My name badge for the Casual Connect conference I went to in July
Several people have asked me how I’ve been enjoying my new game development job. Well, I really like it and I’ve been learning a ton! 🙂 It’s a small start-up company, so it’s just me and two other developers. It took a while to get used to the new software, tools, and libraries and I’m still learning new things every day. In addition to development, I’m also involved in the design process and it’s been fun offering my input in the games we’re working on. I also like when we get to spend time testing games (getting paid to play games, darn!). 😛 We have a couple of games that should be released shortly, so I’ll be sure to let you guys know when they’re available.
Oh, and one of the neat things about being a game developer I can justify playing video games as “research.” 😉 😀
Nick has been keeping busy in his job, too. He was nominated and recognized for being awesome at a recent annual iSchool retreat. He’s also now on two UW certificate advisory boards. Nick’s been working hard on the new iSchool website, which launches next week. It’ll be a huge improvement over the current website and everyone’s really excited to see it go live.
Last night’s Zaw pizza
Last night, we had pizza from Zaw, a bake-at-home pizza place that uses fresh, local ingredients. We were first introduced to Zaw by Martin (one of Nick’s coworkers) and his wife, Shelly, shortly after we moved to Seattle last year. When Groupon had a 50% off deal the other day, we couldn’t pass it up. We tried a pizza that was half Arugula Patch (prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, basil, parmesan, mozzarella, and arugula) and half Tailgate Feast (bacon, pepperoni, caramelized red onions, parmesan, and mozzarella). Both were really good. 🙂
Sean (a friend of ours) moved to Seattle a couple weeks ago and it’s been fun teaching him all of the quirks about Seattle, along with fun things to see and good places to eat. Most of the major differences relate to traffic: carpool lanes, express lanes, tolls, the bus system, parking, etc., but there are other things like the plastic bag ban and recycling / food & yard waste that he’s been getting used to, too.
What else is new? Nick and I started playing a new game called Guild Wars 2 that I’ve been blogging about on my personal blog. It’s an MMORPG similar to World of Warcraft, but with a lot of improvements. Nick and I have been having fun exploring the world and seeing this new take on the genre.