Monday:
I found out that the tri-Ace server filters https, so I'm unable to check the bulk of my mail, do any online banking, or post to most blog sites...
I did, however meet my team today, and they all seem like pretty nice guys. They set me up with a good workstation too!
Yeah, that's a Sony Bravia 1080i HDTV on my desk :D Not that I'm bragging or anything.
We went over office procedures n' stuff today. Typical stuff. As it turns out, becuase there is currently no one working on any next-gen audio at tri-Ace I got assigned to be THE audio department. I'm going to be building the entire sound library for Xbox360 and PS3 from scratch! It's really exciting and a little daunting at the same time.
I went home pretty late that night (by North American standards, I guess) at about 11:00PM. There were still people at the office when I left. But then, work here starts at around 12:00 noon, so I guess people would rather sleep in and work later...
Tuesday:
Mostly work. Though we left early that day to take me to my welcoming party! I wanted to take some pictures, but my camera had no battery power (I wanted to discharge it completely before giving it a charge. They say memory isn't a problem with Lithium Ion, but it so is). Too bad! I learned some new Japanese terminology, namely "Yabai!" It apparently has usage like the English "Wicked!" in that it is used by young people to indicate when something is awesome, and by everybody else to indicate when something is bad. We went first to an izakaya in Yebisu that night. It was pretty cool, they brought us a lot of appetizer kinda things to eat, which eventually filled me up. And the matcha tiramisu was amazing! After that we went to a little bar up the road, and some of the older guys decided to go home. I talked a bunch to Gotanda-san there about games and stuff. He told me the story of how tri-Ace got started (3 founding members = three aces), and that he was kinda forced to become CEO after the seconding two guys dropped out. He also told me he had lunch with Ueda-san (of Shadow of the Colossus & ICO) fame the other day. Apparently the animations in Shadow were entirely procedural, and that he tried to convince tri-Ace to go with procedural animations, but that the animators would have none of it.
I'm learning more and more that the game industry is a very small place. As an example, when I got signed up for my complementary IGDA membership, I opened up the IGDA forums. As I was skimming through, I noticed that some guy was bandying about Mike Corey's name (a guy I knew from CDIS), and upon further inspection, this was a guy who I exchanged business cards with at the last GDC... And that's only one example! It's crazy!
Wednesday:
I made a nice dinner:
The Japanese take onions seriously:
And milk comes with detailed readouts:
Thursday:
I did my first crossfit workout in Japan. I found a park nearby with a swingset to use as a pullup bar. I of course wore my "Not a pussy anymore" T-shirt, and of course I got a ton of strange looks from the Japanese. Some old people sat on a bench nearby to watch me. Barbara: 28:35.
Takeshi-san is a cool guy. I've been hanging out with him & his crew for lunch the past few days. He told me they want to start a band, and they don't currently have a DJ / producer, so I might just fit the bill...
Friday:
Went on a shopping trip today with Nishina, Matsumoto and one of the receptonist girls Ito-san. We bought a futon and some quilts, and some essential small appliances: microwave/toaster oven, rice maker, and lamp. I plan to buy more stuff this weekend, like dishes etc.
Hey alright! I've got some basic effects happining on Xenon audio! w00t!
Till next time,
Keep your stick on the ice!
- Jeff
posted by Jeff Sipko @ 16:32
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