Man, have I been busy lately. It’s such a nice feeling though - knowing that I’ve got enough to really fill a whole day. Things are really hotting up at Gamasutra for me now. Yesterday, an interview with Warren Blythe from NaturalPoint went up. They’re pushing the TrackIR (pictured above) which is a “USB PC controller that tracks the users head motions through six degrees of 3 dimensional movement using reflective markers placed on a hat, or headset”. I really dig that he’s so effortlessly enthusiastic about it, and seems to have all of these great ideas about how people could use the product in ways it’s not being used now. It’s a pleasure to speak to people like that. One little snippit that didn’t make it to the interview posted:
Blythe: If you’d like a system so you can just try it out, let me know.
Me: Thanks for the offer - I’ll decline, mostly because my computer isn’t capable of running any of the games supported.
Blythe: OH SNAP! :^)
Is there no shortage of people within the games industry who will give me shit about my stupidly underpowered computer? It seems not.
I’m also beginning work on a couple of columns they’re bring back: Media Consumption, in which I’ll be talking to developers and other industry personalities about what they’re into right now in terms of music, books, films and games, and Playing Catch Up, in which I’ll be talking to “notable video game industry figures about their celebrated pasts and promising futures”. Both were originally written by Frank Cifaldi, who did an amazing job, so I suppose there’s some element of trepidation in the respect that there’s a lot to live up to.
But it is a great opportunity, and should be a lot of fun. I’ve spent the past day simply emailing people about taking part. I don’t want to give away too many surprises, but there’s some big names involved in both, and it’s going to be very exciting to see what they’ve got to say. That said, as always, I’m up for more suggestions, especially for Playing Catch Up, so if there’s someone you’d like to see featured, leave a comment, or drop me an email.