EEIN’s BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)

For those of you who don’t know, several of us IF folks are also members/administrators of EEIN, the Electronic Entertainment Industry Network. We recently posted the goals for the group on the EEIN website here.

We’re committed to this group and what it can mean for games industry professionals. Here’s an excerpt:

EEIN’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal
Jan 10, 2009

“To be the foremost tool of empowerment for our members, facilitate communication and relationships, and encourage excellence and long-term growth of the video game industry.”

How do we hope to accomplish this?
By creating a community of active, participatory members who have the interests of the group, and the industry as a whole, at heart. People who understand how fortunate they are to work in the games industry, and who have a long-term commitment to it’s success. By locating experienced veterans who can lend their perspective and serve as role-models for early-career folks. By giving everyone tools, encouragement, and incentive to help others regardless of their position.

For all you video game professionals (and especially EEIN members!), please have a look.

Thanks
/Ron Johnson

Happy Thanksgiving

We at International Front hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you missed it, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade had a must see moment:

Shocked Again

We have to appreciate the release of the teaser trainer for Bioshock 2 which was first seen at the end of the aquatic adventure. We can only hope that we will not have to wait as much time for it’s release as it would have taken for the little sisters to grow up to the age of the girl in this video.

Which ending to Bioshock will 2K choose to be the jumping point for it’s next installment? We can’t wait to find out.

It’s that time of year again…

Ghosts and Ghouls invade our lives; neighbor’s lawns become graveyards and kids become monsters. It’s a time of year that brings out the creep loving geeks in us all. It thus follows that even is our alternate worlds, strange things are afoot.

World of Warcraft features a zombie apocalypse that blurs the line between friend and foe. If you need help when you aren’t sure who’s on your side and who wants to eat your brains, refer to this handy Zombie Survival Guide.

Zombies are also invading Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. City of Heroes and City of Villains and are offering some special prizes for participating in the event, including Classic Costumes.

We have yet to hear any other reports of Zombie invasions but we remind you to remain diligent and perhaps invest in a zombie proof helmet to protect your brain.

Happy Hunting

/Kirsten

Super Secret Project

Yes, we’re like spies. Working behind the scenes on stuff you don’t know about… but unfortunately we can’t tell you what we’re doing yet. At least not before being debriefed, and we really expect you to take us to dinner and a movie before a debriefing.

Still curious? Of course you are! Keep your eyes and ears open to learn about the classic game remake that we are designing the interface for.

/Kirsten

Third Time’s a Charm

Oh yes…

Hail to the incompetent

What makes a revolution? It isn’t those few who follow the rules and live up to the status quo. It’s the risk takers, the innovators, and the occasional screw-ups who show us how things might be different and lead the way to change and growth.

Need proof? Hear what Seth Godin has to say about it.

Horribly Entertaining

We are all agog here at International Front. Why you ask?

It’s none other than the internet hit Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Joss Whedon has done it again and we aren’t bashful to deliver praise. Firefly, Buffy, and Angle are all standard fare here… we love the narrative threads that Joss weaves and Dr. Horrible is no exception.

Dr. Horrible is played by Neil Patrick Harris who is so naturally likable that it is easy to excuse any evil tendencies his character might evince. Felicia Day as Penny is as adorable and Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer is the king of cheese in this charming story about the trials of a super underdog. Dr. Horrible is indeed the every-man, striving to make the world a better place, though through some extraordinarily misguided means.

Episode 3 will be released at midnight EST tonight. Catch it while you can… the series will be pulled off line on Sunday night.

Dr. Horrible’s adventures on Xbox or PS3 anyone? We’ll be waiting.

/Kirsten

Rate This!

Games follow a much different path to rating than movies. The publishers and developers have always been very good at self monitoring, and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is transparent about the process of rating. The ESRB’s stringent, non-partisan rating system ensures ratings are appropriate and follow precedents set for similar games.

So, it was surprising when Connecticut’s attorney general argued against the rating on the new addition to the Wii Frat Party Games by JV Games Inc. “Beer Pong” was rated T (Teen), deemed appropriate for an audience 13 and older. Yet, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is calling for the innocuous game which depicts mild reference to alcohol consumption to be rated AO (Adults only).

Now, as most of us in the game industry know, and AO rating is meant for content that includes game play with intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity. To make a comparison to movies, School of Rock was a popular movie which was rated PG-13. Blumenthal is asking the equivalent of rating School of Rock with a NC-17 rating.

“Beer Pong” which was recently renamed “Pong Toss”, does not depict the consumption of alcohol, and has no violence or sex. However, Blumenthal argues that images of alcohol in the game merits the highest rating possible.

More than anything, the call for a rating change on the game Wii game reeks of the beginnings of a dystopian science fiction novel. Some day we may look back and remember… “it all started with that super bowl fiasco, then the Wii game re-rating, then the book burnings, and look where we are now.”

/Kirsten

Amazing graffiti animation

Italian artist BLU is famous for painting politically and socially charged street murals, but his recent project involving street animation may be his most visually stunning. Called MUTO, the video is a series of digital stills assembled from sequential paintings on the streets/walls of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s been floating around a bit, but if you haven’t seen it, the effect is a sort of living, evolving mural that follows a dramatic, character-drive storyline. And if you watch one thing online today (or tomorrow or the next day), this should be it:

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.