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October 31, 2004
Hmmm
It appears to have worked...or at least not totally busted...
Posted by SunSword at 01:23 AM | Comments (0)
I'm CRAAAAZY upgrade man
Time to upgrade moveabletype. If the site disappears shortly, I failed.
Posted by SunSword at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2004
A new human species is discovered...
From the New York Times
Once upon a time, but not so long ago, on a tropical island midway between Asia and Australia, there lived a race of little people, whose adults stood just three and a half feet high. Despite their stature, they were mighty hunters. They made stone tools with which they speared giant rats, clubbed sleeping dragons and hunted the packs of pygmy elephants that roamed their lost world.Strangest of all, this is no fable. Skeletons of these miniature people have been excavated from a limestone cave on Flores, an island 370 miles east of Bali, by a team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists. Reporting their find in today's issue of Nature, they assign the people to a new human species, Homo floresiensis.
The new finding is "among the most outstanding discoveries in paleoanthropology for half a century," say two anthropologists not associated with the study, Dr. Marta Mirazon Lahr and Dr. Robert Foley of the University of Cambridge, in a written commentary in the same issue.
The little Floresians lived on the island until at least 13,000 years ago, and possibly to historic times. But they were not a pygmy form of modern humans. They were a downsized version of Homo erectus, the eastern cousin of the Neanderthals of Europe, who disappeared 33,000 years ago. Their discovery means that archaic humans, who left Africa 1.5 million years earlier than modern people, survived far longer into recent times than was previously supposed.
Been a while since I've come across natural science news worth sharing (maybe I'm not paying attention anymore?).
Posted by SunSword at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
I'm going back to cali...(again)
Well, I'm sitting in the United terminal in Narita, getting ready to head back to my home, and my family, whom I've missed a great deal. I doubt if Trinity will even recognize me...
This trip has been extremely productive from both a work and personal standpoint. I learned a hell of a lot about China in general and Shanghai specifically. Shanghai is an amazing place going through an amazing time of growth and opportunity. China Joy was an eye opener in terms of how online games are percieved so differently than they are in the "western world" or even Japan. It felt a lot like the mid-90's did in America. And it was very nice to know that UO is not only recognized there, but almost revered, even though it was never formally launched there, it was the first only game to become popular in China...
And I suppose that's the amazing thing about UO...it has this universal appeal that crosses cultural and geographical boundaries with disarming ease.
I look forward to going back to China one day.
Japan was a huge success in terms of promoting UO, but also in reconnecting with the Japanese UO team. They are such dedicated people, and I'd forgotten what a difference face-to-face meetings make. The 4 hours of being unable to sit in a Samurai Kimono and 5 hours of grueling back-to-back interviews weren't exactly "fun" per-se, but they got the job done. UO will remain the best selling online PC game in Japan, even in the face of stiff competition from Final Fantasy and soon Star Wars Galaxies. I've got a huge list of things to accomplish when I get back to work, but the team seems to be doing well without me. I'm returning with a a renewed focus on next year's work.
Oh, and if you thought my Samurai photo-op was embarrassing, just be glad you didn't hear me Karaoke last night. Oh yeah, John LeCraft and I singing Olivia Newton John....yikes.
So, I'll leave Japan at 4PM and arrive in California 9 hours later, but 5 hours earlier. Neat-o.
Kim kept me sane on this trip by sending me pictures of the girls, some just everyday pictures, and some from their trip to the zoo. I can't believe I left you guys for 2 weeks.
See you on the other side!
Posted by SunSword at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
SunSword Samurai
Okay, I have to get in front of this one before someone else posts it....so, here I am dueling it out with Oaks (Lead Designer on Samurai Empire) in Tokyo on Wednesday.
This image was taken by Game Watch.
Notice the "bling" on Oaks' sword. It won't help him. Oh, there's more where this one came from...believe me... you're gonna have to ask for it.
Comment Here.... (oh dear)
Posted by SunSword at 01:57 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2004
UO Samurai Empire...it's got Ninjas!
The new UO:SE Website has launched! Check out the "Making of" movie. Ninja make bad office workers...
Posted by SunSword at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2004
MMMmm...sushi
So, here I am in Tokyo to celebrate UO's anniversary, promote the launch of Samurai Empire and discuss UO's future plans with EA Japan.
The flight out was fantastic, although a bit delayed. As many of you know, on larger planes and longer flights, many airlines have a display that shows the plane's progress on the map. I've always wished that they would put a camera on the front of the airplane so you could watch the take off and landing from the pilots' viewpoint. Well guess what? The Japanese did it! Not only did they have take off and landing on the big monitors, once we took off, they had a camera showing the view from under the plane that you could watch on your own monitor. You could see the plane's shadow as it passed over the city and watch the clouds or terrain from cruising altitude. It was great! Landing was particularly keen.
On the flight, I met a young man flying to (of all places) Austin, Texas. He's from Shanghai and works for Dell. It was his first trip to the states. I gave him a good list of places to eat and things to do. Very pleasant fellow.
I arrived at my hotel in Tokyo last night. As usual, it's a very nice room, particularly given the small nature of the space. However, when I tried to get dinner in the hotel, I found every restaurant had a 1 hour wait. So I asked the concierge for a local sushi bar. She picked a place for me that was about a 15 walk through Tokyo's meandering roads.
It was a small adventure. The restaurant was a BIG adventure. In case you are wondering, I don't speak Japanese. No one in the restaurant spoke English. But they were very nice. After waiting 5 minutes, a spot opened up at the bar. The waitress brought me some tea and miso soup, as well as the sushi menu (Japanese with a few English words and no pictures :)).
My first few attempts at ordering were a little frustrating for the chef, but I eventually managed to get some wonderful fish. In particular, I finally got to have Anago (saltwater eel) for the first time since I moved from Austin! Thank the gods. It was fantastic. That, plus 2 orders of Saba (Mackerel), some Maguro (tuna), Ama-Ebi (shrimp), Uni (sea urchin). After that, I ordered some more Saba. I think the chef liked my taste, because he made me two more kinds of sushi, neither of which he charged me for!
I can't remember the names, but they were prepared in similar ways. The first was tuna, prepared like it usually is on rice, but then he put it on the grill and got a butane torch and briefly cooked the top. Then he added more vinegar and a dollop of wasabi on the top. That was great!
Then he did almost the same thing with some Saba, except it was even better. He torched it, and then I think he put sea salt on the top, and instructed me not to put it in the soy. Great!
Posted by SunSword at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2004
Forums back up!
The SunSword.com Forums are back up!
Posted by SunSword at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
I'm in China!
I'm at China Joy! I've been in Shanghai since Monday.
China Joy has been fantastic, and EA had a huge display as usual. I was very suprised by the huge number games being developed for china, and the speed with which the Chinese game industry has taken off. In addition to checking out a lot of the online games for the Chinese market I've also been talking with different game developers about the industry and their plans.
It's been a lot of hard work, but luckily it's also been a lot of great food. When I get done here, I'm headed straight for Tokyo!
Jet-set SunSword!
Posted by SunSword at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)