Staying Optimistic, Plus Uplifting Fan Mail

It has been in fact a long time since I had posted on the blog.  Rest assured, it makes me feel crummy when an idea starts to coalesce in my head and for whatever reason I peter out.  Racing games, Shenmue, Yu Suzuki, E3, my job, Slidell, Orlando, Austin.  Don't worry, I've paid plenty of attention to those things.  I'll probably address them once inspiration strikes (which can be a day to a year, I won't make any guarantees).

I did get an email on May 2013 that piqued my interest.  It's an email from a Musings of a Sega Racing Fan fan!  I remember reading this the day it was sent but for some reason I didn't reply.  I wasn't feeling good that day.  But it still perked me up a bit and reminded me what all this blog nonsense is all about.  I won't share the guy's name or e-mail unless he's okay with it.

Hello Eric,

it's been years since I planned on e-mailing you, but I never did.
You could have been my brother, I have always been passionate about Sega Arcade racing games. Really just Sega.
I have my own arcade room, which had it's fair share of Sega cabinets the past years. Some get replaced, some stay etc.

I started with collecting pretty much every Sega console and game ever released. In the end I had about 300 boxed mint versions of basically every console release, from every region, in every different visual version. The next step of course was going for the real thing, arcade machines.
I have owned pretty much every version of Daytona USA. The single LE, the Deluxe version (god, that thing is really to big I can tell you, it's practically unmovable), wooden twins, plastic twins etc.
Also Daytona USA 2, Scud Race twins etc.
In general as soon as I decide to sell one to get something else, I regret selling it and buy another one back. I think I had about 10 Daytona USA twins in the past years due to this, I just can't live without it :)
I don't play daily, I sometimes don't play for months, but I just must need to have that stuff in my arcade room.
Sadly, most Model 2-3 games start dying out in the world due to oldness (especially Video board problems in all these games), I guess it's a matter of time before almost no Model 2-3 game will be operational anymore. More the reason to hold on to working ones and hope they keep working.

I have no clue why I mail all this to you, I guess I just wanted to get in touch with you once, and tell you I have enjoyed your blog the past years, and really appreciate it.

Regards,
*insert first name*

Thanks man.  I know it's been 433 days since I actually "replied" to your email.  It meant a lot to me reading it then as it does reading it now.  I don't own an arcade cabinet, mainly because they're so huge and I live in a second-story apartment, but I want to get that Daytona/Sega memorabilia.  I wear a Daytona (NASCAR) hat to work every other day, which is a pretty clever way for me to take Sega everywhere I go!  I should buy more Sega stuff, I should go to Daytona again and wave that stupid sign.  I don't care, it makes me feel good.  Sega fans have always been diehards and it shows.  Keep up the good fight!

But let's face it--Sega is a really stupid and disappointing company.  They blew up their consoles, beat Sonic into the ground, and disregard all their classic IPs.  I've been lackadaisical when it comes to getting the latest Sega news cause frankly, I know it's not going to be any good.  Sega makes a new Sonic, a new Yakuza, publishes another Aliens game, Hatsune Miku, what a piece of shit.  And then there's the classics we already have on consoles, PCs, and emulators.  I don't know whether it's a result of depression, work-related stress, aging, or the complete lack of progress made to any Sega racing game, but I definitely haven't been playing games as often as I used to.

But that's okay.  I think these games have gone past the point of me wanting to play them.  They've become "cultural"--they've shaped who I am and what I think about other games.  Daytona, OutRun, Sega Rally, Scud Race, Crazy Taxi--all games that are burnt into my psyche.  It's stuff that makes me exclaim "now THAT is cool!"  You take a game like Daytona, it only has one car and three tracks, yet somehow it's more memorable than 99% of the games I've played in my life.  I mean, just thinking about them, the cars, the atmosphere, the adrenaline, the soundtrack at any time gets me excited.  This doesn't mean I won't play these games anymore, it just means playing them is no longer a "requirement" to sanity or well-being.

I'd like to think that in all the disappointment in the last 14 years, at least Sega games made my life a little more blissful, optimistic, ambitious, and intriguing.  I admit this isn't the first time I've said this on my blog but living in a "post-Sega world" where I've become more realistic than I ever have about what they are capable of and how the game industry works, I think it's a pretty big damn deal.

As to what I've been doing recently, I've been flying under the radar but rest assured--I'm working.  I'm actually making forward progress with my career and when the time comes to work for Sega, for someone else, or on my own game, I'll be prepared.  Do not doubt me.  As for my readers (whichever ones are still left), stay loyal fans, don't give up, tell your friends, show off your flair, and MAYBE a little Sega goodness will rub off on your friends or game developers!  Take care!

Back In The Race, Baby!

Oh snap guys, where do I begin...

Well, as you guys know, I've been in the wilderness looking for game programming jobs for a whopping eight months (June 2013-March-2014).  It's been hell having to sit on the sideline and watch my friends' dreams come true and watch Sumo Digital/Sega jobs come and go.  I've spammed resumes to numerous game and simulation studios in the Southwest US.  I've done numerous phone screenings from recruiters and have taken a couple of written tests too.  Needless to say, I've gotten use to the phrase "we're not looking for someone with your skill set," which is the blandest way to say "you suck" without any good feedback on what to improve on.

But that's all changed now.  I am in sunny Austin, Texas at my new job in a inconspicuous game studio.  I'm honestly not telling you where I'm working.  All I know is out of all the butchered job applications, this place flew me in for an interview which resulted in a 2-hour written test, a 1-hour interview with two programmers, another 1-hour interview with two other programmers, and a 30-minute interview with two producers.  A 4-and-a-half hour long interview.  Thankfully I knocked it out of the park and everything that could've went well did.  The tides turned in my favor for once, thank God!

Again, I'm not inclined to tell you where I work.  It's not a racing game studio nor is it affiliated with Sega.  It's a place that treats me well and has the potential to be better than my previous two jobs.  I am in debt to them because if not for this generous offer, I'd still be out on my ass because I had no other leads at any other game studios.  Seriously, this company has been very nice to me thus far and I no longer have the disdain I once had for them.  Now not the time to be a hipster!  Don't let Reddit circlejerkers or personal vendettas get in the way.  Seriously, the Reddit crowd is useless.  Those slovenly neckbeards grovel and complain but they don't contribute anything of value besides shitty gaming memes.  Get off your ass, get a gaming degree and a job, and make your own games for once.  Otherwise, shut the fuck up.

I have to work hard to impress my coworkers.  I'm serious when I say this because through grief comes wisdom.  I learned what not to do at my previous jobs and now I have a chance to put that wisdom to work.  Also, I have nothing else to do in Austin so why not sell myself wholly to my work?  I need to make money anyway so I'm going to hone in on my work as much as possible.  The fear of being fired for a third time lingers in my head and I have to power through it and get my stuff done and NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

"Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to break the build," said no one ever (until now).

Also, a little solace to my firing at my previous job.  Basically, when I was let go at the end of May, the game I was working on was canceled in November and a bunch of people were laid off.  That was the last green-light they needed to pass before they could go gold with it.  But they failed.  Did I have anything to do with it?  I'd like to wish that them firing me was the reason it failed but not very likely.  Needless to say, there was a bit of schadenfreude to be had but it was short lived once I realized "damn, now I have more people to compete against for job openings."  Sadly I cannot tell you what game I was working on.  This haunted game has sunken to the ocean floor and anyone who dares explore it will be cursed.  So yeah, my previous three months of work completely destroyed but at least I don't have to worry about whether my name would be in the credits or not (odds are it wouldn't, man, fuck you guys).

Still, I'm not exactly feeling good about our Sega chances regardless.  Sega hasn't filled me with optimism lately.  The Wii U and its Sonic games are an abysmal failure in terms of sales.  Sonic Boom is looking more like a cash grab to sell more toys and permanently change Sonic's image for the worse.  Sega of Japan reeks of xenophobia as they are denying service/banning non-Japanese players on Phantasy Star Online 2.  Then Sega loses the Shenmue license!  That's more of a good thing since Sega won't use it for anything good so give another publisher (Sony?) a chance to work with it.  And--what's this?  Nagoshi-san is counterfeiting his own money now???

100 million yen, what a baller.

Yush, Sega is boring me.  Though this mini-resurgence of Sega racers (Sega All-Stars Racing, 90's Arcade Racer, Model 2/3 emulators) do buy us some time to seize the return of the glorious Sega racing golden age.  Gotta get back to business!  Had a wet dream a few days ago of Daytona USA 2 in Xbox One/PS4 graphics.  Needless to say that was a hella good dream.  Let's do it boys and girls!!! :D

And Another (Good) Announcement About This Blog

Well guys, I should say that the last post I made about the blog closing down is simply not true.  It was a horrendous April Fool's joke I didn't take much pleasure out of and sorry if anyone was hurt by reading that.  I didn't do this to get pity out of you guys or to really bail cause I was on the fence or some nonsense like that--it was a joke from beginning to end.

Unfortunately, though it was a joke, there were some things that were true about it.  The reason it seemed so genuine is because those things I mentioned are true fears of mine--that you'll show up to work at Sumo Digital or wherever and suddenly go stupid and get fired, that your favorite game company or companies will stop making good games, that the things you used to love you won't anymore, and so on and so forth.  I've been in a funk for the last few months, that's obvious.  But this blog will always have a purpose and I won't ever shut it down unless it's for some really good reason, better than "I feel bad, I don't want to post anymore" or some crap like that.

The blog is the only place left I have to vent about games.  It's the only place where I can still remember the Sega racers.  Hey, on the flip side of the coin, Sega, as stupid as they are, has made great strides in the last decade!  Who would've thought that in the last 6 or 7 years, we'd get mounds of new Sega racing footage in the form of pictures, videos, and player testimonials, we'd get Daytona 1 and 2 emulators, that Daytona would get a home port, that OutRun 2, Crazy Taxi, and Sega Rally 3 would get on XBL/PSN, that we'd get not one but two Sega All-Stars Racing games, that the Hornet would appear in two new racing games (Ridge Racer and Sega All-Stars Racing), and that we'd get a serious fan-made racing game called "The 90's Arcade Racer"!!!

The way I see it, this is an American Football game and Sega is advancing the ball down the field.  He's running down the field as his teammates throw blocks to help him advance.  Well he's down to the 10 or 5 yard line and he's still got one more man to beat.  Who's going to block that guy???  I would certainly like to be that guy who throws the block and gets jacked up (but helps Sega reach the end zone).

The main two problems I'm facing right now is that I'm preoccupied with other things and that I need to get motivated once again.  I need to go back to a NASCAR race or an actual arcade again.  I need to get excited again about driving!!!  And I don't give a damn what's going on with the game industry or websites cause I sure as hell am not going to let "evil forces" like Electronic Arts, Activision, Microsoft, etc. try to persuade me otherwise.

Besides, let's face it.  If I were to suddenly quit on Sega and this blog, what else would I be doing with my life?  Where would I go?  Would I be content working at the same job being a "yes-man programmer" my entire life?  Hell no.  And if I get fired for some controversial things I said on this blog, well...good, who wants to work there anyway.

Unfortunately, I will probably not be posting as much as I did before but I will be saying good things about Sega and racing games some more.  I can't let that passion get away from me because without it, I'm a corpse who's assumed room temperature--I'm done for--so it's Sega or bust, dammit. Leave comments, I read every one of 'em, guaranteed, even if I have posted in a while.

Bye guys.  *hops in conveniently placed Ferrari and drives off*

!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1 DAYTONA !1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1

THANKS FOURCARTRIDGE FOR POSTING THIS
DAMMIT, I DON'T CARE ABOUT SPOILER WARNINGS RIGHT NOW, JUST WATCH

Even your pit chief talks to you!!!!!!

Now...if this game just had Ryo Hazuki, Segata Sanshiro, and Jacky Bryant, it would be THE GREATEST RACING GAME EVER.  Well, close to it.  I will pay Sumo Digital a large sum of money to add those characters to the game (assuming they aren't in already).  Like $100 per character.  I AM DEAD SERIOUS.  THIS GAME IS LOOKIN GOOD, 90% OF THE WAY THERE, WE JUST NEED THE EXTRA 10% TO PUSH IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE!!!!!!  LET'S DONATE MONEY TO SUMO DIGITAL FOR MORE CHARACTERS AND THREE-SEVEN SPEEDWAY DLC!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shit, I need to sit down...oh wait, that's right, I am sitting down.  Well what am I going to do now?  I woke up due to a stomachache so I'm gonna throw up.  Certainly not sleeping.  We're gonna party like it's 1994 with awesome music!!!!!!!!  It's the Dreamcast version but who cares???????

Oh yeah, encore performance!!!!!

I love you guys, no homo.

EDIT: So it just dawned on me that there's one thing amiss--the Hornet's tires aren't nearly as fat.  Well it was also that way in Daytona 2.  BAH, CLOSE ENOUGH.

Two Shoutouts To Great SEGA Gentlemen

I always come on this blog and call out enemies of the Sega Nation all the time.  Yet I should flip it around and mention those guys who do the Sega Nation well.  Here goes.

One, I'm on Reddit Gaming again, and believe me when I say Reddit Gaming (and Reddit in general) sucks.  But I glance over it daily to get a pulse of gamer culture at that moment.  And here's the top story with 900+ comments (that's a frickin hell of a lot)--a guy puts together a "gaming house" full of consoles, PCs, and arcade cabinets.  Okay, sweet, this is a good Reddit Gaming post so I can't complain.  Really need to check out the gallery.

Guess what he's got inside?  MUTHA EFFIN SCUD RACE TWIN CABINET???

A Reddit Commentator -

I wonder how secure is this house. Now that probably every burglar in the world knows that so much stuff is inside, it's pretty tempting to steal all this shit.

Anyway amazing setup, i liked arcade racing machines the most, also i twitched seeing those cds, no matter if they're the cheapest of all of this, he should treat them with respect :P

Another thing that bothered me was screen sizes, shouldn't all be the same? or the owners screen is the biggest and you, little pawns, can have those tiny ones?

I hope to see more photos :D

Thank you so much Reddit user Citizen_Gamer for posting pics of this and doing your part to get Sega Racers a little more exposure.  Nice house and thanks for having that friend of yours making the world a better place...one arcade at a time.  I don't have a Reddit account (and I really don't want one...that site's all about being upvoted) but I wish I could put in a good word for him.

AND THEN, there's this...this is on SEGAbits, same site that had DarthSOL on the podcast to do Q&A'S. Well they did a brief story on Danica's 14th place finish and posted the links to Danica's Sega car gallery and a Fox Sports race recap.  Funny thing is I referenced the same exact two links in my blog post and I don't think these guys are digging around for obscure Danica stuff either.  So is it possible they read my blog?  I'm not mad, obviously I look up to them for Sega news and that's great if we got a little webring going cause us Sega fans need to stick together lest we get cannibalized by this stupid gaming media.  But it's cool bro, good job with the short story and it's great that people know more about Danica's race, that's all.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  Also on Reddit Gaming, there's a classic Sega Genesis plug-in-and-play console with 80 games already built in to the console.  Supposedly $30 bucks at Best Buy, Rite Aid, any generic store.  I mean, I hear from one or two people it's crummy but others say it's alright so I can't attest to its quality.  The packaging looks okay so it doesn't look like a Chinese knockoff like the "Greatstation 3."  So I wanna let you know there's a new Sega console floating around out there in stores so keep your eyes peeled on it.  It's not a Dreamcast 2 but it'll do for now.

Speaking of which...Dreamcast 2 coming out in a month.  ERMAHGERD GUYS I CAN'T WAIT.

Bang Bang Racing Preview, Review, Compliments

Hi guys, so there's this Steam sale thing going on right now so let's take a look at the games.  Oh, what's this, a racing game called Bang Bang Racing, let's check it out!  Videos:

Right now, Bang Bang Racing costs 3.39 in United States Dollars.  Even if this game's a dud, can you really complain about paying that much?  Besides, from one "Indie" racing game dev to another, this one's for you.  Seriously, I'm in need of a new racing game and I'm not touching Ridge Racer: Unbounded with its $30 price tag.  And personally, I think I had more fun with this $3 game than I did with games worth ten times the price.  It's a "Bang" Racing Game for your buck.  *noshameinthatpun*

So a quick rundown about the game: There's twenty cars in four classes--five muscle cars, five GT cars, five Le-Mans cars, and five Indy/F1 cars--each with slightly different characteristics.  There's also eight tracks which spoof existing locations--Daytona, Laguna Seca, Long Beach, Monaco, Nurburgring, Bahrain, Spain, and some snow level.  Because of the game's cartoony style, the tracks have been greatly embellished to give you lots to look at, such as palm trees, Japanese cherry blossom trees, fake billboards, buildings of various sizes, overpasses, and numerous elevation changes.  In other words, it's a damn good looking game.

The thing that ultimately makes or breaks the game is the camera.  It's kind of like R.C. Pro Am except the camera actually attempts to face parallel with your vehicle at all times.  At first, turning left and right can be massively disorienting since it takes a while for the camera to catch up, leading you to blindly drive in some direction besides straight (think Grand Theft Auto's driving camera) but in all honestly, you get used to it after a while.  Sure, no close-chase/first-person cam sucks but you get a better view of the action happening all around you so that's good.

Now about the cars. There's nitrous boosts that charge up automatically over time and when you drive through the "pit stop" (PRO TIP: Hit the pit stop as often as possible even if you're not damaged just for the turbo boosts alone.).  While turbo boosts are a common racing gimmick, here they're used well because it can give you a tactical advantage.

There's also the ability to brake which becomes phenominally important at higher speeds.  You can't powerslide Sega-style but it's still good fun to sling the car around, plus it's not an easy game by any means so it is rewarding once you get a hang of it.  Left, right, gas, brake, turbo.  Five buttons is all you need.

There's also oil & water slicks that inhibit your ability to turn for a brief time as well as a few shortcuts too.  Fortunately, there's no Mario Kart weapons present so it rides the fine line of being goofy fun as well as a truly serious racer.

I should mention this game can be played with the keyboard or an Xbox 360 controller.  The keyboard controls are okay but still tough to use.  Once I plugged in that 360 controller, my skills doubled and I enjoyed it more.  So be sure to get a joystick before playing.  This goes for every PC racing game, obviously.

I think the game's great but there's three caveats that must be said:

1. Having "beaten" the game in about four hours, I'm still left wondering what to do besides time trials and racing the computer over and over again.  The CPU's tough on the harder difficulties without being broken cheap (no rubber-band AI) so that's great.  There's split-screen multiplayer but no online multiplayer which is a bummer.  I question the game's replay value but c'mon, it's just a $3 game.  Though some of you may get better mileage out of this game since I'm so "good" at racing games or something.  The first two tiers of cars may be too slow but the game picks up when you get those LeMans/F1 cars, pshyeah.

2. I think the game personally errs too much on being "cute."  While I don't mind driving Micro Machines around cartoony tracks, it would be great if they took a few cues out of Sega's playbook and made the racing more "intense," such as meaner engine sounds and car rumbling at top speeds.  But I don't know for sure if that would make it better...I'm not a game PRODUCER people, I'm just a lowly programmer who does what he's told.

3. Come on, enough with the dubstep, let's get some ROCK AND ROLL in this joint.  Something that really KICKS.  No really, the music in this game is ok but that definitely-not-autotuned lady says (I think) "moooonayyy" or something like that too much.

Kind of like Days of Thunder (now rendered null & void thanks to Daytona USA) and 3D Pixel Racing (didn't play it but gameplay looks similar), this is an Indie game that pops up out of nowhere and exceeds your expectations so PAY DA MAN for actually making a racing game that entertains me.  FUN FACT: There's about 30 people that worked on this game and almost all of them have an accent in their names.  In other words, this isn't a US-made game.  It hurts me to say this but as an American, Europe & Japan are leagues ahead of us in driving games, sorry.

I think the game is great and that you should buy it now.  You have until July 23 to buy it at such a low price so do it now.  Just do it...

REVIEW SCORE: 9.0 out of 10.  Also check out my friend Dave's post on this game too.  It predates my post by about a month so props to him too.


BTW, Super Sprint is still better.

EDIT: Also be sure to buy Renegade Ops off the Steam store for under $4 too!  Do it for Sega!  Or buy four copies (one for you, three for friends) for under $8!  Wow, ya gotta love Steam!!!

That's Why They Call Me The...

Well guys, I got good news...for me anyway.  I recently agreed to a programming job at a legitimate game studio!  I got a phone call last Saturday (at the Coke Zero 400 with loud music over the speakers) offering me the job and today I signed the paperwork away.  This "internship" lasts from August to December and comes with a modest hourly wage.  My job duration (and wage) may receive an extension in January assuming I play my cards right and can stick with the company in the future. TLDR: I got a job.

But first, before we move on, I will NOT tell you what studio I am working at.  It could be anywhere in the world.  Any size or number of people.  Making games of any genre or for any platform (including Dreamcast homebrew).  You may or may not have played one of their games recently.  You may have heard of this studio often or not at all.  It could also be Electronic Arts but I'm not telling.  I will also not share my level of "enthusiasm" for working there.

I will give you two hints right now to alleviate any concerns:

1. It is NOT Sega or any studios with ties to them (i.e. Sumo Digital).
2. It's a company that I feel "good" about working at, at least as of right now.  After surveying the field of realistic candidates, it's one of the top studios I had a choice of attending and I feel fortunate to get an offer there.  Other than the inevitable fear of failure & embarrassment, I remain optimistic (hell, it's an internship...I'm supposed to be a "noob" at first so there's less worry about making mistakes).

Also, it's worth saying we're grown men now.  I'll do my best not to make witty remarks about the company or any of its games nor will I spoil any NDA's (assuming there is anything worthy of being mentioned).  It's not school anymore--this is the workplace and your reputation & job is on the line.  This doesn't mean I'll hold back on my cutting remarks--I'll have plenty of good & bad things to say about games but this company is off-limits.  And most certainly no 4chan/Reddit topics like "I'm an anonymous employee of (insert company), ask me anything."

Anyway, sooner or later you may find out where I'm working--either I or someone else will reveal it to you.  But for now, it's confidential.  You're all overwhelmed with curiosity which is good...gives you a reason to keep reading my blog.

Still a strange sensation to have a serious job even if it's not until a month from now.  See, beforehand, you went to school for a few years and graduated.  Went to college a few years, graduated.  Went to grad school for a year, graduated.  Assuming you don't do anything egregious like get expelled or arrested, you know when you're going and leaving and it takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.  But here, with a job, there's no telling how long I want to stay here.  I can walk out of here at any time, either by my choice or not.  That is scary since you are more prone to screwing up more than ever yet you have more options available than ever.  Oh well, that's the expectation that comes with being a man.  A working man...

Bad Things Suck But Probably Not That Much

Sup guys.  I haven't posted as much as I've wanted to recently.  But it's good because I'm nearly done with the Spring Semester here at game school.  On Saturday, I'm flying home to Louisiana to be with my family for two weeks.  And I can finally put this arduous semester to rest.  Spring semester was touted as the hardest and it sure was!  Summer should be much easier and we have more time to work on what we want.  That is good news.

I might as well say this...it makes me look rather buffoonish, but the "misfortunes" I've ran into in the past weren't so bad.  At the very least, there is some good out of it.  You usually notice it in the future when it becomes apparent by hindsight--you get a bigger view of the whole picture.  Some event which led you down an unexpected road but you gained a couple of things out of it.  Well, what do I mean?  Here's my two things:

First glaring example is the Daytona USA 2 GameFAQs board nukeage about two years ago.  Essentially I had been posting blog-like posts on that board for years.  Like Knuckles watching over the Master Emerald, I watched over that board for years, making sure it didn't grow all old and dusty.  Maybe got a few other posts too.

Then wham--some jackass GameFAQs mod takes down my main topic and any subsequent threads thereafter because they were off-topic.  It made no sense at the time seeing there are so many off-topic boards all over GameFAQs thus proving how hypocritical they are--taking down arbitrary threads while leaving up more egregious ones.  My very first blog post talks about this sad ordeal.

So I went into panic mode, you know, damn the torpedoes, hit the red button, etc. until I said "f*** it, let's give this blog thing a try."  And here we are living it up all nice and cozy on Blogspot.  So I was able to make my own website, rack up a lot of Google hits, and reach a larger audience.  So thanks stupid GameFAQs mods, your vain attempts to crush Sega racers has led to me becoming that much more powerful.  Now go play your Square RPGs and blow it out your ass.

Then the second thing would be the FIEA capstone gaming pitch--the "Avant-Garde Racing" game (look up the damn meaning yourselves).  It would span about 6 months long and would have some 15-20 people working on it.  EDIT: There were about 30 pitches, 10 would make it to the second round, 5 would actually get made, and (usually) 3 survive to the end of the semester.  This great, GREAT pitch according to everyone else was poorly voted on by the cohort.  The reason this was so traumatic was because:

A. I wanted to make a racing game.
B. I wanted to have some say in what game to make so I don't appear to be another insipid programmer who is perfectly okay to be bossed around by the insightful, awe-inspiring producers (okayface.jpg).
C. I was duped into believing the professor's vote (which rated me as one of the best) was one of the main reasons for choosing which games got through.  However, his rating was dropped at the last second while the artists' votes (most of whom don't want to model/animate cars) ravaged the whole thing

Yadayadayada, if you don't fully know what I'm talking about, read this.

In the end, though, and I don't say this to badmouth the game I'm working on (Battle Fortress Tortoise), but I think everyone involved in the pitches had these grandiose schemes of making big-ass cutting-edge video games.  How everyone overscoped their ideas like this was going to be the next Spike VGA award winner with hundreds of hours of gameplay but no--they were cut way, way short.  Instead, what we're going for is a very small, compact experience--only about 5 minutes worth of gameplay.  Yeah, some game, huh?  A small, well-polished game looks better on resumes than does a large, not-so-polished game (you can't sit through a long game in presentations).  And the fact this capstone consumes so much of your time and goes through so much scrutiny, I don't think I could've handled BOTH a precious racing game AND tons of homework at the same time.

If anything, though, despite my abysmal failure to make it out the first round, it got people talking about racing games again.  Which is damn good in the face of all these hack-and-slash/beat-em-ups, you know what I'm saying?  Oh, and by the way, because my time was freed, I also got to work on this game:

No really, if I had made it past the first round of cuts, I'd have to spend all my free time planning a bigger presentation in front of a larger audience and undergo even more stress!  Or we can just work on Super Sprint--a game that I didn't have to worry about a handful of gamers getting their greasy fingers all over it!  So Super Sprint it is.

And speaking of bad things, Sega may be sucking right now but I expect that in some way, completely unbeknownst to most/all of us, new opportunities arise for us, for Sega, for blue skies.  So THANK GOD for all the great Sega fans out there who have shown massive support when the chips are down--that is encouraging to every one of us.  You just have to look around for things like this.

BTW, I saw this a long time ago after the 2011 AFC Championship Game.  It's Ray Lewis.  Now I don't really like the Ravens and Ray may have a history of violence but he tells it like it is here.  This is after losing to the Patriots with that male bimbo Gronkowski ("mimbo") dancing shirtless all the time.  God doesn't make mistakes.  Skip to :25 past the lousy Ruth's Chris Steak House commercial.



Saints and Ravens Superbowl, BOOK IT.  Two teams with the biggest chips on their shoulders.  And exiled Saints coach Sean Peyton is coaching his son's football team so he has time to bond with his family!  Really though, I could unload on this whole media bias against the Saints yet again but I can't do it so let's focus on the positives.

BTW, if I go out tomorrow and something unfortunate happens to me, then expect me to lose my cool again cause I'm on edge like that all the time.  I'll probably have to take a prescription medication for that sometime.

Beautiful Yu Suzuki Conference At TGS 2011

TGS as in "Toulouse Game Show," not "Tokyo Game Show."  This was in November 2011 so this is quite recent!  It's always great to hear from Yu Suzuki and this time it's nothing short of emotional.  Thanks to the Shenmue Master guys who were so loyal to ask Yu the tough questions and make videos like this.  There's two parts to the conference: one on Shenmue, the other on everything else.  Here's the super-quick recaps since the videos are quite long.

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Part 1 (Shenmue) recap:

Intro: Standing ovation for Suzuki-San!  EDIT: It's really worth saying I'm moved by his reaction to the applause.  Yu still seems genuinely surprised that he's admired as much as he is.  He seems so humble and quiet up there unlike others who go up there to gloat and suck up as much attention as possible.  I really gotta give him props.

Making an RPG: Sega was working on the Dreamcast and they needed a killer title.  No one wanted to make the RPG so Yu did it himself.

Shenmue on Saturn: It was a prototype for the Dreamcast version.  The rendering, development of characters, cities, and quests were just tests for the real thing.

XBL/PSN Ports: Are they possible some day?  Yu nods his head and doesn't say anything.

Martial Arts: Does Yu practice martial arts?  He want to China and learned a lot.  Went to the Shaolin Temple and got beat up.  He's not very strong but he just wanted to see it for himself.

QTE's: He likes that other games are using QTE's.  Not much to say.

Shenmue Gai (Town): It was developed for Japanese mobile phones.  It's possible to Westernize it.

Title: Why the title "Shenmue"?  It's the name of a tree.  "Mue" means "tree."  "Shenfa" means "flowers that grow on the tree."  Very old story about the Shenfa.

Shenmue III again: Yu says he wants to work on Shenmue III again, ha.  People want to donate money for him to finish Shenmue III.  Yu says thank you and everyone cheers.

Jokes: Yesterday, have you seen a black car?  Takes a while for him to get it.

Popularity: Shenmue was a catastrophic commercial failure (jeers from audience).  What do you think of the difference between the excellent quality of your games versus their low popularity?  Because of his enthusiastic audience, he denies there is no lack of popularity (cheers from audience).

French words: What do you think of French translation of Shenmue II?  Yu is confused and cannot answer.  Fans begin a sing-along for the Happy Birthday of Shenmue II's European release.  These people are nuts passionate!

Shenmue III yet again: Despite opposition to Shenmue III questions, people still asked 'em anyway.  Is it still possible to see Shenmue III someday?  "If I can have the opportunity, the chance, really, I would make it.  Like today, to be requested by so many people on 'Please bring us Shenmue III!', I think that I really must do it!"

Favorite game he made: Shenmue.  Naw, really?

Wow, I don't know how big of a crowd this was, but just these thousand or so fans really moved him.  Great show so far.

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Part 2 (everything else) recap:

Hang-On: Rode a lot of off-road bikes in the past.  Had an urge to make a bike game but thought an "off-road" game wouldn't sell well (say that to Trials HD) so he created an "on-road" game.

OutRun: He wanted to create a "driving game," not a "racing game."  Driving with the radio on, girl in the seat, checking out the view, it's just cool.

Look, it's a radio.

Cars: We love all cars, even small ones!  Drifting is a lot of fun.

Technology: Used Assembly.  That's it.  (I've used it too)

Ports: Watched over the arcade ports.  Had to work hard since console technology was inferior to his superb arcade technology.

Virtua Racing: First 3D Sega game.  Could only get 300 polygons at first.  But because Yu is such a racing game pro, that's no problem.  Wanted to model 3D living beings but that was too complicated hence a car game instead.  Player models in Virtua Racing were the basic models for Virtua Fighter.  Looking back, it looks more like robots or walking boxes!!!

Check it out guys, I stole this picture.

Arcades: Some of his best memories.  Going to 3D was most exciting.  Release new technology early but not too early.

Social Games: Interested in them, particularly smart phones which is the "future."

Development Tools: He had to create his own.  Yeah...

Virtua Fighter 6: Since Virtua Fighter 5, he's entrusted the series to AM2.

Japanese Creativity Crisis: Doesn't think there is one.  Many original games have come out of America & Europe so it's all good.

Psy-Phi: Designed in 2005 but canceled.  Was too ahead of its time.   Used a touch screen like Tom Cruise from Minority Report (his words).  Would be more suitable now.  When asked about it, he teased releasing the game for iPhone (for obvious reasons).  Learn more about the game here.

If this game came out for the Kinect, I'd kick my own ass.

Sega: Can't speak of what he's doing there--it's confidential.  He does give advice in arcade games' production.  Still maintains a good relationship with Sega and mentions if he had the Shenmue license, he could do something with it...!!!

Nintendo: Has worked with Nintendo before!  Doesn't mention anything else.

Future Plans: In Yu's words, "It is certain that I would make Shenmue III if I had the chance."  Also thinking of other projects include one in which "monsters and other animals fight together."  Raise your monsters and send them to fight.
Wait--what???  Is he talking about Monster Rancher???  That's it--we take over Tecmo and pool our efforts into a Monster Rancher fighting/RPG game.  We have Virtua Fighter/Dead or Alive expertise under our belt.  If Capcom and Namco want to play footsies then so can Sega and Tecmo.

Then hhows a picture of a cat kicking a dog and everyone laughs.  No one knows if he's joking or serious.  These things draw inspiration for new games.

What's your favorite game???: Easy games.  Effortless games that you can play with kids.  Like Animal Crossing from Nintendo.  Yes, he actually says "Animal Crossing."

troll-face.jpg

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Anyway, it's super-encouraging right now to see Yu Suzuki speaking to the fans.  He looks humbled by his standing ovation.  He's a good man looking out for his games.  He also has a contagious smile.  Wish we had more game devs like him nowadays.

In Need Of Cultural Enlightenment

I'm going to keep this brief.  Right now, at the end of the day, I have very little mental energy left for posting blog stuff.  How typical of game studios (FIEA) to lock you in a room with dim lights and no windows so you can't even see the trees or flowers or squirrels or birds or bees flying around outside...sit in your little box staring at electronic devices for 10+ hours a day.  Can't be good for our health now is it?  Then again, if we weren't game designers, we'd be staring at our computer screens that long anyway so w/e...

All I really do is drive to and from FIEA, that's it.  I'm boring but it's not my life's aspiration to go to bars and get wasted.  Sorry, I like to stay clean...and driving-ready at all times.

Anyway, there's a theater near the FIEA building and one of the shows they held recently was a Billy Joel orchestra.  Now I really like Billy Joel and it would be nice to actually do something besides sit in front of a computer surrounded by slobs and miscreants.  But tickets cost $70 (plus $10 parking but I have a pass to get in for free) and I was busy that weekend.  So no go--another lame weekend.

But my birthday is coming up.  And I was looking around for something to do and I have a bit of an opening from work to do something different for a change.  And I'll go ahead and spill the beans:

Tickets to the Daytona 500!!!!!  Third row from the track!!!

^ You gotta crank this up for maximum effect...



It's February 26, less than a week away.  Going to the race with my dad.  Daytona Beach is only one hour from Orlando so that's an easy drive.  You see, let me go ahead and tell you why I'm so pissed about all these other racing games.  They are so full of crap--none of them convey the "intangibles" of racing thrills like Daytona USA 2 (and other Sega racers) do.  So they load their games up with crashes and other phony baloney garbage.  I mean, for those of you who critique NASCAR...you actually have to be there to get the full effect.  Four hours of racing...holy cow, I can't wait.  I'M STOKED!!!

Yeah, I know that NASCAR isn't considered "cultural" like visiting a museum, a 5-star restaurant, or the opera but I don't care, rofl.  You don't need to be a redneck to like NASCAR.

BTW, the Final Destination 4 NASCAR scene is just utterly shameful & disgusting...I piss all over that scene--go take your carnage elsewhere.  Seriously, I lost IQ points watching that garbage.  If I lose my head from a loose tire (not very likely), then I'm gonna be f'n pissed.  NASCAR is supposed to be a good time, not mind-numbingly retarded...

Now I have to go to sleep...

Daytona USA Port Impressions/Review

Final Score: 10/10.  Did you expect anything less??  Well, forget about the number, here my impressions that I'm just throwing out there.

Game looks great in widescreen.  Sweet framerate and awesome colors.  Handles just like the original arcade.  I'm playing this with my regular Xbox controller here and I didn't have any apparent problems with sensitivity.  It's fine as is.  Some of the AI cars have fairly blocky textures but that's just a slight issue at best.

Now about the gameplay.  Well, at first, I was sucking pretty bad.  Took me some time to get used to it.  My best advice for drifting is to keep the brake/lower gear held down for slightly longer than usual until the car kicks out from underneath you.  Then don't be eager to step on the gas again.  Let the car slide without gas/brake held for a little bit until you regain stability.  Like pretty much every Sega racer, I can't just tell you what to do--you'll have to play it a few times to get a hang of it (like I did).  The game also includes a subtle rewind mode (think Forza) for standard Arcade races if you are getting frustrated (access it from the pause screen).

About online play.  Well, I got to play online about seven or eight times, most on Beginner.  There's two "modes," Type A and Type B.  Type A has Catch Up on, Type B does not.  I played on Type A a lot and Beginner races were very intense.  People can nudge each other quite a bit (not like Forza though where the slightest contact means death).  Sometimes you will get smashed against the wall and fall back.  However, with Catch Up on, I got back in the race rather quickly.  Racers were four-wide on the back straightaway!!!  Crazy!!!

 Scene just before the Sonic turn

I got on a little winning streak here on the Beginner course.  You have the worst chance of winning though if you were to wipe out on the final lap, of course.  Early wrecks aren't that big of a deal since you can rebound quite easily just in time to finish.  When playing for real, turn handicap off...Real Players Only!!!

You can also enable AI cars online.  A motorcade of purple 99 cars that basically serve to aid (draft/slipstream) or hinder (rear-end) you.  Your position against the AI is irrelevant--you're only overtaking other XBL players.

I do have four minor complaints about online:

One, you cannot use the Player 1 thru 8 cars in single player.  Heck, when you join the server, you have no choice over what player you are, period (top of the lobby list descending is P1, P2, P3, etc.).  But I'm nitpicky like that.

Second, the other players' cars can jump around due to lag.  This isn't new to racing games but still worth mentioning.  The AI cars don't jump around as much but I've still accidentally collided with them because the lag made them appear farther away than they really were.

Third, there's no option to race tracks backwards (I think so anyway).  You can however race them mirrored (left is right and vice versa).  When playing courses with the Random option selected, I ended up racing mirrored Advance...a huge mind f*** if I ever saw one.  The game still has the options for Endurance races (with tire wear) so that's a plus.  But a two-hour Daytona run...geez, that can get tiring quick.

Last and certainly least, once you press Start in the lobby menu, you can't go back and change your transmission.  Got stuck with AT once and had to live with it.  Yeah, it's stupid, I know.

Then there's three special modes, none of them are that life-changing.  The first is Challenge mode, which is basically thirty Gran Turismo license tests (ten per course).  None of them are super-hard but are a decent way of learning the mechanics of the game.  Stuff like pass cars and keep your speed above a certain level.  If you've played this game before, it's fairly easy to plow through the whole thing in an hour.  Forget the star difficult ratings--the hardest challenge is #7 on Advanced with the 180 downhill turn (your speed can't drop below 140 mph...or maybe I just suck at that particular corner).

There's one thing about the Challenges that's strange.  In #8 of Beginner, the goal is to hit ten cones before the time runs out.  Okay, super-easy.  But the cones are laid along the black strip in the pit lane which means that--yes--the pit stop exploit is back!!!  You're still forced to pit if you don't drive on the strip.  The developers must be aware of this and chose to keep it in.  That's something I disagree with but it's a touchy issue--I know.  Just strange how it works.

Your goal for beating all the Challenges is a sense of pride and a Hornet XBL Gamerpic.  You only need to beat one challenge for the achievement.

Survival is basically an endurance race around a given track with EXTREME tire wear in effect (can't drive more than a few minutes without losing control).  Pass other cars, drive through checkpoints, and do other good things to add more time to the clock.  Fun for some people.  Karaoke is rather pointless.  The words of the song appear on the screen during an free drive session (no AI or timer) and that's it.  King of Speed (Beginner course) is basically a bunch of "Ah"s after the first thirty seconds.  Still good for the laughs.

One more general complaint and I know to some this will sound stupid...but there's not a whole lot of record keeping in this game.  Sure, there's the Time Trial modes for the two cars and three tracks but that's just about the only thing that's recorded.  EDIT: Okay, there's a online leaderboard for "Miles Driven," I must've overlooked it.  I already got 200/200 gamerscore within the first hour of playing so what's to keep someone really glued to this?  A Call of Duty/World of Warcraft-style XP system, that's what!!!

Another thing came to mind.  Since this is the same people that ported After Burner Climax, I was hoping that this game would include more little fun cheats/switches.  Like how about a Daytona To The Max mode with turbo boosts and bigger tires?  Or how about the Horse from the Saturn games?  Oh, this is stupid.

After playing this game for about two hours, I had to stop since my fingers were hurting from all the intense action-packed racing...geez.

So the game is great, but obviously it's a small game.  Reviewers may pass it off as another ho-hum arcade title with little content (although I will boycott any sites that review it less than a 9.9).   It also makes me want a Daytona USA 3/Sega Racing Megamaix even more.  But I don't know.  A lot of people will be very happy with this.  I'll jump into some online races again soon.  That's it, buy this game.  Only ten bucks.  This game should really be worth sixty, but you're lucky it's only ten, ha....

Thanks Sega For Daytona USA And Ghost Squad!!!

Don't have much time to post so let's just share what I know good so far...

WE NOW HAVE LEAKED FOOTAGE OF THE DAYTONA PORT...



Holy cow, I'm really impressed.  Slick FPS, better draw distance, vibrant colors, and the handling looks intact.  It's pretty much the same vintage Daytona but with a coat of polish.  I think Sega deserves three thumbs up (although you only have two) for this because they've really silenced a lot of critics (including myself) with this port.  ROUND OF APPLAUSE, BOYS AND LADIES!!!

Though I am curious about one thing.  Did they fix the glitches/exploits of the pit stop shortcut and the bounce-off-the-wall trick?  Something inside of me says to do away with any silly little things that are outside the intended bounds of gameplay.  This is not a knock on those who are super-good at the game since they will beat an average Joe like me on any given day (that is, until I start practicing).  But if Sega got rid of those exploits in gameplay, would that piss off more people than anticipated?  That Sega tampered the purest form of Daytona available?  Would that be a bad idea to remove bugs from the game?  I wonder what you think about it.  Watch the videos here (Beginner & Expert) to see what I'm talking about.

Did Sega fix the cracks in Daytona USA?  Maybe, but only a "Sega Racers Megamix" would do it for me.

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And not only that, but Sega is making people happy outside of racing games.  Like check out this guy from Thailand playing Ghost Squad, a Sega-AM2 shooter from 2004.  His performance is nothing short than perfection.  Yeah, this video has gone viral but if you haven't seen it now, then today's your lucky day.



Meanwhile, those kids standing next to him playing Time Crisis 4...they're just standing there all bored, rofl.

THANKS SEGA!!!

DAYTONA USA YYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG SEGA!!!!!!!!!!??????????

Good, it's coming out for XBL and PSN very soon!!!  But why no hard copies of the game?

I think it is interesting that the AM2 logo is there. Maybe the actual AM2 team OR Toshihiro Nagoshi is involved! I would like to learn more.

Also, 8-players max is really lame. I know the original had just 8-players but come on. Not like I'm surprised if this is a high-definition port.  At least the draw distance & textures look damn good.  Like what they did with the XBL Perfect Dark port--more of the same goodness...

EDIT: Just realize the Achievement list has been leaked.  Most are easy but three of them are interesting.  Challenge Mode???  Survival Mode???  Karaoke Mode???  Karaoke, awesome...wish it were like Rock Band though (match the pitch).  GET THESE SONGS INTO ROCK BAND!!!

But really Sega...now that I think about it. You're doing it all wrong. Here, let me illustrate what you should be doing:

GET THE HINT?????  I got plenty more Photoshops to go through!!!!!  Including Daytona: CCE and Virtua Racing!!!!

I'M BACK, BABY!!!!!

BTW, I'm fully convinced that BlogSpot hates Internet Explorer. Because whenever I post the YT embed code in IE, it screws it all up. Not so in Firefox. Plus, not to mention I won't stay logged in on IE. If only Firefox wouldn't take five minutes to start up then maybe I won't have to resort to IE.

Supermodel Emulator With Sound Is Now Available!!!

Bravo!!!!!

Like how the Fonz is the only one who can get the jukebox to play music (by hitting it), so is Bart the only one who can get the computer to play model3 games.

This 0.2 update was actually released on 9/25 (two days ago), but I didn't know until today.  I found out on the Outrun Online Arcade GameFAQs board.  See, I had several topics from that board in my GFAQs Track Topic list, but I never actually went to the board itself--I just looked at the tracked topics not knowing if someone made a new topic or not.  Well, my mistake.

More to come...............................................................


Post on the official Supermodel Forums!!!...which are pink for some reason.

Daytona USA...It Has Cracks In It, Sega....

I'm watching this special on Speed Channel.  They're talking about Daytona International Speedway.  The 2.5 mile speed oval opened in 1959 and has 31-degree banking turns (which is steep when you think about it).  It was repaved once in 1978 but then the track, after much abuse, started to come apart.  During the 2010 Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, the pavement split and created a pothole which interrupted the race.

So what to do?  Fill the 9-by-15-inch hole (twice) mid-race and then tear up the whole pavement and repave it all over again.  They originally intended to repair the track in 2012 but this sudden tear caused engineers to re-evaluate the situation.  Workers systematically tore off all the pavement (including the pit road & everything else), put down the dirt/limerock foundation just right, then pour on the 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 square meters).  It took less than six months (July-Dec. 2010) and $20 million to complete, just in time for the 2011 Daytona 500 (which Trevor Bayne won).

And while we're talking about the actual Daytona track, let's talk about Daytona USA.  Sega, isn't it about time to "repave" Daytona?  Can we get a new shiny Daytona game?  For good justice?  Or do we need to "patch it up" with emulators and whatnot?  We don't even need the "Daytona" trademark, just make the game for a next generation of gamers!

But speaking of emulators, our Model3 emulator friend Bart is awfully close to completing our dream.  He already implemented sound, analog controls, and more graphic fixes (but you can't play it yet since it's in a Beta stage).





I recently fired up the Supermodel emulator again and now the emulator runs at about 80%-100% speed (still quite jumpy)...I don't know why but I guess different parameters must've done the trick.

Question--so this is it?  Is this the "end-game?"  We finally have Daytona 2 and Scud Race with fine sound & controls and we can play it for FREE.  Is there anything else to do--any progress left to make?

To me it's like the 2000 critically-acclaimed movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks.  I'm pretty sure everyone's heard of this movie.  It's about a FedEx manager whose plane crashes while over the ocean and he ends up in the city of Rapture on a desolate island and he survives for several years with his volleyball friend Wilson.  Then after much frustration and discomfort, he is eventually rescued and ends up home.

Contrary to what you'd think, there's a lot of the movie left after he makes it home.  He has a very indifferent attitude towards everything.  His family, friends, and workers left him for dead.  His wife married another man.  He's like "My God, what have I wrought?" cause life is completely different so he really doesn't know what to say.

This is kind of how I feel.  I was playing Daytona USA 2 in arcades all the way up to December 2004.  Then the game was retched from my hands.  I've only may played the game 5 or 6 times at a couple of scattered arcades in between '05 to '06.  Now now, only NOW, in September 2011, am I able to play the game as many times as I want.

So...I'm just going to play Daytona USA 2 now and be happy?  I don't know how to react.  I'm happy but not "jump through the ceiling" happy.  Maybe cause I totally forgot about what playing Daytona 2 was like which is sad.

Don't get me wrong...it's still my favorite game so let me warm up to it first. Thanks Bart, this is awesome.

While I am happy, I am still going to be a game designer (I think anyway) and there's even better things to achieve than before.  Let's go save Sega and bring balance to the gaming world again.  Or whoever I work for.  Just do something great.

Blog's One-Year Anniversary

AW HELL YES, LET'S GET JUMPY IN HERE.  Now that baby's smokin a cigarette...that boy ain't right.

Hey, check it out.  I got a space walk for the party.  Now we can really jump!

Actually, I am really tired right now (which explains the lame jump joke I just made) so I'll make this quick.  I made my first blog post a year ago.  What happened was GameFAQs put the brakes on my "blog" on the Daytona USA 2: Power Edition board which in fact is a blessing since this blog is a much better means of communicating my thoughts.  GameFAQs still sucks though.

I didn't expect to post on this blog so much.  Just trying to get my thoughts out there to the public.  To show that there's still someone that's enthusiastic about games like Daytona USA and OutRun.

I try to make my previous posts as coherent and relevant as possible in the future by not talking about stupid news stories.  Like for instance, I said "oh lookie here, it's the Dead Rising 2 map" or "Rock Band finally got Bed Intruder as DLC."  I do add insight to most things I post anyway.  Hey, I'm tryin, I guess.  I do have good old posts like this and this.  You live and learn I guess (HANGIN' ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW...).

"Great minds talk about Ideas. Mediocre minds talk about Events. Weak minds talk about People." - Eleanor Roosevelt.

Anyway, I'm just some guy with some free time.  Like I said, everyone has a story to tell and this is just mine.  You may not agree with me on most things but I still appreciate readers anyway.

Anyway, thank God, thank Jesus, thank my friends and family, thank Sega, thank Blogspot, so good night...