lead-programmer
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Talking to Champions Online's lead programmer
The position of lead programmer is typically reserved for those who love two things, numbers and -- football? Apparently so, in the case of the Champions Online team's Charlie Grisafi, who likens the job to that of being a football coach. We're inclined to agree once he lays out everything he's responsible for getting to people -- programmers to program, design documents and other various bits of software. So yeah in a sense it's like commanding a team of skilled people with different 'plays' which given to the right people will get the job done successfully.All right, enough of the analogies. The truth is it's a rough job -- but somebody has got to, uh, program it. That is we mean somebody has got to program Champions Online and if it weren't for Charlie and his programmers, we wouldn't have anything to play. So what about this mathematical man's credentials? Well they're nothing to scoff at, that's for sure. Citing an 25 year history as a software engineer -- 18 of which have been as a gaming programmer -- tends to cause us to nod in silence and respect. We certainly couldn't do something involving so much math for more than 25 minutes, let alone years. Our hats off to you sir, thy math is strong.
God of War's Jaffe inspired by Britney vs. Christina
Sure you knew that God of War was inspired by Clash of the Titans and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but did you know that Christina Aguilera influenced its development as well?In an interview conducted by Lorne Lanning for a session at GDC last week, David Jaffe revealed that thinking of (the workplace tension between him and) his lead programmer during a Christina Aguilera song about Britney Spears helped him get the game to work.So identifying with the arguably lesser end of the Christina-Britney rivalry helped Kratos make it out of development hell? Sounds like a surefire way to create a hit game! We also take it then that the song in question wasn't "Genie in a Bottle," 'cause that would've made for one interesting unlockable costume for our marked man. Cameo in the sequel, perhaps?[Britney 'n' Christina pic found via an old BBC MTV VMA story found here]See also: David Jaffe, blogger extraordinaire, WRU?!? God of War 2 GDC video leaked online Budget power from the Gods, under the hood
