The GDC and Toilet Cover Tissue

I went to the GDC last week. For those not in the know, GDC stands for Game Developer's Conference. Ever since I got back I've been trying to decide what exactly to say about it. I still haven't decided, so I'm not going to say much today. What I will talk about is defining a little of what the GDC really is. Since I came back all anyone has asked me was about the new cool games coming out. Well, let's get this out of the way: The GDC is not about games. The GDC is about making games. There were hardly any game demos on the floor, and most of those were only to show off an engine, or an animation program, or new hardware, or something like that. A lot of those weren't even available to play, just to see. I did get to play a few games, and I will get to those eventually. It's probably going to take a few posts to really get out all I want to say about the conference. It was amazing. A very eye opening experience for me. One of those times when you learn how much there really is left to learn. I felt completely out of my league, but the really cool thing was at almost no point did I feel like no one cared what my level was. They all wanted everyone to be able to learn and adapt new technologies. The game development community truly is an awesome group of people. They love what they do and they want to help others do it and love it along with them.


Ok, one other thing I wanted to talk about today, and the real reason I'm writing this at work when I probably shouldn't be, is the tissue that you get to cover toilets in public bathrooms. Who actually thinks this stuff does the slightest bit of good? It's thinner than regular toilet paper. If there's even the slightest bit of moisture on the seat when you put it down it absorbs it instantly and the slightest touch to that spot will tear the whole thing. Whether it gets wet or not doesn't even matter, though, because as soon as you sit down the stuff just bunches up and stops actually covering the toilet seat. Then if you move the stuff tears so easily that now you're just sitting on a regular toilet seat with a bunch of thin tissue paper stuck to your butt. And stuck is definately the right word. Every time you stand up what happens? the whole thing comes up with you. Hope everyone else tears out the little middle section, cause if you leave it hanging you've now got a portion of tissue hanging from your butt that was just sitting in the toilet you just deficated in. Since it's so weak from being wet the gravity is enough to break it off from the rest so that it can plop down on the seat or on your shoes or at best in the water, where it lands with a splash which covers your legs in foul water. So, the whole point of trying to protect yourself from the horrors of the toilet seat with this hair thin piece of paper is pretty much nullified by the fact that you used it.
Yet every time I feel the urge at work it doesn't matter how bad I have to go, I can't sit down without that thin layer of paper acting like a child's safety blanket protecting me from the evils on a dirty toilet seat.

NSMB Extra, Cadbury Eggs, and the Game Developer's Conference

I was wrong, there are extra features in the game once you beat it! You can go back to the first world and there is a new mushroom house. In it you can spend a ton of the stars you collect in the game to purchase different backgrounds for the information screens. Isn't that exciting?

I know, you're wondering what happened to the Cadbury Eggs. Talk about exciting, I'm sure people out there must be salivating, literally, as they eagerly await this very special review. It's coming, I promise, and in an all new format for this blog.
Unfortunately it may take longer than I anticipated. Life has been busy and I was sick this last week. I have mostly recovered, but now I'm catching up with work and Wednesday I will be off to the Game Developer's Conference. There I hope to be able to update with pictures and maybe an interview or two. I bought a laptop for school coming up, but I am hoping they deliver it in time for me to use while I'm in San Francisco. Then I'd be like a real journalist or something. My goal is to have a conversation with Peter Molyneux, one of my personal heroes in the gaming industry. He's having a big lecture thingie. Or is that thingy? Spell check says thingy, but I like thingie better.

So, if I get my laptop in my next update will be on Wednesday or Thursday. If not probably Sunday or Monday. Wish me luck on getting something worth blogging.