This week saw the announcement of a cool new video game company in Shanghai. One that happens to be run by my good friend and part-time mentor/psychologist Jung Suh. From the announcement: “Red Rocket Games has been officially cleared for takeoff. The company was founded in late 2005 by Jung Suh and Scott Yu and today Red Rocket is finally ready to announce its launch. The developer is headquartered in Shanghai and has offices in Bellevue, WA. Red Rocket will focus on smaller casual type games for the PC, handhelds, and iPhone.” You can read the full release here.
Category Archives: Asides
The O to the I
For some time now I’ve been fascinated by the idea that we might one day “jack in” and interface directly with the content on our computers. I feel strongly that by creating alternate realities (and replacing our work day commutes and material item purchases with digital equivalents) we might actually save the world. I think game makers are,without really thinking about it, laying huge amounts of the foundation that will make virtual reality a real-world reality. So when I read “scientists extract images directly from brain” I got really excited. We already have the input – ways of pumping digital info directly into the brain. With this, we can have output. And we’re on our way to a truly interactive VR experience. Cool stuff.
Birthday Moon of Doom
Fullest moon in 15 years. And 15 years since DOOM was released. And my birthday today. Weird.
Doom turns 15
I can measure how long I’ve been in the industry by the age of DOOM. It was just before the game was released that I was invited to id Software to help in testing the near-final product. And just as DOOM was released that Carmack invited me to join full-time as a tech support guy. From there myself and Shawn Green pushed ourselves to carve out more interesting niches within the company – so that by the release of DOOM II my title had changed from ‘tester’ to ‘level designer’ and I’d actually managed to contribute a hefty amount of the game’s total level content. Fun times! Destructiod is running a typically bitter commemoration: The Dicks of DOOM
First Flights, China Style
First flights over Fuyang, China
Yesterday, after several weeks of theory and ground handling practice, I took my first paragliding flights. Soaring over the farmlands of Fuyang, China was beautiful and thrilling. In total I had 5 flights in 1 day. Flying and landing I handled pretty well. Takeoffs still need practice – going in the bushes is no fun! Check out some video or pictures. I’ll post more from future flights.
Another Tallest
I had to mention this, simply because the buildings here are getting so TALL. Shanghai to build ANOTHER mega-skyscraper: “Three months after opening the world’s second-tallest skyscraper, Shanghai is about to start construction of an even taller building – in the face of an economic slowdown and falling property prices.” Follow the link to check out the picture and see what I mean.