James Wynn

So, I attended the Game Developer’s Conference 2007 in San Fransisco. Was a rather good time. Hanging out with tons of people who love making games, playing games, and drinking. It hadn’t occurred to me that game developers would be notorious binge drinkers, but it really makes since after some thinking. After all the sessions ended, if everyone didn’t go to an after-party to get smashed on free booze, we just wandered around the expo center and pillaged the free beer from the studios/vendors.  A good time was had by all.

I shook the hand of the man who invented Tetris, saw Shigeru Miyamoto talk about Mario, and Eiji Aonuma talk about Zelda (both of these talks were nothing less than spectacular), and met the directors/developers of many studios who make some of my favorite games.  Most of the vendors/studios were giving out tons of swag; picked up numerous t-shirts, mugs, stickers, etc.  One of the things I got was a free copy of Madden 2007, which I will rant about later.

After talking to many recruiters and other developers I’m feeling much more marketable now.  Not necessarily in comparison to them, but in comparison to what they are looking for.  It really puts the industry in to a slightly more friendly and tractable perspective.

In short, the conference was an absolute blast. Will definitely have to make it a habit.

Some time has past since I last posted anything and this has been due to many factors. School and work keep me busy, but not quite as busy as one might think. This is my last semester, so I get to deal with all that goes along with graduation. Also, I have a new job this semester which I enjoy quite a lot. I happily and with a small amount of pride can say that I make video games. Sure these things keep me fairly busy, but the real distraction has been the same thing it has always been, namely girls.

I try to keep my rants on here as far removed from my personal life as I can. I do this mostly because I hate reading other people’s rants about trite drivel that everyone else goes through, and can therefore not abide subjecting others to this as well. Occasionally though, I break this rule if something personal is the main source of my ranting and frustration.

I’ve learned quite a few things lately. Most important is that my first instinct with girls is 100% correct. I can tell within minutes whether they are worth the time, and usually it seems that they aren’t. Perhaps I should search for better stock. I’ve been told I should check libraries and churches, but I’m hesitant to disturb those ‘good folk.’ Another thing that I’ve noticed and I cannot seem to get past the accuracy of this generality, is judgement based on name. They can say you can tell a lot about a person by their name, and I agree. Is this societal? Or does it perhaps say something about the type of people their parents were? Nicknames seem to be even more telling.

This has been very general ranting about girls thus far, but really its one girl in particular that has gotten under my skin. I cannot abide flaky people, and I CERTAINLY cannot abide flaky girls. People that cannot communicate; people that cannot respond; people that cannot speak their minds; people that do not have the strength to say what they mean. Apparently she didn’t really care as much as she said, and apparently she didn’t find it important enough to say.

“Sometimes it takes a hard lesson to teach something already known.”

I’ve always found it irritating and trite when people post their personal and emotional woes on blogs. Yes, its a forum where at you can display whatever dribblings your mind can spit out, but all too often it seems that these gibberings are the same problems that everyone else has had, and has already read about so many times. Why not provide entertaining content, or a semi-original thought. Perhaps even just post your solution to your own problems. A blog is neither personal nor private, why treat it like a diary. Why do I care? I dont really. I dont read other peoples blogs, not often least wise.

Maybe you think this post in itself is a personal rant, and to you I pose a question and a statement. Why does it seem like every time I post on this blog Im drunk? Because the only time I have enough free time to post, I’ve already had enough free time to do the rest of my hobbies.

PS. Never have I said these posts would be logical, coherent, linear, or even suitable for audiences of any type.

Ok, I’ve been having an utter blast in Japan. I’ve met some amazing people and have seen some awesome things. All of the people I’ve met here (save two, which I wont go into right now) have been great. Im not sure if its just being in a strange environment together or what, but everyone I’ve met has been great and I’ve made so many friends. I hope sometime they will come visit me in Oklahoma (especially Yuko and Ayumi), but for right now Im just glad to have made such great friends.

BTW, if you havent noticed I’m currently typing off a wicked drunk. Was having a not so on-day so I decided to kill it with some good drink and better friends. I dont think I will ever bitch about how Japanese beer is so expensive in America, ITS MORE EXPENSIVE HERE!

I’ve noticed some very interesting things as of late. 1) I knew last summer when I left Japan that I didnt want to leave yet, but upon returning this summer I have realized that the reason that I dont want to leave is because (to me at least) it feels like home. Not just like MY home, but there is some quality about it that just makes me feel comfortable here. I dont really even notice most of the time that I’m in a foreign country or that people speak a different language. 2) Girls are generally the same all over the world (or at least America and Japan, as my experiences are somewhat to these places). I’ve heard skinny girls here in Japan still complain about needing to go on diets, and I’ve seen girls here just as crazy as any American girl. But, yet there is something that is a bit different about the girls here. As much as I would hate to fall in to the stereotype of ‘that American with the Japanese girlfriend’ I find that there is something strangly intriguing about Japanese girls. Its beyond the Japanese ‘look’, its something about the attitude, or possibly the personality that the society breeds — I’m not sure. Or perhaps I’ve just met one or two exceptions, the few random girls that are particularly ‘good’. Who knows. I’ve never claimed to be good at such evaluations.

Now for part two of the synopsis of my trip:
After a few days of aclimatization (real word?) I finally began my Japanese classes. These started slow, but with activities with the buddies wherein I spoke almost exclusively [bad] Japanese, my skill with the language slowly progressed. I can scarecly say I can always get my point across, much less that I am fluent, but I can often say what I mean to now. I visited various shrines and temples with the buddies, some of which I was able ot snag pictures of. We also attended a party, and subsequently hit up some karaoke action (pictures of neither [zanen]). I made some interesting friends and got to talk to many very attractive girls , but the party was too short to talk to any one person very long, so I went to karaoke with but a few friends. I’ve also eaten at some awesome restaraunts too; its amazing how little you want certain food when it just isnt available. But maybe thats just me, other people have been complaining.

BTW, I finally got a phone up here. If you want to email me hit up: jameswynn@k.vodafone.ne.jp
And when I say, ‘if you want to’ I mean ‘you god damned well better’

More Pics forthcoming…