MechAssault Diaries, Part 1
Why is E3 in May? Don't the organizers know that Christmas comes in September in the game business? Don't they know developers are insanely busy? Guess not. Trade shows are rough and they always exact a toll on the team. You would think by now I'd be immune, but this time is different. The goal is a little loftier. This time, the pressure is tangible. Right now, Day 1 Studios does one project at a time. It had better be good.
Mechs on Sunset Blvd Naturally, I was nervous heading to LA to see the debut of MechAssault®. Not much at stake, really—just the success or failure of two years of work for the Day 1 team. I also felt a solid showing of our game would cement our relationship with Microsoft and possibly create additional business opportunities with the giant publisher. A poor showing could cripple Day 1. Pressure makes diamonds or ulcers, depending on who's talking. My first stop on the convention floor is the Microsoft booth. Yee Ha! There is a giant (20-foot tall!) model of the Cougar BattleMech (the star of MechAssault) greeting people as they come into the booth. How cool is that?! I spend the next hour or so pretending to make small talk with Mitch Gitelman, the producer at Microsoft, but I'm not paying attention. I'm watching people play the game. Wow! People are picking up the controllers and being successful right away… wait, they're having fun doing it. God, I love this business! I can remember Mitch saying, "Relax, people are enjoying the game and saying nice things." Screw that, relaxing can come later. I need to see what the other publishers are showing. "Competition" is any other game on which a player might prefer to spend fifty bucks, but our specific competition is the seven—count 'em, seven—robot games coming to Xbox® this holiday. One by one, Mike McDonald (Studio Director for Day 1's office in Hunt Valley) and I visit and play all the competing games. Now I can relax. I think we are leading the pack. Capcom's game is pretty cool, but is it really fun? I'm feeling good about the decisions we made in the game design. My confidence is growing as we get more positive feedback. Relaxation finally comes, and suddenly, I'm exhausted. Seeing our development team react to Microsoft's presentation at the show pumps me back up. Microsoft puts MechAssault everywhere. On cars, on billboards, and on banners … everywhere. The team loves it. They've been busting ass for two years and deserve to see their work shown off like this. By Denny Thorley, Executive Producer, Day 1 Studios |
