Originally, I had planned to go out to San Francisco's Chinatown to attend the festivities happening there in celebration of the Chinese New Year. This weekend they have a street fair and tonight (~18:00 PST) they have a parade. Unfortunately, it is a miserable day today in terms of the weather; it's cloudy, windy and rainy. So I've decided to stay close to home today, and the decision was made easier when I discovered that the local Fox TV affiliate is showing the parade tonight (in HD even). I am hoping to make it out to the street fair tomorrow, however, as I want to pick up some items in Chinatown and don't know when I might make another trip out there.Another reason I decided to stay home today is because I have been going back-and-forth to San Francisco for half of this week. I attended the Game Developers Conference as a way for me to look into how to gain employment in that industry. As happy as I am working for VeriSign, it is no surprise to most of the people that know me that the main reason I moved out here to this side of the country was to work with/in/on video games. I have a real passion for video games, and I honestly hope I can get a job with one of the companies in the area here. It's a little hard for me to explain what exactly went on during the conference. I could not take much time off of work, so although my pass allowed me into the conference from Wednesday through Friday I really only was able to spend a little more than one day attending. I did what I could to make the most of it, and hope that with the information I've gained I will have a competitive advantage when it comes to employment opportunities in the video game industry.
As most of my day Friday was spent at the Game Developers Conference, what better way to close out the day than a concert. But this was not any normal concert. No, this was Video Games Live! I attended Video Games Live with my roommate Kal, and I heartily endorse this experience. Whether you like video games or not this concert is a wonderful celebration of music and is a lot of fun. The organizers and conductor encourage the audience to whoop and cheer, and it carries over into making the environment and experience more memorable. Let's see, the music performed for us included pieces from: Missle Command, Defender, Space Invaders, Frogger, Gauntlet, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic series of games, Final Fantasy series of games, Chrono Cross, Halo series, Metroid, Super Mario Bros. series, Lair, Bioshock, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and probably others I cannot remember. We were blessed in that many composers of these pieces were there in person. The bosses from Square Enix were in attendance. And a prominent member of the orchestra was Martin Leung, who pretty much became famous due to a video that appeared online showing him playing the theme to Super Mario Bros. blindfolded. He played many pieces of music, including the aforementioned. And we were treated to not one, but two encores the first being "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII and the second was a medley of music from Castlevania. Just awesome!
Pictures from my time at GDC 2008 and the Video Games Live concert will be up on my Picasa site shortly (if they are not already uploaded).
I will end this post with one of the bad things that happened out in San Francisco. Needless to say, I am thoroughly pissed the fuck off about this!
One, because it happened in the first place and the asshole who did it didn't even have the decency to leave an apology! Two, because I always park in fucking garages so that this shit doesn't happen! Three, because it's probably going to cost me >= $1000 to get the rear bumper replaced! This gets my blood boiling, and makes me think of one thing that alleviates my anger somewhat. This comic from Penny Arcade, quote, "From my black throne, I will lash together a machine of bone and blood, and fueled by my hatred for you this fear engine will bore a hole between this world and that one."
