Teumessian Fox

The interview with Kush Games did not go well, in my opinion. It probably also didn’t help that it didn’t seem like they were looking for someone entry level or that their programming tests when I got there were pretty ridiculous. So I wasn’t wildly surprised when a few days later I got an email from them saying they didn’t have any openings for me. I’ve already described what I thought about their whole interview process to so many people that I’m sure I’m going to leave something out and this will sound even more like a sore loser, but suffice it to say I probably wouldn’t have taken the job had they offered it to me. Why make someone travel across the country in order to do more tests that could have been done without all the wasted time and expense of traveling? Then on top of that, the one problem that I had real difficulties with was one that you would have a huge advantage with had you seen the solution before, which is the worst test of a person’s abilities possible. Anyways, enough bitching, I didn’t get a job I probably wouldn’t have liked and that’s over.

Moving on, when I returned from California, I discovered I had an email from Big Huge Games inviting me out to an on-site interview with them. They offered two dates, so I emailed them back saying I preferred the first date. I didn’t get an email back confirming the date or any travel information, so I emailed them again. Today is the day the interview would have been had anything happened. I did everything I could think of to try to make this interview work without having a phone number I could call and clarify what was going on, which, as far as I can tell, isn’t published anywhere. So I’m feeling pretty jerked around from every direction right now. Hopefully my next round of applications and interview goes a bit better than the first round.

I just saw that the team that made ICO and Shadow of the Colossus is working on a PS3 game! Anybody that knows me, knows that I turn into (more of) a gibbering, drooling idiot any time either of those games comes into conversation, so I’m pretty excited. If Metal Gear Solid 4 hadn’t already clinched it, this would ensure my eager purchase of a PS3, in due time, hopefully once the price for the system has come down a little. If it hasn’t by the time either of these games is out, I’ll probably get in line and bend over like everybody else. And like it.

In other news, I’m flying out to Camarillo, CA tomorrow for an in-person interview with Kush Games on Friday. The more I hear from them about it, the more it sounds like I essentially have the job and they just want to get to know my personality a little bit to make sure I’ll fit in and show me around the place. So, hopefully I’ll have a job, finally, and I can get on with collecting all my precious trinkets. It’s a little annoying that Tony and Darryl are on the other side of LA, but I’m sure we’ll find the time to hang out occasionally at least. Anyways, yes, much exciting news.

I ran across this little story browsing the internet tonight and I feel I should repost it here for two main reasons. One, it’s an awesome story that will probably make anybody who likes watching the History Channel laugh, and two, I want to be able to remember what book it’s from so I can buy it later. I guess I’ll put a break after the first part, since it is kind of long.

“SR71 - Speed is King
An excerpt from “Sled Driver” by Brian Shul

There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status.

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I did my phone interview with 2K Sports on Wednesday and I would consider it a total flop. I’ve basically been sitting around waiting for an email from them that says something along the lines of “We’re no longer interesting in pursuing a position at our company for you”. I mean, come on, my brain melted down and I couldn’t tell them what a dot product is used for. The worst part is, I started to give the correct answer, second guessed myself and said I couldn’t remember. So I’ve been fuming the last few days over my own stupidity until finally Friday comes around and I was told I’d hear from them again by the end of the week. And what was their response?

Nice job on your interview! We would like to fly you in to our offices to interview you if you’re interested. Please let me know.

Holy flying sheep shit, how’d that happen?

This’ll just be a quick update because it’s late, but I wanted to add some developer blogs I’ve been discovering and reading lately before I forget. I’ve tried to pick some of those that update reasonably regularly and that I’ve found exceedingly interesting to read. It also helps if they don’t read like advertisements for the games they’ve been working on very often. Anyways, they’re there, they’re interesting, read ‘em. Maybe I’ll get to work with some of them someday. Certainly if you have a suggestion for one that I’ve missed, let me know. Most of these are just links from Japanmanship that I’ve been reading for a while now, so I’m sure there are more.