So ya first post in a long while. So here it goes.
Europe was amazing. It would take a whole other post to get into that but lets leave it at that.
I'm currently at George Brown College here in Toronto for their post grad game design program, which is what takes up most of my time. Like all of it. Its fun, but gahhh.
We're working on numerous game projects all at the same time with classes. There's game theory, game psychology, game storytelling, game documentation, game management, level design and thesis class. So that's a lot on top of making a big video game with other students. I'm tired. sleep eventually.
This is all I guess leading to my eventually mental breakdown or something of the sort. All this is why I am unable to make it anywhere for a Halloween party this year. Well this and Digifest. Digifest is a digital festival held in Toronto every year and these events have to happen on the weekend of Halloween. So busy.
Ya, I'm gonna start posting more often in here. Keep my sanity in check.
So, it's been a bit. I had a schedule worked out when I was going to post but... I missed it. Not that anyone actually reads this thing but it was more for me. NEW SCHEDULE!! Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! OK, I'm sticking to it!!
So the way things are looking I'm going to be heading to the George Brown Game Design Program. I'm excited. It's going to be alot of work but I'll manage. I blame no one giving me a job! :( Oh well. So that starts in September. That's right, I'm going to be studying video games, again, so ya. Not much else to say about that.
I also just found out that the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta starts tomorrow and since I bought Infamous 2 I get to play!! I'm excited. Uncharted 2 was probably my favourite game so far on the PS3 and I can't wait for this. Also Beyond Good and Evil HD finally has a release date for the PS3!! Bought damn time! I'm sure to be getting it. I missed it on the PS2 so I really want to try it out.
And the final and biggest piece of news is that I'm planning to travel around Europe sometime late July to August. Not exactly the details but I'll be sure to say it here when I find out. I'll probably miss alot of events and birthdays and I'm sorry, but going to the George Brown course will make my next summer incredibly busy to it's a now or never sort of thing.
So it took me two days after the release to finish it but I did, and here's my review if you guys really wanted to know my opinion.
Alice: Madness Returns is the sequel to the 2000 game American McGee's Alice. While American McGee's Alice was a PC game the sequel is on Xbox, PS3 and PC. This series takes the familiar children's story by Lewis Carroll and twist it into a dark depiction of Alice (the protagonist mind), but more on that in a bit.
American McGee's Alice Screen Shot
I kinda have a slight history with this game. Nothing too special but I remember when I was 10 and walking around a computer store and seeing it on the shelf. I dunno, it just seemed really interesting. I played American McGee's Alice a few months ago to get ready for the sequel. The story in the first game follows Alice as she travels around a destroyed wonderland trying to free it from the tyranny of the Queen of Hearts. See Alice's family was killed in a fire and only she made it out and as the game is about Alice trying to get offer her survivors guilt for not helping her family out. Once she destroys the queen of hearts, the embodiment of her guilt she is set free from the asylum she was kept at.
Alice: Madness Returns
In Madness Returns Alice is older and has a psychiatrist that trying to help her repress her memories of the night her parents and sister died. Instead Alice goes back to wonderland to repair her shattered mind once again and find the truth about what caused the fire. The game switches between the real world and Wonderland but as the game progresses the two start to meld together it it's hard to find out what is real and what isn't. For those that are interested in the story it does a good job, characters don't have depth but are interesting non the less, and it's nice to finally find the truth out about the fire in the first game. This game is definitely made for fans of the first game, and if you haven't played the first game then you can download it if you buy Madness Returns.
Alice: Madness Returns has an amazing atmosphere. Seeing all the sights and characters changed into grotesque versions of themselves is a real treat. The places are imaginative and creative, and you can tell that the creative team had a lot of fun coming up with these concepts. Everything is creepy and gross, which is just the way it needs to be. Unfortunately that's about the only thing it does right.
First of the textures are horrendous. Just brutal in many places. I'm not one to complain about how things look in a game as long as it's fun to play but these were just bad. Seams everywhere, character's were kinda blocky, and Alices' hair just was weird. The gameplay was reminiscent of the old school platformers while fun, was repetitive and sometimes annoying. This is a game that should have come out in the first year of the Xbox 360s life, not in 2011. Even I'm sorry to say it but I was expecting more. The game has some replay value if you want to get all the collectibles which include memories, bottles (I still have no idea why I was collecting them) and pig snouts and there is the Nightmare difficulty but all in all once it's done, it's done.
I know that last paragraph made it seem like I hated Alice: Madness Returns but I didn't. It was kinda fun as long as you got yourself into the mindset of the game, and could ignore the technical and visual glitches. I only recommend it if you are interested in the atmosphere, cause that's its main selling point.
So I'm just going to go over my day so far cause I have nothing else to do.
Woke up, caught up on some news and such and then headed out to do stuff.
I could end it there but then the title wouldn't mean anything...
Walked to staples where I applied to get a job. My moms been bugging me to get even a part time job while I'm looking for a career so I went and tried to do that. Then went to a convenience store and got myself a cherry coke, because my friend Greg said something about cherry coke on facebook and I had a craving.
PS: Dr Pepper is better. PPS: Ya I know PS is supposed to be at the end of this whole thing but screw it. Then walked all the way to the library to return a book and went to the mall next door.
There I went to EB games and got myself Alice: Madness Returns for PS3. I liked the story and look of the original (but it was so fucking tough; had to put on g-d mode for most of it) so now I'm going to play the sequel. I finished Infamous 2 (both good and evil endings) yesterday so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Probably going to have to lend it to my brother before I can trade it in. While I was at EB I pre-ordered Batman Arkham City and Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception. I cannot wait for these games. GAH!
After I walked home... and now I'm sitting here... on my computer... more...'s.
So that was my day. Hope you enjoyed it. It seems like I'm going to go see Super 8 tonight with some friends so here's hoping it's good.
Job search is... well I applied to Staples. That's something isn't it?
OK, so, yes, um... I graduated a few days ago. Yes, go me. I am a winner. The ceremony was alright, only like 2 and a half hours and they went through the graduates pretty quickly. I've got my piece of paper that has my name on it and everything now so that was 4 years well spent. I was kinda falling asleep during the speeches though because 1; I had like no sleep the night before and 2; there was this speech about how Mother Theresa and Lady Gaga were similar and how we should be like them.
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WUT?
I don't get it. It was a pretty long speech to. So that happened. My dad put the pictures on his flicker account instead of facebook so none of my friends could see them but you can check them out here.
This was the worst week to have my convocation on too. Wanna know why? This week is E3 aka the Electronic Entertainment Expo aka the biggest video game news week of the year. Of course spending all that time getting to St Kitts and going to the ceremony made me miss all the big press conferences so I had to catch up later. I am interested in much of the news and trailers like the new Uncharted 3 and Assassins Creed Revelations trailers, and the WiiU reveal but I think that should be another blog post altogether when E3 is finished.
WiiU
Also, I picked up Infamous 2 after graduating. It's been pretty fun so far but a full review once I finish it (which will only be like a day or so). That's it for now. BLAH, ok, so tired.
Um, no job still but I might be doing so odd jobs for my dads office this weekend which means money. I need money, and a job, really really need a job.
So tomorrow is my graduation ceremony. I get to wake up really early, stand around for a while, sit of a while, then get a piece of paper showing I didn't do anything of real significance over the last 4 years. Oh, also paid a lot of money. I'm getting a Honours BA in Interactive Arts and Sciences with a Concentration in Computer Game Development. What does all that mean? Not much. I can make video games. So if you need someone to help you make a video game I'm your man. I just don't want to wake up early tomorrow. I mean if this thing was at say, 1pm, I would totally be up for it. Maybe even excited; but no, it's at like 9am. Being unemployed makes my usual wake up hours 12-1 in the afternoon. Gahhh. Oh well. Next post will be about the post grad ceremony, aka lunch with the rents.
Stupid sun, making the outdoors both beautiful/almost unbearable!
It's reaching very high temperatures here (where I live). I think I'm complaining but I haven't been outside yet today... I'll post an update when I do. I was outside yesterday and that was pretty hot. I wonder if this is caused by global warming? I've had that much interest in the subject. Not that I thought it was fake or not, but just because it wasn't something that really caught my interest. I'm sure there are plenty of very smart people working on it right now... I hope.
No job searchingnessdone today. Instead I worked on a project I'm doing for someone and not getting paid. Yay!!! So that was that.
I just love it; lost track of how mny times I have reread it. I've really got nothing else to say right now. Its a beautiful day outside and I am going to go sit outside and the read the book. It will be nice.
Also working on getting a new phone/number for the job search. Help? Also no blackberries.
Now I also know that the previous films are being shown every week till the last one's released. I'm thinking of re-re-re-re-re-rereading the books. I dunno, this is gonna be a short one.
And onto the job hunting. Well... not much really. Still waiting to hear back from people. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I was having a discussion with myself today (did I say myself I meant the wall) about which came first, the crazy hair or having a genius brain. I mean my hair's getting kinda crazy at the moment so I was wondering if my IQ would go up. Just some food for thought. I think there should be a study to find the answer. I mean, it's definitely more interesting than finding out what came first, the chicken or the egg (it was the egg).
I have no idea why you're reading this but welcome anyway to this very stupid relaunch of my blog! I realized I have to much free time, which I spend on the internet so I decided to restart my old blog which I started a few years ago. Here I will be just rambling. Lots and lots of rambling. So that was your warning, be prepared.
I'll also be talking about my Current Job Search!!!!! Yay!! That is the current ongoing project of this blog. As I talk about random stuff that comes to mind in each post I will also add a little something about my need for a job. Lets hope doing this will keep me on track and hey, if I'm lucky I might even accomplish something.
Anyway, that's that for now. Till whenever I get back to this, DFTBA
I am passionate game designer with a broad range of skills and experiences. I have worked on a variety of game projects and am always looking to increase my skills and professional experience. I have created game design documentation and have organized and managed teams to produce quality and thought provoking games.
You Can see some of my work on my website http://corysherman.com/
