Taking it slower at GDC... fighting a cold and balancing sleep and parties. :) Speaking on GameSpy panel, 130p in South 300 on open data! [markdeloura]
I took a few short videos on my Sony DSC-N1 while in Abu Dhabi… I’m always fascinated with trying to capture the “feel” of a place, and audio does a lot for me in that regard. Here’s a short video of the sunset prayer from the mosque in Abu Dhabi.
I promised some more pics of Abu Dhabi, some images that highlight the difference between their culture and the west (or at least the U.S.) Here you go!
First, a beautiful view of the mosque at dawn.
Now, how bout those falcons! No, really, we’re walking around in the convention center, and we suddenly come across about 25 falcons just hanging out.
Here is our new friend Ramin Lebastchi with a very mellow falcon on his arm.
Around the corner from the falcons, there were some women hand-weaving a very colorful rug…
And don’t forget the camel auction!
No, seriously, it was a camel auction. All the camels were sold in pairs, with sets seeming to go for between 50,000 and 150,000 dirhams (around $14000 to $41000 USD). Wow!
Sorry for not posting a thorough entry about the recent trip to Abu Dhabi – I am still slamming away on a deadline today (Wednesday). Will have more time for posting after today is over, for sure. But I thought I’d post up some quick images.
After my trip to Dubai a few years ago, I remember telling many people that the middle east is a lot more similar to the west than it is dissimilar. I think this is largely true about people in general… unfortunately for us in the US right now it is particularly easy to think of the middle east as the “other”, given that our only relationship to it is seeing it in war footage on the TV screen. So my first set of shots here will give you a feeling for how the area is similar. Tomorrow I’ll post up images that show how it is dissimilar.
The Abu Dhabi Marina Mall:
The Abu Dhabi Marina Mall’s Starbucks and Ikea!
The Emirates Palace Hotel:
The convention center:
A late-night concert on Corniche Beach:
I just got to the hotel in Abu Dhabi, after about 30 hours of travel, from Dallas to Frankfurt to Bahrain to Abu Dhabi. The flights were remarkably easy and comfortable – just tiring. I couldn’t really get any shut-eye in on the plane, despite the fantastic robo-seats in Lufthansa business class.
I’ve come to Abu Dhabi to speak on a panel at the conference “The Circle”, a pretty incredible conference focusing on films from the region, film financing, and growing the industry here. We’re going to talk about videogames for interactive storytelling, the game industry in the region (which seems fairly small), and how to use game engine tools for parts of film production. The attendee list here is amazing.
Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I arrived, I’m sure I’ll post more later. The above shot is the beautiful view from my deck at the Shangri-La Hotel.
As I grow older I get more and more interested in what people like me would have geeked out about in their era: whether it be blacksmithing, horse carriages, cars, planes, or whatever. This video was fun to watch this morning, it is a collection of interesting wacky inventions from the 1930’s. Check it out.
Last night I went to one of San Francisco’s “Postmortem” events, run by Charlie Cleveland of Unknown Worlds. We have local IGDA-San Francisco events about every three months, but there are Postmortem events every month at the Thirsty Bear.
The events are gatherings of local developers, from old veterans to new developers to people who want to break into the industry. We hang out, drink a bit, and talk about the industry. They are great fun. I really enjoyed last night’s meeting, catching up with a few old friends and meeting some new ones. I hope we’ll see YOU at the next one!
I came into the office this morning late and cranky… I’m thinking about my next career move, brain spinning in a million different directions at once, and taking some deep breaths to encourage focus. Not really seeing where I’m going as I walk down the street, but I know there’s a coffee and cookie at Specialty’s with my name on them. And that will motivate me toward the office. It’s that kind of day, you know what I mean?
When I get to the office, Charles is back at the building’s front desk. He is a true southern gentleman and one of the reasons I really looked forward to getting an office in this building. But he hasn’t been here since I moved in (September 1), and I thought he had left.
I ask Charles if he is okay, if everything is alright, and his answer is “no, not really”… this is the kind of statement people generally laugh off, they would reply “oh I hope your day improves”, and then turn toward the elevator to head to their own set of problems. But I’ve never been good at being one of those kind of people. So I walked over to chat with Charles.
It turns out he’s been in Texas the past month, working with the Red Cross, helping out victims of Hurricane Ike. Why is he not okay? His body-clock is off, his brain is distracted, he’s thinking about the little girl who gave him a crayon-drawn thank you card. Charles may be sitting in the lobby at 55 New Montgomery, but his mind is still in Texas with all the people who suffered, and who he did his best to help.
That kind of caring self-sacrifice always stops my heart – and pulls me out of myself. It’s easy to lose sight of life’s big picture when we’re caught up in our own world of problems. Fortunately the world sometimes decides to intervene in ways we don’t expect.
I just read that Esquire magazine’s 75th Anniversary issue will have an E-Ink cover that should animate for several months. Here is a video of what the cover will look like:
Pretty amazing stuff! I can’t wait until all magazine’s ship with E-Ink. Oh wait… maybe I can. Can you imagine an entire newsstand filled with flashing, animating magazine covers? GAH! Maybe we should push for something more like the Kindle as the ideal solution.
Anyway, this is pretty cool tech.
Recently I was on a few panels at PAX, and the good folks of X-Play took a moment to interview us after the panel on whether casual games are killing off hardcore games. They used a few of my caffeinated quotes – you can catch the episode on the “PAX 2008 Day 3″ episode, or just watch it here:
All the camels were sold in pairs, with sets seeming to go for between 50,000 and 150,000 dirhams (around $14000 to $41000 USD). Wow!
So my first set of shots here will give you a feeling for how the area is similar. Tomorrow I’ll post up images that show how it is dissimilar. 
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