Superbear Productions

Behold our promotional video and tremble!

http://vimeo.com/14838718

Round 0: Completed

Howdy! I just finished uploading my BVW Round 0 assignment to YouTube, so now you can see what I learned my first week at the ETC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca6-LiIqu6E

To prove I could fulfill the role of Sound Designer on a BVW team, I had to choose one soundless trailer to add background music and special effects to. The trailer I chose is 9, by Shane Acker, and the song playing in the background is an edited version of Ghost by Gackt.

Sadly, I didn't realize when making it that creating a mixdown of my sound effects, while convenient, would reduce their volume by half, so many of the coolest effects do not play like I want them to. But at the end of the day, I made Adobe Audition my software slave and am now in a great position to contribute to the project my Round 1 team and I are already hard at work developing. Onward and forward, adventurers!

The Lost Video...

has been found!

So remember at the beginning of the summer when I was writing reviews and making video reviews with Classic Game Room? I had totally forgotten, but I made a second video review with them that they never put up on YouTube.

Until now!

So here it is: my video review of Final Fantasy XII.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB237kNjCU8

Katherine's First Day of School

On the walk from my apartment to the shuttle that would take me to my first day of classes at the ETC, memories of other first school days played through my head like a sentimental montage. Not since junior high have I been so anxious and excited to begin new classes with new teachers and new classmates.

Even though I don't remember the first time my mother dropped me off at O.M. Roberts Elementary for kindergarten, I imagine I felt much the same as today. My lunch was probably pretty identical, too- pb&j, an apple, and homemade cookies (courtesy of my roommate's mother). I didn't know what the day would hold for me, but I knew it would be super fun :)

So what does this have to do with video games? Today marks a significant step in my journey to become a video game writer. Starting today, I am a full-time student at CMU's Entertainment Technology Center, where I'll Build Virtual Worlds, create amazing Visual Stories, practice Improvisation in group settings, and build up my knowledge of ETC Fundamentals.

Summer may have proven an intellectual wasteland for my blog (doubt you wanted to hear about my exciting job as an office assistant), but from now on, I'll have plenty of material to pull from. Stick around, kiddies- you might learn something ;)

Three weeks of summer...

and I'm bored already! I know I should be enjoying the freedom from homework, exams, and the dreaded all-nighters, but for me summer is an overly long desert of low-paying, mind-numbingly dull jobs between student loans and learning -_- Kind of whiny, I know, but summer isn't nearly as fun when you have bills to pay and a degree in Japanese and Creative Writing.

You may have noticed there is a new tab atop the blog: I've posted my Senior Honors Thesis, as promised. Unfortunately, Blogger has some bizarre formatting issues so parts of said thesis are either in a random color or leaking off the page, but it's readable for the most part. If you would like a proper copy, just shoot me an email (my address is on my resume).

I have been somewhat productive on the video game review front- ClassicGameRoom.com now hosts 8 of my reviews. Just do a quick search on their website for the following:

World of Warcraft

Kingdom Hearts II

Pharaoh

Aion

Final Fantasy XII

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

The World Ends With You

Guild Wars: Nightfall

They have also posted my video review of Kingdom Hearts II on their YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-MU0tEXM8 Unfortunately, I will no longer be working with ClassicGameRoom.com, but I can assure you that I will continue to voice my opinions about video games loudly and vigorously, whether people ask me to or not ;p

Well, I'm off to save the land of Azeroth. See you soon!

Getting my name out there

Howdy readers! Sorry for the long pause; I was busy finishing up my senior honors thesis and building booth for Carnival. It has been quite a month!

My thesis on American and Japanese video game consumers is finally complete! Thank the gods! As interesting as the topic is, I can't say I enjoyed the lengthy and tedious research process. The final paper actually turned out to have some measure of academic integrity, and it's a decent length. Once I receive acceptance by the dean of my college and present it at Meeting of the Minds, I will try to post it on my blog for your reading pleasure. It's a whopping 30-something pages, but hey, it represents two semesters worth of work. If you only get so far as the abstract, I won't blame you.

On my last update, I told you guys about my new job as a writer for ClassicGameRoom.com. It's been a few weeks now, and there are several more reviews of mine on the website: Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts II, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and Aion. Search for them at http://www.classicgameroom.com

Today I had my first recording session at the secret CGR studio. I recorded gameplay footage from two video games and did a voice-over review from a script I wrote. Mark, the brains of the operation, said they will hopefully be up on the YouTube page early next week. So check back here next week and make sure to subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/user/inecomcompany?blend=1&ob=4 Reviews are posted daily, and Mark has a great sense of humor, so I highly recommend it :) Plus, with all the classic games and consoles they review, it's a great opportunity to take a gratifying stroll down memory lane and revisit your favorite Atari or Sega Genesis games.

That's all for now. Two weeks until I graduate! XD

Katherine James: Professional Video Game Reviewer

Omg, you won't believe the part-time job I found for the summer! I just signed on with classicgameroom.com as a video game reviewer! I'm getting PAID to PLAY video games and WRITE reviews! Seriously, you can't beat that ;)

My first review, about Blizzard's World of Warcraft (perhaps you've heard of it?), just went up on the website. Please check it out: http://www.classicgameroom.com/world-of-warcraft-pc-review.html

I'll try to keep you guys updated any new reviews of mine that they post. I can't believe I actually found a summer job that combines playing video games and semi-creative writing. Someone up there must seriously love me ^_^