one of these things on my modblog site a looong time ago with Connie Chung. I don't think that one was very funny either.

Be warned, it's a long one and it may not have much to do with games.

(The opening credits roll showing a montage of images moving slowly across the screen. This cross dissolves to a shot of the audience clapping with little enthusiasm. The camera pans over and pushes in to a seated James Lipton.)

Lipton: Welcome all of you wonderful…and devoted…fans of me. We have gathered together today to discuss a topic of which I know very little about, but I am told…by my shows producers…that Mr. Cheech Marin was unable to attend this weeks edition of Inside the Actors Studio…so now we will be sitting down with a…Mr…
(Examines one of the many note cards stacked in front of him)
…Cary Balrog. Oh my…was that you in the Lord of the Rings. I do love those films. Hobbits are such funny people.

The camera pulls back to reveal Cory Barlog sitting in the chair next to James Lipton)

Barlog: Barlog.

Lipton: It’ a funny word too. Hooobbit. Say with me…Hoooobit!
(Lipton lets out a giggle)

Barlog: Yeah it’s a funny word. But it’s Barlog. Cory Barlog.

Lipton: Well I’m sure that doesn’t matter much Mr. Fiery bad guy who killed Gandalf.
(Laughs, mostly for himself)
Well…let’s get right to it, shall we? You’ve…worked on some pretty bad things haven’t you?

Barlog: What? What do you mean?

Lipton: Well I certainly haven’t a clue; it’s just what the note card says.
(Shows the note card to Barlog)
See?

Barlog: Wow, you’re right. Ok. Yeah, I suppose you could say that some of games I have worked on in the past have been less than stellar. I mean, I worked on a game that starred the Insane Clown Posse. Not so sweet.

(Lipton plays to the audience and looks overly shocked and appalled)

Lipton: Yes…not so sweet indeed. I have no idea who this Clown Posse is that you speak of but I am sure that they are, in fact, insane.
(Lipton smiles and looks very proud of himself)
Well let’s talk about your accomplishments, which no doubt must have been substantial, otherwise you wouldn’t sharing the stage with someone of such a monolithic stature…such as myself. You say games, do you?
(Lipton sits back and ponders for a moment)
Let’s talk about one of your shining achievements, the strongest horse in your stable, the game of chess. Tell me, what was going through your mind when you created that one?

Barlog: What? Chess? I didn’t create chess.

Lipton: Really? It was checkers then?

Barlog: Nope, can’t take credit for checkers either.

Lipton: Othello? Mmmm…
(Lipton stares longingly off into space)
…I really do love that play.

Barlog: No.

Lipton: Uno then?

Barlog: No.

Lipton: certainly Hungry Hungry Hippos then?

(Lipton throws his index card in the and exhales dramatically)

Lipton: Well for someone who claims to be the ‘game’ man you certainly haven’t made any games I have heard of.

Barlog: Well I make video games. More to the point console video games for Sony.

Lipton: Well…they make good TV’s, don’t they? A little out my price range, though. The old Zenith works just fine for me, thank you very much. Plus I really don’t believe this whole color thing is going to catch on.
(To the audience)
Just a fad with these kids...with thier rock music...and big pants...and...What was I talking about?

Barlog: You’re probably right. And you were talking about what I worked on.

Lipton: Yes, exactly. Don't tell me what I was talking about. I'm James Lipton. I interviewed Tom Cruise for God's sake. So, Just what is it you have done Mr. Smarty Pants?

Barlog: As you said before, I have had my hands in some products of questionable quality, but more recently I have had the good fortune of working with a very talented group of people on a couple of PS2 games. I was the animation lead on God of War...

(Lipton gets really excited now)
Lipton: Oh yes...Gears of War, I have heard of that one. So you're that cliffyb then?

Barlog: No, I'm not cliffyb, he is far more photogenic than I am. Gears is a pretty fun game though. I worked on God of War. Anyway, after doing animation on God of War 1 I got offered to take over the directing job for David Jaffe (the series creator) on God of War 2.

Lipton: What a clever title. Did you come up with that by yourself?

Barlog: No, there were a few of us who worked on that one.

Lipton: I wouldn’t doubt it…
(Litpon take a dramatic pause)
…and what is this God of War about?

Barlog: It’s the story of Spartan warrior who takes on the Gods of Olympus to exact revenge for the torment they have put him through his entire life.

Lipton: I was once offered the part of Spartan warrior. It was long time ago, in an off Broadway production of 301. It was story about the Spartan who got food poisoning the night before the Persian invasion...and missed out on the whole battle. It would have been wonderful.
(Lipton takes a beat)
I…would have been wonderful.
(To the audience)
Wouldn’t I have minions?

(A deafening silence rings throughout the room)

Barlog: I would see that.

Lipton: Yes, I know you. So now you are a director? You were once a lowly animator, an now a great director?

Barlog: Well I wouldn’t say animators are lowly. I loved being an animator; in fact I still kind of miss animating.

Lipton: And yet you are a director now? Odd, isn’t it?

Barlog: No, not really. I am also very far from being a great director. Like 3000 miles to Graceland, far. Like really far. I have a long way to go before I can even be called an ‘average’ director.

Lipton: Kevin Costner.
(Lipton takes a dramatic pause)

Barlog: Yeah, Tin Cup was pretty good too.

Lipton: Indeed. He once sat on this stage with me. He is a great man. I mean anyone whose films average 3 hours has to be a great man, isn’t that right class?
So tell me, what was it like directing this war game?

Barlog: It’s actually a third person action adventure game, but that doesn’t really matter. It was a pretty tough ride for the first year, since I really had no fuicking clue what it is I was doing. But I had a very good and very patient team, so I finally got into the swing of it.

(Liptons’ eyes glaze over as he sits with a somewhat demonic grin on his face)

Lipton: FASCINATING!!! That reminds me of when I scaled the great pyramids of Giza. When I reached the summit, considerably out of breath because I had a big lunch the day before, I had visions of a great society. My mind touched the stars and I imagined a society of people who built fantastic monuments in glory of themselves, much like this great monument I have constructed to honor me. My desk of supreme power…
(Taps his 35 dollar Ikea desk)
…and minions…whom I berate often...and order to do my bidding.
(Lipton motions to the audience)
Thank you, minions. Your dedication to this cause will not go unrewarded, when the end time comes, you will be spared.
(Back to Barlog)
Have you…ever…built a monument to yourself?

Barlog: Uhhh…a monument to myself? I think I once built a diorama of the Taj Mahal out of sugar cubes for history class. I thought I would be really good at it, you know? I mean I was in art classe4s, I liked to draw. But man it was a pretty sad state. I think I got a ‘C’ on it. Of course that may have been due to the fact that I added a few features onto the Taj Mahal that were not included in the original plans. I thought it wouldbe cool if it were even bigger. That, and we didn't have the internet and I completely slacked off and forgot to check out the books I needed. I had to pretty much wing it.

Lipton: Wonderful! Such a poignant and yet altogether pointless answer to such a serious and well thought out question. I can see why the media very rarely takes people in your field seriously.
(To the audience)
If I made cd’s for a living I certainly would think a little harder before answering questions, isn’t right minions?

(A few forced claps)

Barlog: Games.

(Litpon looks confused)
Lipton: What?

Barlog: Games. I make video games for a living. Some of them come on CD’s, but now they mostly come on DVD’s. Some are even coming out on blu-ray now.

(Long beat)

Lipton: I’m sorry I wasn’t listening. I was thinking about this wonderful macaroni I had earlier today. Macaroni and cheese I believe it was called…have ever had it? It’s WONDERFUL!!!

Barlog: Yeah, I dig on the mac and cheese. I haven’t had it in a while, but I can get down with it. Maybe we should talk about the games a bit more? I wouldn't mind talking about God of War:Chains of Olympus, or maybe even the other project I am working on now. We haven’t announced it yet, but I figured I would just tell you what it is…it’s…

Lipton: (Laughs) I am certain I would not be interested in that. In fact it appears those 4 double bourbons I had before the show seem to be catching up with me, so it seems our time is up.

Barlog: What that’s it? You not even going to ask me my favorite swear word or anything?

Lipton: No. Those questions are reserved for the ‘real’ famous people…like Mr. Cheech Marin…an actor extraordinary range and accomplishment. A performer with more talent in the left half of his moustache than I am sure you have…in your entire body.

Barlog: yeah, he is pretty good.

Lipton: So good night Mr. CD maker…
(Lipton plays to the camera)
…and until next time…remember that if you don’t see the brilliance that is me…then you are obviously totally blind. Be good to yourselves.

(The camera pulls back as the end credits play)

And there you have it.

God, I need to get a life. It really is amazing that I am employed.

The King of Kong

I think I am the worlds worst blogger. I have let my updates fall pretty far behind, but honestly I don’t have much I can actually update about. I would love to go on and on about the day to day things I am doing on my new game, but unfortunately I can’t talk too much about it.

I can say that I just distributed the story and gameplay outline to the team, which is a huge milestone since this thing has taken a lot out of me. I am pretty damn excited about it though, I think it is going to rock the freaking house. I am very biased of course, so take that with a grain of salt.

I got to check out some new mechanics this week as well. Things are moving along pretty quickly so I am always having that feeling of running to keep pace. It is definitely the most hectic pre-production process I have been in. Though I guess the producers would say we are in “actual” production now, but I still feel like I need some more pre-production.

Oh, if you haven’t seen the trailer for this movie, check it out. It is a documentary about the two best classic game players in the world battling it out for the Donkey Kong championship title. It looks freaking awesome…if for nothing else than the wicked mullet the current champ has. Nice.

We are gearing up for the big E3…well not big E3…more like the little E3 next month. God of War: Chains of Olympus is going to show there. It should be pretty cool as the game is coming along great. The ready at Dawn guys were in the office today hanging out with Eric Williams. (Lead combat designer on the GOW 1 and 2) I really can’t wait for this game to get finished. I think in part so I can just focus on one game, but also so I can have GOW in my pocket anytime I want to rip some limbs. That is one great advantage to overseeing a project that an outside developer is doing, I removed just enough that I will want to play the game right when it is done.

Speaking of playing, I have been playing some of Tomb Raider anniversary lately, and having a great time. It took me awhile to figure out the settings with the new ps3 firmware, but once I did it looked great. The game still suffers from fairly simple combat, but the puzzles and the new time slow sure shot mechanic are pretty cool. If I have the time I want to finish that one.

Earth Defense Force…freaking blast of a game. It gets old after awhile, but for the price it was a great time. I give some big ups to the developers of that game for really embracing that 50’s b-movie style. I actually had more fun playing that game than Destroy all humans…go figure.












I think I am going to do a post or two over at the playstation blog, so keep an eye out for that.

Also..to the guys from Brazil that made the cool GOW video...I have a question so let me know how to get a hold of you.

cory

this one is in Drop 'D'

Today is a sad day. Well I guess it would be more accurate to say that this week is a sad week. On Wednesday I will be attending a good bye lunch for one of my extremely valued co-workers, and I would like to think good friend…Mister Derek Daniels. That is not him pictured to the left…that is the result of putting the name Derek Daniels into the Google images search engine. That Derek Daniels is actually the acting Director of the Quaker Peace Movement…it looks nothing like him so I thought it would be appropriate. He actually did a blog post that breaks down his sordid history and how we ended up working together…I won’t rehash that I will just link you to it. I have worked with Derek for a long time…and while our early efforts in the game production world were pretty damn sucky…the later ones more than make up for it. Plus he is just a blast to work with. I hate to see this great team changing...because I hate change. I am a luddite like that. Well maybe not a luddite, since that really deals with fear of technological prgress and change, but I am defintely adverse to losing the good people. There isn't a word for that...so I will just call that a luddite as well. Because I can.

So now I am just going lament a little about how sad it is to see him, and several others move on from Sony to bigger and better things…like Spongebob Squarepants. Just kidding…I don’t think anyone is going on to work on Spongebob. But alas they are indeed leaving, and that fills my heart with sadness. I know that each of them are going on to work on something great, and I am happy for that. I just wish they weren’t breaking up the band. So to all of the extremely talented peeps who helped make God of War 1 and God of War 2 the best that it could be…you will be missed.

On a much more upbeat note, things are progressing forward quite nicely with the new project. We have finished the story and gameplay outline as well as the rough level design overview. That is a huge freaking relief to have that all worked out…though now is the time everyone will tell me we don’t have the time or the manpower to finish it. But that is how it usually is in the beginning…a long negotiation of figuring out what the game is an how it could possibly get done.

I also got to see some cool mechanics that have been in the prototype pipe for the last few weeks. Always good to see things that you can actually play with this early on.

The PSP game is moving along nicely as well. I am going to be playing through the latest build tomorrow to check out all the new stuff.

As for that CVG rumor…I would have to say that there isn’t much truth to any of that…that is really the first I have heard of that. If we do get started on a GOW for PS3 you can be sure I will be screaming about it from the mountain tops the first chance I am allowed. Until then…I am plugging away on my RPG opus ‘A Family Ties game’. It is going to be so freaking awesome…awesome to a level that will actually transcend awesome and become something entirely different… freakin LA LAWsome!

ok...I am tired from a wicked bout of insomnia last night so I am going to end this now.

NEW ADDITION! Check this freaking sweet link out. Appearently they are working on GOW 3 in Brasil!! Too funny...I am credited as a producer again!!!

cory

Now with Retsin!

The first week of work after my vacation is now almost in the can. It was definitely a shock to the system to come back after such a relaxing bit of time off, but it was also good to get back into the swing of things. My vacation was really an illuminating experience on so many levels for me though. I came to understand a lot about my career and work in the last two weeks. The time really opened my eyes as to where I am and what I need to do to keep doing the things I love. Prior to taking off I was feeling pretty frustrated and creatively stifled, which is really not a good place to be when you are trying to lay the ground work for a project. But now, thanks to some really great conversations with various people over the break, I feel freaking great! It is amazing to me how much clarity you can get from stepping away from things for a few weeks. I think I need to do that more often…not all the time…but definitely more often than I have done in the past.

I went down to San Diego on Tuesday night to do the Sony gamers day event and chat a bit about God of War: Chains of Olympus. Seems like everyone is pretty excited about the game, which is good since I am busting at the freaking seams about this game. I really think it is coming along beautifully. As is par for the course for me, I ended up hanging out Tuesday night and kicking a few back with some friends I don’t get to see too often, leaving me wrecked for the next day. But since I normally look like I haven’t slept in days, it was hardly noticeable.

I also go to check out this Game Deconstruction Group last night. This is where a group of USC game development student’s breakdown different games and everyone chats about various aspects of the game. There were a bunch of people from the development community there as well so it was nice to get to meet and chat with everyone; it’s always good to hear about what everyone is working on. (Plus I got a free copy of F.E.A.R. for ps3..sweet! Thanks again for that!) I wanted to go to the last one they did about Gears of War, but I was working. They were doing God of War 2 last night so it was good to get for that one. These guys that broke the game down were pretty freaking sharp too! Three of them had come in for focus tests of God of War. It was pretty cool to see someone really break down the game in detail and hear what others had to say about it. I think they are going to do a deconstruction of flOw next time since the GOW2 thing went longer than they expected. Hopefully I will have the time to go back to check that one out.

I have a story meeting to get to, so I am going to cut this short.

cory

Hanging Chad!

So much drama lately, huh? I have been doing a bit of relaxing and enjoying the beginning of my vacation away from work. I decided to check on the latest happenings in the games world and came across now infamous Sony Europe 'goat' stuff and the crazy coverage of Jaffe speaking out about the CAC reviews. It made me really think about the way things work now, and frankly it disappointed me a bit. I personally don’t’ think that developers commenting on reviews are whining, that is just such a stupid argument. Maybe it is hard for people who have never created something, and put it out there for the world to shit on, to actually understand. I don’t really know. I do know it is no easy thing to creatively put yourself out there, and when the public opinion turns against you to stay quite and just take it. Sure, sometimes that is the wisest course of action, but I have always respected those who still speak out, even in the face of harsh criticism. The industry needs more people like that, regardless of how it gets spun. Though the Uwe Boll thing about boxing his critics is probably taking it a bit too far.

Reviews are such a maddening thing for the people who actually create things. I mean, you work your ass for years on something and it lives or dies by the reviews. Though, this is not always the case as many games and movies have received terrible reviews, yet been a commercial success. But as a creator, the reviews still affect you. How could they not? I have worked in this business for almost 8 years, and for a large portion of that time all the games I released were welcomed with scathing reviews. Granted these games sucked, I know this, but that still eats away at you a little. It is like people calling your child ugly. I can’t imagine that most people would respond too kindly to that, eve if their kid is not winning any beauty pageants.

Why can’t developers comment or even disagree with review scores? This makes no sense to me at all, it never has. If you put a game out that gets some harsh reviews, and you have the audacity to comment or disagree with them, you get the “whiney” card pulled. What?? How is it whining to disagree with another person’s opinion of your game? When you think about it is a brilliant trump card for the press, and this kind of “sour grapes” defense is used all over the place. It makes them come off as the rightous intelligent observer while you come off as an embittered Al Gore demanding a recount. They get a forum to completely decimate, sometimes professionally and constructively - sometimes not, something that you have spent a considerable amount of time and energy on. If you do as Jaffe did and share your thoughts on their “thoughts”, you get treated as if you are whining like a child. How stupid is that? It is not too dissimilar to that whole Wii debacle I had a few moths ago I guess. I know that being in a visible ‘public’ position means that you are held accountable for the things you say…and I am totally fine with that...but to me it really seems like a one way street here. With developers being held accountable and some members of the press (not all mind you) running off and making up whatever the hell they want. Not so sweet.

Whatever…in the end a review is an opinion. So when people comment on it, developer or non-developer, they are providing an opinion of an opinion. It is not whining…hell it’s not even news…at least to everyone else except some of the vultures circling above who realize they can spin it as whining.

Im gonna go play a little EDF 2017 now...

cory

This station is now the ultimate power in the universe!

Well my schedule has picked up considerably since I last posted, leaving me little time to update as frequently as I would like. I actually have a little time here and there, but when I have it the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer. Plus I can’t really talk too much about most of the things I am working on now, so it is not much fun. But it is good to see that God of War: Chains of Olympus is finally fully out of the bag! Well maybe not fully out of the bag...but it is out there now. I can't really give you any more info than is already out though, but more info will be coming soon I promise. That game is shaping up nicely though...hopefully all of you were able to sign up for the free demo offer so you will get a chance to play the game when the demo is done.

This week has actually been one of the more hectic weeks as I am preparing for a nice little vacation. I hadn’t planned on it, but I am so very thankful it is happening. Since I spent a large portion of my break prepping for the current game I am working on I am not going to do any work, or even think about anything work related on this one for a full two weeks. (maybe I will take some time to play through some of the games that Totilo reccomended as well as my newly acquired copy of Planescape:Torment. Sweet) My god my brain really needs this. Lately I have been feeling like everything is moving in fast forward…like one of those old keystone cops movies. It will be good to slow the ride down for a bit and catch my breath so I can come back and make the push I know is coming.

Today Mark Ryden put up one of his prints for sale, an event I have been looking forward to for some time. He usually only puts out one print a year with a very limited number (500) so they are very hard to get. I got lucky last year and picked one up, a cool print called Rosie’s Tea Party.(pictured above) This year he was releasing one to promote his Tree show he has going around galleries. I was up at like 6:30 this morning refreshing his webpage like crazy hoping to catch the buy button the first moment it came up. I even had my mom (down in San Diego) working on this one. The button came up around 8:45 this morning, but the traffic quickly crashed the servers several times. Neither of us made it past the “add to cart” page. After about an hour or so the site went down completely and I had to get to work. So my mom took the reigns and kept an eye on the site. IT came up a few times over the next few hours but always quickly crashed. It seemed all hope was lost and that it was not meant to be. I was getting ready fro lunch when I decided to open the page up to see what it said, and in place of the buy button was a message apologizing for the bum servers and saying to send an email to the store with your info and they will take them on a first come first serve basis. I guess they still had a few hundred of the 500 left, so both of us sent an email in hopes of getting one of the last few. About two minutes after we sent them in the page refreshed with a “Thank you, this edition is sold out.”

Damn, no such luck I guess. They said they would call people today to let them know if they got it. By 6pm I had no call, so I was pretty much resolved that I got no love. But then an email shows up in my inbox like mana from heaven saying I got a print. Sweet…that was a nice way to cap off the day. Plus, my mom was able to get one as well…so we are both happy.

After that sweet victory it would have been nice to just call it a day and go home, but I still had a bunch of script notes to take care of so it was back to the grind for me. But I still got out of work at around 8:15 tonight, so I can’t really complain too much.

God of War II sold like 833 thousand units in the first month…good god that is crazy. That is like more than three of my previous games lifetime sales combined. Thank you all so much for supporting this game!!! I hope we can keep it up…then maybe we will get to make another one!

Let’s see…what else is new…I am going to go speak at CSU in early may. That should be fun. I got to go talk with a few classes at USC over the last few months and that was a blast. I always have a good time doing that kind of stuff. It gives me a chance chat with people without the fear of something I said ending up as a negative punch line on Kotaku.


Ok…I am going to watch a movie now.

cory

It is 5:01...and you are listening to Los Angeles...

It has been a while folks, but I honestly haven’t been that compelled to write on the blog as of late. I think mostly because things have cranked up pretty heavily at work. It’s weird, in the beginning of a project you are supposed to (or at least I think you are supposed to) have the creative ramp up. The point where you have died down to zero from the last gig, and then you slowly throttle up to full speed and find your pace. But right now I feel like I have gone from a dead stop to full speed, like I am trying to hold on to the tail section of a rocket as it blasts off to freakin’ space. The strange thing is I have a lot more confidence in what I am doing now…I mean I know what it is I want to do. But trying to get it 'done' seems to be getting in the way.

Imagine this…it is like trying to write a term paper while running a mile in the rain with your coach pacing alongside you screaming for you to “move faster!” Perhaps I am over dramatizing it a bit…in fact I know I am over dramatizing it a bit. But you get the point.

I think I am just experiencing a little creative block or something. But at the end of the day this is a job, so being creative ‘on call’ is part of that job. Sometimes that is so much easier said than done. Only 24 hours ago I felt pretty damn good about everything we are doing…but what goes up must come down. I guess I am still good with where things are at right now, but there is still a ton of work. And some major points of where the story is going right now are starting to lose their luster. Perhaps I am allowing the excess noise to get in the way you know? Yeah maybe that is it…I just need to step back from things and take a look from a different perspective and I will see it.

Man that sounds convincing to me. Maybe it will work?

Nice, I haven’t written in a while and all I am doing now is bitching like I just skinned my knee playing kickball. That is lame. I mean the game is doing really well out there. People seem to be enjoying it. Well except that cat from the action-button site…he was not loving life when playing GOW2. Though it seemed the content of the review spoke fairly well of the game…at least what I could understand of it. That thing was more of an incoherent ramble than my post-alpha, late night, sleep deprived posts. Though I am sure it got their site a bunch of traffic. Smart move when you think about it. That is why Kotaku probably picked up on it…I loved the write up about the review that says people should read it “if only to see just why God of War II is so shit.”

Sweet. Perhaps not every gamers cup of tea, probably not the greatest game ever made, but ‘so shit.’ Maybe I am just biased but I really don’t see it as shit. But this is coming from a site that is the gaming equivalent of the freaking “Bennifer report!”…so whatever. Well maybe that is not entirely true since I do read the site form time to time and it has some good stuff. But I just wanted to find a way to throw the Bennifer thing in.

I suppose I should feel much differently than I feel now. I should be stoked. Aside from the usual smattering of haters, which you will get no matter what you do, most people are into the experience. I think we finished a great game, a game we are all so freaking proud of, and I am now full speed into another project. Things seem to be going pretty good right now. I should feel pretty damn sweet.

But I don’t. Instead I feel this insane case of writers block, or creative block…whatever. Like there are so many great ideas dangling from a string right in front of me, only someone just hit me in the head with a hammer, and I can’t make out which of the twelve things I see is the real idea. It’s there…I just gotta’ make sure I don’t get hit with a hammer again.

In other non-self indulgent news, Tim Moss, our director of technology has started a blog. After a few years of using my blogging as a weak punch line for his own amusement, he has finally succumbed to the world of the blog. (I think he even said that he was disappointed in the Wii…get HIM!!!) I imagine it is because he has a lot more free time on his hands right now…though that will all change when his kid arrives.

I honestly do not know how anyone does it here. How they can do this job and have a family. I am so completely consumed with the work that I can’t imagine how I would balance this job with trying to see a wife and kids. I can’t even have a freaking pet! I had fish…but even they required more time than I was willing to give. How freaking sad is that?

“Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffin’ glue.”

I am sure this is just me though, since there are so many people here that have families as well as pets. They make it work…and god bless em’ for it cause’ it is so not happenin’ for me.

Ok, I have rambled on for long enough, I am going to go to sleep. Tomorrow I will wake up and all will be right in the world.

cory

Thats a wrap!

I have been pretty busy lately getting the next game we are working on up and running so sorry for the lack of communication everyone. We still have a lot of work to do but I think I am finally getting my head around this thing. Not that I fully understand it yet, because I am far from that, but I have made some good progress.

We had the God of War II wrap party on Friday, which was a freaking blast. The team was on the tail end of their breaks and it was good to see everyone from the team enjoying themselves even if it was under somewhat inebriated circumstances near the end of the evening. We got the first week sales numbers which were pretty freaking amazing. It is very strange to work on a game that outsells most of my other games in the first week. I still look back on the game and nit-pick several things about it but overall I am very happy with what we ended up with. It is a little sad to reach the end of God of War 2, but also very liverating to know that we are comeltely done with it and people are digging it. Though to be honest I did stop looking at reviews recently since I am so swamped with work and reading them just puts me into a nit-pick mood again.

Also sorry about that whole website confusion…we had some silly routing issues that were never checked out and a bunch of stuff got screwed up. My bad on that one folks. I am proud to see someone who follows this site found the secret first…though I am bummed that it was all messed up when you found it (edit.) GodModeGod. (Sorry..my bad!) Stay tuned for the reveal of what it is all about.

Thank you again for all the kind words and feedback about the game. I have finally caught up on everything and rather than respond in a bunch of comments I thought I would just write a post. The European version will have two different SKU’s, unfortunately the US version is the only single two-disc version. If you want both discs you will need to get the two disc edition in Europe. I have put some calls in about the PAL demo and when I get it I will be sending it out to everyone who is on the PAL list.

Let’s see what else is new…sadly not too much. Prepping for the next game is taking up almost all of my free time. I did get to pick up S.T.A.L.K.E.R this weekend but it took me forever to get it up and running. You know, as much as I dig playing PC games I think I am going to cut down on the number of PC games I play. It seems that I usually spend a day or so just trying to get the damn things running. Then I find out that my machine is unser spec for the game to run smoothly with at least some of the cool looking options on so I end up thinking about an upgrade. No good. I think I will be sticking to console games for awhile since it is just easier. I will say that the drama I had with S.TA.L.K.E.R was mostly due to my own machine though. The CPU kept overheating when I was trying to install it. I needed to open up the box and clean it out…then it worked like a charm. That is until I loaded up a game and realized that I have to turn almost all the options either off or really low just to get a decent frame rate. Boo for that. But I spent some time tinkering and found a somewhat happy medium…total time from opening the box to actually playing…6 hours. Not too much fun. I start lacing up the boxing gloves when it gets that 'unfun' :)

















This is not to say “GOW developer gets a PC game, gets disappointed” or anything. Because that is so comepltely not true. I just don’t have the time like I used to spend fiddling with things just to get a game to run.

I have been playing a little bit of Dawn of Sorrow on my DS as well…I really like that game. Sometimes Castlevania games are hard for me to get in to right away, which cause me to stop playing. But I always end up picking them up again and finding that groove. I found that groove on the plane back from GDC. I got to a point in the game that had me thinking about what free time I can steal to sit down and play some more. That is definitely the sign of a good game to me.

I am still not playing much of my Wii though. I went back to Trauma Center and tried making sure the lighting in the room was solid...it did feel better, but I still suck at it. The DS version was more about the fun...this one feels like it is just harder. I got a lot further into the game but there was a point that I just stopped. I might go back to it, but that game was kicking my ass. I haven't had as much time over my 'mini-vacation' to play the new Zelda, which bums me out. I want to see all the cool things people keep talking about. Maybe I will do that tonight?

We got our copies of the soundtrack CD today so that was cool. I have been listening to the master recording they sent me when we were in production so it will be nice to finally have a real CD.

I just realized that this is my first official post about the next game I am working on…crazy. It is definitely good to have that first one out of the way, but going on to a new piece of hardware kind of makes me feel like I am hitting the reset button all over again. Which may be a good thing since I think it makes me work twice as hard, which in turn makes the game that much better!

So there you go. Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying the game!

Cory

...cause it's G...D...C...oye...oye...oye...

It's dynomite!

Ok well maybe not dynomite exactly...but good times.

So sorry for the lack of updates everyone but I have been taking a hiatus from the computer as my break comes to a close. I have just finished up the last of the GDC (game developers conference) stuff and now I am chillin in my hotel room waiting to go to the Video Games live show tonight...which should be pretty freaking sweet. I have been wanting to make it out to the show for a year or so but have always been busy when the oppurtunity arose...but not this time baby!!!

GDC was ok...the lectures and roundtables still dissapoint me a bit...at least for design. They are all so general and really feel like lite version of talks. I never feel like I walk out of here with any new really useful info. but it is great to get a chance to chat with all the friends I haven't seen in so long due to my development hiburnation, so that works out nice.

I went to the Sony party on wednesday night and had a freaking great time. They had probably one of the best musical line ups that I have ever hear at a sony party. This amazing dj named Mike Relm did a wicked set that blew my mind...he did some video mixing that was linked to his scratching...totally amazing. I was totally spellbound for the whole set. He also had some wicked beat juggeling skills and a sweet song selection. They also had Cut Chemist come by and tear it up on the wheels of steel...which is always great. I have seen him a few times and everytime I am just blown away. then I drank a little too much...well maybe not then..it was more like the whole night. But I didn't get sick or get arrested...so it was a good night.

The launch event is coming up...we are doing that little shindig at the playstation store in SF at midnight on Tuesday...or is it called monday at midnight? Hmmm...not sure...it is basically the first few minutes of March 13th. Should be a good time, I am going to take photos and post them up when I get home.

Not too much else has happened...I am going to be doing the tourist thing here is SF over the weekend, checking out the sites. I really want to go see the rock...not the wrestler...the prison. I wnet there as kid but I don't remeber it much. I think I am going to head out to a party some of the 1up and EGM peeps are throwing as well. I think that will be fun, though I really need a vacation after this vacation...I am worn out.

No answer for y'all on the PAL demo situation...I havent been the office but I will find out what I can and let everyone know.

Ok I gotta go get ready for this show now.

Cory

almost made it to 300 comments...crazy. :)

Enough Already...

In order to assist and hopefully expedite the dust in settling on this whole “God of War 2 Developer bashes Wii” controversy I am going to change the subject now and talk about something else. Maybe I will talk about other things I am playing these days…on my vacation away from the land of development.

Let’s see…I played a bit more of World of Warcraft the other day. Sometimes that game sucks me in…and other times it just turns me off right away. Probably because I am attempting quests that are waay above my level...which is 22 right now. I had to go kill 5 giant crockalisks or something like that…and I was doing it solo. I really didn’t think it would take that long…so the first few attemjpts were such miserable failures. Then I quit for awhile...then came back again the other day thinking it would be easier...5 hours later I finally killed the last one. Good lord those things are hard. It got me thinking about how such a mundane tasks kept me engaged for so long. I mean from a story standpoint I have no fucking clue what is going on in the game. The quests all have these crazy hard to pronounce names for towns and people…and when I step back from it I feel like a fed ex guy with a sword and gun. Yet I still go back when I have time and play these confusing and sometimes frustrating missions. But when I finish them..I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I also think I like the fact that I can leave the game alone for however long I want, and when I go back I have a clear list of goals that I can chisel away at, which I suppose is very rewarding. Though I honestly forget what level I am at most of the time, and then am surprised when that crazy gold tornado comes up and says I have leveled up. I also forget about the Talent points all the time, but then it is like freaking Christmas when I remember ‘cause I have a ton to spend. Which is always nice.

I actually think I will keep coming back to WOW every once and awhile…but I don’t think I will ever be able to get into it to the extent that some do. I really don’t see a level 60 in my future or anything like that…just don’t have enough time to dedicate to that. But the freaking size of the world is absolutely amazing. I could have fun just running from Menthiel harbor to Iron forge…man those freaking names are weird.

Let’s see what else is new? Going to GDC in a few weeks so that ought to be fun. I am eager to catch up with old friends as well as see all the discussions on next-gen development. I really want to hear what people are saying about their development cycles and the growing complexity of these games. I chatted with the Bio-ware guys a few years back at DICE…would love to chat with those guys again. I have such respect for the way they handle such big freaking games. I really want to pick their brain about their process.

I just finished a pretty good discussion with some people on the System wars forum on gamespot. I found the link to the thread from that belstat thing on my blog and decided to check out what people were saying. Initially it was mostly the typical “he is an idiot” stuff…but when I got to talking to everyone it was actually pretty cool. Everyone there is really into games and has a lot to say about them. I love talking games so it was nice. Some still hate me and say they distrust Sony…but in the end no matter what I do or say that will always be the case.

Oh I am doing the 1up show podcast on World of Warcraft sometime soon..not sure when but I will keep everyone posted as to when that is going off. Maybe that is why I am on this WOW kick today.












I got this image from the G4tv forums...everyone keeps going on about this balrog thing...but it is weird how I look almost exactly like this guy. Though I am a little buffer.

Cory

Ahh Kotaku...

I decided to make this it's own post since it seems to have taken on a life of its own...

Apparently Kotaku picked up on the posting that said I was dissapointed about my wii...and now the nintendo fans are all ripping me a new one. Nice. Since I am too much of a dumbass to figure out how the hell to get a kotaku login so I can post a rebuttle...I will just comment here.

First let me say I am not so quickly judging and writing off the wii..I am just saying what I played was not doing it for me. I think it is a good system...I just did not get bowled over with a sense of "Oh my god this is the future."

Second I am not towing the company line by any stretch of the imagination...I have many many game systems...not just sony ones. And I freaking dig them. So while it is easy to say..oh he works for sony so he is just bad mouthing the competition...that is just crap. But again everyone is entitled to thier opinion. I like good games...period. No matter what system it is on or who makes it...I like a good immersive experience. Hopefully there will be something coming out soon that will excite me about the system...but from what I played now nothing is compelling me to do it. But to be fair it is the very early part of the consoles life so I trust there will be many cool things to come. When friends come over though...I will be playing the wii a whole lot more...cause it is fun in a social situation...like freaking Guitar Hero. I played the hell out of the first one for a week or so...but then it kind of wore off for me...I still played it, just not as much. Of course when I have people over it becomes fun again. So to me..right now...the wii is a great social machine...but when I want to sit around and get sucked into a game for a lengthy session I am not gonna be playing the wii. No dissrespect to Nintendo or to those who fervently follow the church of Nintendo...cause I think they are fucking smart guys over there...it is just my opinion.

I am going to sit down and play some more trauma center tomorrow though since so many people think I am fucking crazy by saying it is inaccurate. Who knows maybe I was doing something wrong and it actually does rock...but I had no problems with the DS version of Trauma Center...I fucking loved it. It was intuitive and responsive and just plain fun. So maybe getting used to the wiimote more will yield better results??

Oh...and yes I work for Sony....they sign my checks and I have a ps3 that I love...and I am playing the hell out of Resistence. When I can get some good sticks I am going to get VF 5 and play the hell out of that. I use the Bluray player a ton too...cause Haunted Mansion in HD RULES!!!! Ok so I am kidding about that...but the directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven on Bluray is great. And I fucking love my 360...I love it. I really hated most of the launch games save for Condemned...but now there is some good stuff (Gears,Oblivion, Dead Rising, Lost Planet...bad story but fun game)...so stick that in your towing the company line pipe and smoke it!!!

word.

Seriously though...can someone fill me in on how to get a Kotaku login...I would love to be able to comment on the site but for the life of me I can find anywhere on the site to sign up.

So JC gave me the hook up on how truly simple it is to post a comment...but now the comment I posted is not up. Boo for me...I guess if it is your first comment they have to review it to see if you are cool enough to post. whatever. This is just like that time I didn't get picked for the kickball team...ha!

cory

Good lord there are waay too many sites covering this...I really can't believe anyone thinks this is news. Nice. Tomorrow I will discuss how I was dissapointed in my new Mac purchase...that ought to get everyone nice and fired up.

DEMO TIME!!!

The day has finally arrived!!! I got word the demos are in the office (yes…later than expected…thank you for pointing that out) so I am going in tomorrow morning and getting everything signed and set up. They should all go out by the end of the week. I am going to send NTSC demos to the PAL peeps and then send a PAL demo out when they get out of manufacturing. So those of you who did not get them from the Gamestops or EB’s will have one…those of you lucky enough to get one will now have two. Not sure what the hell you can do with two but knock yourself out!

Let’s see what else is new? I have a meeting tomorrow to discuss some of the early story ideas and work on fleshing it out a bit more. I still have a long road ahead of me before I am happy with everything, but it is a small step in the right direction.

OH! When I went to have dinner with the designers last week I got a pretty damn sweet surprise. They all chipped in and bought me a Wii!!! Pretty fucking sweet huh? Needless to say I was quite shocked…and though it may sound sappy…very moved by that. A lot of people have been asking me when I will feel like I have accomplished something. Will it be when the game is on store shelves and many are playing it? When the gamespot review goes live? Those will most definitely be great milestones but to be honest it was last week at Banderas, (the restaurant we ate at) when I realized how damned lucky I am to be doing what I do. We worked our asses off and we made a game we are all proud of…and I feel like…in some way I have been fully accepted into this team…into this role. That felt good. I don’t get many experiences like that in my life so I am relishing it a bit I guess.

I went down for a meeting with one of our external developers working on a project with us. It was a good time, got to talk shop with everyone and check out the latest progress on the game. It is looking good. I think it is really going to take a lot out of me to keep focus on two games at once, but in the end it will be pretty rewarding…plus I have total confidence in these guys, they are total pros. It made me miss doing animation though. I was chatting with their lead animator about some stuff and just that brief conversation took me back to the days where I just came in the office and put my headphones on and animated for like 9 hours straight. Those were very uncomplicated days. Though I guess if I honestly look back on it I think I actually made them much more complicated than they needed to be. I know I have a tendency to this…it is something I really need to work on. I stress myself out way too much. But such is the nature of the creative beast.

Anyway…it is late and I have to get up for a meeting tomorrow so I will sign off now. Thank you again to everyone for supporting this game and giving all your feedback. I love it, I really do hope you continue to provide it since you are the people we make the games for.

Here are some pics of the sweet wii…though I must be honest it was not everything I had hoped it would be. It was fun…but the wow factor wore off fairly quick. The one game I wanted to play, Trauma Center, was definitely a bit of a let down. The wiimote was woefully inaccurate and sapped the fun of the game. The Wii sports golf and bowling was cool…the boxing is freaking terrible though. In the end I hope to see some cool games come out of it, though it has me worried that the whole “what new thing can you do with the controller” fad will wear off after awhile and I will have left is a much slimmer wireless gamecube. Though the gamecuvbe gave me some great gaming moments so I am not all that bummed. I am still happier playing Zelda on my Gamecube…maybe I am just a luddite like that. Who knows?
















The unopened box...it was like christmas without the time off that I don't get to take. :)















It's a very petite machine with very petite components. Feels like something mac would make...maybe they will...they will make the ultimate gaming/ipod/phone/coffeemaker/toenail clipper that you absolutely can't live without. Thought it will be even smaller...and directly link to your brain, and steve job's brain. It will be the best...and I will buy one.














Very petite...I kind of like that since there really is no space left in my home theater cabinet. Big ups on that one nintendo!














Had a little drama getting the second wiimote to work. I did not figure you had to go in and set the machine to look for it. Maybe you don't have to, but I did. I changed the battery like 10 times thinking I was just an idiot. Turned I am an idiot, just not about the battery. go figure.

Thanks again guys, this was a really really cool gift!

Cory

UPDATE:

I got through signing and organizing of all the demos today so the mailing should start tomorrow. It took a little longer than I expected but it is all done now. Soon those without demos should be enjoying the sugery sweet goodness of the colossus level! And the game copmes out in 19 more days...kind of sucky it took so long for the demos to get to everyone..sorry about that...but better late than never I guess.

We are doing a Launch event at the Metreon in SF on March 12th..well midnight on march 13th I guess...so if anyone who reads ther blog lives near there you should come out and check it out and say hello. I will be there with a bunch of the team members and some of the celeb voice actors and such. Should be a good time.

late night refreshing!

So here I am recovering from a cold I got in Vegas from drinking waaay too much and sleeping waaay too little. I am sure you will all see the evidence of that in any of the babble filled interviews I did about the game. Anyway I am perched here in front of my computer hitting the refresh button on several gaming websites to see if any reviews have come up. Lame I know…but since this is my first the reviews do mean a whole lot more to me than they ever have. I have become so accustomed to not caring about the reviews of the game I work on that it is a real shock to the system to be unable to sleep until I see the first that pop up.

From what I understand from the marketing folks and the journo’s I met at D.I.C.E. the reviews should start popping up as early as midnight tonight…well this morning….fuck it…now. In the long run I don’t think it will be healthy for me to read the reviews too much, but since this is such a huge freaking deal to me here I am clicking the refresh button again.

I saw the game trailers preview…bummer about them not getting to finish. I think they ran into some of the issues the team fixed after the review code went out. That is the nature of the beast when sending out the disks before we go through the final steps of QA. I can’t wait to hear their responses when they get the final disks though.

I need to go to sleep…I am tired and this medicine I am on is making me drowsy…but I can’t…gotta’ see what the verdict is. So fucked up isn’t it? I am not someone who really needs outside validation to feel confident in the work I have done. I mean, I love the game, and I know we have done something great. But that is just me...and I am biased like a mother fucker. Oh well life’s a bitch I guess…we will just have to see what we will see.

Refreshing pages again…still nothing. The funny thing is I am probably the only sucker up…they are all most likely asleep nursing the aftermath of their D.I.C.E induced hangovers. Pathetic…me…not them.

Holy shit…the ign review is up…I am going to read it.

Holy shit…a 9.7…nice! After reading it I was expecting a sense of relief to just rush over me, but alas it has not. It is a great review and I am so incredibly psyched that they liked it, but I will hold my jumping around and dancing for when the game is actually on the shelevs. I think I need to just step back from everything now…maybe get back to work on the story I am fleshing out now and figure this fucker out. Still many details to work out! I just got a call from Nate, one of the designers, telling me about the review. I think a bunch of us are going to go out and have a nice celebratory dinner and a few drinks…that should be fun. I think I will need to get to sleep soon so I shake this freaking cold.

All right y’all…later!

cory

UPDATE:

here is the 1up review as well...pretty good. Doh...and I saw that Ken Z already beat me to the IGN review posting in his comment earlier. Nice catch man.

best post I have read yet...NEOGAF forum..."A 9.7. Ouch! I guess Cory messed up."

Man...if 9.7 is messing up...then I am ok with messing up now and again. :)

ANOTHER UPDATE:

The gamezone review is here...pretty cool stuff as well. Thanks to Eric for finding this one!!

KEEPING WIHT THE UPDATE THEME...NEW UPDATE:

The gamespy review is up...very cool to see they enjoyed the game. going off to enjoy some dinner with the God of War 2 guys soon...maybe I will write a new post tonight.

Oh my god a new update!!!

What is up God of War fans? Holy shit…over 200 comments. Man if I didn’t know any better than I would think that I am popular or something. Though I really know it is just that I am lazy and I haven’t done an update in awhile. What is new here in the land of Kratos? Let’s see…

The team has been hard at work crushing all the last minute bugs in the game and we have sent a disk off to Format QA…which is the last line of QA before we go to manufacturing. So it is close my friends…very close. The demo disks still have not arrived in office from manufacturing, I am expecting them in by Monday next week but it could go as late as Wednesday.

I busted out my cork board, index cards and post it notes…I have been chiseling away at the story and high level design on my next project. Almost my entire wall is covered with random ideas and plot points, now all I need to do is figure what works and what doesn’t. Looks like not much rest is in store for me as I need to really get a jump on what I am working on next. It’s not so bad though since I do enjoy this part of the development…though I am still going to try and get as much rest as possible.

Speaking of rest, I don’t think I will be getting much over the next few days as I am packing up to head off to the D.I.C.E. conference in Vegas today. I am going to do some press for the game and hopefully catch up with some friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I imagine that much drinking and very little sleeping will happen…but what the hell I have earned it, right?

I think many questions have been asked in the flurry of comments over the last week or so and I will try to get to them when I have a little more free time. I also need to do some maintenance on this blog since my images are all kinds of fucked up right now. Maybe I will do that when I get back from Vegas. VEGAS BABY...VEGAS!!!

All right…later!

My work here...is done.

Well maybe not "here" here...more like there...my work "there" is done...if the meaning of "there" is "God of War 2"...then that is what I mean. Anyway, today is Sunday January 28 and it is safe to say that all of the primary work for God of War 2 has been completed. There are still bugs to be worked out as the game goes through the final bit of Quality Assurance (QA), but for all intents and purposes I am done with everything I can do on the project. My break between projects begins on Monday, though I will probably go into the office to take care of a few last minute things. If definitely doesn’t feel done to me, most likely because it was so abrupt. I was on a very funky sleep schedule for the last week of the project working through the nights several days in a row…but its all gotten done. I have to give many thanks to the sound guys Phil, Todd, Paul, Mike, Paul for putting in some great work unders ome pretty tough conditions. I also need to thank the cinematics sound guys (Mike and Chris) who drove up on a moments notice from San Diego and stayed up all night working on the movie mixes. The game sounds freaking awesome!!

As far as the billion questions Mr. (or Mrs. Anonymous posted)…you wouldn’t happened to be a journalist would you? I will try to answer some of them, but forgive me if I miss a few I am still trying to recover and get back on a regular sleep cycle.

The weapons switching is a single button (R2) and it is fast and easy. There is no animation delay and you can switch from the Blades of Athena in mid move to The Barbarian Hammer, do a big hit, and then switch to any of the four magic’s to hit the creature some more, and if you like (and the creature is still alive) you can switch back tot he Blades of Athena to do the final kill move…all while keeping your combo going. While everyone on the internet loves to say “Hey that is such a (insert game here) rip-off” or “They stole that from (insert game here)”…what they don’t realize is when someone does something cool in a game…everyone notices it. When I play a game and they do something cool I look at how they did it and file that away to use later. That isn’t to say that everything about the games we make is just found or borrowed from some other game, but when something really works well there is no reason not to use it. Some call it stealing; I call it realizing when something works. I’m not sure how much you can compare our weapon switching to DMC, my guess is all the DMC purists will say that DMC’s is better…whatever. The whole point for us was to give the player the freedom to switch whenever they wanted while still maintaining the easy to use accessible controls. So when the game comes out you will have to let me know if we succeeded.

As for the usage of the original magic’s from God of War 1…we were not able to get the full “everything you had from the first game crosses over to the second” functionality we originally set out to do. There just was not enough memory for that, but we did add some cool stuff for the second play-through of the game in the form of Urns that you find that allow you to assign a power or fiunctionality to whatever model you choose. So if you want to use Poseidon's Rage again you can, you just have to find the Urn that gives you that power hidden somehwere in the world of God of War 2.

This is a nicer shot of that Gamestop post the other day. This is going to be the cover for the Hardcore gamer magazine that comes out at the end of the month. They are gonna be giving some info on Atlas, so check it out!

In regards to the demo, it has been out in QA for a while now and is on target to get finished and pressed in the beginning of February. I have the list of people that will be getting demos and they should be the first to go out! So keep an eye out for a posting about that.

The website should be up soon, I looked at the final comps of that on Friday and it looks sweet. I think it could be up in as little as a week or so.

All right I am going to go relax a little bit and maybe play the rest of Gears of War. I am finally got into it a little and am at the Berserker boss. Man…one hit kill boss…that cliffyb is hard to the core. And I am playing on casual mode too. Yeah I know…but I like to get through a game once before I have it kick my ass on difficulty. Anyway…I am going to take some time and post again tomorrow…maybe with some more pics.


cory

The final blurry days...

Here are a couple of cool images I just got from marketing showing some of the gamestop promo stuff that is starting to appear. It is a pretty firm reminder to me that we are almost done with this long, long journey. Well there's that and the fact that we are shipping our disc to FPQA in the next 24 hours...if everything goes right. I got home around 1:45am or so this morning (which is nothing compared to the hours the rest of the team is putting in) after our marathon two day playtest we just finished. It went really well, with great responses and test scores all around. The game seems to be pretty tight...we just made some last minute adjustments to fight difficulty and the overall economy of the games upgrading system. Of course I would love to have another playtest...maybe even two...but that is not in the cards. I am confident that we have got everything shored up though. And the game length has stay right around 15-17 hours...so that is pretty freaking sweet! I slept into day so I could be ready for the all nighter session I have tonight going over the whole game for the final sound mix approval. The really cool thing is all the final movies will be in with their sound mixes as well...so this will be my first playthrough seeing everything as it should be. I was supposed to sleep until 3pm or so but I just couldn't get back to sleep...to anxious. I am sure everything will work out fine, but knowing that after today I will not be able to go in there and make changes is pretty scary. This usually happens to me with whatever I am working...but this time it is on such a large scale that my brain just wont shut up...I am going over every detail constantly to make sure there wasn't something I missed. (I am sure there will be many things I missed)




















What else is new in the world of God of War? The demo's are getting closer, unfortunately I still don't have a rock solid date for them yet..they need to go through QA and then manufacturing so I would rather not just throw a date out without really knowing. But when they are ready I will post something and let everyone know about it.

I think I am going to be starting my hiatus soon...still working out the specifics on it. I will need to get back to work pretty soon so I can't start fleshing out the next project I am going on. I think it is going to be a pretty big one...but nothing is set in stone so I won't talk about it too much now. But I will give you a hint...the duff sisters have agreed to play a major part in it, and it is an MMO, and it has all the teen stars of today in it, with guns, and orcs...cause really...orcs just make a game better...am I right? Actually I really haven't even wrapped my head around the whole thing yet, so there isn't much to talk about anyway. As much as I didn't want to, I think I will end up working on it over the break just so I can get a head start and hit the ground running. I think it would be impossible for me not to be working it out over the break...though I really want to try and step away from all that stuff at LEAST two weeks. Here's to hoping I can do it!

Oh and to the anonymous poster who wrote about the Typhon story...I think you might have written me a message on myspace a couple days ago as well, sorry for not responding...Keep an eye out for the game though, as I think you will be pleasantly surprised when it comes out. :)

'aight...gotta go to work.

It's coming...

I came into the office today to play through what will be our final submission to QA for the demo. I was checking the sound mix and making sure everything is good to go...we are still tracking down a few sound volume issues but for the most part the demo is done and ready to go out. I am really freaking excited to finally get this game into some fresh hands and hear the feedback on it. So to celebrate this monumentus occasion I thought I would post a copy of the demo cover art for your enjoyment. It is a pretty sweet image...one of the concept artists (Andy Park) whipped this image up awhile back and I am a huge fan of it.

We are still on track to get the demo out in the early part of next months so when I get the word that the demos are in I will post something and let you guys know that your discs will be showing up soon!! Sweet...Christmas in February.

Let's see...what else is new? Well we are going to have all of our final movies and sound mixing done this Wednesday and then the full game will be going through its last round of QA stuff...so in only a few short days I will have reached the point where I really can't change much. I think that is going to be hard for me. As much as I need a break and some time off...and to just let this thing go...I know it is going to be hard to know that I can't make any more tweaks or changes. You have to let it go sometime...but since this is my first...it makes it that much harder. Hopefully Old grandma Hardcore will play the game on titan mode and cuss up a storm...thus giving me, and the rest of the team, a true sense of accomplishment! :)

Speaking of Titan mode...no that is not a rumor. We still have four difficulty modes in the game, (3 available right away and one unlocked after beating the game) but we have really tweaked the higher difficulty levels...so much so that God mode no longer felt the "hardest". So now we have "titan" mode...and let me tell you it is freaking hard...doable of course...but hard. The demo only has one difficulty available, but the final game will keep those of you who appreciate the challenge buys for awhile I think.

I think I saw someone ask a question about DEMETER in the comments...unfortunately Demeter is not in the game. I wrote a story originally that had her and her daughter Persephone and several other gods in it, but it never really felt right for what we wanted to do with God of War 2. But there might be something in the game in relation to an earth based magic though...so you had half of the info right. Keep an eye out for more info on that. I think we have a cover story in next months Hardcore Gamer magazine that will talk more about where you get this magic from.

As the project begins to wind down I find myself starting to think about all the games I have missed out on because of the crazy crunch to get this game done. And then I think of the time off I will probably get between this and whatever it is I am going to be doing next. (cough, cough) And to show how truly freaking nerdy I am I actually wrote up a list of all the games (some I have started and some I have not) I want to get to now that I am looking down the barrel of a sweet vacation. I broke it down by system even...man I need to get a life outside of games....though honestly doing this stuff actually makes me happy so I guess I don't need to get a life...I already have one. Just one that most talk show hosts, politicians, nutritionists, and Zealots would not approve of. Who cares...fuck them it my world right? I will just embrace my pseudo Howard Hughes like love for "shut in" gaming goodness and hope that over the break I do this so much that I am bored...and itching to create again. That is really what I need to do...I need to get bored so I can reignite that creative flame (cheesy I know) and prepare for another huge, in your face crazy gaming opus. Perhaps I am giving myself too much credit with the "opus" part but oh well...that is how I roll.

Anyway...here is what I got...feast on my nerdyness:

Xbox360
Oblivion (Need to Finish)
Gears of War (Need to Finish)
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Splinter Cell: Double agent
LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth 2
Lost Planet
Just Cause (Need to Finish)
Call of Duty 3
Dead Rising
Tomb Raider: Legend (Need to Finish)
Hitman: Blood Money (Need to Finish)
G.R.A.W. (Need to Finish)
Condemned: Criminal Origins (Need to Finish)
Saints Row (Need to Finish)

PS3
Resistance: Fall of Man (Need to Finish)
Tony Hawk: Project 8

PS2
Bully
MGS3
GTA: San Andreas (Need to Finish)
Final Fantasy XII (My god this is one going to take forever)
DMC3 (Need to Finish)
Silent Hill 3

Gamecube
Zelda: Windwaker (Need to Finish)
Zelda: Twilight Princess

PC
W.O.W. + some Burning Crusade loving
Titan Quest (Need to Finish)

Jesus that is a lot of games I need to play. There really is no possible way I am going to be able to finish them...but I am going to try and polish off some of the big ones that I have been jonesing to play. (Like MGS3) We will see. I will probably be posting a lot more during that time and lurking around the forums to see how the game is being received...god I hope it is good.


OK enough for today...I am going to go check on the build and see if we have everything sewn up and ready to go.

Cory