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June 25, 2006
A HUGE crowd greeted me upon my arrival in Seoul!
As I passed through the customs gate in Incheon Airport, a huge crowd erupted in cheers! They had banners and everyone was holding their phones to take pictures. The airport lobby was packed to the gills, even the 2nd story balcony was jammed full of onlookers.
At first, I was confused. Then I stopped for a nice pose, until a Korean military guy in full gear and semi-automatic weapon tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move out of the Korean Soccer team's way. Oh well. I was *this* close to being famous.
It's a nice warm day in Seoul. I had a great dinner, including a pork dish with some ridiculously hot garlic and a "korean pizza" which was an egg-based flat pancake with squid and veggies. Accompanied of course by "100 years wine" and kimchi.
I'm just putting the finishing touches on my speech for the iPark ICT Summit and I'll be ready for tomorrow's all day visit to NHN to see the progress on Archlord!
Or maybe I'll stay up all night playing New Star Soccer...hmmm.
Unfortunately, I'm going to miss Mr. Knopf this time around. Probably better, otherwise I'd end up dead in a gutter somewhere and Rob would have another great story.
Posted by SunSword at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
Every developer should be this enthusiastic
Paul Barnett has me rolling in this E3 footage where he explains Warhammer Online. I don't know the guy, but I'd want him pushing my game, that's for damned sure.
If you haven't seen his Video Blog as well, it's worth checking out, whether you're into Warhammer or not.
I'm guessing he's a pain in the ass to work with =). (sorry Paul)
Posted by SunSword at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
Tidying up a bit
As the desire to blog has returned, and the dust has settled from my transatlantic transplant, I've unpacked my desktop PC and taken a look at my poor forsaken website. Time to kick the tires and change the oil!
Updated some of the links to the right. About to upgrade to the latest and greatest version of Moveable Type 3.2.
Whilst unpacking, I came across some items that hadn't been unpacked since the LAST time I moved, including an original Star Wars Galaxies game design draft (back when we called it "SWO") and even earlier, a pitch for a web-based online game set in the Ultima universe. Suprisingly that one still seems to hold up...maybe I should post it here? :) Hmm...EA lawyers vs. SunSword. Perhaps not.
Posted by SunSword at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2006
Sign up for our free trial! (Give us your soulllll...)
Anyone in the game industry is probably familiar with this debate, but I must admit, I've become somewhat thick-skinned on this issue, now being on the business side.
We had a bit of an "open discussion" (read "argument") today about the use of websites such as IGN to host free demos and beta programs. I've always found community folk to be particularly opinionated about this. The issue is whether or not it is a turn-off for people who come to your website to sign up for a free beta, who then get redirected to a third party website where they are encouraged to "sign-up" to download without a wait. Critics might say:
* It's a turn off, what does this website have to do with the beta?
* I don't want to sign up for spam!
* Why can't I download it from the company website for free?
I say, "what's the big deal?" Transmitting a 2GB file isn't FREE. Working with a partner offsets the cost and helps get the word out.
So, quit being a pansy. Either wait in line (download manager anyone?) or better yet, just sign up and opt out already. Sheesh.
Would I like to always provide a direct download without a 3rd party? Well, sure, that would be nice, but unfortunately, not every organization can afford to bear that burden.
So, what do you think, is having to register with a 3rd party to accelerate a free trial download a big turn off for you? Hmm..maybe I need to upgrade my blog so I can do polls again...
Posted by SunSword at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2006
Congrats, Mark!
Looks like EA and Mythic finally found a song they can both dance to. I wish them both well. I know how much enthusiasm there is at EA to do a great MMO,and Mythic is certainly a great partner to make that happen.
Posted by SunSword at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)
Charge your USB device using the airline headphone jack...
The badassness that is technology just won't stop.
* Plug compatible with any standard USB charging cable. The Inflight USB Power unit plugs into the passenger seat audio jack and outputs regulated power to the attached USB charging cable/connector.
Price:$34.99
Check it out here.
Posted by SunSword at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2006
I'm headed back to South Korea
and perhaps Australia.
The following is nothing more than base self-promotion, so feel free to skip on to the next feed full of actual useful discourse.
IPARK London have asked me to speak at the EU ICT Challenge 2006 on the challenges of entering the European marketplace. I'm looking forward to giving the speech (which I've been working on furiously for a week or so), as well as conducting various Codemasters business around the event, not the least of which is perparing to launch Archlord for it's first phase of user testing (I really hate to call it "Beta Testing", because it isn't).
So, if you're going to be in S. Korea between June 28th and early July, let me know!
Posted by SunSword at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2006
BRraaaainsss...
Check out The Zombie Game. I've been ranked as high as 9th! I'm just about out of steam now, but I think this site is a great example of how a simple web application and some elegant social engineering can create a compelling diversion.
Posted by SunSword at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)