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!

Beautiful Cinderella NASCAR Race!!! Very Inspirational!!!

If you didn't see the end of this Talladega race, you're a big dummy.

Congratulations!  Welcome to Victory Lane!  You made it!!

Just so you know, I helped that guy win.

Basically, teammates David Ragan (#34) and David Gilliand (#38), two of the Sprint Cup's "perennial losers," starting 11th/12th on the green-white-checkered finish, made a mad dash at the end of the Talladega race to finish 1st and 2nd respectively.  Unlike other cars, the two bump-drafted each other through the field.  I'm no David Ragan fan (who is anyway?) but I went NUTS when I saw him just slip into the lead and win.  Beautiful.  Especially teammate Gilliland, who had never won before, helping push his teammate across the line.  A very selfless deed...

Just for reference's sake, I decided to look up both Davids' records for the start of the 2013 season and let you know how poorly they had done up until Talladega, just to illustrate how amazing it was to see their 1-2 finish:

Track: Ragan's position - Gilliand's position (out of 43 cars)
Daytona: 35th - 38th
Phoenix: 38th - 37th
Las Vegas: 31st - 28th
Bristol: 21st - 24th
Fontana: 24th - 29th
Martinsville: 30th - 28th
Forth Worth: 26th - 32th
Kansas: 30th - 23rd
Richmond: 20th - 27th
Talladega: 1st - 2nd

To be fair, you look at Ragan in the #34 car last year and he fared very well at both Talladega races (7th and 4th) so you could tell that for this team, Talladega was their one bullet in the chamber...took a chance and won the race.  You'll probably lose next Sunday but savor this win as long as possible...

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is you take a look at someone like David Regan and Gilliland and you think "well, they can't accomplish anything, they have no chance."  Well they had a chance with 2 laps to go and they WON.  Don't quit, don't ever give up, don't let people tell you "you have no chance."  JUST WIN, DAMMIT!!!!  Winners never quit and quitters never win.  Ok, you get the idea so GOOD NIGHT, POTENTIAL WINNERS!!!

NASCAR Ass-Kicking

Everyone who watches NASCAR knows I'm going to cover this so here goes.

To set the stage, Jeff Gordon (#24) and Clint Bowyer (#15) had a bit of a rivalry going on for months.  Late in the race, Gordon and Bowyer rub cars and Gordon's car is subsequently damaged.  Enraged and blaming Bowyer for deliberately hitting him, Gordon slows down and waits for Bowyer before hitting him again, sending Bowyer and two innocent drivers into the wall.  Bear in mind that Bowyer was 3rd in the Chase standings and had he finished strong here, he had an outside shot at winning the Chase championship next race at Miami-Homestead.  But no--Gordon took Bowyer out of the Chase altogether.  Over the radio, Gordon said he deliberately hit Bowyer.  What happened was Gordon getting ambushed by Bowyer's team and Bowyer running to yell at Gordon.  In other words, it was like a monkey f***ing a football so you must watch the whole video.

"That was a real act of a champion."
5 Hour Energy.  When you gotta whip someone's ass.

This is not the first or last time this has happened (here's some rubbin & racin).  I don't know what to say.  I still stand by what I said before and that is race car driving is the most frustrating of all the competitive events.  Well Jeff Gordon, a four-time championship winner, had flushed his reputation down the drain, at least for the moment.  Over one stupid thing.   Could've thrown a brick through Bowyer's house window or spike his coffee (Dumb & Dumber style) but no, had to wreck cars.  And this is an interesting story but in a Jerry Springer/Maury way.  It's not good and it makes us look like a bunch of idiots.  I know I mentioned "vigilante justice" and how Bowyer supposedly had it coming to him, but this is embarassing and Gordon should get his ass parked for the last race of the season, maybe more.  Goodbye AARP Drive to End Hunger!  Now old people will starve.

EDIT: Hey look, here's Brad the Champ cursing out Gordon and Bowyer.  Brad explains the difference between racing hard and racing stupid.  Well said.  This is Brad's Chase to lose and two idiots are taking the moment away from him.  Warning: Profanity, but who cares.

Hilarious, I'm watching Speed Channel and there's a Hendrick Motorspots 200 Win Special, crowning Jeff Gordon's ass.  Yet, at the same time, Speed's airing the Kurt Busch: Outlaw Special.  So basically, according to Speed, Jeff Gordon = good, Kurt Busch = bad.  My how the tables have turned.  I can only imagine how the next episode of the Michael Waltrip Racing Special will turn out.  Also, why is everything on TV a "special" anyway?

So the race was red-flagged with a G-W-C finish (basically two laps to decide a winner).  After sitting on your ass for some amount of time watching these idiots fight, the race goes on.  Our beloved Danica Patrick hits the wall on the first lap and starts limping to the finish line.  No yellow flag!  Somehow Danica's car drops invisible oil (again) and this causes a few cars to spin out and ignite going across the finish line.  Brilliant finish.

In other words, NASCAR is now about a bunch of s*** blowing up.  I almost feel ashamed especially how everyone was cheering on Jimmie Johnson to crash and not get his 6th Chase win (which is the case as it's now Brad's chase to lose).  Eh, if Richard Petty and Dale Sr. could win 7 championships, who said Jimmie can't win 6?  I made this quote up: "Everybody loves a winner.  Everyone hates a repeat winner."  Stop hating on successful people already, sheesus.  Wait, I changed my mind, I don't care what happens to Johnson.  Also, as much as I hate Burnout, I'd much rather you take out your aggression in that game than in real-life.  Enough of the Haterade, NASCAR sucks.

... Okay, I'll leave with one video.  Watch this guys, even if you screw up and are disliked by everyone, there is hope for redemption.  The Darrell Waltrip Experience.

EDIT AGAIN: Just some stupid crap that went down.  So the first Jeff Gordon-Clint Bowyer video I embedded was taken down due to copyright.  From a YouTube user called "imJustTheGOAT."  Who then proceeded to upload the same clip again under his account.  I presume this guy doesn't own NASCAR footage so why is he taking down other NASCAR clips and re-uploading them under his account?  Just to stroke his massive ego?  Stupid YouTube, I can't believe they allow this crap.  Ruining websites with bad videos and getting accounts suspended for copyright infringement from guys who don't even own the copyright, what a piece of s***.

Can't Be Mad At Nagoshi-San Anymore (Call To Arms)

I know I haven't posted anything of substance recently so here goes something...

Nagoshi-San won an award for Yakuza 5 at the Tokyo Game Show.  I'm happy for him.

"...He said with each game in the series he strives to have each part of the game equally polished: enthralling and well-performed drama, satisfying exploration and interaction in the adventure sections and a combat system that’s challenging while accessible."  TLDR: He works his ass off on these games.

It's become a running gag over the years to call out Nagoshi-San for his wacky antics.  Like this or this.  But I cannot be angry at Toshihiro Nagoshi anymore.

Why???

First of all, what if judging by his dedication to the Yakuza franchise, isn't that what his true passion is?  Yakuza games?  To me, I love racing games.  But to him, he loves Yakuza.  And it's his dream come true to make many of these games.  So who am I to interfere?  After many years of service to SEGA, he is basically the Chief Creative Officer now and he makes games that make Sega money.  And when Sega makes money, it's good for ALL of us.

And another thing.  Hasn't he done enough already?  He made Daytona USA 1, Daytona USA 2, Scud Race, and even F-Zero GX.  Why should I beat up on him for not doing more?  He basically brought them into existence and without him, we'd probably be in a much worse position.  OutRun and Virtua Racing were great but Nagoshi advanced the ball further down the field for us.  If he didn't who else would?

I'm reminded of a conversation I had with my dad.  We were talking about Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints NFL team.  One of the best QB's in NFL history, he brought a Superbowl victory to New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.  After 43 years of the Saints being perennial losers, they finally won the Lombardi and lifted the spirits of the entire city (read my recap of the season here).  In other words, Drew Brees = Gulf Coast Hero & Class Act.

But last year, he held out for a bigger contract and basically hindered the team from signing better players like Pro Bowl offensive lineman Carl Nicks.  This hurt & distracted our team in the long run.  This I talked about before.  Drew would settle for a $100 million contract over 5 years.  My dad said something interesting in response and that is, "He could never play another snap and that $100 million would be worth it.  He's done more than enough for the city."  And that's true.  The fact Drew is still playing is just a bonus.

So you know what.  If Nagoshi wants to make Yakuza games, hit the tanning booths, drink alcohol, and have nice little conversations with Japanese mistresses then fine.  I can't hate on the guy.  He's deserved it.  He's my hero.  There, I said it and I mean it.

So, what about Daytona USA?  I'll tell you what for the 100th time, it's down to the FANS to get that s*** back up and running.  Assuming there is a new Daytona (or Sega racer in general), there's no guarantee Toshihiro Nagoshi will be involved as well as includes Yu Suzuki, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi, Makoto Osaki, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the whole crew.  So you GET ACTIVE, talk about racing games, learn about game design, favorite all the Sega racer YouTube vids and fan art, just do whatever you can to promote this stuff.  Cause that's what Sega fans have done for the last 20 years, promote the heck out of a garbage company known as Service Games for no reason at all other than that they've moved us in some way.  Like a stupid little arcade game like Daytona USA with 3 tracks and only one car.  Or a Mario "clone" called Sonic the Hedgehog.  Or Space Harrier, OutRun, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Fighter, Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, even for the most miniscule reasons like "I think the music's cool."  So GET MOTIVATED!!!!  Cause Sega does what Nintendon't.  Or what Microsoft don't.  Or Sony don't. Or Namco don't.  Or all those other wannabe game devs.

I propose that September 29th (Saturday) is official "Talk About Sega Racers Day".  You have two days to get ready so if you're reading this on Friday, you're given the heads up.  It's on a Saturday so it's the weekend and you should be feeling it then.  Just go to a message board, chat room, or meet someone in actual real life and say "Hey, you know about Sega?  You like racing games?  You ever played OutRun or Daytona USA?"  NOT THAT HARD.  Let's start doing this cause I'm getting sick and tired of the Sega fanbase drying up all around me like a dying oasis in the desert.  So talk, talk, talk about Sega and don't be scared.  Trust me, I already look like a bigger fool on this stupid blog than you could possibly be in real life so go do it.  THE END.

Listen to them all at once and there's your 5 Hour Energy for the day.

A Thanks On This Memorial Day

Today was just another normal day for me so I don't have much to say.  But I will say again: God Bless the troops who fought for our freedoms.  Freedoms like the ability to sleep soundly at night, to wake up and go to work, to speak your mind without fear of arrest, and to play video games.  And on this Memorial Day, we especially remember those who have died and assure that their work will not be in vain.  Thank you very much.  They're bigger men than I'll ever be.  They're the true heroes in our society.

As always, may God continue to bless the troops and this great country, the United States.  Pray for safety and perseverance in these perplexing times.  Just be more aware of this--have a moment of silence, thank a veteran, etc.  That is all I have to say for now.

Working At Home Feels Good

Hi guys, sorry for the hiatus in posts.  The last few days I've been at home with my family, my pets, and my old friends.  It's great to see the old town of Slidell, LA that never changes (maybe for the best).  Unfortunately, I'm flying back to Orlando on Sunday (six days).  Not that Orlando is bad--I've become accustomed to my apartment and feel good there, but I miss being here very much.  Too bad I won't be coming back much in the future since I'm getting that internship gig in the Fall and afterwards...well, time to get a real job in far away lands...

I've been working on Super Sprint online for most of my time though, usually pulling all-nighters since I can't turn away and I want to complete this or that feature.  The main reason is because it's my "Personal Portfolio Project" (or PPP for short, if you like dumb abbreviations) for school.  I don't feel too well though--I feel a bit nauseous.  This has always happened when I work on Super Sprint.  And I hope the guys at school can understand why I'm splitting my time between this and Battle Fortress Tortoise.  Sorry about any problems we've had in the past.  I like you guys--I want to be your friend and help out.

...Anyway, I wish I had at least another week to spend with my family in this nice house.  I can do work at home but going back to the cube...err, hexagon-shaped cubicle farm in the windowless room with dim lights...don't like it too much.  Yeah sure, it's not a bad place to be with its groovy curved walls and whatnot but it's just too much like a game studio (if that makes sense).  Like I want to go someplace "normal" to the rest of the world if I want to pull long hours on stuff.  We should aspire for more.

As a matter of fact, if I ever started my own game studio, I'd probably get a house/cabin/mansion in a very scenic area.  Like the Swedish Alps or the Colorado Rockies.  Better yet, how about Gatlinburg, Tennessee!!  Near the Great Smoky Mountains and the Airsoft Gun Black Market Capital of the World.

It'd be like living in a house, but it would have a couple of computers here and there.  Then you work in a nice house, feel comfortable at home, breathe in fresh outdoor air, stand in the sun in mild temperatures, maybe get some snow once in a while.   You always get a great view of the blue skies, hills, forest, river, flower garden, etc.  It would be very therapeutic.  It would be like programming in Heaven.  Or in a happy Sega world where everyone is your "buddy" and a jingle plays whenever you do something good or collect 100 of some arbitrary item.

 That's me watching NASCAR on TV.  I've been on a NASCAR kick lately, it's awesome.

And there's a waterfall.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, nice view.

Best of all, there would be GO KARTS!!!!  There'd be multiple levels with various Sega-themed scenery props scattered around (go away, Mario Kart).  All the karts will go the same speed.  And there will be no jerkoff guys yelling at you to stop bumping into other drivers.  Or pull into the pit because your 3 minutes of driving is up.  Would be lots of fun.

One can dream, huh?  Still though, the goal is to WORK AT SEGA AND AID IN THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF BLUE SKIES.  Remember that.

Also, if you're ever in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, remember to visit the NASCAR Speedpark, Ober Gatlinburg, and any other arcades along the main strip or go kart tracks.  There should be one or two Daytona USA 1/2 cabinets still in operation.

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.

Going It Alone Without Sega

Well first off, I'll start by saying that Daytona USA and Sega Rally Online Arcade are on sale for 400 MSP each (XBL only, sorry guys).  So if you have an Xbox 360 with internet, you have no excuse not to but these now.  Good for you, good for Sega. YOU'RE TOO LATE NOW.

But now for the bad news.  I'm fairly certain everyone knows this but Sega has recently posted big losses of about $240 mil in the last year (March '11 to '12).  Tons of people laying off and Sega claims they will restructure their development to only include big IP's like Sonic, Total War, Football Manager, and Aliens.  We don't know what this means for titles still in development, like Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, or Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 2.  Something's gonna get cut cause that's the business.

EDIT: Seems that SEGAbits says that big bloggers like Kotaku have overstated the news.  Sega isn't giving up on other IP's as easily as it seems.  I already take Kotaku with a grain of salt and now it pays off.

...

I'm a bit distressed by the news but it's not totally surprising.  We all know Sega has been ailing for years and their only way out is to take even fewer risks.  All of this on the heels of my "Sega needs to do more" rant.  I know it sucks ass.  No specific reason why Sega is doing poorly other than that they've gone back to being "Good Old Sega" again...the one that falls into holes that it can't climb out of.  Oh wait, that's right, it's because of all the money spent on Dreamcast 2 development, thanks Zach Morris. (sike)

A brief aside pertaining to financial woes: I recently wrote a paper on Midway Games.  Yes, the Midway of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz, and Cruis'n games.  Like Sega, they were lucrative in the arcade business.  In '01, they closed their arcade division due to financial losses.  In '03, American media magnate Sumner Redstone owned 80% of Midway's stock.  Later, Midway started publishing mediocre games like Area 51, Psi-Ops, and The Wheelman.  Midway lost an ass-load of money and was eventually stripped and sued to pieces, only to have whatever remaining pieces to be bought out by Warner Bros. for cheap.  But I'll get into Midway again at a later date--I'm getting off-topic and I want to save it for later.

It's distressing to me because I've said many times it's my "goal" to work at Sega.  Then make some new racing games and actually restore sanity to video games.  A while back, I took some initiative and asked somebody on the official Sega forums if they offer any jobs for aspiring programmers.  Here's how it went down.  This is me:

Here's a strange question. I'm studying to get my graduate degree in game programming at Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (ranked 2nd in Princeton's Top 10 gaming schools) and will most likely be doing some intern work in the next six months. Rather than be harvested by Electronic Arts (like 2/3rds of my class will be), I was wondering if Sega was interested in holding some internships or job openings for programmers. I know Sega of America is in California but if I have to travel, then so be it. I like Sega so...I guess I would like the chance to work with you guys.

I'm just curious and am throwing this out there. Don't know where else to ask this question since Sega doesn't have a "contact" e-mail besides video game support (such as "perform a hard reset").

And this is an admin:

Gaming jobs are the best out there, so firstly - welcome to the first step in a satisfying career! For jobs at SEGA, keep in mind that we are a publisher, not a developer. If your programming focus is aimed at game creation, you'll be better suited for development positions. If you have interest in web programming, you'll be an excellent fit within a publisher.

My recommendation for anyone looking for jobs in video games covers off two main websites - www.gamejobs.com and www.gamasutra.com/jobs. Both should give you a ton of resources for available positions by company and region. SEGA jobs are listed in the above link (as noted), but again, this will depend on what you are looking for.

My final recommendation is not to be down on any company or job you take. Experience is experience, and you'll find that a diverse portfolio will be helpful in finding work where ever you go. If SEGA or one of our developers is in your sights, then figure out the kind of jobs they hire for and build your resume to match that, both in school and real world experience. Hope this helps, good luck!

That sounds like a great response and I really can't complain.  The thing that gets me is how Sega is now labeling themselves as a publisher only.  Ok, I've known for the longest time that Sega only publishes great games and doesn't make them themselves...but where are all these official Sega games coming from?  I know they're making some on their own.  I heard Sonic Adventure 2 was developed in San Francisco, hence the City Escape and Radical Highway stages.

And then there's the crap licensed games like Iron Man, Thor, Aliens...where are these games being made then???  Yeah, that's right--Sega Studios San Francisco, which I have no idea where it is...in a underground bunker under a non-descript building it seems.  Shoot for the studios owned by the publisher...like if you're into Nintendo, go for Retro Studios in Austin, Texas.

Speaking of non-descript buildings, I've looked up Sega of America's headquarters on Google Maps multiple times.  Here's what it looks like.

This is it.  A plain brown 4-story building in a medium-density zone in San Francisco.  If it weren't for the small Sega logo on the building, you'd never know it was a Sega building at all.  LOL WHERE'S THE BLUE SKIES???  Yeah, Sega is some juggernaut, huh....performing hard resets in a modest San Fran office building.  Living the life it seems.

I know many of you were expecting Sega to dwell in a massive university campus setup (like Microsoft, pictured above), but no, just a tiny brown building.  Sega ain't that rich.

HA, now that we've gotten the building stuff out of the way, let's talk about actually working at Sega.  And this is where it get's really sad...

It's about time I start to discount working there.  Let's be real--Sega is downsizing.  They aren't looking to hire anybody.  In the meantime, job outlooks in general continue to get worse despite the fact that Electronic Arts is snatching up as many programmers as possible.  No really, we NEED jobs and if that means doing the programming equivalent of shoveling horse manure at EA Tiburon, well....what choice do you have?  Money talks--you need money to live.  To make your family and friends happy.  Am I going to throw away everything over the pursuit of lousy racing games???

And even if you did work at Sega, would it be that great?  Travel across the country and sit in your little office cubicle working on Aliens or bad Sonic games just to keep Sega on the respirator.  Never get to meet Yu Suzuki or Toshihiro Nagoshi.  It would be lousy as you'd expect.  And it all comes down to the climax which is this...

I think the outlook of new Sega racing games is really bleak.  Maybe a new Sumo Digital title or another XBLA/PSN port but I can't see much through the fog.  I have little faith at this point they can churn out new Daytona/OutRun/other non-derivative racing game.  You need the stars to align to convince Suzuki-San and Nagoshi-San to make another racing game especially considering the sad outlook of the game industry, MUCH LESS have the chance to pitch the game to Sega altogether.  Also throw in the possibility of another financial catastrophe and that likelihood can drop even lower or be wiped out altogether (as in Chapter 13, look it up).

So now what?  Well, we can continue to chip away at Sega and its studios and hope to catch a break but it may be in vain.  So we make our own racing game.  And we do it without Sega, Yu Suzuki, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Makoto Osaki, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the AM2 team, the #41 Hornet car, and the Daytona soundtrack.  Can it be done?  Yes.  Will it be painful.  Hell yes it will.

WE NEED PROGRAMMERS.  WE NEED PRODUCERS.  WE NEED ARTISTS WHO ACTUALLY LIKE RACING GAMES.   WE NEED SEGA FANS WHO ARE SICK AND F***ING TIRED OF THIS GENERATION OF GAMES.  WE NEED TO GET TO WORK SOMEHOW!!!  Cause really...what other choice do we have...?

So it can be done without the Sega/AM2/Daytona name, huh?  Well let's look at two examples:

The first is Medal of Honor.  The first game came out in '99 for the Playstation and it had excellent reviews.  Electronic Arts bought the rights to the game but decided to kick the original team off the project.  So 22 ex-employees formed their own little studio called Infinity Ward which would go on to make Call of Duty.  Then Call of Duty would later triumph over Medal of Honor although that series has probably been run into the ground by Activision so that figures.  What goes around, comes around.

Second is Guitar Hero.  It was made by Harmonix.  After making Guitar Hero 1 and 2, Harmonix was kicked out--Activision made Guitar Hero 3 and so on.  Harmonix went on to create Rock Band.  Despite the ultra-success of Guitar Hero 3, the series fizzled out while Rock Band re-innovated the music genre with a huge library of music and new instruments and gameplay modes.

And if, should the Good Lord will it, maybe Sega will see our good deeds and intervene like an angel and then we will be able to make the best racing game ever made.  One can only hope.  I may be wrong but as they say, "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst."  We'll see what happens in a year or two .  But be on alert people since WE MANY NEED YOU some day.

...

Uh, so you know what Sega needs?  Sega needs a little help from his friends.  HIS SEGA FRIENDS LIKE YOU AND I!!!  GOD BLESS YOU SEGA!!!

Get Connected: Win Free Stuff

I'm sitting around FIEA again and when I'm not burning out my eyeballs with C++/Unreal Script coding, I get to hear interesting things from Mr. Rick the Production teacher.

One of the things that is paramount is any career is to get connected with other people.  It's like advertising--you can have all the skills in the world and/or make the best products but if no one knows, then you will get nowhere.   But there's always other people.  Higher-ups who see value in you.  You make friends and expand your opportunities.  It's common sense, though people don't tend to think about it.  Some day, you may luck out and your dreams come true because you lucked out and met all the right people.  But it's very unlikely you'll meet one or two people and then all your dreams come true--it takes a multitude of relationships before you are elevated to greatness...lame, you gotta do all the hard work there.  Wish it was just like in the movies.

Great examples: In the 2006 feature film The Pursuit of Happyness (based on a real story), Chris Gardner (Will Smith) plays a completely broke man trying to get a job as a stockbroker in San Francisco.  This means undergoing a long-term internship with no pay or guarantee of getting the job.  Of course, this also means dressing up nice and duping his superiors into believing that he's not a homeless bum.  All while trying to find places to stay and take care of his son.



Eventually, he impresses one of his co-workers by solving a Rubix cube in a matter of minutes.  Then he does a good job selling stocks (or whatever) that the same co-worker offers him a free seat at his luxury suite at a 49ers game in Candlestick Park (oh God no).  Then Chris gets the job.  I bawled my eyes out.



If I got hired by Sega, this is what would ensue.

Another example is Harrison Ford.  Since the 60's, he's been hanging around Los Angeles trying to catch a break and become a movie star.  Failing numerous times, he became a carpenter for the stars.  He eventually made some kitchen cabinets for a certain movie director called George Lucas.  The two became friends.  Georgie needed someone to play the role in the little 1977 movie of his called Star Wars and...well, the rest is history.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

BUT HAN SHOT FIRST!!!

Back to the real world.  I'm just not very good at socializing with new people.  You have to find what you can advertise like...oh, like my programming skills, my l33t video game skills, my excellent blog, or my determination to win at Sega stuff.  But from what I hear, about 60% of all murders are done by people who are relatives/acquaintances of people they know.  So basically, the more people you meet, the more likely you are die.

I think it all comes down to fate.  You just need to be lucky.  But hard work and persistence will greatly raise those odds.

Now, here's my plan.  We're going on a Yu Suzuki/Toshihiro Nagoshi watch.  Check any possible conventions/PR events and go get those guys.  I know here at FIEA, a few of the instructors got passes for GDC in San Francisco (March 5-9) but they cost $750 a piece.  San Fran also happens to be the HQ for Sega of America.  The goal is to get to any of these guys--hell any Sega guys in general--and deliver my "elevator speech," that'll be so moving I'll get hired on the spot and get in there and save the video game industry.  Ridiculous, yes...but we got to try!!!  There's always other conventions like E3 or Comic-Con to check out.  Just keep your eyes peeled.  That's a good start.

"Sorry, I don't speak English"...DAMN my elevator speech failed.

Until then...try appealing to some EA guys.  I know there's a paintball outing coming up soon.  I've never played paintball before but it would be hella fun to shoot the crap out of EA guys!!!  Lol, no, I'm getting over my head.  Dueces, man, dueces.

More Thoughts About Dan Wheldon Crash

I haven't forgotten about the Dan Wheldon incident.  It still irks me a little.

This is what we know about the Las Vegas race.  Indy Car was trying to incentivize non-Indy drivers to participate for rating's sake.  If you won, you got a cool $5 million BUCKS.  Indy Car hoped to get at least five other drivers to participate but they couldn't even get that many.  Even famous dirt-bike/rally driver Travis Pastrana considered but backed out because he injured his leg.  Dan Wheldon was in the running for the jackpot although he and many others were reluctant because of the dangerous conditions.

Think Indy Cars traveling 220 mph without using the brakes.  Sure, that makes for safe conditions.  Coming that close to each other...all it took was one minor calculation and that's it.  The drivers couldn't even make it 11 of 200 laps in without a serious wreck.  NASCAR drivers could see this coming a mile away.  Sadly, Indy Car set up the drivers for this situation.  To quote this article which practically sums it up:

Danger equals excitement in auto racing, and they pushed this one too far. This is a sport that sells danger, and the drivers and their teams are professionals, beating death. It's the edge that creates so much of the thrill that fans pay to see.

But if you have a track where drivers will go three across, where they can't separate themselves from the pack, where they are going 225 mph, and it's all a cry out for attention? Well, that seems recklessly dangerous.

Part of this race's purpose was to stir the excitement of onlookers.  Oooo, a 220 mph race makes up for all those left turns!  Indy Car is losing ratings to NASCAR as well as Danica Patrick who is quitting at the end of the year.  The $5 mil jackpot was another last-ditch effort to get some cool names in the race and get ratings. Too bad it exploded in their faces.  Will veteran Indy Car racers still participate in the series in the future?

Remember that NASCAR officials slowed down stock cars to about 180-190 mph for safety's sake (boooo, that's boring).  Sure, the difference between 190 mph and 220 mph isn't that huge but the stopping distance exponentially increase the faster you are driving.  See this (just assume it goes up to 220 mph):

In other words, Indy Car should probably stick with technical courses.  Besides, no one likes driving in circles anyway.

The death of Dan Wheldon was capped by five slow laps at Las Vegas with "Amazing Grace" played over the speakers, a moment of silence during NASCAR's next race (including Dan Wheldon stickers on the drivers' helmets), a funeral in Indianapolis Florida (EDIT: oops, I'm sorry), and changes to Indy Car's rules.  That's good, very good.

The reason I'm still making a semi-big deal out of this incident is because I've always wanted to be a race car driver since when I was a kid.  But obviously I'm a bit scared to do for obvious reasons.  Hey, would I rather live my life without doing anything fun & exciting like this OR I give driving a try and take a risk?  What's the point of being safe this whole time when you may be taken out to heart disease or a traffic accident anyway?  Isn't life fragile enough to NOT have fun?  I read a survey once in which a bunch of 90+ year olds were asked what advice they could give for us young people.  One of them was "take more risks."  Wait didn't they already make a movie like that?

Darrell Waltrip (the boogidy boogidy NASCAR announcer) wrote an interesting on why race car drivers still drive despite the risk.  I think it's a good read:

Racing is a passion. It’s what we drivers love. Sure, when we are out of the race car we can reflect on all the “what ifs” of a race. When it’s time to put that firesuit and helmet on and go do our job, those “what-ifs” evaporate. We are willing to risk it all hoping we don’t have to give it all for the reward at the end of the day.

Even NASCAR drivers sound off.  The worst sound a driver’s loved ones can experience at a racetrack is silence. The car finally stops and the dust settles. The team radio falls silent.

You know, here's an observation of mine.  And I'm NOT trying to start a religious debate here.  There are a few people that are so abhorrent of any kind of belief/faith whatsoever.  But how can you think that way?  You have faith that when you get up in the morning that you can go to work and come home safely.  That you'll live to see tomorrow.  That you'll be able to perform tasks to your fullest ability.  That you'll be there for your friends and family.  There's no guarantee or "proof" that any of these things will happen but you go out and work anyway.  What kind of life will you live if you DON'T have faith in these things?  You'll just mope around your house like some emo kid and accomplish nothing anyway.

Sooo....about racing, I know that many people who are into that stuff won't have the time, resources, or ability to drive fast cars.  That's why video games are so important.  We want to make good racing games to meet that need.  So that's why I get pissed off when I see the racing genre become infected with all these generic/mediocre racers.  That's just my three cents.  I wouldn't say "be safe" since that sounds contrary to my post.  Instead, I say "don't be stupid."

RIP Dan Wheldon, he was a good man.

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.

Another September 11th Post

It's the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11 and I don't have much to say.  I know to many of us, that's in the past that we don't remember it as vividly any more.  Like Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination, it's one of those things you read in a textbook and think "Wow, that was heavy."  I don't know of any friends/family of 9/11 victims so it's not that seared into my mind.  I don't even like reminisce on violent, depressing stories anyway so that's what makes this worse.

Someone once said, "What's the big deal with 9/11...more than 3,000 people die everyday of natural causes, accidents, sickness, etc."  Nevermind the effect that this has had on us politically and economically--what this shows is that there are evil men (yes, I'll call them Middle-Eastern Terrorists, thank you very much) out there who will kill indiscriminately.  If they could kill again, they would do it.  And I know this will sound politically-incorrect to some, but I'd rather see those bastards die than any one of us sane people.

And another thing--these terrorists were indiscriminate in their targets.  They killed people of all nationalities, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc.  So this wasn't just an attack on America--this was an attack on ALL OF US.

And for some reason, rather than go in guns blazing, dust off our bomber jets, and blow them off the face of the Earth, we instead send in our ground forces to meticulously pick off the enemy. And a lot of our men died in the process and this is really saddening. Whether or not we're doing the "right thing" in the War on Terror, I'm not going to say for certain but that just makes this whole situation more unnerving.

Thankfully, America is still going even though times are tough.  Really tough.

Oh Lord, thank you for the courageous men & women in the military as well as our police, fire-fighters, emergency crews, and everyone else who displayed courage in the face of evil.  And be with the families and friends of the victims of this catastrophe.  And protect our armed forces serving overseas.  And please help America be a safer & happier place than it was before.

http://jalopnik.com/5838419/how-a-truck-became-a-911-symbol-of-pride

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44458317/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/astronaut-looked-down-horrific-scene/?GT1=43001



Oh yeah, and if I start getting a bunch of traffic from some weird Russian 9/11 Truther page/search engine, I'm gonna kick someone's ass.

LEAVE SEGA ALONE!!!

Been thinking about this topic for a while.  I'm playing devil's advocate here for a bit but this is meant to help you think.

Right now, if you're a game developer, you have to expect feedback.  Tons of feedback.  Most of it not good.  Every gamer out there is guilty of throwing their opinions out there, trying to get what is theirs.  "Make this, make that."  This isn't necessarily a bad thing--hey, I'm guilty of it too.  And ultimately, your ideas may be the right ones.

And what better a company to talk about than SEGA.  Sega, you suck.  No one really likes Sega anymore.  As a matter of fact, if you were to ask a bunch of people what they thought of Sega, the answers are not uplifting.  Sega takes so much crap it's not even funny.

SEGA

Y U NO MAKE GOOD GAMES ANYMORE???

But you have to think of game developers/studios differently.  You see, game devs are on a completely different level than you and I.  They have the intellectual and physical capacity to produce games.  They know more about the games they make than you do.  They are like a human-deity hybrid--they can create games like no one else can although they are fallible in many ways.  Since they're part-human, they aren't genies that can produce EVERYTHING you want.  Because you're not actually there to listen in and understand everything they say, your judgment may be wrong.  Hell, even I may be wrong!  This obviously applies to any private organization you're not a part of (like sports teams).


Why isn't Sega winning in the video games "arms race?"
You think you know, but you don't know, and you never will.

------------

What am I getting at here? Let me cite an example--the comedy/drama film Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey (Bruce) and Morgan Freeman (God).  In this movie, Bruce is a demoralized news reporter who frequently blames God for all of his misfortune.  A few moments later, Bruce "meets" God.  Since Bruce believes he can do a better job than God, he is given God's powers.  (Bruce = passionate fan; God = game company)

After spending some time using his new-found abilities on mischievous things (ex. turn his junker into a white Saleen S7, enlarge his girlfriend's breasts, and give himself countless promotions), he becomes paralyzed by all the voices in his head which turn out to be prayers.  So Bruce sits down at a computer and tries to answer all those prayers with his "Yahweh" e-mail service.  Unfortunately, even with his superhuman powers, he doesn't have the patience to answer the hundreds of millions of prayers.  So he lazily replies "Yes to all" to all prayers which is one of the things that later leads to his "downfall."  (Prayers = fan requests)

Eventually, after failing to reunite with his girlfriend (remember, he can't change free will) and ultimately realizing he's a crappy God, he has a coming-of-age moment and gains a greater appreciation of life.  He then helps God mop the floors of an abandoned warehouse.  And he gives up his super powers and becomes a super cool guy.  Or something like that.

------------

Soooo.....about Sega.  You may drive to get what you want, but in the end, can it be done?  Is it the right thing?  Especially since you don't understand the ramifications of what you really want?  Listen, I really don't know what's going on in that Sega building.  I don't know what they're thinking.  I'd sure as hell love to get a job there and see what's going on.  Until then, you can't be 100% sure.  For every slanderous comment made towards Sega, there's probably some poor employee who reads it but cannot respond (because of NDA's and whatnot).  And thus, negative ideas like "Sega hates their fans" continues to propagate.

But thinking like a game developer...that'll help you get closer to the truth.  So go read a book on game design or something.  Get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes.

 Goldman's office!

Think about it the circumstances that Sega is in now.  They got jacked up back in the Dreamcast days.  Lost a ton of money so they dropped out the console race forever.  Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki quit.  Toshihiro Nagoshi is an airhead.  Arcades, once one of Sega's strong points, are toast.  The game industry is being run into the ground by Call of Duty, Halo, and other grey-skied games.  So what's Sega to do???  Can they revive every single classic IP and become a front-runner in the game industry again?  No it's not as easy as you think.  But can they do something easier--such as port my favorite game to XBL?  Maybe, but EVERYONE wants their favorite game ported to XBL so you might have to bear with us. 

These are my three theories as what Sega is thinking:

1. They aren't listening to their fans and are completely content with barely getting by.  Possibly.  Sega's more of a publisher (see Bayonetta, Vanquish, The Conduit, etc.) than a developer nowadays.  They've left a lot of existing IP's out to dry.  And their inability to produce a quality Sonic title in the last 10+ years really questions their integrity as a game developer.  They may have adopted a bad work culture over the years.  Not every company works at top performance.  Sega may be massively dysfunctional as far as we know...

2. They ARE listening to their fans but are unable to cater to everyone.  I don't think any game company is as unfortunate as Sega when it comes to IP's.  They had the Dreamcast which died and left a lot of series uncomplete (particularly Shenmue).  So Sega can't really afford to make a new Shenmue, a new Jet Set Radio, a new Seaman, a new Daytona because they are financially/skillfully inept.  Remember, they lost a lot of money last quarter so it's gonna be tough.  They're still producing big-name titles like Sonic and Yakuza which are sure-bets in terms of profits (EDIT: Turns out Dimps is still making Sonic games so Sonic Team is still inept, how sad).  And they're also giving us a few ports from games like OutRun 2, Sega Rally, old-school Sonic, Virtua Fighter 5, Crazy Taxi, so they haven't completely forgotten...

3. Regardless of whether they're listening, they think they're making great games and that the problem is with YOU, not themselves.  Hey, they are giving you good Sonic and Yakuza games, why won't you play those?  And they got new IPs on the way, such as Rise of Nightmares (which has the potential to be the first "good" Kinect game even though it's not HotD), Binary Domain, Aliens, and Anarchy Reigns.  So you want a new Daytona or Shenmue, GET OVER IT.  Go dust off your old consoles or fire up the emulators and leave us alone...

So which is it?  I don't know--just something to think about.  But maybe our complaints are correct.  Maybe Sega deserves the blame.  Like I said, game companies are flawed and they do stupid things that human beings are often guilty of.  More coming soon...Part 2.

Going To School, This Is My Own Pep Talk

I know some don't want to read my life story so I'll probably tone it down in the future.

Well, I have landed in sunny Orlando, Florida.  Me and my dad drove all the way there Wednesday, spent the rest of the day buying crap for my apartment.  The apartment's a bit funky, but it's clean and a step up from my old dorm room.  Driving's not fun if you go straight for hours or are stuck in traffic.  Anyway, this place is certainly awkward, but I'll get the hang of it.  They have a Five Guys burger joint, check it out, it's awesome...

Went to FIEA on Thursday for Orientation (classes begin on Monday), didn't talk to many people (although I kept my head held high, need to look professional).  Accidentally spilled a little orange juice on myself (not in anyway that it looks like I urinated).  Oh, you know that state-of-the-art laptop I got?  I can't use it anywhere unless it's installed in a dock at the FIEA cubicles.



Well, that really stinks.  I don't need it anyway except for Model3 emulation...

So the programming track will be difficult.  Funny fact is that the Programmers make up the smallest demographic (among Producers and Artists) and that a few every semester drop out or transfer to other programs.  I'm not sure if the teacher tried to scare us because I've had this happen all the way since high school.  He said, "Don't get a part-time job, you don't have time."  Things may get really dicey quickly but I'm smart.  I have some confidence.  But if you drop below a 3.0 GPA, you are removed from the school...that is the really scary part.  Considering the vagueness of the grading scale, the instructors may err in my favor if I work hard (I hope).  But considering I've always set my goals on 4.0 GPA, I'm at least prepped for that.

It's weird because I've said many times, "Oh this is gonna be hard, prepare to work a lot," and then I get there and I'm surprised that they repeat the same thing, rofl.  Anyway, I don't have much to do at home so I'm going to spend every day at that FIEA building working or hanging out.  That's my lifeline.  I don't have much else to do.

Now, I may fall into depression or that nonsense.  Not really talkative IRL and don't have many friends.  Sit there in my apartment like a scared Tom Hanks from Big (the movie).  Sorry, I am very quiet in real life and think I have Asperger's...  But you know what I ought to do?  This is so important I have to bold this section:

Go to that desk/cubicle.  Tape pictures of Daytona USA 2 right there on the wall.  Also pictures of Sega, AM2, Yu Suzuki, Makoto Osaki, and drunk Toshihiro Nagoshi.  Stare at those G-Damn pictures every single moment of every single day.  Occasionally wear my Sonic the Hedgehog hat to work as well.  Use it as fuel to work even harder than before.  Get DETERMINED/PISSED that we Sega fans have had to put up with so much crap.  Do your part and be a man.  I CANNOT sit on my ass anymore as time keeps on slipping into the future and another year passes without another Sega racer as the world goes to hell.  Dammit, do it for the peace of mind you will reap at the end knowing that whatever happens, when I go to meet with the Lord, I can at least say, "I tried."

Yes, that's right Nagoshi-san.  If you're not making another Daytona game, then I WILL.

Plus not to mention if I get through school, get rich, and make good video games, think of the opportunities I'll have...doing fun things like I've never done before.  Also like Tom Hanks in Big, I can make my own toys and play the big piano in FAO Schwarz!!!  Hopefully driving real race cars too--that would be boss.

JUST WIN BABY!!!  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND YOU'LL BE NUMBER ONE!!!

For the record, if anyone from FIEA is reading this, please don't think I'm crazy. I just have my eyes on the prize, what about you?

Movin Out To Florida

In five hours, I'm getting in the car and heading to Florida for several months.  Before tonight, I took a trip to the mall to hang out, play Crazy Taxi, eat a pretzel, and just sit there.  What, am I getting into this sentimentality crap again?  Wasn't it a month ago that I moped about leaving my old house?  Well, I'm more annoyed about this 10-hour trip and all the stuff I couldn't find...moreso than I am sad about leaving.  When I get there in one piece, I'll feel much better.

Look, this whole game industry dream isn't just for me...it's for all of us.  The guy who didn't get his new Daytona, Shenmue, whatever.  The guy who asked, "What's wrong with the game industry?"  Cause if there's one thing I can at least do, then it's at least give the people a reason to smile...

Anyway, be safe cause the news hasn't been good lately.  You must know three things: where you've been, where you're going, and why you're here.  Most people don't know any of these and that leads to confusion.  That's all I have to say so think about it.

Goodbye home!  Onto actually making those games.  Sadly, I do not know how much I'll be able to post following this.  I may be completely swamped with work...who knows.  Just try to have fun I guess.  Look to the finish line...making great video games.

This is my song:



Oh yeah, today, I was playing Dr. Mario in my Firefox browser...I got to Level 17 on Medium speed (starting from Level 1).  OMG try to beat my high score!!!!!  Click here to play for free.  EDIT: That site's down, just play an emulator--may I suggest FCEUltra?

I'm also gonna add something cool to my blog soon, check it out...

Mega Props/Shoutouts To Everyone

Hey! It's our good Sega friends out there!  Since it's nearing my one-year blogspot anniversary and I'm in a good mood right now so let's give credit where credit's due.  Crap, at the time I posted this, I realized John Marine did something identical to this (I was oblivious to it at the moment, I didn't intend to copy) but this isn't just about blogs, it's more than that so it's not 100% the same.

* Check this blog I recently discovered: Shenmue Stare.  Lots of haikus about Shenmue 3 and Yu Suzuki ...he's been around for a long time so don't give up the fight, we're with you buddy.

* Also we have John Marine's blog where he occasionally talks about racing games, like this Daytona 2 post where he gives me a shout-out so I give you a shout-out back, man.

* My friend "Model3" (not the arcade board, an actual Internet user) who has a blog and has been talking about Sega racers for years...

* Rjay's always been around doing investigative reporting for years now and he's smoking these Sega racing games, check this out:


* The rest of the crew over at the OutRun Online Arcade GFAQs message board who have been around for ages and love Sega like I do...

* The guys over at Rolling Start!!! who post news about Sega racers (as well as other good racing games too).

* And other fan sites like SEGAbits who post tons of Sega-related news.

* The late great UK Resistance for its caustic humor and good vibes.  My favorite posts from them.

* Also I gotta mention Dave's, Alex's, and Blog Squirrel's blogs where they show enthusiasm for Sega racers too.

* And the infamous Bart Trzynadlowski for his selfless labor on that up-and-coming model3 emulator!

* And all the guys who contributed Daytona 2 videos to my YouTube playlist!

* Oh, and the D-Univ Universe, a fan project in which they attempt to recreate every Daytona car (in Nascar Racing 2003) for great justice so props to those guys working hard over there.

* Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) in Orlando, FL which will be my launching pad into Sega greatness!!!

* Toshihiro Nagoshi and all those silly racing games like Burnout & Fast 'n Furious which give me something to point and laugh at in my spare time!

* The guy in the fursuit who was seen playing Daytona USA 2, rofl.

* And this kid who got stuck in the crane machine...one that was next to a Daytona USA cabinet so more Sega racing exposure which is always good!


Also would like to thank Sega for making the games we like so much, duh.  ESPECIALLY Makoto Osaki, the behind-the-scenes man at Sega who didn't get enough credit...

And last but not least, thanks to readers like you.  Hope I didn't forget anybody, I apologize if I did.