I Wish I'd Written That: Part Four

For this week's "I Wish I'd Written That" I do not have a theme I stuck with. I just found three recent articles that peaked my interest.

1. Tokyo Beat Down: The Story of Yakuza

The Yakuza game series is one of my favorite series'. The combination of the drama, character development, and action in the games always keeps me on the edge of my seat and makes it hard to put the controller down. I knew the games had a tough time being localized for non-Japanese speaking countries, but it was interesting to read this article and learn just how difficult the process actually was. The one section of the article that intrigued me the most was this:

"It dropped the same week as LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, received a handful of glowing reviews, and quietly disappeared, selling only a (reportedly) scant 40,000 copies. Why, you might ask, release it at all? Sega says the answer was 'for the fans.'"

This part actually made me smile as most companies, especially certain video game ones, are not generally known for releasing a game unless they are sure it will be a big hit. It is good to see there are some left who remember that it's not all about the money.

2. Dr. Ed Roberts, 'Father of the PC,' Dies at 68

This is a short article, but an interesting read. I was not even aware of this man's existence until I read the article. The part that caught my eye was this:

"Roberts later got his medical degree, becoming an internist. His son said Roberts remained interested in modern technology, and up until his death was asking about the Apple iPad. 'He was interested to see one,' said David Robert"

It was nice to read about someone his age who was still hip to what new technology is coming out.

3. Bottling Lightning: Recording the Music of Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I still like to call myself a musician, although I have not had the chance to play with my piano as of late. As a "musician" any articles dealing music interest me. The soundtracks to movies and video games are incredibly important to movies and games, as it engages the viewer and player in the medium. The part of this article that interested me the most was this:

"While it may not be too unfair to picture game development as a dreary building full of people hunched in front of computer monitors for months on end, the industry certainly has plenty of appealing aspects as well. Obviously weapon demonstrations are a blast; motion capture sessions can be counted on to provide a few laughs for the uninitiated; and don't forget the occasional company picnic. But perhaps one of the most genuinely dramatic, if not fascinating events that can happen in game development (and sometimes the least understood) is the orchestral recording session."

As I have heard both horror and amazing stories working for the video game industry it was nice to hear that working in the music side of things is a lot of fun.