Last night was another Gamer’s Nite Groove. Almost didn’t go since I have so much stuff on my plate, but since it was rather close by (at some studio space on 42nd St) I figured it couldn’t hurt to stop, if only for just a few minutes.
Another reason why I wasn’t dying to go was the simple fact that Spy Fiction was the featured game (which makes the last one, Sudeki, look almost good by comparison). There were other titles on-hand, but nothing that I was dying to try out (I already have Astro Boy GBA, I know Astro Boy PS2 sucks, and my Metroid Prime 2 demo should be arriving any day now). But guess what ended up being the best one? Rez. Apparently it was such a hit last time that GNG was asked to bring it again. Too bad the sound was off in favor of the house music.
But the real reason to go is to socialize; got to chat with the games coordinator for GNG and pick his brains regarding upcoming events, from those in the works to some possibilities (I did more pimping for the indie game show that I’m more or less unofficially helping to promote). There was also talk about the “E3 of the East Coast”, GameOnNY, and if it was going to be for a real or not. And as I’ve always said, no matter how lame it’s going to be (and trust me, it’s going to be supremely lame, it’s still important that support is shown if there’s going to be any hopes for something better to stroll into town).
Saw the Game Boy DJs, though we didn’t speak much. But I did chat quite a bit with a guy I used to go to school with who’s now getting his feet wet in the gaming industry and whom I’ve run into at a couple of IGDA events. He had with him someone who used to work for Retro Studio and Raven Software, so we got to swap “should have been an awesome game if not for inept management” stories. Plus we talked about, among other stuff, the recent Wong vs Daigo Third Strike match, and even a bit about Rez (both are major fans as well, so of course, we’re all looking forward to Unity).
I ended up staying far longer than I should have. There was still a ton of things to do last night once I got home, and I didn’t even attempt at all-nighter, so I just went straight to bed.
This week has been total hell. Ever since I got home from my brief “vacation”, I’ve been struggling to keep afloat. It’s been a heavy combination of my daily duties at SVA (since school starts in less than two weeks, the time to slack off is officially over), as well as scoping out game design instructors for the department (I’m not officially the only teacher in the whole department, maybe even the whole school, that’s teaching the subject), reviewing games for GMR (which includes Mega Man Zero 3, which despite being easier than it’s predecessors, is still hard as hell), getting started on my new duties with the Internet Archive by checking out countless game related vids, trying to finish up a proposal for a book I might be writing soon (more on that later), and still trying to have a semblance of a social life. I guess all this is why I’ve been so exhausted the past few days.
And even though the Republican National Convention doesn’t start for a few more day, the trains are already fucked up. But I’ll save that for my obligatory political rant. Plus I don’t have the time; I still have to finish up on those reviews (hell I didn’t even mean to write this much).
