Okay Samurai Multimedia

Cabo & Ensenada

2008-05-14T07:47:00.002-07:00

Footage from our recent cruise to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada; just fooling around with Flickr's 90-second video limitations.

Magenta

2008-05-13T08:17:00.002-07:00

Minor Studios Wrapup - April

2008-05-04T19:31:00.003-07:00

This month in Minor Studios news...

★ Episode 3 of the Atmosphir Developer Podcast has us discussing creating Cameron and Ashley, reaching the pre-alpha stage, composing the game music (with a preview of the main menu theme), playing Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii, and answering listener questions.
★ I talk about how my gaming habits have changed since entering the real world.
★ A few new level screenshots are posted.

Okay Vail

2008-04-10T17:40:00.002-07:00

Scenes from our February 2008 trip to Vail, Colorado. Via Vimeo. Also on YouTube.

Okay Hawaii

2008-03-31T22:09:00.010-07:00

Home movies from my family's January 2008 cruise to Hawaii. We visited Oahu, Hilo, Maui, Kona and Kauai. Via Vimeo. Also up on YouTube.

Minor Studios Wrapup: March

2008-03-30T19:14:00.004-07:00

This month in Minor Studios news...

★ Cameron and Ashley (who you might recognize from here) are revealed as new characters.
★ Episode 2 of The Atmosphir Developer Podcast covers new game features and effects, recent user testing sessions, Rock Band and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and listener questions.
★ 3 new screenshots explore some colorful new worlds.

Okay in OK

2008-03-26T10:01:00.003-07:00

Hey. I'm heading over to Oklahoma City today for an AIGA event...so if you're around the area, please stop on by and say hi.

I've been chipping away at some Hawaii and Vail home movies, which should be up here soon...For Hawaii I have 637 clips to go through and edit, so that's taking a little time. I need to finish soon though, since April and I are going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, and then Ensenada & Cabo San Lucas a couple of weeks later. Maybe I should just take photos...

Rock, Smash, Repeat

2008-03-12T07:43:00.003-07:00

Two recent additions to the Okay Samurai video game library are Rock Band for the 360 and Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii. That, my friends, is a deadly combination. The one thing they have in common (other than their tyrannical death grip on my weekday evenings) is that both are much better experiences with multiple players.

April and I really enjoyed Guitar Hero III for the Wii, but we weren't able to play together (an extra guitar would have set us back an additional $90 - essentially buying the game twice since they don't sell the Wii guitar separately yet). So while Rock Band is the most expensive game I've ever bought, it's worth it for being able to play with friends right away, and it's a fantastic experience. April's getting great at the drums, I'm gradually making my way up to hard on guitar, and our San Francisco-based band "Sideburn Road" is hopefully on its way to superstardom. I'm interested to see where the game continues to evolve from here (how about user-generated content and keyboard controllers)?

Smash Brothers brings back great memories of chaotic after-school battles with my Baltimore roommates. I tried some of the single player games, and they're fun, but nothing compared to the 4-player mayhem. Thanks to this latest installment's online mode, I can look forward to playing against the Okay Samurai guys back east - which we're planning to do tonight. Without any voice chat functionality, we're going to have to find another way to do some coast-to-coast trash talking (I'm thinking Skype). Anyway, if you've got the game and want to add me to your friend roster, my code is 5112-3130-6547 - just send me yours too.

Who Are You Online?

2008-03-07T08:48:00.014-08:00

My first website was a digital junkyard of text, links, and a little animated mailbox that opened and closed for my email (so awesome). This was back in 1999, when I was starting to draw a comic strip in college. It seemed like a good idea to have a place to archive all the old comics, so I dumped everything into a free webhost. It wasn't much, but it was my first stake in having an online presence.

An online presence is not just one website, but rather a complicated web of elements that help define who you are to the rest of the world. It's your blog, your online photo album, the comment you left on that cooking website about the brie fondue, the home video on YouTube, your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, the emails and instant messages you send, and everything that might be out of your control but somehow links back to you.

So there are two approaches to this. One, of course, is to be totally freaked out and go hide in an underground bunker. The second, and hopefully more reasonable alternative, is to take an active role in crafting an online presence. With every strand of the web that you can leave your mark on, more and more opportunities will naturally present themselves.

Now I can only speak from my own limited experiences, but let's start with the area of careers. What would have happened if I had never made that animated mailbox open and close so awkwardly back in 99? What if I had just stayed away from the web entirely and decided to pursue stuff on my own? If that had been the case, when finishing up grad school, my network would have probably looked like this:

One central hub: my portfolio, most likely a hefty printed book of projects that I could lug around between prospective employers' offices, and my resume, a piece of paper showing if I'm experienced and qualified for the job. Neither of these are bad; in fact, we're lucky in the creative industry to have a portfolio in addition to the standard resume. But even so, this network is limited. I tend to think of it like this:

Red is whatever you throw out there to the rest of the world to represent yourself, blue is a potential opportunity, and the dotted line is the connection that tethers them together. The same model could be applied to a lot of stuff...like friendship, for example. You're in the middle, your friends are all connected around you, and the opportunities to connect with them are represented as parties, dinners, phone calls, and so on (subconsciously, of course...that would be one ridiculous flow chart).

All right, so I tried to map out what really happened. This was the result (sorry it's not all designer-ish and organized):

(click for bigger version)

That right there is absolutely insane. The Okaydave portfolio was the central hub, but it was also connected to a personal site, videos, Flickr photos, and even that first comic strip from almost 10 years ago. But what's really insane is how many things were out of my control, and how many things connected. I got my current job because someone randomly found Okaydave through the social search tool StumbleUpon. That opportunity couldn't have possibly existed outside of the interactive world.

Whether I like it or not, that image is who I am online. I've tried to control several central touch points: the portfolio, blog, videos, photos, profile pages, and so on. Still, most of that stuff just happened organically. While there are definitely negative aspects to that too - you should see some of the comments I delete from YouTube - the unavoidable (usually anonymous) negative comment is a speck of dust in an overall online presence.

You can probably imagine what your own online presence would look like mapped out this way, and the areas where you do and don't have control. Your presence definitely doesn't need to be a portfolio, blog, or anything that requires any sort of web design knowledge - there are thousands of tools and sites out there to easily express and define yourself online. But whatever those places are, think about how they represent you. Think about if you can expand that presence without compromising the image you want to project, because the opportunities for all these random dots to connect are definitely out there. And you never know who's going to stumble upon you.

Sorry 'Bout That

2008-03-06T15:50:00.004-08:00

Sorry if you tried to visit Okaysamurai, Okaydave or Minor Studios today...I just switched to a new hosting service, and am in the process of getting things back up and running. Everything should be back to normal by tomorrow.

28

2008-03-04T08:57:00.003-08:00

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes last week. We had a little party at the Swanson House, and I think my friend Dimitry captured the night perfectly. See the photo set here.

February Minor Studios Wrapup

2008-03-04T08:37:00.006-08:00

Instead of double-posting everything from Minor Studios here, I'm going to start doing monthly recaps of what you may have missed. Here's what happened in February:

★ Martin and I recorded a podcast about Atmopshir development and GDC. You can subscribe to future installments right in iTunes.
★ The GDC video highlights some of our adventures in the Moscone Center a couple of weeks ago. I also put together a written recap.
★ We revealed a few more Atmosphir screenshots and concept art.

Minor Studios: GDC '08

2008-02-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

HD and downloadable versions available on Vimeo. Full written recap on Minor Studios.

Oh Heck Yeah.

2008-02-14T08:47:00.006-08:00

From Yahoo Movies. Looks pretty freakin' awesome. To anyone who complaining about Harrison Ford being too old...what, do you think Indiana Jones would just retire? Play checkers at the nursing home over tapioca pudding? Come on.

Xtreme San Francisco

2008-02-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

A random (and I do mean random) assortment of clips from Don, Jeff, and Andrew's recent visit to San Francisco.

Vimeo (HD) | YouTube | Google Video
Downloadable version available on Vimeo (registered users only).
Another View: Jeff's Video

Okay Napa Valley

2008-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here's some footage from a recent weekend trip with a few friends up to Napa Valley. We visited the Domaine Chandon, V. Sattui, Rutherford Ranch and Andretti wineries. And here's a first for me: it's in 16:9 widescreen HD! For the full effect, check it out bigger and better on Vimeo.

Vimeo (HD) | Facebook | YouTube | Google Video
960 x 540 downloadable hi-res version available on Vimeo (registered users only).
Soundtrack: Far Away by Charlie Wine (mp3)

Productivity Up 10%

2008-01-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

LeechBlock is the single best productivity tool I've used in the past few years. It's a plug-in for Firefox that lets you block certain websites during a specified time period, like during work hours. So now I can't visit Facebook, YouTube, Digg, and a handful of other time-draining sites until I get home at night. You can even lock the preferences so you don't cave in and edit your list for a quick workaround.

And while we're on the subject of productivity, I've been trying to follow the ideas behind Inbox Zero as well for the past few months...so far, so good!

Okay Buenos Aires

2008-01-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to putting this video snapshot together from my trip to Buenos Aires. I'm behind on videos...coming within the next month or so will be footage from a Hawaii cruise, an Okay Samurai San Francisco visit, and Napa Valley in Wine Country!

Vimeo (HD) | YouTube | Google Video
Downloadable versions available on Vimeo (registered users only) and Google Video.
Soundtrack: Sudestada (mp3)

Happy 2008

2008-01-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! It was refreshing to be back home in DC for the holidays. Looking forward to an exciting year of video game launches (Atmosphir), adventures (trips to Hawaii and Vail are coming up in the next couple of months), more videos and website updates (yeah right Dave, you always say that), and more.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

My friend Martin from Buenos Aires visited during this past week. He was a gracious host when I traveled down there a couple of months ago, so we tried to return the favor up here; that meant exploring the city, trying out some new restaurants, and plenty of video games. Martin is a great guy, and luckily he'll be back in February for the Game Developer's Conference.

We all got to catch the Cirque du Soleil: Kooza show outside of AT&T Park, which included quite possibly the coolest act I've ever seen live: the aptly-named Wheel of Death. It's hard to explain and I wasn't allowed to take photos, but basically imagine a giant seesaw with gerbil-style running wheels on each end, suspended in the air to make full 360 degree revolutions. Now imagine two insane guys running around those wheels and jumping in, out, and on top of them as the whole device spins like crazy, sometimes even grabbing onto the wheel edges and using the force to propel them flying upward into the air. April had her eyes closed half the time and the audience was collectively gasping with every rotation. If it passes through your city in the next few months, definitely check it out.

Last Thursday night was our company holiday party, and a few of us got roped into creating an office band (later deemed "Okay Samurai and the Proletariat"). Tony rocked out on a fully-stocked electric drum kit, and Bob shredded nonstop face-melters on his electric guitar. We played a first set of holiday classics and carols, and then came back for a second set of whatever we could think of...California Love, Justin Timberlake, Straight Up, Brown Eyed Girl, and so on. It actually wasn't half bad for never having practiced most of the songs together. The whole party was a great close to the year and a lot of fun.

This past Saturday was also our Swanson House holiday party, and we had a great crowd show up. Christmas carols around the piano, Wii tournaments, people climbing up ladders and decks, and a seemingly never-ending supply of festive drinks and snacks helped keep everyone in good spirits...some in really good spirits, but hey, that's what peppermint patty shots are for. Photos are here.

Well, I'm off to Virginia on Thursday. Safe travels to everyone and happy holidays!

Okay Update 11.28.07

2007-11-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

Via Vimeo.

Samurai SF Visit

2007-11-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

Don, Jeff and Andrew visited this weekend for an Okay Samurai reunion in San Francisco. We toured around Minor Studios' offices and played through the Atmosphir prototype, loaded up on free samples from the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building, played a million games of 4-player Wii Tennis, re-enacted scenes from The Rock at Alcatraz, rode bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito, and performed in the charity concert at O'Neill's Irish Pub (the show went great...thanks to everyone who came out!). Here are a few photos from Andrew and April below...make sure to check out Jeff's recap and photos on his site as well.

Saturday's setlist: Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard | Like a Prayer | I Don't Want To Live on the Moon | Justin Timberlake Medley | Forgot About Dre | Back to Blues (w/ Don Simpson) | Mosquito (w/ Okay Samurai) | Southern Cross | Straight Up | Glory Days | Yeah

Atmosphir: Spring 2008

2007-10-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

November 3: Live Performance!

2007-10-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Good news...I'll be doing another acoustic charity show on Saturday, November 3rd. Even better news is that Don, Jeff, and Andrew are visiting me that weekend, so there may be some Okay Samurai guest appearances during the show! I'm opening up the night right around 8, and then Shantytown will be playing for the remainder of the evening. All proceeds go to help out my friend Greg in raising money for the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society via Team in Training. Hope to see you there!

Tomorrow I head off to Buenos Aires for a week of Minor Studios stuff. I'm extremely excited as this is my first time down in Argentina...hopefully I'll have some exciting photos, videos and stories to share when I get back. See you in a week!

Friday Notes

2007-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

+ Lots of announcements from Nintendo this week...Super Smash Brothers Brawl is delayed until February 2008. But at least Sonic's in it and there's 4-player online fighting. For $20, the Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training will probably be a good deal. Mario Kart will be out in the spring, have online races for up to 12 racers, and is introducing motorcycles. Mario Galaxy still looks gorgeous and will certainly be a holiday best-seller.

+ Vimeo just went HD. Video quality is going to get significantly better on the web overall in the near future (it's about time). I'm thinking I might need an HD video camera now...

+ Thursday night trivia at Elephant and Castle is slowly becoming a weekly tradition. Look out next week when Buckbeak and the Hippogriffs take 1st place. Just saying.