No more keeping quiet.

For three weeks I've been in the process of writing a post about the game launch, but I kept stopping myself because I think that the people who read this site (whoever you are) will eventually get sick of how much I talk about Warhammer.

So I've been waiting for something else to happen to me, which it hasn't because I'm working 80+ hours a week and completely obsessing about the game. To recap what has happened in the past three weeks:

*Five-part-zomg-this-girl-talks-a-lot interview at Ten Ton Hammer

*We announced our launch day: SEPTEMBER 18TH MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR MY SANITY

*We lifted our NDA today, and the internet appears to have exploded.

*Incredibly edited, amazingly humorous, horrifically embarrassing video interview between Jeff "I <3 Circuit Breakers" Gerstmann and Paul "I EMBARRASS CARRIE FOR A LIVING" Barnett

...and then it happened. Something finally happened to me that didn't involve Warhammer. But it does involve games. This story is just...too...awesome.

Toy maker Hasbro Inc. has updated its classic Clue game for today's tabloid culture to include younger characters, more weapons, and new rooms, including a spa and guest house.

The six characters' last names remain the same, but their first names and bios have been updated. For example, Miss Scarlet is now Kasandra Scarlet, a famous actress often featured in tabloids. And Mr. Green is now Jacob Green, an African-American "with all the ins."

Colonel Mustard is now Jack Mustard, a former football player. The professor? Now Victor Plum, a billionaire video game designer.

Bring it on!

I've missed doing the HotSpot, as I think podcasts are really enjoyable. So when Syp from the Waaagh Blog wrote me and asked if I would subject myself to a podcast all about the Tome, I jumped at the chance. I was interviewed by three very funny fellows, and they've posted it on all their sites (so I feel I must link all three): Snafzg from The Greenskin, Keen from Keen and Graev, and Syp from the Waaagh! blog. I appreciate them allowing me to be a part of their show, and I must say I had a lot of fun.

The interview took place before Mark Jacob's announcement last week, which I really have nothing to say about that he hasn't said better.

I will say though that when Penny Arcade did a comic about the news today, it really surprised me. I really have felt like for such a long time we've been doing our thing and making this little game that we're going to then share with our little community. And when the internets seemed to explode last week, it struck me that there's nothing little about what we're doing. Alright then, bring it on :)

One of the Boys

I have a crush on Katy Perry.

Players don't do what they're told...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about "game design theories" and about how most of them are pretty easy to put into clever little parables and presentations, but can seem totally useless when you actually need to develop them. (Paul is responsible for this. He gave me this huge document he wrote and then went out of town so we couldn't talk about it.)

I think about things like this because I'm a producer and not a designer anymore, and because we're in severe crunch time right now and I'm at work the majority of every day and night.

But I also think about things like this because it seems like, with any game where you give players flexibility and freedom (which is great!), you lose control over what they're actually going to do/like in your game (which is also great! but sometimes feels like poopoo).

This is how I feel about the Tome of Knowledge, where we're trying to make this open ended experience, and I know two weeks into it that players are going to find some crazy new thing to do with it that I didn't think of, which is exciting but also makes the control freak in me a little sad.

This also makes me wonder how Will Wright feels about the Spore Penis Phenomenon. Give em an inch, right Will? (Pun intended...)

35 minutes

Approximate amount of time it took until Snake uttered... "Metal Gear?" in MGS4.

Clearly, that makes me happy.

(Going through old On the Spot episodes looking for the one where I wore my patent pending METAL GEAR? shirt also makes me happy...if not also a little bit sad.)

Edit: How could I have forgotten that the Metal GEAR? sweatshirt is referenced in this classic GS video blog. Thanks to smpb for reminding me!

Ninja Gaiden II

I am always looking for an excuse to remind people that I beat the Ninja Gaiden Hurricane pack.

Hey Ninja Gaiden II is rad! Did I mention I beat the Ninja Gaiden Hurricane pack?

Meet the Press

There's a lot I could say about being interviewed, having been a member of the press, I find it particularly fascinating now that I have to turn around and talk about my game.

And I think talking about the press/developer relationship before a game launches (which is really the only time there should be a relationship), naturally leads to a discussion about the point of previews.

Previews are generally positive and have always been generally positive (or neutral). There was buzz some time back surrounding an interview between EGM's Shoe and Peter Moore, where he had been particularly aggressive about the 360's problems, and for a brief period of time it seemed like everyone had latched onto the idea that the developer vs. press knockdown dragout fight should begin before games even come out.

I didn't agree then, and I certainly don't now, because I think it's unfair to judge a game before the developers are ready to say it's final. I think you can tell as a game progresses, whether it's moving in the right direction or not. And I think it's fair to mention when a game has very little in it that you find enjoyable, but how do you know what's being worked on and when? Or what changes might suddenly push everything over the edge? I certainly wouldn't ever want reporters to feel like they have to lie about a game, but I also think that it's hard for people unfamiliar with game development to cast any kind of projection on what the game will be when it comes out, and ultimately that's all that matters for the fans.

Previews of WAR have been largely positive. And more than that, previews of the developers, as well as the game, have been positive as well. We recently had to do our self-evaluations and I referenced an MMO Gamer interview in my own review:

The next time Carrie Gouskos is up for a promotion, "lack of passion" will most decidedly not be an issue at her review.

I know that might not matter to any of the fans, but it makes me feel really happy to have that come across. I do love working on games, and this game, and I am really passionate about the work that I do. Sometimes it's exhausting to give interviews, when an interview or demo comes up on the calendar (and there are periods where we're giving several a week), sometimes I feel like I'm not going to be capable of talking about the game the way I want to talk about. Because I do care, but being enthusiastic is exhausting, even for someone as extroverted as I am.

I have to say this week I gave probably my favorite interview ever to Mike from Massively. Instead of asking me to rehash the features in the Tome (he had done his homework), he wanted me to talk about passion and emotion in game development. He wanted me to talk about Xbox 360 achievement points. I think his concept for that article serves the fans in a lot more ways than simply a bullet point of feature items we're working on and whether or not *I* think they're going to be cool. To me, it feels like that's the kind of conversation you should be having at preview time, what are the developers working on and what are their objectives? Who are they trying to attract and how have they accomplished it? Even using in-game examples to show off how they're achieving those goals. Leave the excessive use of adjectives and the KILLING MY SOUL for the reviews.