The Canucks are going out of their way to discourage playoff rioting, by encouraging civic pride. Hopefully it works. Hopefully they get far enough in the Stanley Cup Finals to test the program's effectiveness.
— Arsene Wenger on Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to QPR
For context and background Gamasutra has the story.
I don't really have much that I want to say about the recent layoffs at Relic. As of two weeks ago it was the best job I've ever had, and both the studio and THQ have always treated me really well. The fact that everyone I worked with there were such great people, and many of them are good friends, makes the news that thirty-nine of them were laid off yesterday that much harder to take. 300 people were laid off the same day from my previous (to Relic) company Rogers and I didn't feel a thing at hearing the news.
I think there's probably two things that would be appropriate for me to say, the first being that I hope that everyone who was laid off finds work. The gaming industry has been pretty great about offering up job opportunities to those let go, and hopefully that goes a long way to helping great people find work. I also am thinking of those people left at Relic where I imagine this is even more upsetting than it is from the outside.
The other thing I can say is that based on who I know was let go, and I don't know who all has left, it is likely that I would have been made redundant on Thursday as well. While I was worried that I was leaving a "stable" job for the uncertainty of an eight month contract at EA SPORTS, I now look quite clever. Leaving Relic was a hard decision to make, had I known then what I know now it would have been easier.
One of the first projects I've been able to work on since joining EA SPORTS is the #NHL13Cover campaign. As with Madden in previous years, we're giving hockey and video game fans the chance to vote for what NHL star they want on the cover of this year's edition of NHL. A number of the stars took to Twitter to campaign for themselves, but Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller took it a step further with this video.
Go to NHL.com/CoverVote to vote for which star you think should be on the cover of our game this year. If you're a Twitter user check out the hashtag #NHL13Cover to watch people debating who should get the chance to be the star of NHL 13. In just under 24 hours we've had over 4.3 million votes cast, which is phenomenal.
Newsarama talks with Joe Quesada and Jeff Loeb about the upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.
It's hard not to be excited about tomorrow. In the morning I start my first day at EA Canada's Burnaby office. If you live in British Columbia and want to work in the video game industry EA's always going to be on your shortlist of places to work at. They're the biggest industry employer in the Lower Mainland and have the most high profile games. My parents know what EA is, whereas Relic is a studio for the dedicated PC gamer. Relic has rightfully gained tremendous respect within the games industry, and from gamers, but the average person hasn't heard of it. I'd be hard pressed to find someone in Vancouver who is not familiar with EA, even if all they know is the they make the hockey video game.
Continue reading →For the past week I've been telling people about how Relic has been the best job that I've ever had. I've never quit a job that I've liked, and that I've felt that I could go further in. Sure I loved working at the Paramount Theatre in Kelowna when I was in high school and college, but the fact was that earning minimum wage was not something I could do for the rest of my life. Relic though there were options, I wasn't earning minimum wage and when I told them I was leaving they offered me more money.
I'm risk adverse and so leaving a comfortable job that I know I love is hard. I assume that what comes next is going to be fantastic and that I'll love it as much or more as Relic, but the future is never guaranteed and always unknown. Well excepting the Mayans, of course.
I've met some great people who I hope will stay in my life, and I've finally felt like I've gotten some traction on a career path that I'd like to keep walking down for awhile. Before Relic I was working to earn money, now I'm working because I love what I'm doing. I think that might be a rare thing, and it's because of Relic that I get to do it.
Thank you to everyone at Relic and our publisher THQ for two great years.
My flickr stats had a huge unexplained spike yesterday, leaping up to over 9,000 views. Thing is none of my photos have been viewed more than 7 times for the day and the only time previously that I've seen similiar spikes was when I was linked to from the Games Workshop blog.
Any other Flickr users see a sudden and unexplained spike yesterday?
Lumix GF2A few weeks ago I wrote an article on the mirrorless camera trend for The Georgia Straight. I tried a few out, particularly the Sony NEX which we use at Relic since the previous studio camera was stolen while on assignment.
The idea of a compact camera with interchangeable lenses and better image quality than a traditional point-and-shoot appealed to me and for awhile I was seriously considering getting the Nikon V1. However I couldn't justify the price to myself given that I already have a serviceable Canon Rebel and a Canon S90 from a few years ago.
The Nikon is on the upper end of the price scale for these sorts of cameras so it wasn't a surprise that I was able to find cheaper alternatives. What was a surprise was that after collecting Air Miles sporadically for nearly a decade I suddenly had enough to pick up what reviews say is a pretty decent mirrorless camera, the Panasonic Lumix GF2. It's not the latest in the line, but it seemed to check all the boxes of what I was looking for; cheap, compact, wide selection of lenses and ability to add a view finder.
I've only played around with it a bit, but I plan on using it on my upcoming vactation. Below are a few of the photographs I've taken with it.
