TFU is the Fastest-Selling Star Wars Game Ever
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has become the fastest-selling Star Wars game of all time, according to a release from LucasArts, with the title selling 1.5 million copies globally across six platforms in the first five days of sale.
Click the picture for the rest of the article at Gamasutra.com
The Phoenix
Their website only has the image below, but it seems Interplay is about to rise from the ashes. Here's hoping they get their act together soon enough to make a totally kick-ass, next-gen uh, current-gen version of Descent!
Check it out for yourself at: www.interplay.com
Meeting Ralph McQuarrie
I had the great honor and privilege of meeting the legendary Ralph McQuarrie! For the uninformed check out the website of the man responsible for the incredible visual and conceptual design of the Original Star Wars trilogy.
Visit Mr. McQuarrie's site at: http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com
LEGO Star Wars II
There are a lot of perks at working at LucasArts. There are incredibly talented people everywhere! There's an amazing campus with a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts, and downtown San Francisco. The dining commons offers a variety of different types of meals for lunch that change daily. Our on-site gym ensures that you can work off all those different lunches and the tasty desserts too.
But every so often the best perk we get is cool free stuff!
This past Tuesday saw the release of Lego Star Wars II for every game console and this year's collection of the Original Star Wars DVD's with the unaltered versions of the classics. Lego Star Wars looked pretty good and I was probably going to pick it up, but I wasn't so sure about the movies. Luckily, I didn't have to because at lunch they gave away a copy of the game (I picked the 360 version) and each of the DVD's for free!
Very Special Thanks, Uncle George!
Communication Tips for Game Producers
When I started in the industry there was little information available on game development and even less on game production. I had no idea what was expected of me because I hadn’t come up through Q/A or had the benefit of working under an experienced producer. There I was getting my first break in the industry as my company’s only producer and I had no idea what to do. So I did what anyone else in this position would do -– I panicked.
Then I went looking for information on how to be a game producer.
I found myself asking, “What does it take to be a good producer?” Should I have more technical skills? What about team building or scheduling? Given the lack of best practices and industry-wide processes (with the exception of a few GDC whitepapers), I relied on other industries for information. I read books on project management, software development, construction, film production, and sports management. I read anything I could get my hands on.
What I found between them all was one common theme – communication. If you’re going to work with people to accomplish any type of task, you need to be able to communicate with them. It doesn’t matter if it’s verbal, written, hand signals, or even telepathic. As producers it is our number one priority to communicate with our team and stakeholders. You need to be able to get information into the hands of others. This is the way that you as a producer will properly set expectations for your project.
Bill Petro understands this need and has recently written an article for Gamasutra entitled “Communication Tips for Game Producers” You can read the full article at the following link:
Vicarious Caricatures
One thing that Jase likes to do -- often -- is draw caricatures of the team members working on the project. Sometimes I have to "professionally" frown upon it because he does it during meetings, but "personally" I love it. Every project we work on the style gets a little different, but for our current project he chose to make them look like adult versions of the Fisher Price Little People.
Visit SpaceJase's site at: http://www.spacejase.blogspot.com
About Me
