g-mixer . mark cooke . blog

Old Grandma Hardcore

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:17:00 +0000

No, not the hardcore videogame playing grandma. This obachan (older lady) was rocking a pushcart down a busy road with no sidewalk in Yamagata when it was -2C (~28F) outside.

Hardcore!

Wow... Rara Racer

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Rara Racer is an art game. You should play it. It is about 3 minutes in length. There are Mac and Windows versions. It is a game about nerdy people on the internet talking about games. Or something.

NSFW warning: it includes porn references. If that doesn't get you interested to play it...

Yamagata, New Years 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:15:00 +0000

To ring in the new year I visited Yamagata prefecture on the northern part of the main island of Japan. After a three hour trip by bullet train, I was greeted by a winter landscape and beautiful mountains.

The calm and crisp atmosphere was quite different from Tokyo. Though there weren't many people,

and they weren't getting much use out of their bus stops, it was a refreshing change of pace.

From the father and son team doing some free skiing on a small incline in a parking lot,

to the ducks meandering in a local pond,

there were many opportunities to relax and take in the sights. That is, as long as you are able to handle the cold.

The weather didn't stop me from enjoying some bizarre ice cream flavors though. Burdock root and rice being a highlight.

However, I didn't try the curry udon in a can I found in a local vending machine. The sign makes special note that you can buy your canned noodles with cigarettes together as an added convenience. What a combination.

Full gallery here.

Box2d is a lot of fun

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Click in the box to give Flash focus first:

Your goal is to shoot the ragdoll into the little box on the right. That's it. Press space to bounce the bridge and 'r' to reset if you get stuck.

I hacked this together in about an hour using some of the demo code from the Flash version of Box2d. I haven't had this much fun playing around with code in a while. Box2d is a 2d physics simulation library that is straightforward and easy to use. It has support for various primitive shapes, a couple of joint types, and continuous collision detection for fast moving objects. It's also open source. Kudos to the developers.

Goofing around with this feels a bit like being 12 years old again and experiencing the high of putting together my first text adventure game in QBASIC. Great fun!

Oh and by the way, if you notice the ragdoll acting a little goofy near the left "cage" post it's because I added some invisible upward force there to make it easier to win. Sometimes it backfires a bit.

Click here to play in a bigger window.

Polysics are Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:31:00 +0000

This is in no way a new video but I was just watching again for the first time in a while and wanted to share it. The music video for "Electric Surfin' Go Go" is as insane a Japanese video as one could hope for.

I saw them live in 2007 in San Francisco with my buddy Parm and it was a great time. If you like off the wall rock music and have the opportunity to see the Polysics I recommend it!

Tokyo Tower from Hiroo

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:50:00 +0000

Taken on Christmas Day using the iPhone and the Toy Camera application. You can just barely see the tower at the top of the street in the distance.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:51:00 +0000

Hope everyone is having a healthy and happy holiday. Tokyo does Christmas very well, at least in terms of decorations. The photos below were taken in Shinjuku near Takashimaya.

Here's to a successful 2009!

-Mark

Kirin Strong Seven

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:21:00 +0000

Kirin Strong Seven

"This hard and clear taste brings you the great feeling!"

You've got to love Japanese beer, nay happoshu, advertising that emphasizes the alcohol percentage as the primary sales point.

And the taste? Hard and clear. I didn't feel so great after drinking it though...

You Have To Burn The Rope

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:29:00 +0000

In a brilliant statement against the challenge of modern videogames Mazapan brings us You Have To Burn The Rope.

See if you can figure out what to do. If you are having a hard time, here is a snippet of a FAQ by Rock, Paper, Shotgun's John Walker:

You have to burn the rope.

Good luck and have fun!

Club Nintendo's True Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:44:00 +0000

Nintendo of Japan's Club Nintendo program is pretty cool. You register your games to earn points and then you can use those points to choose bonus goods. Sometimes they have special consoles or even games that are created just for Club Nintendo. As the image above says, it "was founded for all the Nintendo Game Players to feel more pleasure." I give my full support to their noble cause.

It looks like it is coming to the US too. If you are a Wii or DS owner you should consider signing up. I just received cool little calendar, unannounced, for being a member. Membership is free.

Japanese Saint's Row 2 Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:44:00 +0000

Allrighty then! I'm not sure what market this advertising appeals to though I enjoyed it. Unfortunately I'm not in the market for buying the Japanese version of Saint's Row 2.

Here's a rough translation:

Guy: Yo, weren't you a guy yesterday?
Girl: No, I was always a woman.
Guy: Stop messing around!
Girl: I'm not! (transforms)
Guy: OMFG!!!

Japanese Fashion Trends of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:06:00 +0000

From MEKAS comes "2008: The Year in Trends". Including a resurgence of classy gyaru fashion!

(via Jean Snow)

Secret Project Teaser #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:18:00 +0000

Hamada-san draws her work in acrylics on paper, scans them in, and then does some touch-ups in Photoshop. Everything she does looks great with a distinctive style. The first teaser is here.

The bird above is fully animated and moves about the scene. As the project's animator (gasp!) I have been forced to learn a lot about animation to take the illustrations of Hamada-san and make something that looks halfway decent.

I got some great advice from my talented animator friend Leo Martinez on a squirrel animation I was working on. You can see a test below. The sequence is animated from only two illustrations (a stand and a jump pose). I had no idea it was possible to create so much motion with Flash's free transform tool. I don't think I have a knack for animation but I am having a lot of fun working with it.

Computers + Games = Videogames

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:58:00 +0000

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has posted a great interview with Videlectrix ("we use computers... to make videogames!") the company behind such hit titles as "Pigs on Head". In reality, it's some sort of fictional developer representing the guys who run Homestar Runner.

I just wanted an excuse to post the above brilliant image. It really summarizes a day in the life of a developer. Because naturally, your boss knows that all games need GOOD graphics.

Yamanote's Last Train

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:04:00 +0000

The last train around 1:00 am on a Friday night (early Saturday, really) on Tokyo's Yamanote Line is more like the salary man drunk tank. Lets analyze the photo above more closely.

A - sitting on the floor near the door, passed out
B - nodding off, might actually be coming home from the office but I doubt it
C - taking off his headphones after being startled awake by the train stopping
D - who needs shoes? (see D')
E - taking up two seats and treating the bench as his personal recliner
F - both sleeping (not pictured)

The significance of Linger in Shadows

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:44:00 +0000

"Linger in Shadows" - the recent PlayStation Network release - is yet another part of the long history of the crossover of the demoscene and the game industry. For a nominal fee the user is greeted with what is largely a traditional demo. It has all the classic elements: lots of procedural content, mix of 2D paintings and 3D imagery, "greets" to other scene groups, and a soundtrack that matches the visuals. It is looks impressive, doing well to showcase the talents of the programmers and artists of the development team at Plastic.

The two significant and unusual things about Linger in Shadows are first, that the group was funded and published by Sony, and that second there are a number of interactive elements in the demo.

Why would Sony fund a small group of developers to create a non-game for their platform? Was it an extension of Ken Kutaragi's original vision that the PS3 was to be more than a games console? Personally, I'm impressed that they would invest in such a project. I would be surprised if Linger in Shadows is profitable. I believe it could be used as a marketing tool in technology circles to show Sony's interest in art projects or to promote the abilities of its platform. This is the kind of project that could attract the attention of artists outside of the mainstream game industry. With the current economy though and Sony's recent sales struggles I doubt another similar project will get greenlit. I hope to be proven wrong.

The other attention grabbing part of the demo is that unlike a traditional PC based demo there are a number of interactive components. At various times while watching the demo, the user can spin the controller to move objects or light sources in the scene, for example. Other times they can scrub the movie's time line forward and backward. Using the camera to look around can find hidden objects and greets that unlock PSN Trophies. It is certainly no game but the addition of these elements gives the demo an extra layer to peel back.

Linger in Shadows may go unappreciated by the gaming populace and in some ways it isn't surprising. As a game developer a lot of the appeal of the demoscene is not just in watching something beautiful and admiring the creativity of the human race but in inspiration in both technology and artistry. Users without that specific interest may not find Linger in Shadows or any other demo particularly interesting and so be it. That said, games like Max Payne are widely appreciated by gamers. That game's developer, Remedy Entertainment, was born out of the demoscene group Future Crew. I'm certain there are countless other members of the game industry who either came from the demoscene or were inspired by it.

Finally, I'm happy to report that Plastic has generously released some of the tools used to create the demo. The content looks like it was developed largely inside of Maya with a custom plug-in that acts as a WYSIWYG real-time renderer. It reminds me of working with the Unreal Engine or Crytek. The ability to edit something and then be immediately able to preview it as it would look in game is very powerful. Below is a video of their tools, more information can be found on Plastic's main site.

Flash Experiment #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:06:00 +0000

Here's another short Flash test I cooked up. What's cool about this isn't really what you see above. What's cool is that it is only about 20 lines of code. It's inspiring to see how it easy it is to make things in Flash. It's great for creativity and prototyping small ideas.

I highly recommend learning it for game developers who want to experiment!

(Sorry, there is no button to stop the sound once it starts. You can refresh the page or navigate away to turn it off.)

Kirin Sparkling Hop

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:11:00 +0000

Alerting New Zealand! You have wasted your hop on a terrible beer-like beverage that is currently on sale in Japan. (The beer advertising says "New Zealand Hop Included" on the can.)

Ah, another season and another new seasonal Japanese beer. Guess what? Yes, it's a lager. Actually, "Sparkling Hop" isn't even beer. It's happoshu, a beer-like beverage with low malt content. It's popularity is primarily driven by the fact it falls under a different taxation law than beer and is thus about 30% cheaper than the usual mediocre real beer lagers.

I was recently recommended Hitachino Nest beer by a friend. It's brewed in Ibaraki prefecture, about 1.5 hours away from Tokyo by train. I'm looking forward to giving that a try. What I really want to do though is visit their brewery and make my own beer. I've been dreaming of recreating the legendary hazelnut porter I drank in Arcata, CA a few years back.

In case you were wondering - yeah, I do have some experience in brewing. At the end of the production of the Conan game, some Nihilistic employees made beer at the end of the project. Led by Stephen the brew master, we came up with two master beers:

Camel Punch Stout and Conan Nut Brown Ale
(Conan is a trademark of Conan Properties International)

Doing Business as a Foreign Designer in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:09:00 +0000

PingMag recently posted an interview with Parissa Haghirian about working in Japan as a design professional.

Although not specifically game related, from my experience what Parissa said rings very true. If you are interested in the Japanese creative work environment, give it a read.

YouTube - Genki Rockets Live Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:42:00 +0000

I took the below photo at the Tokyo club ageHa a few weeks ago when I saw Q Entertainment produced Genki Rockets. There was this cool mesh LED screen in front of the DJ, who is dressed in a space suit, though you can't see too well in my photo.

YouTube recently hosted a concert in Tokyo where Genki Rockets performed. Even if you don't like upbeat house music I encourage you to check out the LED mesh. Being able to see through a screen was new to me and very cool. And who doesn't love a spiffy astronaut suit?

Independent Games Festival 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:37:00 +0000

It's that time of the year again and the exciting Independent Games Festival (IGF) is here. I'll be judging for the fourth year running and have already started evaluating the games I have been assigned for the first round.

Once again games from all over the world have been submitted. Although not all games that are submitted are destined for success it is inspiring to see the creativity at work in so many of these titles. The list of 226 entrants for the main competition is available here.

It is awesome to see that Barkley, Shut-up and Jam: Gaiden the insane basketball, Charles Barkley, RPG mash-up is on the list. Here's a quote describing a portion of the plot of the game on Wikipedia to give you a taste:

When they arrive, Cyberdwarf suggests that B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S. has likely used the "Ultimate B-Ball" to perform the Chaos Dunk, so they visit the old Spalding Building in Proto Neo New York -- where it is rumored that an extremely powerful basketball was being created before the Purge. The party reaches the sewer ladder leading to Proto Neo New York, but find that Dr. Allard -- a cosmetic surgeon profitting off of Cesspool X's citizens -- has a guard posted at the ladder, demanding a fee of five thousand neo shekels for passage into Proto Neo New York.

Pure nonsensical awesome. I love it! This is just a fun example of the kind of games that the IGF is able to showcase when there are no creative, financial, or market limits. I haven't played "Gigolo Assassin" yet but I love the name and doubt any game named that would ever see a retail release. The IGF brings publicity to games that might otherwise never get it even if they deserve it. That's why I feel proud to be a part of the process.

A number of well known entries are also participating this year, including: Pixel Junk Eden, Pixel Junk Monsters, Cortex Command, Dino Run, and Forumwarz to name a few.

It will be another great year.

Honey Roast Chicken Pringles

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:23:00 +0000

Honey Roast Chicken Pringles

The convenience and fun of popping Pringles... the taste of a chicken leg.

Japan often gets some interesting flavors for international brands that I suppose must appeal to local tastes. Though they are all still certainly edible, for my taste buds they are just a little bit off.

Quantizing and Sound Playback Latency

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Sound playback latency on PCs sucks. Or I am doing something completely wrong.

For a while I have been working on and off on the audio tech for a game I am making in my free time. The game part hasn't progressed much due to getting hung up in the minutia of sound programming.

The problem is that I want millisecond accurate sound quantizing - meaning that I want to play a sound back exactly at a specific time. The purpose of this is to string a large set of separate individual sounds together to make music. For example, playing a kick drum on the first and third beat of a bar, a snare on two and four, and a high-hat on every eighth note.

What you end up with is kind of a mess due to variable sound latency in the API, OS, and sound driver. When my program says "play this right now" it's impossible to know when the sound will actually be audible at the speakers. It kinda sounds right but there is audible error. The error becomes more and more obvious when trying to align two sounds on the same beat. I don't mean playing two sounds on the same frame in code - that gives good results. What I mean is that if I have a beat loop playing for quite some time and I'm tracking it on my internal timeline then trying to play other sounds that match to that loop is a challenge due to variable latency.

Here's a visual illustration:

Basic timeline w/ eighth notes as smallest division.

Times I play back sound algorithmically.

What you actually hear.

Notice how in the final image the distance between the timeline position and when you hear the sound is different every time a sound is played. You can't accurately reverse compensate for the error, i.e. by playing the sound slightly before you actually want it to be heard, because the latency is always changing. (Framerate is a component of this latency and can be compensated for, if your framerate is generally stable, but it is not the only component.)

I have written this piece of software twice, once with C#/XNA and once with C++/DirectSound. XNA would be ideal but there is an additional 10 milliseconds or so latency on top of using DirectSound. Regardless, neither work to my satisfaction.

In normal game scenarios this variable sound latency, which averages around 50 milliseconds in a rough estimate on my questionable hardware, is unnoticeable. This is simply because the sounds are independent events that do not need to be timed and aligned with other events in the game's sound environment.

I'm thinking this kind of accurate system can only work where the software is filling out a sound buffer ahead of where the buffer is being played back in the sound file. A dynamically generated sound stream. That rules out using XNA unfortunately which offers no low-level sound buffer access through its API. I'm not sure how far ahead the software will need to write into the sound buffer to stay in front of the playback head. If I can guarantee a stable framerate theoretically it would be just 1-2 frames. To account for spikes in framerate or OS unpredictability I'm sure being further ahead is necessary. This also opens the door to having to mix all the individual sounds myself in a single sound buffer which sounds like a nightmare.

The whole point of my game idea is that I want realtime musical response to what the player is doing in the game. Not like Guitar Hero or a dynamic music system that fades between a few preset tracks. Rather, to capture the feeling of the player creating the music, at a micro per-instrument level, through their play in a fast paced action game. Changing the music changes the game state, play field, and visuals. Therefore I need to be able to change the music both quickly for realtime response and to ensure that my changes are on time and harmonize with the other sounds.

I want to capture the feeling that the player is both playing this game but is also acting as a creator within it, directing the music and visuals as they go. Hopefully I can find a solution that will let me get past this and finally delve further into the game and sound design which is what I really want to do be doing.

"Mischief" (Final Competition Image)

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:53:00 +0000

Above is the image Ogura-san and I ended up submitting for the hair style photo competition I originally discussed here. What do you think? He wanted to make it a little bit different from a typical color photo of a model so we played with a lot of different ideas. Simply making Alina black-and-white ended up being the most visually appealing.

That's not to say there wasn't extensive cleanup on the hair, face, and other areas of the image. Separating the girl from the background was time consuming, including making the holes in the hair on the top of her head still show the background through them. Some parts of the image weren't in the photo and were made from parts and Photoshop tools. I'm still no photo editing expert but I think it turned out OK. Wish us luck!

Montreal Salary-Fixing Collusion Scandal

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Cooke) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:44:00 +0000

This is crazy.

Some of the big players in the Montreal game industry are accused of colluding to create across the board lower salaries for employees to save on costs. If one company decides they want to pay employees less then that is their choice. Widespread collusion, instead of letting the market and employee's skills set salary value, is a big problem and will just end up driving the talented developers away from the area. Epic fail.

According to the article it sounds like this plan has been scuttled. Hopefully that is the case.