Category Archives: At the Office

Post-Nuclear Football

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So in my travels to London last week I was fortunate enough to get my fill of football in the span of a few short days. First, my colleague Sean was nice enough to take me to see Arsenal host bitter rivals Tottenham in the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinals. Much like my visit to Emirates Stadium last year, Arsenal played pretty poorly but still managed to eek out a tie thanks to a timely goal from my favorite Gunner Theo Walcott (from whom I got a signed soccer card thanks to my another colleague, Greg).

THEN, my buddies Kat and Chris at Lunch PR had a surprise for me as they’d gotten me an Arsenal jersey (if I haven’t mentioned, I’m a big football/soccer fan in general and an Arsenal fan and have several older jerseys, but not the new one). And this was no ordinary Arsenal jersey, but one that they had gotten personalized with my name on the back and the number they felt was most appropriate for me.

Someone email Arsene Wenger and tell him I’d ready to fill in for my boy Theo if needed!

What we’re watching: writer’s strike edition

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This week we’re doing things a little differently since sometimes people get tired of saying the same thing over and over. Mass Effect, Orange Box, The Witcher…yada, yada…always the same! So with the writers’ strike going on, we thought it would be interesting to share what we’re actually watching…whether it be reality TV, movies that that were written months/years ago, or just watching the grass grow instead.

So what are you watching? Hellga demands you tell us!

Here’s our run down…

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What we’re playing: Playoffs!? Edition

The holidays have come and gone. Farewell egg nog, holiday parties, and wonderful time off. So what do folks have to look forward to now? Well, since the Redskins had a strong finish, plenty of folks around the office are jacked up for this weekend’s matchup against the Seahawks. Other than that, well…the weekend is always a good time to catch up with the latest games we’re playing…

Orin Tresnjak, Installshield Wrangler: Super Mario Galaxy, Geometry Wars Galaxies (Wii version), Crysis. Maybe breaking out Just Cause for 360 again (such a wonderful, underrated game).

Dan Lee, Environment Artist: Sonic Rush Adventure (DS), Crackdown (360), and Virtua Tennis 3 (360).

Gary Noonan, Character Animator: Was playing and enjoying Mass Effect, but sadly only took me 15 hours to beat. Sooooo, playing Bard’s Tale 360 for old time’s sake.

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What we’re playing: Home for the Holidays edition

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With Christmas being early next week, folks at the office have a little extra time to play some games. For those with plenty of vacation time (including folks who already left for the remainder of the year….BTW, I’m jealous), it’s the perfect time to catch up on all the year’s best games.

Since I’m heading out to Las Vegas tonight, I’ll be playing Phantom Hourglass on the plane. After that, I’ll be playing plenty of games, but not ones that require a console. C’mon big money!

Here’s what other folks will be playing…

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Bethesda and Bioware Brawl

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As mentioned before, many of our devs take Team Fortress II pretty seriously when playing against other studios. This past week was a big one, as the Vault 101 Dwellers took on the boys from Bioware. Check out our very own Nate Purkeypile’s summary of the victory. It’ll be remembered here at the office as “Mass Beatdown.”

Last night, two titanic forces met in a battle of epic proportions. A prophet foretold of the match ages ago and said that two studios would have a battle to decide once and for all, who was the best RPG studio…well, or who was better at a multiplayer shooter. The day… was a Thursday. The maps would be Dustbowl and 2fort.

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What we’re playing: Everything under the sun

Wow, looking at this week’s list, I’m seeing more diversity in the games we’re playing. Sure plenty of folks are playing the recent favorites like Rock Band, Mario Galaxy, CoD4 and Team Fortress 2, but I’m also seeing a wide variety of other stuff. Dan Ross is playing Onimusha on PS2!? Is this 2001? Nathan McDyer is going Neo Geo on us with Garuo: Mark of the Wolves. Our resident Fallout Raider, Fred Zeleny, is playing Fallout, as well as Passage…I’m not familiar with it, but as an art student, Fred says it’s worth checking out.

I think my favorite list this week belongs to Mike McGinn, as I’m eager to play both Contra IV and Delerium the next time I’m travelling. And anyone that plays Ikaruga is cool in my book…it’s the most hardcore top-down shooter I’ve ever played (be sure to check out the video above). As for myself, I’m digging into Christmas presents I shouldn’t be opening already. Thanks to my brother Chris in San Jose for sending Rock Band!

Here’s the rest of the list…

Shannon Bailey, Programmer: Persona 3, Eternal Sonata, Wii Boxing

Jeff Browne, Level Designer: Red Orchestra

Fred Zeleny, Game Writer and Right Gamer: Fallout 1 (the classic role-playing game), Team Fortress 2 (the I’m-gonna-burn-you-to-death game), Race for the Galaxy (the galactic conquest and economics card game), and Passage (the beautiful and melancholy art-game).

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APB: Gingerbread Man…considered armed and dangerous…

Leave it to Emil to take something as good and wholesome as baking holiday cookies with the kids and turn it into something dark, and sinister, and funny. I’ve included his pics, with his own captions, below. I’d say something here about “that boy needs help” except I think we all know he’s way past that now.

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Hail Sithis!

 

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The untimely demise of Lucien Lachance

What we’re NOT playing: Let the Party Begin!

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So tonight is our office holiday party….it’ll be my first here at Bethesda and it sounds like a great time: good eats, open bar, and a “Casino Night” to follow. It’s nice that it’s on Friday too because folks don’t have to worry about sludging through work the next day. Given that we’ll all be sleeping in tomorrow morning, we thought we tell folks what games we’re NOT playing and the reasons why. Continue reading full article ›

What we’re playing: Playing Catch Up with the Holiday Hits

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Week after week, folks at the office were picking up the latest “AAA” titles to play, and as a result, I’m guessing most everyone now has a pile of games to play. Luckily, most of the big releases are now out, so we can put away our wallets and focus on the games we’ve got.

Here’s what you’ll see our team playing over the weekend:

Daryl Brigner, Level Designer: Rock Band, Kane and Lynch, and Super Mario Galaxy

Megan Sawyer, Environment Artist: Rock Band, Catz 2, possibly breaking out some older DS games I haven’t played yet like Trace Memory.

Jay Woodward, Death, Shatterer of Worlds: Mass Effect, Star Trek: Conquest.

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