Ranking (avg) | Team | Delta | Overall Record | Record This Week | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (2.75) | Boston Bruins | 1 | 34-12-8 | 3-1-0 | Despite their first regulation loss since December, the Bruins have continued winning in regulation to offset their losses. They continue to pressure against the Tampa squad above them for first in the Division/Conference/League. |
2 (2.78) | Tampa Bay Lightning | -1 | 38-14-3 | 2-1-0 | The defense continues to play like hot garbage, but at least we have Vasy making impossible saves . The Bolts will need to remember how to play a full 60 minutes if they hope to live up to their post-season potential. Vinny show them the way #ForeverABolt |
3 (4.78) | Vegas Golden Knights | - | 36-15-4 | 1-2-0 | |
4 (4.78) | Nashville Predators | - | 33-12-9 | 2-0-2 | To quote renough: "We got the blackout bingo on all possible OT outcomes on this road trip!" Sure, it made a 4 game week on the road even longer and more exhausting for the players, but thankfully the team has a couple extra days to rest before beginning a 4 game home stand. In other news, I guess this thing called a "trade deadline" is coming up; however, in my (totally not an expert) opinion I don't really expect the Preds to be active. With Fisher set to un-retire potentially by March, we're fairly set at centre (that still feels weird to say). The only move that seems to makes sense is at wing, and I don't think Poile pulls the trigger unless the price is a legitimate steal. Then again, David Poile is a wizard so who knows? #puttheNashinNashville |
5 (6.72) | St. Louis Blues | 1 | 34-21-3 | 2-2-0 | I wish I had written this before Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, but I suppose this team still had an ok week. Two big wins against divisional teams, one big loss against a divisional team, and one disappointing loss to Pittsburgh. I'd like to see some more consistency, but I'm still confident in this team. |
6 (6.97) | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | 33-19-5 | 3-0-0 | Mitchy Marnman has the magic hands, The Golden Ginger Save god is the best goaltender not in Vezina conversations. The lineup is rolling. The Buds are skating, and we're coming for that Boston booty, either now or in the playoffs. We can be pissed that w're going to have to play the 1st and 3rd best teams to get to the ECF, but to be the best you gotta beat the best, ya' know? |
7 (7.28) | Dallas Stars | 2 | 33-20-4 | 3-1-0 | |
8 (8.13) | Winnipeg Jets | -3 | 32-15-9 | 1-2-0 | The Jets played like horseshit this week. That's a technical term. We lucked out a win against Arizona, and we got our asses handed to us by the Blues for our 1st home regulation loss since the Chicago game. Instead of turning the race for 1st central into a 2 horse race, we let the Blues back into it. At least Scheifele is back, a rather large consolation prize, reuniting the Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler line to wreak havoc against our opposition. |
9 (8.91) | Washington Capitals | 1 | 32-17-6 | 2-0-1 | Another week another battle between method and results. I've talked about that to death though so here's this: Washington's best 9 forwards should be in their top 9 every night (3rd line Stephenson aside). Benching Burakovsky and Vrana is becoming more than annoying - so far we've only seen my ideal lineup once this year. PS we should trade for McDonagh |
10 (11.13) | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2 | 31-22-4 | 2-0-1 | Our boy came home |
11 (11.94) | Minnesota Wild | 2 | 30-19-6 | 2-0-1 | The only thing consistent about this Minnesota team is their inconsistency: 1. Dominate the Blues in a rare road win. 2. Completely implode against the worst team in the NHL at home by coughing up a 3-0 lead. 3. Turn around 48 hours later and shut out the Blackhawks. 4. Team Liquid. 5. ??? 6. Profit? |
12 (12.88) | Los Angeles Kings | 3 | 30-20-5 | 2-1-0 | For a moment it looked like there may have been a potential Goaltending controversy brewing in LA. Darcy Kuemper saw his shutout streak end at 193:58, and got the nod ahead of Quick in a start earlier this week. Quick however is still firmly locked in as the starter. The Kings got some much needed momentum back, but fell to the Lightning (mainly Vasilevskiy) on Saturday, who somehow managed to make this incredible save against Kopitar. https://streamable.com/ovgit The Kings lost American Hero Trevor Lewis this week against the Panthers and will hope that the 4th line continues to impress in his absence. |
13 (14.28) | Philadelphia Flyers | 6 | 28-19-9 | 4-0-0 | An overtime and a shootout win this week against two teams lower than the Flyers in the standings aren't great but all told, 4 wins in a week is still 4 wins. The Flyers have the best record in the division since the middle of December and are holding down a non-wildcard playoff position at this point. The Elliott injury will test this team but right now they're rolling. |
14 (14.41) | San Jose Sharks | - | 30-18-8 | 2-2-0 | |
15 (15.22) | Calgary Flames | 1 | 29-19-8 | 3-1-0 | 3 wins this week is nice but Mike Smith is now out with an injury. Luckily Rittich has been more than capable in the games he has has started especially for a goalie that most people don’t even know exists. |
16 (15.53) | Colorado Avalanche | -5 | 30-21-4 | 2-2-0 | Away from home the Avs are not a playoff team, hopefully this is just a part of our youth, but lacking Mackinnon we have issues scoring on the road, with the exception of playing Buffalo. Its been great to see Jost start to play really well, but we still need to grow a bit more. Also premier Trade bait Blake Comeau is injured. |
17 (16.53) | Anaheim Ducks | 1 | 27-19-11 | 2-1-1 | With Vegas hording the top position in the Pacific and the Thunderdome hording the Wild Card spots, it's looking like at least one of the three Cali teams will be out of the playoffs this year. Allowing one of those teams to not only come back from 2 down in the third, but then have them win in the SO is a step down the road of being the one on the outside looking in. |
18 (17.5) | Columbus Blue Jackets | -1 | 28-23-4 | 1-2-0 | 5 game losing skid in which we're doing a lot of the right things, but no results. The 6-1 win to finally break the losing skid was the first time since December that we've scored more than three goals in a game. Our playoff spot that we've had all year is now gone and it's doubtful we'll get it back. |
19 (18.03) | Carolina Hurricanes | 3 | 26-21-9 | 2-0-1 | After a stretch of bad hockey the Canes showed up in their back to back this weekend. This team needs to play consistently like they have the last two games or it'll be another year just below the cut line |
20 (18.41) | New Jersey Devils | -10 | 27-20-8 | 0-4-0 | Perhaps a team will understandably play worse when their franchise goalie is out for an extended period of time. Perhaps expectations were set far too high at the beginning of a season that was billed as a rebuilding year with unsustainable performances. But, perhaps, no matter what else happened this week, seeing Brad Marchand get laid out on his ass was worth all the losing. I mean not really, but it was nice regardless. |
21 (19.75) | New York Islanders | -1 | 27-24-6 | 1-2-1 | After saying for months this team was figured out, it is pretty clear now. They are a top heavy offense, maybe the best top-6 in the NHL. Barzal is an absolute gem and will be a top player in the league for a long time. Aside from that it pretty much falls apart. The bottom-6 is inconsistent and constantly fields players that shouldn't be in the NHL (Chimera, Quine, Fritz). Missing Kulemin had a far bigger effect than anybody could have imaged. The defense is miserable and has two borderline bottom pairing NHL defenders (Mayfield and Pelech) signed to term for an inexplicable reason. Leddy and Boychuk are still terrific defenders but have been worn out from injuries and trying to carry this defense all year. On the bright side Pulock and Aho are very promising young d-men, but again Garth Snow decided to extend others for multiple years seemingly just to make it seem like his own draft picks are worth being in the NHL. Lastly when it comes down to goaltending, Jaroslav Halak has been nothing short of remarkable the last couple of months, while Thomas Greiss has been the NHLs worst goaltender since signing his contract extension. Can you guess which one's contract ends this year and which one has a couple more years? All other goalies in the Islanders org have a COMBINED TOTAL of less than 10 games played in the NHL, and while Sorokin is a top prospect, there is nobody who can guarantee when or IF he will join the Islanders. This team is not ready to compete right now and trading pieces in a desperate attempt to make the playoffs this year would be a mistake. Changes will have to be made at an organizational level and everything outside of the front-6 and top pairing will need to be revisited if the team wants to compete. And finally all of this will have to be done in a way to keep John Tavares happy, so the franchises modern day savior and best player of the last 20+ years doesn't depart in the offseason |
22 (20.78) | New York Rangers | -1 | 27-24-5 | 2-2-0 | It was a weird week for the New York Wolfpack. This is where I was expecting to say #InTheLatrineForDahlin or something, but there's just one problem: Hank can't tank. This team sucks ass, everyone is getting injured, and our new backup goalie is McBackup, but despite it all Lundqvist still has no clue how to drive a tank. |
23 (23.44) | Florida Panthers | 1 | 23-23-6 | 1-1-0 | Harri Sateri's era of dominance has finally come to an end. I never thought I'd see the day but here we are. 2017-2018 Panthers struggle defensively and with Sateri our #3 goalie it makes it hard to compete during this injured netminder season. Sateri may be the second coming of Roberto Luongo but he needs some help to be a magician. Hopefully once we're healthier we'll be a stronger team. |
24 (24.03) | Chicago Blackhawks | -1 | 24-23-8 | 0-3-0 | Man, what a week. The Hawks dropped three straight to teams (CGY, DAL, MIN) we had to beat to even have a chance at stumbling into the playoffs. Shots and shot attempts are certainly not lacking (40 shots on average this week), but the puck just isn't finding the back of the net. Next week bodes just as tough, as they face Vegas on the end of a back-to-back, followed by Anaheim and Washington. The door is all but closed in for the playoffs unless we basically win out the rest of the season. I'm not ready to call the Fat Lady on stage just yet, but she's behind the curtain warming her vocal cords. On the upside of things, Crow is skating again and will travel with the team to Arizona, and our draft odds are getting better every day. So we got that goin' for us, which is nice. |
25 (24.91) | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | 22-23-9 | 1-1-1 | Cal Clutterbuck deserves an Oscar. Ken Holland hasn't made one trade yet. I'm slowly slipping into a depression. I think that covers it all for this past week. |
26 (25.84) | Edmonton Oilers | -1 | 23-27-4 | 1-3-0 | The only reason to watch Oilers games from now to the end of the season is to see if McDavid can win the scoring race, or to trigger your nostalgia about the 2012-2013 season. |
27 (26.38) | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | 22-26-7 | 0-1-1 | Habs are good? Nah, Habs are bad. Tank is good? Welp, its rolling, i'll tell you that much. I don't even think I can begin to state the work this team needs to be a cup contending team,,,,,, god damn habs :( player of the week: Lehk the Snek |
28 (27.16) | Buffalo Sabres | 2 | 16-30-10 | 2-1-1 | In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. |
29 (27.44) | Ottawa Senators | - | 19-26-9 | 2-1-0 | If we beat the leafs I was going to rank the Sens at #1. Unfortunately, they kicked our ass. What a let down after two wins against playoff teams earlier in the week. Oh well, maybe there will be some fireworks at the trade deadline. Ceci+Oduya for a conditional 7th rounder in 2069?? It's the least Pierre Dorion can do after signing that cushy three year contract extension. |
30 (28) | Vancouver Canucks | -3 | 22-28-6 | 1-3-0 | There's probably some Canuck fan out there who wondered, earlier in the week, "Can things get any worse?" This undoubtedly prompted the Hockey Gods to respond with a "Yup," before handing out injuries to Brock Boeser and Chris Tanev, the team's most valuable players. Neither injury appears to be long-term, but such events have caused the majority of Canuck fans to join "Team Tank" and started focusing on the Trade Deadline and the 2018 Draft. |
31 (29.31) | Arizona Coyotes | - | 13-32-10 | 1-1-1 | The only thing we have going this year other than having the best odds for the draft is that we are currently on pace for 19-48-15 record. Whys is that a good thing? It means that we aren’t as bad as the Avalanche last year and seeing how well they are doing this year gives me hope for next year. |
1. WHAT DO YOU WANT?This is the most important aspect of your entire profile. The objective function. It is the foundation on which you will build. Ask yourself honestly, “what do I expect to get out of this?” For starters, let’s look at the main groups:
a. Here to hook-up b. Here out of curiosity/just browsing – maybe I’ll chat a bit c. Here to meet people and maybe date d. Here to date e. Marry me now, please f. Oh God! I’m so lonely (sobs loudly) g. Here for ego/validation/attention – will never meet-up h. I’m here to make fun of others and then post their responses on social mediaDecide who you are and BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF. Even if you are “f”, that’s ok, because there are things you will need to be aware of if you don’t want the ladies to run for the hills screaming. I’m going to start by lumping “a-f” into one category and dismissing “g” and “h”; I leave you to your own devices. Now, if you fall into “a-f” let’s just assume you want to put your best foot forward, right? Even if you are a “b”, there is no reason not to ensure the best experience possible – there is nothing worse than a tepid Tinder profile. So, if you’ve made it this far in the reading, lets plan to make a profile that counts, not just a half-hearted attempt.
2. STATISITICAL DESCRIMINATIONTinder is very simplistic. You get a few photos and you get an optional space for a bio (I’m going to tell you later why most of you should be using this), there’s not a whole lot of depth here. Because a person isn’t given very much information to make a decision on, they are going to make some hard, fast choices based on tens of thousands of calculations derived from their scripting, life experiences and popular culture all from a few pictures (if they even make it past the first one). Tinder is the ultimate “first impression”. First and foremost, let’s be honest, 90% of this decision is based on looks. But, there are some interesting things happening in the 10% - this is where you can send a message, or withhold information or make some quick assumptions. When creating your profile keep 2 things in mind at all times: What is a “deal breaker” for me? And more importantly… What might someone else consider a “deal breaker”? The first question calls for some pretty straightforward actions – Basically, if there is something about yourself, your beliefs or your lifestyle that is absolutely inflexible, make sure to find a way of portraying that. (Examples: You have kids, you are into a very specific lifestyle; ie - you’re a furry or something like that, you are a borderline-militant Vegan) There are two goals here 1. Keep everyone from wasting their time (yours included) 2. Cull the market to find compatible individuals. Everyone makes fun of the girl on Tinder with the really out-there style and the pics of her making bizarre “art” in her basement, but I say God bless her, because she has it figured out – and while you are still desperately trying to cultivate something out of your handful of matches, she has signaled to the 1 other guy on Tinder that is exactly like her. Now, MOST PEOPLE MESS UP on the second idea: “what might someone else consider a deal breaker?” The idea behind your profile is, baring that you don’t fit into the former category, is that you want to cast the widest net possible. You want to send out the least number of signals that could cause an eligible female to discriminate against you. Everyone makes assumptions based on their past experiences and scripting. Think about the message that a single photo sends. Here are some examples:
Lots of drinking in your photos – immature, alcoholic Photos with Frat bros – immature, alcoholic Photos with inside jokes/ odd situations – weirdo Photos of you wearing anything with “realtree” camo – hick Photos of you with beautiful girls hanging all over you – douchebagNow, you may think that “funny” unflattering pictures scan as “hey! This guy has a sense of humor!” Unless you are really, really ridiculously good looking (in which case you can disregard a lot of these rules), it usually just comes across as odd. You may be thinking, “well, I don’t want a girl who doesn’t get my humor”. You know what? Your humor might not come across too well over text and photos. Save it for the first date. That brings up another really important point: SARCASM AND TONGUE IN CHEEK HUMOR DO NOT ALWAYS TRANSLATE WELL OVER TEXT. It is usually best to avoid it until you are face to face with a person. Also, if you are in the “I only am here for hook-ups” category. This doesn’t matter as much. As a matter of fact, the more frat boy, shirtless, doing pushups with girls on your back photos you have the better. Good luck.
• MAKE SURE YOU ARE UPFRONT ABOUT BIG DEAL BREAKERS • CAST A WIDE NET. DON’T SEND SIGNALS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY TURN GIRLS AWAY 3. “GIRLS ONLY LIKE GUYS WITH SKILLS.” – NEPOLIAN DYNAMITESo, what do you want your profile to say about you?
• I am very handsome - check. No? Ok, we can still work with this… • I am fun to be with • I am fun to be with • I am fun to be withNow, what is fun? That picture of you doing the silly thing with the pool noodle you say – oh how they all laughed that night, you wag! No. We need to be careful not to equate “fun” with Mr. Party Guy and Mr. Funnybone if we can help it. In the 2-3 second we get to make an impression, we need to convey a breadth of skills, experience and interests. The younger you are, the tougher this might be. Do you have a picture of you participating in a race? Volunteering? Playing a sport? Hiking? For the love of God, put them in there! Again, be careful about the message it sends:
a. Picture of you with a few friends after running a half-marathon – perfect. It can appeal to very active people, put it isn’t intimidating enough to isolate non-fit types. b. Picture of you Crossfitting a 200lb log over your head – this may scare off a lot of girls. Sure, you may look like a stud, but it sends some very powerful messages: “he’s only into really fit girls, he’s probably a douchebag, he’s in that weird cult where they all worship some deity named WOD.”Just be sure that there are plenty of photos of you doing things besides sitting on a couch with friends. Or having dinner with friends. Or sitting on the porch with friends. Make sure that you send the message that you have depth and experience. A bit of warning – don’t fake it here! Don’t pose in your buddy’s rodeo gear next to a bull if you’ve never even stepped in horse shit before. Girls WILL look at these photos and may draw on them for conversation topics when a dialogue starts. You don’t want to be furiously searching Wikipedia between messages trying to pretend you know what you’re talking about when she calls you out. CONT IN THREAD...
Questions | Answers |
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1) I saw some girl with Alice tattoos. Isn't that grand? I would like to make people stain their body with my ideas at some point. | It's weird. Someone once sent me a porno clip (I swear!) where the actress had tattooed the Cheshire Cat's face/mouth around her ... naughty bits. It was awful. After that, I never wanted to see another Alice-inspired tattoo. Or naughty bits. |
2) What was the deal with Marilyn Manson's Alice involvement? I've heard a lot of things on the internet but internet things are unreliable. | He was involved, then he wasn't. They (Manson/NIN people) are a mercurial bunch. Never figured out what the real motivation for the sudden departure was. But we did get a couple of really beautiful tracks out of it - sadly, I'm legally forbidden from releasing them. So I listen to them by myself and smile. |
3) Regarding Bad Day LA, after reading this: Link to www.americanmcgee.com I was wondering if you had advice for people who are in a similar position of not wanting a potentially bad game to define them. | Wow. That is a LONG post. I forgot I even wrote that. Advice for avoiding that? Not sure what I wrote in that post, but honestly, if you gave me the chance to avoid it today... I wouldn't. If I had not been involved with that game I never would have moved to Hong Kong or China and the last 8 years of my life would have been a lot more mundane. |
4) I kind of thought the mad-hatter level in Alice seemed distinctly different from the rest of the game, a bit more horrific what with the little mangled kids. Any reason for that? | You'd have to ask Alice. It's her imagination after all ;) |
What's Shanghai like? - What made you get into making games? - If you had to have one of your past games made by another company/person, what game and what company would you choose? - As a game developer, what's your take on the whole "violent video games" debate? - What's different about working in your own indie company rather than a huge studios? | Shanghai is like what LA looked like in "Blade Runner", except the cars don't fly (on purpose). It's a mix of incredibly modern and amazingly old. High tech and dirt poor. Our studio is 1km from the heart of the city, but there are chickens running around outside he front door! You really have to visit to appreciate it. And I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! |
Wow, excellent question. So I'd LOVE to see Ken Levine do something with the Alice series. Or Tim Schafer do something with Grimm. If you've played either game, you probably get how awesome that would be :) | |
Violent video games... media/content has an impact on our brains. We know that's true. What we don't know is what sort of impact violent games have on our sensitivity to violence. I DO NOT think violent games make people go out and act in violent ways. Actually, I would lean towards them making people care less about violence in the real world, while subduing their own impulses to act out real violence. If anything, I'd worry about a generation of kids being raised on hyper-violent video games losing sight of things like the true cost of real war. Odd I have to say things like "real war". See? | |
Working as an indie means having a terrifying amount of freedom. We make decisions that we know might simply put us out of business 6 months from now. I don't actually mind the idea of someone else paying our bills and supporting us while we develop something (AKA a publisher), but I HATE the idea of someone shaping the types of products we make to fit on a limited amount of shelf space and structuring recoup deals so we can NEVER earn enough money to be free to pursue our own designs. These days you can't have cake and eat it too ;) | |
Plans for more Alice games? | I do have plans but I don't have control. If I made another Alice today it would complete Alice's hero-journey arc and see her realize the full potential of physical mastery combined with psychological mastery. Remember when Neo figured out he could mess with the Matrix and reality? Like that. |
What inspired you to make "Alice?" Was it just a huge fandom for Lewis Carroll or did you think the concept was just perfect for a game? I remember playing it when I was a kid and thinking it was fantastic! Also, what made you decide to make a sequel about ten years later? | It was a song. "Trip Like I Do" by the Crystal Method. I heard it while zooming along the coast of California (Highway 1) and thought, "Huh, dark land of wonder?" I later realized the sampled lyrics came from "The Dark Crystal," so in some round-about way you could say that movie helped inspire the idea. |
The sequel was something I always had in mind. The 10 year timing had to do with my having left EA, moving to China, building a studio capable of doing a sequel, then going back and proposing the idea to EA. | |
What exactly do you mean by 'largest indie Western game development studio in China'? | Btw, we're the largest indie Western studio because we have 50 people working here, including 2 cleaning ladies, a receptionist, accountant, Office Manger, etc. Our core team is around 40 people. 6 of that group are from places outside China (U.K., Aussies, U.S., etc). Indie development is very rare here, especially on the "scale" we've achieved and maintained. It's just not an environment conducive to the kind of business we've built. We're an oddity. If we were corporate, I think you'd see a lot more studios exactly like ours. You don't. |
Because to me that just sounds like you've gone and hired cheap Chinese labour to make games for a Western audience, which strikes me as more a corporate attitude than anything Indie. | I guess the thing that makes me different is that I actually live here and have done so since I left the U.S. eight years ago. Would it make you feel better if I'd used my God-given freedoms as an American to move to a less threatening country, like Australia or the U.K.? Or one where I had to pay people more to work for me, even though less of their wages went into their pocket at the end of the day (or paid for social services they could actually use, as opposed to dropping bombs on innocent children/families in the mountains of Pakistan)? Corporate? If it's because you think I've hired "cheap" labor, I'd once again ask you to look at the twisted manner in which big corporations (EA, Activision) skirt labor laws in places like California by denying healthcare and basic benefits to employees by labeling them 'contractors' or forcing them into part-time positions. Labor here in Shanghai isn't "cheap" by comparison. That being said, my own compensation has never been lower - certainly not compared to when I worked for EA or id Software. Then again, my cost of living is also relatively lower. Our employees are paid on a scale that is directly competitive (in many cases) to what they would be paid in the U.S. - but I take a local salary because I'm living locally. I dunno... I choose to live in another part of the world because I wanted to see the world and be exposed to new culture and new ways of thinking. I make games for a living so I opened a studio here. We focus on high-quality of life for everyone in our studio, which means we don't crunch or overtime (though it has happened a few times in our 6 year history). I feel the work environment I've created here is healthier and more sustainable than anything I could have created in the U.S. |
Any plans to make an Alice movie? I'd love to see one. | Yeah, that gets asked very often. Sadly, I don't control the Alice franchise. I created it while working as an employee for Electronic Arts, so they own and control it 100%. Ask them! |
How does it feel knowing that a company like EA is in control of one of your titles? Are they as bad to work with as they are with their customers? Also, thanks for my childhood, haha. | They are just a corporate machine. Machines are neither good nor bad. They are simply programmed to attain certain results - and to find ways to become more efficient at attaining those results. As long as you understand the forces acting on the market in which they operate you can "accept" the decisions they make. In a sense, they have no choice. That's the sad thing about becoming a massive, publicly traded corporation. Entities like that no longer make decisions based on what's best for their developers, IP libraries or customers. |
I just want to ask, what steps did you take to get where you are now? And are those the same steps you would take today? | Mine is an unusual story. I was forced, due to family issues, to drop out of high school at age 17. Until I was 20 I worked as a car mechanic. I was then brought into id Software by John Carmack and the rest is history. My experience with computers goes all the way back to age 11 or 12 - and everything I know today has been self-taught. Because I'm a big fan of knowledge and learning, self-teaching comes quite easily... and based on what I've heard of institutional higher level learning, it sounds like this was/is the right path for me. |
I would NOT change anything in my past, btw. Some really bad things had to happen for me to get where I am today - but I recognize the value, even in those awful moments; things happen in a certain order and if we could change that order we'd not end up in the same place. I like where I am today. | |
Hi American McGee! Of course, I wanted to get the obligatory thank-yous out of the way. I actually found the first Alice near a dumpster when I was taking out the trash, and the discs were all fully functional! One man's trash is truly another one's treasure :) I thought that you concept did such a great job of highlighting the darker sides of Lewis Carroll and really brought out what I thought was Alice's "true" character. 1) What do you think is your greatest strength when it comes to bringing a game/idea to fruition? Ideas for the gameplay and immersion/experience? Or do you think you do well with the character development and the story? 2) Continuing on the last question, which one do you think is the most important? There are many games such as Counter-Strike and Starcraft that make their living based on gameplay, whereas almost all Square Enix games make success because of the super deep and consistent character development in conjunction with an engrossing, emotional story with several plot turns. 3) I understand that you will want to make future Alice games. When you do, where do you think the story will go? There is a lot of speculation concerning the ambiguity around the ending of Madness Returns. Have you thought of a Chrono Trigger-esque storyline in which certain actions influence the ending of your story? | Hey there! Obligatory thank you accepted ;) Someone threw Alice in the trash!? Shame! My greatest strength in this business is being able to surround myself with really talented people - and to keep them happy (most of the time). I'm good with the big, high-concept stuff as well. When it comes to the details of making games or getting them done, I'm so-so. These days I spent huge amounts of time on running the business, which I've found I'm pretty good at. We're still here after 6 years! There shouldn't be ambiguity at the end of Alice! She's attained mastery of the physical world and we see that blended with her mastery of the psychological world (which she came away from the first game with). If there's a third game, my hope is to see her leveraging both of those powers to enter the minds of other characters - so-called "Otherlands." Yes, this has an element of Psychonauts to it. So be it. Imagine Alice mind-raping Jack the Ripper. They lived in the same time-period, I've done the research. Hehe. These days I'm mainly focused on Minecraft. I love the amount imagination it pulls out of me when playing it. As for books, my Kindle front-page currently has a book on evolution/social behavior (Wilson), several books on circuit design, books on Rasberry pi (hence the circuit design stuff), a book called "You are not so Smart," also, "I'll Go Home Then" (David Thorne), and "A supposedly fun thing..." by David Foster Wallace. I tend to read several books at the same time - which is OK as long as they are all different topics. |
Why did you attach your name to the title of Alice? Was "American McGee's Alice" just a cute way to try to market yourself and make your name known or did you feel you were primarily responsible for so much of the game that it was no longer a true team effort? | There's a longer version of this story, but the short version is that I never had the powecontrol to force my name on a box of anything. EA legal and marketing decided it was a good way to establish a version of the "Alice" name which they could own and control. I signed a bit of paper giving them the right - and there you have it. Once that was done, other publishers came to me asking to use the name for marketing purposes. I did something akin to pure marketing use on "Scrapland." You'll note that the games coming out of my studio today DO NOT include the use of my name. When I have a choice about it, I don't do it. |
Hey. I loved playing your games growing up. DOOM and Quake were amazing, and Alice was really awesome too. Cannot wait to try Akanerio: Demon Hunters. | Hey! :) |
1 Just curious, but why did you choose the name American McGee? | Hahahaha. Awesome. I didn't choose my name. My mother named me that. She was a hippy. She said it was that or "Obnard" or "Marrakesh". Really, REALLY happy it wasn't Obnard. |
2 Are there any new games you have in the works that seem especially interesting (besides Akanerio or course) | Yes. Please check out our shiny new gaming portal, SpicyWorld. You can do that via Link to spicyworld.spicyhorse.co |
Edit: 4 What do you mean by "better days" when you talk about the industry shifting? | Just that when I started it felt a lot more like a happy relationship between audience and developer. These days there's a lot of animosity going around - people are angry at publishers, press feeding off drama, gamers feeling ripped off, developers being hid or kept in captivity. I just think that we're seeing a shift back towards a better relationship between devs and audience. |
I'm a semi-professional voice actor (most of my activity is on YouTube but I am trying to get paid work) and the thing I'd love to do most of all is voices for games. What can I do to make that happen? How do you cast for your games? Is it still the old know someone who knows someone routine? | Honestly, I don't know what to say... other than there are TONS of people out there trying to do what you're doing. Next to "Hey, I'm a sound designer and..." the emails we get from "Hey, I'm a VO person and..." are the most frequent "job, please?" emails we get. It's a tough market you've decided to enter. For our studio, we simply don't have a need to hire anyone. And statistically, when you think about games, where you might have dozens of artists or tech guys... there are usually about 2 people doing VO or sound. The odds just aren't that great. |
Hey, LOVED the first Alice when it came out. I don't get to play many games nowadays but the art direction was, and still is in my opinion, some of the best I've ever seen! Alice 2 is extremely gorgeous as well. | Hey there! Happy you liked the Alice games :) |
When I heard that you were going to come out with a Wizard of OZ game I was so excited! My hopes were that this would start a series of adaptations with similarly dark and gritty imagery and story. | OZ was picked up for funding and publishing by Atari (this was after I'd left EA and started being an indie producer, living in LA). A year into development they killed the project. By that point we had a running (and beautiful!) game, so we tried to shop it around to other publishers. Problem was (and is) that the game's development to that point cost Atari ~1 million USD. In order for another publisher to acquire the rights, they have to repay that money. On top of that, the development rights on my side of the table are all screwed up with former business partners. So the chance you'll see that Oz getting made are about 0%. |
My question is why did The OZ project fall through and is there any chance we will ever get to see this or something like it in the future? | That being said, the underlying Oz property is public domain. So if I'm ever feeling sassy (and wealthy) enough to risk being sued by a bunch of people for thinking up a new interpretation, there might be a shot at getting a game done. |
Www.gameplanet.co.nz/news/1020661.20130122.Atari-files-for-bankruptcy-to-escape-parent-company/ Is this the same Atari that paid for the development? Wonder how much the rights are worth. | It's kinda-sorta the same. If you look at the history of the thing called "Atari" you'll see it's REALLY convoluted. Beyond the Atari issue, there are's also the problem of my having some irate former business partners who also "own" small %'s of the IP. Getting a game made would also mean finding a way to get them out of the picture, something that based on my experience with them, would be harder than the Atari rights buy-back. |
What is the most important piece of advice you can think of for someone starting out in the games industry? | Keep in mind that everyone goes into the industry thinking they have "passion" and that their passion will get them noticed. That means your passion is just like everyone else's... it won't get you noticed. What you need is an ability to display a WIDE RANGE of skills. If you're an artist, be able to draw more than just transforming robots or ponies. Be able to draw transforming robot ponies at the drop of a hat! Programmer? Don't specialize in stuff you're interested in. Pursue broad knowledge around AI, physics, multi-platform targeting, game play programming, machine learning, etc, etc. |
Once you're able to do lots of interesting stuff, PROVE IT. Build demos, create an amazing portfolio; just show how awesome you are! At Spicy Horse we don't hire people based on their degree (a bit of paper) we hire them based on their ability to SHOW US how awesome they are. | |
Lastly, don't be a sound guy! If sound guys were made of water we'd all live in boats. I love me some good sound people, but seriously, there are SO MANY of them out there. Sorry. | |
Mr. McGee, I was wondering, why wasn't the recent Alice game released to the Mac? And are there any plans to porting any new or old games to the mac? | Where and how Alice gets released is 100% up to EA. You'd have to ask them why they didn't bring it to Mac... I think they'd tell you there isn't enough profit (for them) in it. |
Also I'm living in Shanghai right now, why work in Shanghai where websites like Facebook, Youtube, and file sharing sites like Megaupload are blocked? Where are your headquarters, and can I visit? :) | I don't choose where I live based on Internet access or censorship policies. If I did, there'd be a very small number of countries to choose from. |
EDIT: Added a few questions regarding Shanghai. | Our office is located in ZhaBei District, just North of People's Square (about 1km). You are more than welcome to visit. Email me to arrange a time: american at spicyhorse dot com. |
What do you think about the law (that may be passed) of ESRB ratings being manadotory on all games? How much would it hurt you as an indie developer? | Funny how a non-government ratings board can have laws passed to enforce their selection and control of media in the U.S. This type of stuff is a violation of our rights as artists (and consumers) to create and consume the kind of content we want without government getting in the way. |
Not sure how much this would directly impact us - and don't see how it would be applied to web games. Not going to worry about it just yet ;) | |
Back in 2006 you mentioned that you had switched to Linux on your primary work machine and planned to stay switched ( Link to www.americanmcgee.com ). Are you still using Linux as you primary? | Nope! Can't do these days because of China + game dev tools! Seriously, we run a Windows network and a lot of our source control tools simply don't exist on Linux. Also, China is not an environment in which you find a lot of people experienced on Linux. Know why? Because if you try to download a Linux distro without a VPN connection, YOU CAN'T! Crazy Chinese government blocks open source OS's. Go figure. |
That being said, I run no less than THREE boxes at home. Hope that makes up for it ;) | |
Also, we ARE pushing more and more of our internal (and external) stuff to Linux these days. Mainly because we just imported a crazy-smart Russian programmer to Shanghai - he's a HUGE Linux nut, so he's been working to bring our back-end stuff over from Windows and will also be responsible for porting our games to Linux. | |
That's actually one of the goals of our current Kickstarter campaign for Akaneiro - get it running on Linux! | |
What's your next project? | We're in the process of launching a new one RIGHT NOW. It's called "Akaneiro" and you can play it via web or client: www.angry-red.com. |
This looks very beautiful. I look forward to playing. | There's a Kickstarter for it as well. Search and find. You might like what you see ;) |
I haven't played any of your games, but they look great! How much work generally goes into a game? | Depends on the type of game, platform, budget, etc. Some games take 600+ people to make (see Ubi's "Assassins Creed" games). Some take only 1 person (see "The Fart App"). Development schedules can last between 1 day and 8 years. Large-scale games often consume more man-hours to produce than a typical film might, by way of comparison. |
How was working with the Shy the Sun crew? | They are fantastic in terms of creativity and capability. If you check out the trailers they did for A:MR, all you can say is "Wow!" What was frustrating was how EA Marketing interfered - telling STS from the start that ALL creative direction and final say would come from them, not from us (the developecreator of the story/tone). That resulted in trailers that were much darker and gorier than the game ... and that was a calculated disconnect created by EA. They wanted to "trick" gamers into believing A:MR was a hard-core horror title, even though we refused to develop it in that tone. Their thinking is, even if the game isn't a hard-core horror title, you can market it as one and trick those customers into buying it (while driving away more casual customers, like female gamers, who might be turned off by really dark trailers). It's all a part of the race to the bottom EA, Activision and the other big pubs are engaged in. Expect to see it get worse before it gets better. |
"(while driving away more casual customers, like female gamers, who might be turned off by really dark trailers)" | I'm already in hot water with EA for mention of this trailer stuff. This wasn't just about 'dark horror,' it was about a representation of the main character (Alice) that I felt wouldn't resonate with the audience as I understand them - having met many fans in person (male and female). When a character many consider to be a 'hero' is cast in a negative, psychotic light... |
Sorry to break it up to you Mcgee, but female gamers also love dark horror games. So becareful what you say here. | I'd love to discuss more, but at this point I simply don't want to cause additional hurt feelings over at EA. |
What advice would you give to solo indie developers who are trying to turn their hobby into a living? | Make stuff! Plain and simple. You can grab the Apple Developer Kit and secure a license to publish for $99 - that puts you in front of millions of customers (billions?) and provides a way to hone your skills while building fun stuff. With stuff in hand, you have an opportunity to present yourself to publishers as a viable development studio. Or you may hit on the next Angry Birds and I'll be coming to you for work and publishing! :P. |
It is common knowledge that literature cultivates the mind, but how about video games? How do you see your own role (or that of video games in general) in shaping the next generation? Do you ever make design decisions on the grounds of avoiding bad influence or for the purpose of being an inspiration/role model? | My design decisions are more driven by what I think the story or main character "wants" than what the outside world is asking for. "Alice" is a great example - on both developments I found myself repeatedly saying things like, "Alice wouldn't do that," or "Alice wouldn't wear that." That being said, I did choose to work with the property because I knew the things Alice would be things I'd agree with. Psychological backflip there. |
As for avoiding bad influence... I believe people have a personal responsibility to handle that for themselves. | |
And as for being a role model... I do try my best. Most of that's done at our studio where I tend to lead by example. | |
Who in your opinion is the most talented programmer you've ever worked with? | John Carmack. No question. Actually, I'm pretty sure he's the most talented programmer anyone has ever worked with ;) |
Years ago there were rumors flying around about Sarah Michelle Gellar starring in a big screen version of Alice. Was there any truth to the rumblings? Also, any future plans for an Alice movie? | There was truth. She accosted me outside a restaurant in Hollywood and went ballistic about her desire to play the lead role in an "Alice" movie. It was... interesting. Nothing ever came of it. The movie is caught in the Hollywood doldrums. |
Alice was the best game ever! It's one of the few I've played all the way through. We were going to dress my 1 year old as Alice from the game (with blood and all) for Halloween but backed out at the last minute because we figured no one would "get" it. | Thanks! Yeah, children covered in blood. Maybe not a great idea. |
Wasn't there a movie that was supposed to come out? | Movie... maybe. It's stuck 'in Hollywood.' We'll all just have to continue waiting. |
Props to you. That game is awesome! | Thanks for the props! I'll use those to fight off the 100 duck sized horses. |
What do you think of the state of copy and paste FPS games penetrating the market today and breaking records left and right? | I think it's sad. But it's also a sign of the industry nearing the end of this particular cycle of content and development. It's a sort of distilling down of content towards the last remaining lucrative audience. That doesn't mean it represents the larger, more curious audience - or the new gamers who are coming online for the first time, never having touched a mouse/keyboard or console controller. The bright side of all of this is that other forms of gaming and other delivery system are breaking records too. Just give it more time to balance out again. |
I wonder then if you've played Spec Ops: The Line? It feels like one of the aforementioned copy and paste shooters but takes on a very different approach and feel to the genre. If you have played it what were your impressions coming away from it? | Have heard it's great, but haven't played. I'm sure there's still room for expression and awesome content... Just seems publishers are less and less interested in making those kinds of bets these days. |
Just curious if you've played Rage, and how you think id Software in general is doing these days? | I've not played Rage for more than a few minutes. It felt to me, like many modern day games do, very 'plastic.' One of the things I think id games used to do really well was capture a sense of dark humor - even when you were gibbing a imp or using exploding barrels to take out a bunch of 'pinkies.' No idea how id is doing. We don't speak :) |
Also, Akaneiro looks pretty sweet! | Glad to hear you like Akaneiro. We're very proud of it. And it feels like something good is going to happen with it. Very positive noises being made around it - and that noise is growing day by day. |
What's your favorite game you helped create, and your favorite that you didn't? | Kinda torn on this one. I really enjoyed working on the DOOM/Quake games because I was able to get involved with SO MUCH. That being said, the "Alice" games really helped established my name, so they're difficult to ignore. As for least favorite that would have to be "Bad Day LA," but not because of the game itself - just because of the terrible conditions we had to endure while creating it. |
Dude, thank you so much for Quake 2 and Quake 3. So good. SO GOOD. Grew up on that shit. Helped me bond with my dad. You're the shit. What made you want to make games? How did you get started making games? Are you romantically involved with an asian girl? I love asian girls. | Thanks! Please note I had NOTHING to do with Q3. I was fired from id just as development at that project began. As for how I got into game, please scroll down. That's been answered in some detail. |
And yes, I am involved with a lovely 'asian girl,' though she prefers to be called by her name, Yan. | |
I'm sure Asian girls love you too! You should come visit ;) | |
Why do you find it acceptable to brand a game that many different people worked on as "American McGee's"? Doesn't that strike you as arrogant and disrespectful to all of the other people who worked long hours on this game whose name doesn't appear on the cover? | Mr. Lander, I sense of degree of animosity in your query. |
Before I respond, I'd like to know what you think of Sting putting his name on his albums, despite the presence of other artists in his band and crew? Or Tarantino, that disrespectful jerk, taking ALL the credit for his films when we all know perfectly well there are 100's (1000's?) of people responsible for getting those made. What about Captain Crunch, that arrogant Sea Bastard, claiming all the credit for cereal that remains crunchy despite the nefarious efforts of milk. And damnit, milk! How dare it claim right to describe that liquid goodness we all know wouldn't exist without the cow?! These are outright atrocities! Mr. Lander, we must do something! Quick, to Reddit! That's where we make things better! :P. | |
Seriously, my friend... I think you might want to scroll down and read my previous response(s) on this topic. I could have just said that, but I really thought someone needed to put milk in its place. Also, I do my best to point credit for "my" work towards all the wonderful people who've made the choice to work with me over the years. I know I wouldn't be here without them. I think that's pretty obvious. | |
Where do you get off calling yourself Americanmcgee while setting up operations for your business in China rather than America? | You'd have to ask my mom why she called me American. I've heard a number of different stories from her on the subject. But, a pretty consistent theme is that, being newly born and without a voice, I didn't have a lot of say in the matter. Pretty similar to your own story I imagine. |
As for starting a studio in Shanghai. Actually, I moved to Hong Kong back in 2005-ish. Then around 2006, Gametap, a subsidiary of Time-Warner, asked me to make a game for them. For a number of reasons (detailed in previous responses) I decided to start the studio (for developing that game) alongside another business I'd helped start in Shanghai. I've been living here for 6 years now and am pretty happy with the decision. | |
I "get off" on it most every day. It's an incredible time to be here. It all aligns really neatly with my favorite Mark Twain quote, | |
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” |
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