How Can U B Sad W/Faces Like Those?

So, I've been having a pretty crap couple of weeks lately. A lot of utter bullshit at work, of such an astronomically shit level, it borders on the unbelievable. I mean seriously, television shows have had less drama...

Now, instead of sitting around bitching about it, going on endless tirades and endless stressing, I look into the faces of my newborn twin sons; Liam & Logan and say, "how can you be sad with faces like those staring back at you?"


Liam and Logan Barnes were born on Sept. 12th to Jennifer and I, and even though they don't sleep through the night and they're super-colicky nowadays, I can't help but love them and they keep me from wanting to bitch endlessly and tear people apart.

In addition, my wife went out and bought me Will Smith's Pursuit of Happyness on DVD. I wanted to see this movie in the theaters, but we rarely get a chance to see things first run and I like owning movies anyway. Being a parent already (I have twin 17-year old sons; Alan-Michael and William... yes, 2 sets of twins!), I've always got a soft spot for these types of stories. I also love stories where hard working people overcome adversity. All I can say is don't walk, RUN out and get this movie! It's brilliantly shot,well acted and just a really great story. Plus, it's a San Francisco movie and I NEVER miss a San Francisco movie.

(WTF!?! Is Twitch goin' all mushy???)

Don't worry... The Factor will return to its regularly-scheduled biting insight, come 2008, but for now, I'm just gonna stare into the innocent eyes of my twin sons and enjoy the day.

The Magnum Opus

No matter where I go, no matter whether it comes from a "newbie" or an "industry vet" (heh, that term alone needs its own article), I always find developers in pursuit of the ever-elusive "MAGNUM OPUS".

A quick Google reveals the definition of Magnum Opus as; a great work of art or literature. I find in game development the Magnum Opus is often the that evil, haunting, unobtainable trophy that will destroy its pursuer. Over the years, I've seen many people fall victim to the pursuit of this Moby Dick, the "greatest game I've ever made. The game that's going to change everything!"

It's a strange pursuit to me, because I've come to realize, there will be another game to be done and you can't cram it all into one and get it right anyway. Or if you do, you're generally so sick of it by the time you're done, you can't enjoy your accomplishment. Of course, just because you can identify the symptoms doesn't mean you still don't catch a cold.

I remember a wise man identifying the obsession in me. John Manley is a mentor of mine, all around great Designer/cheerleader and my partner in crime with the Strike Series. While we were working on Jungle Strike, the game was essentially supposed to be a green version of Desert, but John and I felt that wasn't a true "sequel". The fans of the Desert Strike deserved more! Luckily (and much to EA's surprise), the original sold like gangbusters (some 8 million units to date) and EA decided to get behind Jungle. They gave us a bigger cart, but no more time. We were trying to cram in everything we could and pulling all-nighters for months on end.

At one point I was pushing to put in something and almost collapsed after not sleeping for 4 days. John said, "Save it for the sequel." The words hit my like a brick to the face. What did he mean, "sequel"? Didn't every idea I had have to go in *this game*??? But I realized, I was in pursuit of the M.O., the Magnum Opus, Moby Dick. I was killing myself to put things in that ultimately no one would miss (and I don't even remember 17 years later what it was). Jungle Strike went out, was a great game and has done about 6 million units.

A friend of mine recently was telling me, a new developer he was working for "had a lot to prove". They're pursuing Moby right now, trying to combine a mega-hit franchise with another mega-hit franchise, in the hopes that their game will be the next ... you guessed it, mega hit franchise. The thing is, I think for a new team/developer, the only thing they have to "prove" is that they can make a good game. The pursuit of "the greatest game" or a "genre buster", your first time out, is a dangerous endeavor. That's not to say it can't be done, look at Portal. Its "new" (if you lived in a cave and had never seen the original game; Nebacular Drop) and it's considered a "great game", a "genre buster" for a first-time developer (sort of). Of course, if Portal wasn't attached to Half-Life 2 & Team Fortress 2 and coming from "Valve", it would've not done as well; sales-wise (still would've been a well-executed game and probably fan-fav).

Anyway...

So, next time you're looking at your game and thinking, "but I can't cut that" or "I have to put that in", think to yourself; does this really have to be my Magnum Opus? Will the game really fall apart if that one thing's not there? Will that thing I'm cutting cost sales?

If the answer's "no", well Ahab, stop chasing that white whale and "save it for the sequel" or there might not be one.

-Twitch

Escaped the Plantation

So, when I started making games 25 years ago, there was no such thing as an "indie scene", every game was done by "small teams" and almost every game was "innovative", because there was no one pointing their pretentious fingers stating otherwise.

As time went on, games got bigger, teams got bigger, budgets got bigger, but I'm not sure if every part of games got better. The games I was working on in particular seemed to be ever increasingly focused on "popcorn moments", big spectacle that's largely non-interactive. I spent the majority of my time on my last game, as a cinematographer. The "powers that be" didn't care about the "game" part of the game, they mainly cared about epic moments and schedules. Then, when they did care about the game, they decided they knew more about tuning a game than a 20-year vet who's mainstay was tuning million-unit sellers. The game turned out okay and of course got unfairly slammed by the press, but that's a subject for another blog ("When Producers and Publishers Get in Their Own Way" and "Reviewers, Jaded and Loving It")

Another game was a license where, sure on the surface it seemed like you could make a game of it, but in reality, if you were to do the license justice you wouldn't be making some cliche-riddled shooter. I never wanted to be on this project, and said as much, but inherited the mess and tried to make a go of it. When it was obvious that it was gonna be a lot of hard work and end up being "okay" and slammed by the public (because that's what asshole smarty-pants reviewers and sniping little pricks on forums do), I had to get away from that. (Heh, another article, "Wasting Your Time Making Other People's Properties Great")

Feeling quite burnt from the past 6 years at The Collective, with perpetual crunch, no appreciation for the effort and obviously nothing interesting or exciting coming down the pipe except more B-level licenses, I thought, "well, might as well go back to a big publisher." Enter Rockstar San Diego, an experience so non-eventful, I don't even put it on my resume, even though it was 8 months out of my life I'll never get back. (Granted Midnight Club: LA looks like it's coming along).

Completely discouraged by what games and game development had become, I thought, "must be time for me to get out." It's a sad thought, but it happens to people all the time. Many a talented (and even more untalented) people "give up" on the videogame buisness, every day.

• Some people leave because it's not all fun and games, like it looks like from the outside.
• Some people leave because it's not the safe haven for wanna-be novelists, directors, Pixar animator wanna-be's or the "I have an idea, I can do that better" people who have been "playing games for years".
• Some people leave because they realize their time is up. They're out of ideas, have no passion for the work and just want to "move on".

Most people leave because the machinery that runs the "business" side of the videogame business is broken. It's run largely by people with the wrong understanding of games and a total reactionary approach towards customer service. Notice I didn't say they had the wrong motivations. Anyone that doesn't think the business should expand and make money is an IDIOT. Yes, you with the need to be this bullshit "starving artist martyr" are an idiot. The very thing that you love would go away if it weren't for its expansion into "casual" or "sports jocks" or whatever genre that's mass market that you don't like. You wouldn't be able to sustain an enviable lifestyle if it weren't for the EA's of the world, so STFU and let them do what they do, as long as they don't impede on what you do...

(deep breath)

So... where was I? Oh yeah, quiting the biz. So, there I was, thinking of doing the deed, when it occurred to me; I made games by myself before. I'm not some chump that needs a giant team to make a game. But how can I sustain a wife and twins on the way in Orange County off of some side project?

Enter XBLA.

Seeing "little games", "indie games" flourish on a console was just the light I needed... the path was shown to the Underground Railroad! Freedom was ahead, just head for the river, go north and don't look back!

So, I contacted a friend of mine, Simon Hallam, programmer-extraordinare, ex-RARE dude and come-to-find-out, an inventor/designer/producer. His game, Wik: Fable of Souls, was on XBLA (as well as PC), and was doing pretty well. Well enough for the 360 to be a viable platform for Reflexive. My intention was to get advice from Simon, but it ended up being beneficial for all parties to join Reflexive and help bring their next project, Axiom Overdrive, to XBLA.

Here we are, 18 months later and I'm still "indie". It's been eye-opening to see a different side of the biz. It's also been rejuvinating to see a lot of "little ideas" pan out for people. It has made me realize that "there are no small games, just small minded people at publishers". I'll be chronicling some of the development of Axiom and other indie games, as well as some of the tirades eluded to in this post here at The Factor.

In the meantime, I've thrown down the cotton, escaped the plantation and hopefully, will never look back...

-Twitch

The Start of Something Old

Well, this has been a long time coming...

Hello and welcome to my "blog". This has been a long time coming, considering how long I've been in the biz, how long I've been "net savvy" and how long I've been a cynical bastage with a ton of stories and opinions in my craw.

So, what can you expect from "The Factor"? A lot of bitching, mostly. That's right, this is my little piece of cyberspace to bitch and moan about the things that I want to bitch about... all the cool kids are doin' it!

You can also expect quite a bit of insight into game development; past, present and future. I live and breathe it, and have since the age of 12, which may not seem like a big deal to a bunch of you who started playing games at age 3 (my 1st set of twin sons, Alan & William included), but when I was 12, we hardly had games everywhere, it was pre-internet boom, there was no such thing as a DVD and Eddie Murphy was a "raw and edgy comic".

So get ready for The Factor and remember, "It's a trip, leave your baggage at the door..."

-Twitch