People. If you’re trying to log on to the site right about now, you’ll see something completely different - and need I point out fabulous/gleaming/fresh/stunning/beautiful/superb - from what you’ve ever seen on Power Soccer before.

The biggest update ever is taking place at this very moment. If you were here, at the office, you’d feel the excitement in the air. Exhausted but optimistic game developers everywhere, whos bodies are filled with  Management by Milkshake milkshakes, code around the clock coffee and please-stay-awake-cake. Everyone has done everything within their power to make this a successful release, to make this the biggest day yet in the history of Power Soccer.

So stay tuned. It’s going to be a great day.

/ shaolinda, heading for another cup of coffee

Went out for a quick stroll during the lunch break… Laura (daughter of mine) went to work with me today and we decided to stop by at Espresso House to indulge in coffeine and chocolate. Take away might definetely bring the world to an earlier end than necessary (all those paper cups…) but for now I let myself enjoy that latte.

Why is it that everything feels easier, brighter and better when I hold a tall latte in my hand? Why do I feel so free and great? Happening. On the move. Like a Nike ad or Sex and the city: The lost season or something… I mean, it’s just coffee!

Last night, I felt rather tired around 9 o clock, thought I was ready to go to bed. An early night, I thought to myself. Then I was stupid enough to pick my book up, sat down in front of the fire place, getting further and further into the dark murder mystery set in the English countryside. But of course, where else?

And, of course, I couldn’t put the damn book down so I went to bed just after 1 o’clock. Excellent. Who needs more than four and a half hours sleep anyway?

(G.O.D. I’m tired…coffee please…)

…one of the guys on the racing team said “…this might be a game for you” and I have to agree… I think I have to get it when it comes out. (although I always say that and I never do…) And here is a video if you wanna have a look.

You know me, a sucker for anything remotely related to martial arts, swords and ninjas in general.

Look - cute lethal Samurai enemy:

x —————————————- end of useful information ——————————————– x

…and here is a way too long P.S./endless rambling on my everlasting obsession with karate kids and ninjas…

I’m so incredibly fascinated by people (or animals, like police dogs) who are ridiculously skilled beyond my wildest imagination. Those who have devoted most of their time - and life - to becoming the best they can be (ok so the dogs don’t really make those decisions for themselves…but still). It’s amazing to see how far one can get by dedication, will power and serious training. And, I guess, a sensible diet, running, mental exercise, no drinking or smoking, probably no coffe, no lazy-Sundays-on-the-sofa, no popcorn…

Am I jealous? Yes and no. I want to be a next-to-superhero, but I also want the popcorn-and-coffe-diet. And the long hours on the sofa, stretched out while reading about people doing stuff in places I’m never gonna go or I might be watching a movie, most likely some big time romance or superheroic worldsaving.

For some reason I don’t want to surrender the idea of one (wo)man’s potential impact on the world, how we all can make a difference, the constant struggle between good and evil and how we can choose sides, that it actually pays off to do the right thing… Maybe it’s just part of the human nature, dreaming of better worlds and being extraordinary in a life where you actually learn to appreciate life being stuck on repeat from time to time…

*snap*

Jumping right out of the heavy thinking mode and jumping into multitasking spotify/game production mode.

Later!

/ L

We happened to watch a documentary last night, an American Academy Award nominated documentary about the serious subject of the American national debt.

Doesn’t sound very interesting? Trust me, it is.

I found a 30 minute version here. I.O.U.S.A.: The Movie.

Do yourself a favor and watch it. It’s like a thriller and comedy combined into one. You laugh (at Bush), you get scared (thinking about how unstable the economy is), you feel enlightened (cause in less than an hour you understand the concept of national debt and the impact it has on…everything). But it’s not just about USA, it makes you think about the entire consumer driven lifestyle.

Watch it. Now. No not after you’ve read your e-mails, made more coffee or walked the dog. Now!

(and remind me, how many zeros are there really in a trillion..?)

This simply won’t do. I’ve been so caught up in all the kind-of-management things that I’ve lost track of my blogging! What kind of “I loooove to write”-attitude is that? What true-to-heart writer lets tiny things like “responsibilities” and “work” get in the way of the Written Word? Exactly. Those who acually are employed somewhere and have rent to pay, kids to feed (and buy expensive gadgets for) and a car to fix. Nevertheless, it’s time to find the time to blog. And it gives me such a warm fluffy feeling too.

Monday. Bad hair. Good clothes. The mental stability somewhere around 5-6. (surprisingly positive all of a sudden) A team ready to rock. A nearly blue sky (fine, light grey, but close enough). Fruit salad for breakfast. Two cups of GOOD coffee (thanks to Per L who could be bothered to go to the shop). Lunch plans with ex neighbour and good friend Nina.

It just might be a good day.

What’s going on on your planet?

p.s. watched Juno again this weekend, found it on my computer, had completely forgotten about it and God I wish I could write something that witty and sharp and funny. fine so the critics call it names and some say it’s not all that original but I love it all the same. it describes love and independence and insecurity and relations in a really cool and true way.

Diablo Cody wrote the script and I want her name AND her talent. Dammit.

We have daily drink-coffe-catch-up-talk-about-anything-get-togethers at 10. And at 15. (that’s 3 p.m. for those of you who speak a.m./p.m. language). I don’t always have coffee and I don’t always make it to the kitchen at all, but when I do there’s always a conversation taking place that fits nicely on the blog. And mostly that’s the case with the lunch discussions as well.

Most people here might be programmers, tech dudes and men - but they sure offer a great variety of hanging-by-the-coffee-machine-talk topics. You never know it you’re gonna spend the next half an hour learning about sharks, corduroy pants or sheep. Or maybe just some random ramblings on the upside of goldfish, dangers of daffodils and potential joy of getting a new haircut. A-n-y-t-h-i-n-g.

Of course, a lot of times it has something to do with games. Computers. Pixels. Resolution. Graphics. Technology. Bandwidth. Internet. Movies. Tv series. Avatars. Music. Gender.

Aaaah. There’s an interesting topic, let’s focus on that for a minute. It all started with Anders showing us a picture in his phone, taken at a game shop the other day. How about this for gender neutrality?

Well I don’t know about you guys, but I sure feel like we treat our kids equally and really do our best to eliminate that prejudiced gender burden…right?

At this 10 o’ clock gender-around-the-coffe-discussion we came to the conclusion that it’s all about the money. Surprise. Share holders and boards want to improve account balances, they care less for making the world a better (more genderly equal) place. Game studios will do basically any game in order to be the “next big thing” or basically just pay the rent. Noone takes the chance of breaking the habit and be brave enough to go where hardly anyone has gone before.

But seriously oh dear God almighty - how many versions of World War II are we gonna have to endure? How many shades of grey is there? How many oversized killing machines stuck in a dystopian city is gonna look down on me from the shelves at the game store?

I wish money didn’t rule. I wish independent developers got loads of money for making those innovative and cool games that, today, most people miss out on ’cause they don’t know they exist. I wish game developers weren’t such cowards. I wish more people took bigger interest in finding out what the key elements of difference in “male” and “female” gaming is really all about. I wish there were no such thing as a “boys” or “girls” section in the clothes, or toy, store. I wish my only clothing option in Test Drive Unlimited wasn’t “miniskirt” and “sexy top”.

Well well, I can sit here all day, keep wishing for things to change. I guess I have to start with doing everything in my power to stop crap like that entering the Power Racing zone. And keep telling Ruben there’s no such thing as a girl’s color… and buy him pink socks.

Soon it’s you-know-what… FREDAGSFIKA! Have to pop out for some drink. As in Coke. Not vodka, no no no…

Take care, have a good one.

/ L

Our eminent Executive Producer Richard held a two hour “getting to know scrum”-session with the racing team today. It was partially based on some equally eminent slides by Henrik Kniberg, the number one God in the house of Scrum according to Richard

And I agree. Those two days of Scrum Mastering he took us through were filled with realistic, eye opening observations and examples from real life, all delivered with a great sense of humour and self-perception. Entertaining and educational.

So, we agree that Henrik is on the same level as Jesus. Minimum. Maybe he’s Jesus’ older brother. Anyway, what was interesting to see today, was that the developers themselves didn’t have a hard time getting the core values or principles of Scrum and Agile. They could relate. They nodded and smiled and remembered projects they’d been part of that were very similar to those presented on the slides.

And that’s the beauty of Scrum. It’s all about common sense. It’s not the magic bullet. It’s not (despite what I said about Henrik) a divine solution of all evil in the world. It’s just a matter of facing reality, accepting facts and STOP LYING!

A stakeholder (investor/publisher) want something. They ask someone (CEO/Project Manager/Sales Director) how long it will take to build and how much money it’s gonna cost. That someone wants to get the contract. In order to get it, they lie. Yes. They know they can’t make any promises, they know everything changes during the production cycle, they know software development isn’t predictable… still they make promises.

The traditional waterfall method isn’t based on mutual trust or the acceptance of change as a given factor. And that’s why most projects of that kind are destined to fail. (I know there are endless ways to define “fail” or “success”, but still…) Things change. People reconsider. Stuff happens. Nothing, ever, follows the plan.

And that whole trust/lie-issue is covered in this excellent presentation by Henrik (it’s in Swedish, sorry all you foreign people dying to know more about why scrummers don’t lie)

…and that’s where my focus just drops. Need coffe or water or something. I think it’s time to wrap this up and sign out. And also, it’s demo time in a few minutes. This sprint is over and we show the rest of the office, potential stakeholders etc what’s been done since last week.

I think the retrospective is gonna have to wait until tomorrow. My brain is really of no use to anyone right now. Excellent time to go through the product backlog.

See you later.

// Linda

Well, it seems to be a rather perky, but at the same time dull day today. The hanging-by-the-coffemachine-conversation addressed such issues as the potential risks (?) for kids surfing the web, death, horror movies, gruesome pictures and car accidents. Cheerful indeed.

We just seem to be hovering around the office right now. The rain is pouring down. Friday “fika” (you know, the coffe break get together) is only 20 minutes away. We’re not entirely focused but the atmosphere is great.

There is some goal keeper testing going on (Michael yells at Pow), some Maya discussions taking place, graphical pros and cons, car physics alteration talk…and… Anders and Jonas are running back and forth in the kitchen. I hope they have a good reason, or I’m seriously worried. (Anders just explained: they were sidestepping… well that’s all right then)

Photos, you ask? Well of course. It wouldn’t be Friday unless pictures were posted on the blog.

The coffe-machine-chat-dudes Anders and Jonas:

<—– The happiest Tomas in the world

Simon. His dog’s name is Yoda. Respect.

We have a candy shop. Nom nom nom.

And Per, looking terribly sharp and handsome today:

Me and Tomas. Participating in this kitchen charade.

And now - some actual development taking place:

Mikko’s location drafts —->  

Our next location in progress - are you excited? I’m excited!

Jukka modelling the next car:

Ok, it’s two minutes to “fika” - gotta go back to the kitchen now. Have a great weekend, play a lot, talk to your friends, phone your grandmother, take the trash out, don’t drink and drive, be nice to little animals and don’t forget to recycle.

See you all on Monday!

/ L

One of the guys turned 30 earlier this week and we took the chance to celebrate with cake at the weekly Friday 3 p.m. coffee break. Some chocolate, some marzipan and some raspberry - and cream, of course.

Anyway. It’s Power Challenge Crew cup time right now, to settle once and for all who the best PS player is in the office(s). Like hello? Do we need to play a cup to figure that out? We all know his name, it begins with “Pow” and ends with “dersnow”.

I’m also diving deeper into kongregate.com. What a great place for finding new ideas and inspiration. Like this - really addictive! http://www.kongregate.com/games/Jayisgames/casual-gameplay-escape

It’s Friday afternoon and the weekend is just around the corner. Will definetely check the blog for posts though so keep posting!

Signing out.

// Linda