Gamerscore Blog in Chicago

The guys from the Microsoft GamerScore Blog were in Chicago yesterday. I was invited to hang out, talk shop, and play a few games. All in all it was a wonderful time.

While I did get a chance to play some pre-release games, the real highlight wase the great conversations that covered topics like Second Life, building community trust, future of the XCDP, the impact of Twitter, the significance of Dunbar's number, new and innovative achievement types, casual gaming, the future of XBLA, our gamer histories, and of course, their perspectives on the pros and cons of working in the game industry.

My favorite games were:

1. Shadowrun - I played the beta for a few minutes while I was at Fatty Chubs' house and didn't really enjoy it. This version was MUCH more polished and wow... I had a TON of fun... even though Chris Paladino had an easy time WORKING me over with the dwarf. This game is back on my radar.
2. Undertow - This is an underwater shooter for XBLA. The whole goal is to shoot as many people as possible, take control points and stay alive. It has a very frantic feel to it with a ticket counter like BF1942. I enjoyed it.
3. Track & Field - This was a big surprise. A classic/retro game that is just so fun and easy to play. This one brought back good memories. I even unlocked three achievements while playing it at the event.
4. Project Sylpheed - I was really excited for this given that I have a big soft spot for space shooters. After playing it, I have to say it was a little frantic... I am willing to give it another long try though since I didn't have a whole lot of time to really learn/understand what was going on in the mission.

While the turn out at the event was a bit lower than I think they expected, that had the added benefit of making it a much smaller an intimate event which enabled a lot more conversation. A special thanks to everyone at Gamerscore Blog. They are truly a bunch of great people passionate about gaming, marketing, and reaching out to the ever expanding Xbox community.

Photos of me at the event:

1. Chris watching me completely suck at Tenchu Z
2. Dreaming up crazy types of achievements for future games
3. Watching Megaman Solid (Luther) play Sylpheed
4. During the Track & Field tournament I was talking to John in the background

If anyone else who was there has any photos, let me know so I can link to them!

Comments

[BadBoy House]

cant wait for track and field. brings back many happy memories of going into the arcade and replacing joysticks on my c64!