Meet the Game Dogs - Gary and Bethany

[Earthmonger]

Dunno if it's been asked yet, but, why does the theme music sound like it's totally ripped off from Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper"?

The music in the trailer is a track by our long-time composer Ian Dorsch called "More Cowbell," which he wrote for me a few years ago after I specifically asked him for a track that "sounds just like 'Don't Fear the Reaper.'" We used it for this trailer because it happened to be the exact length we needed, and worked stylistically.

The actual theme music for the series is a different track, also composed by Ian Dorsch, which you'll hear on Thursday.

Well, guess that explains that pretty thoroughly. Are you a fan, Herr Pitts?

(Wow, that's a horrible title in combination with your name, but I'll leave it because I think it's funny.)

Back to the subject at hand; have you seen any of these full episodes? Is it genuinely a mediocre trailer?

Am I a fan of what? This series? You know that I created it, wrote it and directed and produced it, right?

I would say then that, yes, I am a fan of Game Dogs. I have also seen five complete episodes of the series and the scripts for the following seven. They are ALL AWESOME, I assure you

I was asking if you were a fan of Blue Oyster Cult.

However, no, I didn't know this Game Dogs series was literally "your baby". You certainly sound enthusiastic.

How close to the real gaming industry is the series going to be? You know what I mean; will all the empty pizza boxes, cocaine, Mountain Dew, Captain Morgens, XBOX's, Playstations, Wii's, cutting edge PCs, 100% legal copies of Photoshop, 3DMax, Maya, hookers crashed out below desks, supermodels dating directors, silly string, posters of men in thongs, the community chalkboard reading in bold, scrawled magic marker, "**** you and your deadlines!", two week-old chinese food buckets, lazy janitors performing adult theater via webcam in the broom closets, Sweet & Low, etc, be there? Or will the series be one of pure fantasy instead?

 

[Russ Pitts]

Dunno if it's been asked yet, but, why does the theme music sound like it's totally ripped off from Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper"?

The music in the trailer is a track by our long-time composer Ian Dorsch called "More Cowbell," which he wrote for me a few years ago after I specifically asked him for a track that "sounds just like 'Don't Fear the Reaper.'" We used it for this trailer because it happened to be the exact length we needed, and worked stylistically.

The actual theme music for the series is a different track, also composed by Ian Dorsch, which you'll hear on Thursday.

Well, guess that explains that pretty thoroughly. Are you a fan, Herr Pitts?

(Wow, that's a horrible title in combination with your name, but I'll leave it because I think it's funny.)

Back to the subject at hand; have you seen any of these full episodes? Is it genuinely a mediocre trailer?

Am I a fan of what? This series? You know that I created it, wrote it and directed and produced it, right?

I would say then that, yes, I am a fan of Game Dogs. I have also seen five complete episodes of the series and the scripts for the following seven. They are ALL AWESOME, I assure you

I was asking if you were a fan of Blue Oyster Cult.

I can't really say that I'm a fan of Blue Oyster Cult. I maybe know two songs of theirs. Although I like "Don't Fear the Reaper" a great deal. I don't remember the exact circumstances of when I asked Ian to compose the "homage" to that song that we used in the Game Dogs trailer, but it wasn't so that I could light candles and moon over album covers. It was for a podcast we worked on together, and for which he created a number of "homages" of various rock tunes. If he ever releases an album you can hear them all.

However, no, I didn't know this Game Dogs series was literally "your baby". You certainly sound enthusiastic.

I am enthusiastic! I was a playwright and a storyteller long before I became a videogaming website Editor-in-Chief, so the opportunity to do this show has brought me back to what I would consider my roots.

Also, I really do think it's a good show. I hope it does, considering all of the other shows at The Escapist are here in large part because I also thought they were good shows. I have been blown away by what our artist and animators have been able to do with the show, and the voice actors have been a blast to work with.

How close to the real gaming industry is the series going to be? You know what I mean; will all the empty pizza boxes, cocaine, Mountain Dew, Captain Morgens, XBOX's, Playstations, Wii's, cutting edge PCs, 100% legal copies of Photoshop, 3DMax, Maya, hookers crashed out below desks, supermodels dating directors, silly string, posters of men in thongs, the community chalkboard reading in bold, scrawled magic marker, "**** you and your deadlines!", two week-old chinese food buckets, lazy janitors performing adult theater via webcam in the broom closets, Sweet & Low, etc, be there? Or will the series be one of pure fantasy instead?

Game Dogs is a fictional series, so it will undoubtedly contain a certain degree of fantasy. But I've been covering the game industry for years - focusing heavily on game studio stories - and I have spoken to a good number of well-known developers about what it's really like working in this industry. At length. In fact, one of my first articles for The Escapist was a history of Blizzard, taken from interviews with some of the company's earliest employees and focusing on what happened early on to make that studio so special. I've also interviewed "Doom" designer John Romero about the rise and fall of Ion Storm, Cliff B. about the rise of Epic as well as a number of others about their successes and failures.

So will Game Dogs be based exactly off of real-life stories of game development hell? No. Not exactly. But it will contain scenes and situations that will undoubtedly be familiar (and hopefully amusing) to the people who actually make the games. As well as to those of you who are as passionate about this industry as we are.

 

[Earthmonger]

John Romero

I'm late for work, so I can't give you a proper response at this time. I will say this though, "John Romero is gonna make you his *****." Saw that in print years ago, and I've always remembered and hated him for it-- Daikatana blew.

Anyway, enjoy your afternoon.

 

[black lincon]

Where did all the Escapists wit go?

You really don't remember it leaving?

 

[Taern]

Where did all the Escapists wit go?

You really don't remember it leaving?

I don't remember it being here.

 

[black lincon]

Where did all the Escapists wit go?

You really don't remember it leaving?

I don't remember it being here.

that's because your not a bitter old man by internet standards, also because despite your total time being here you didn't post much.

 

[Klepa]

Noob question that I'm not sure I really want to know: What's a token girl?

I know you've been answered this a couple of times already but.. If you've watched south park, Token (the black dude) is a token black dude. Now you finally get that joke, only to realize it's not really that funny.. No need to thank me..

I didn't find the trailer actually funny at all. I don't know if this is too high brow for me or what. I guess we'll see once the episodes start rolling.

 

[Lenny Magic]

Human Resources

but they're dogs... You have my interest.

 

[ElephantGuts]

This is the worst furry porn I have ever seen.

EDIT: I take that back actually, I've seen worse. But still, I was hardly aroused by that teaser. Hopefully the full episodes will improve on this.

 

[dubious_wolf]

hmmm I'm not sure abou this one it could be good...I mean I'll give it a go but, I not sold yet.

 

[Zetsubou]

Why didn't the Escapist buy the rights to Code Monkeys instead? That show was awesome...

*remembers the fantastic Code Monkeys show*

 

[Zealot_Guy]

Dammit, I can't help but think OMG VGCATS REEP OFFFF

 

[mechanixis]

I have no problem with them being animals, but...c'mon, guys, picking any other animal would have bypassed the whole furry issue, that MUST have entered your minds at some point during brainstorming.

Sometimes the Escapist just feels like a mob of sneering egotists commenting on a bunch of unprofessional pet-projects.

 

[lucksack]

sigh furfags ruining it for everyone again. kill it with fire

 

[TETSUOrocks]

I admit. One of the first things I thought when I saw the Ad on the left side was definetly furries. The image of thousands of furry icons suddenly emergeing on the forum came to mind.

Now people are wondering why a show like this gets thought of this way and not something Disney made or anything else similar thats been seen on TV years and year ago. It's quite simple.

It's on the internet.

The fact that furry culture is mostly exclusive to the internet reminds people a bit too much of all the cliches associated with it. Furry culture has hurt itself with Yiff related content and is the one big cliche that draws the most hatred.

That aside I suppose the show looks like it will be alright. I'll wait to see a full episode before I fully speak my mind on it.

 

[Denmarkian]

I have no problem with them being animals, but...c'mon, guys, picking any other animal would have bypassed the whole furry issue, that MUST have entered your minds at some point during brainstorming.

Two issues:

1) What other animal would you suggest?
- If they used cats, people would be screaming

Dammit, I can't help but think OMG VGCATS REEP OFFFF

But there would be a lot more of them.

What other animal would you recommend? Badgers? Hamsters? Foxes? Rats? Unicorns? Sloths? Lions? Tigers? Bears? (Oh my)

2) Picking any other animal would not have "bypassed the whole furry issue"

EVERY animal is fair game for furries, it's whatever they feel more comfortable with. I've seen furry costumes of each of the animals I listed, including unicorns. A old friend of mine used to do commission art pieces of people's animal alts when she needed the money, and she told me this one guy said his animal alt was a hermaphroditic beaver. No animal is sacrosanct for Furries, it's their deal.

It's just the denizens of the internet who have decided that anthropomorphic animals OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER was "gay Furry shit".

Try to add some constructive fucking criticism instead of just pointing out what you think are issues.

And that goes for all of you; everyone who has and will make disparaging comments about the form or content about this series, try to make a suggestion of what to change that you may think will make it better, instead of just slobbering over your keyboard about how you don't like it.

 

[sgtjawa]

Sorry... I tried to watch it, I really did... but the voices were pretty bad and the animation wasn't that good either. I was only able to make it a few seconds.