Its good to be posting an actual comic. My stand-in from last week was something, but it certainly wasn't the standard we would like to expect. 

So my degree was in Computer Game Design. I like to pretend this means I was briefly in the game industry, but if I'm being completely honest with myself, I know barely any more about what its actually like to be paid for making games than I know what its like to be be Mickey Mouse. 

That being said, I do have a fair number of friends in the industry, and I was deeply immersed in the culture for a few years, and so I like to think I'm better than average at analyzing games and the industry that creates them. Just to reiterate what has been said far better by others: Making a game is hard. It is a strong contender the single hardest creative endeavor that exists these days, if only for the coordination of so many moving parts. Add the fact that every game studio I've ever seen tries to reinvent the process, and you have something that is at best insanely difficult and at worst a living nightmare.

I have immense respect for the people who keep making games, who keep the dream alive, day in and day out. 

Why is this relevant? Well, yesterday was the first day of E3, that time of year that Angelenos probably fear and the games industry comes out to show off its best, brightest, and most expensive. It was a day of super-shiny press conferences from Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony, press conferences that probably cost millions to put together and which showed off games that cost tens of millions to make. 

Its really interesting (and sometimes disheartening) to see how much like the movie industry the game industry is becoming. There are always the big blockbusters in the established franchises that push the visual and envelope as explosively as possible, and there are always the smaller titles, some independent, some not, that truly explore the limits of the art form, and which I often enjoy playing more. 

2014 has yet to really sink itself in as a stellar year for games, and E3 has done little to change that for me. 2015, however, looks to be when the wheels come off the "next generation", and I hope we get more than shinier graphics.

Thanks,

Philip

P.S: Assassin's Creed Unity needs more boats.