Category Archives: Spicy Horse

Gamasutra Talks to Rick Sanchez

The Cow Grinder

Mmmm… burgers…

Gamasutra has a great line in their description of Grimm, and it’s one I wish I’d written myself (it’s so cute):

“… In between those tellings is an unexpectedly gameplay-driven experience that is reminiscent of Katamari Damacy in its dynamic – except, instead of rolling a ball around, you are (apparently) peeing on things and filling the world with filth. In an adorable sort of way.”

That’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it? As warped and twisted and disturbing as we’re getting with each story, it’s all in “an adorable sort of way”. I’m not sure if that’s more or less disturbing…

New Spicy Horse Website

Spicy Horse has a new website! You can check it out here: www.spicyhorse.com

The site was built by a company in Shanghai called Mediaman. It took us almost a year to search through local web development houses before finding their team. During that time several companies built proposals and test sites – the results were always poor. But after the first meeting and delivery of proposal materials from Mediaman we knew we’d found the right people to build our site. Everything they delivered was professional, clear, and beautifully constructed. The end result is something we’re really happy with. If you’re looking for talented, professional web developers, definitely consider these guys: Mediaman

Site content is being updated and maintained by our tireless community manager, Lilith. Over the coming months she’ll be prepping the Spicy Horse site and the new Grimm site for the launch of the first Grimm episodes. If you have any comments or suggestions for her you can send them to her via the comments section on this blog, or through the Spicy Horse site Contact Page.

Games For Windows – Podcast

Games for Windows is hosting an audio interview they did with me during GDC:

Welcome to GFW Radio, the podcast homepage for Games for Windows: The Official Magazine. Here, through the glorious magic of the Internet, you can listen to the GFW editors and occasional guests pontificate and yammer about all sorts of PC game related issues. Plus they might even break down on-air, adding an element of tension to the whole affair. 

The Jeff, Shawn and the guys were kind enough to have me on so we could talk about things like Bad Day LA (what went wrong?!), doing business in China, Grimm, and my weird name. All in all, a really good “brodio”. You can find the podcast here.  

Spicy Shirt

Chinese New Year is fast approaching. At the end of this month Spicy Horse will have it’s annual Chinese New Year company dinner. In China this is a time for eating, drinking, celebrating, and the giving of “Red Envelopes”. These envelopes are called “Hong Bao” symbolize blessings and good fortune. Red is itself a color of luck and fortune. With that in mind, we’ve created some cool Spicy Horse t-shirts:

Spicy Shirt

Seems I might be wearing these a lot next year. The coming year is “The Year of the Rat” – which is my year (also my mother’s year!). During your year you’re supposed to wear an article of red clothing every day to bring luck. Maybe I can get some Spicy Horse underwear made too… Speaking of rats… some “rat” concept artwork from Grimm:

Rat Hole

People are often curious about where the name “Spicy Horse” came from. As it turns out, the name makes more sense in Chinese than it does in English. The Chinese name is “Ma La Ma” – the first part of which “ma la” is a type of Chinese spice. The Chinese started cooking with ma la because it allowed them to eat spicier foods. Why? Because it acts like a topical anesthetic – numbing your mouth so you don’t feel the pain! When people ask me why I moved to China, I always tell them, “For the spicy food”. “Pass the hot sauce” was one of the first things I learned how to say in Chinese.

The second “ma” means “horse” – which is also part of my Chinese name “Ma Ji” (Lucky Horse). So we have “Ma La Ma”. When people see our sign/logo in China they always assume we’re a hot pot restaurant that actually serves horse meat. Speaking of… that sounds good for lunch.

And now you know!

Rocking Horses

It’s official. We love Rock Band. Despite it not being available in Shanghai, EA’s insistence on region locking their games, and other obstacles – we managed to get our hands on a setup. To say we’re happy would be an understatement. We just *really* hope the drums don’t break too fast.

Here you see (left to right) Ken, Marwin, Matt (from Vykarian), and Matt during the first Spicy Jam Session. Somehow our first band ended up being named “Wang Dong”. We don’t even know what that means.

Rocking Horses

Grimm on GameSpot UK

Emma Boyes over at GameSpot UK has put together a nice interview piece where we talk about Grimm, digital distribution, and life in Shanghai. From the article:

In 2006, McGee moved lock, stock, and barrel to Hong Kong and then on to Shanghai, where he set up his development studio Spicy Horse. From there, he and his team have been working on Grimm, a retelling of some of the best-known children’s fairy tales. Action adventure Grimm will be coming in 24 episodes, initially released for the PC on the GameTap digital distribution service and follow an episodic, TV-style format, complete with cliffhangers to keep gamers downloading. Fairy tales getting the McGee treatment will include Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Snow White. The first episode is due in spring 2008.

To read the full article and see a bit of exclusive Grimm art, head over to GameSpot UK.