Life has been awful busy with the holiday season upon us. We’re transitioning at work as it is, so trying to tie up loose ends in time for vacation is quite the task, but I’ve always been more comfortable in a high-stress environment (high-stress as in engaging and intense, not running around with my hair on fire). The audio identity of this game continues to develop, and co-workers and investors continue to get excited over what is happening with this system. I’m especially happy to be in an environment full of people that I can intellectualize with. Sound design has always been so literal in games, and to be able to talk about music theory and sound design in an academic manner with people lets me know on a daily basis that this is the place where we can really start changing that attitude. There’s an eagerness behind it all that makes it feel like college again.

I finally found a Wii last Sunday. My wife and I didn’t want to deal with any pre-launch madness, but we were sorely disappointed to find that weren’t able to just waltz into a store and find a machine. Calling and visiting one store after another quickly became demoralizing, but thankfully we heard about Best Buy’s Sunday event, so we arrived at 5:00AM and waited all morning. Finally the sales tickets came out and we walked triumphantly home with our system.

We’re having a terrific time playing. We bought Rayman Raving Rabbids, and it’s about as funny as can be. If there’s ever a rabbid doll that gets released, I’m all over that business. We’ve also been playing Wii Sports a lot at work, while Gears of War seems to be collecting dust. It’s a real feat to me to be able to grab the attention of so many people at once, hard-core and casual gamers alike here, and entertain them so fully with things like bowling and tennis (without even a rifle or a zombie to be seen!). If I had to name only one thing Nintendo’s good at, it’s reaching that inner gamer in us that never really grows up. I can’t wait to go home for Christmas so that I can introduce the Wii to my parents and play all the games with my friends. I expect a truly epic time once Smash Bros. Brawl comes out.

I’m especially having a great time playing games with my wife again. She’s totally addicted to boxing, and she’s really funny to watch because she gets all into it. The dog can’t seem to figure out what that little white thing is and why it keeps making noise. I’d let her play but I don’t think she could get the pointer high enough. :p