Latest Post

Hiring – Three for Art

Alice in the Swimming Pond Spicy Horse internal headcount broke the 50 mark a few weeks back. As we approach 60 we’re looking for three very special people to fill three very special roles at the studio. These openings are at our Shanghai-based studio – so being hired means living/working in China. Read on if [...]

Featured Post

Asides

• This is Red Rocket's latest iPhone game, "Little Runner". It contains fun gameplay, awesome music, and great presentation style. Check it out HERE. #
• I've never thought to read Roger Ebert for anything more than movie reviews, but this recently posted article on his blog really caught my attention. In it he takes an intellectual sledgehammer to Bill O'Reilly in a way that deserves attention. From the article: Bill O'Reilly has been brought low by the same process that afflicted Jerry Springer. Once respected journalists, they sold their souls for higher ratings, and follow their siren song. Springer is honest about it: "I'm going to Hell for what I do, and I know it," he's likes to say. O'Reilly insists he is dealing only with the truth. When his guests disagree with him, he shouts at them, calls them liars, talks over them, and behaves like a schoolyard bully. What really resonates with me is the concept that O'Reilly-style bullying begets more bad behavior wherever it's witnessed or heard. Guys like this make it OK for others to subscribe to the "might is right" way of being. In the process everyone loses something - and for Americans, it seems we've truly lost sight of rational debate. Read the full post HERE. #
• Here in China we're being slowly disconnected from the outside world. Flickr, Twitter, multiple blog sites, and other news/social networks are being disconnected from our "feed". The outside world is fading into the distance. Why? Because the anniversary of this: The Tiananmen Square Protests I presume they'll re-connect everything after the "danger" of social outcry has passed. Who knows? In the meantime, I'm heading off to Thailand for a week - it's been quite a while since I had a decent vacation. Please, don't burn anything down while I'm gone. In the event you're curious about where I stand on this whole Tiananmen thing, read THIS. Nicely sums up my sentiments. #
• You can now follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/americanmcgee I'll be sending updates on Alice 2 development and general happenings at Spicy Horse and in Shanghai. #
• US-China Today has an interesting article discussing online gaming in China. Seems I contributed some quotes to the piece, along with some Alice sequel artwork. While we're making the new Alice in China, it's not targeting at the China game market - nor is it in any way online. But hey, we're here, we're making games, and I guess we get to say something about Chinese gamers and their gaming habits. From the article: As in other East Asian nations, Dibbell explains that gaming culture has penetrated mainstream Chinese culture in a way still unseen in the U.S. “While in Shanghai, I viewed a television commercial in a taxi cab for Cola-Coca with a World of Warcraft tie-in where as this would not happen in the West,” Dibbell said. “The online gaming phenomenon is clearly more integrated in Chinese daily life.” #