Welcome to Wrestling Gamers United Newsletter #348
Hotel lobby edition!
...I see cowboy hats. Lots and lots of cowboy hats.
I've been in Alberta now since Monday and living with my family in cheap hotels since then. The new home we had lined up to move into apparently has a squatter in it refusing to leave until forced to legally. They tell me we can move in this afternoon if all goes well but something tells me I'm going to walk into a completely trashed house after this stupid debacle. The hotel we're in now doesn't even have a mini fridge or microwave. Oh well, at least my daughter thinks it's all a big adventure. Thank God she's young enough to not realize how much this sucks. Or maybe it's me who should just chill and try to have as much fun with the situation as she is? Kids. Sometimes I think we're born with the right tools to get through life and they just slowly get chipped away as we grow older and 'wiser'.
Anyway, on the PWX front things are already looking promising here in Alberta. The area I'm in now is doing very well economically and wrestling is HUGE here. I've been pointed towards a few individuals that may be interested in coming aboard as Angel investors at this stage. And there is also talk of a game design program at the University here in town. I hope to talk to the people running the program and see what resources I can drum up there. The one thing I'm really excited about is relocation incentives for new media companies. They might pay for the Vancouver crew to come out here and train a second crew to work from Alberta. The two studios would only be a 45 minute plane flight apart so it could make sense. Especially if the funding helps fuel the Vancouver studio as well.
Anyway, thank you all for your patience during this gong show. I never thought a recession or ecomonic crisis would ever affect me but it's hit the game industry hard. EA has reportedly laid off 900 people and some of the other smaller studios in Vancouver have been hit hard as well. Some have had all of their game projects cancelled and are facing lay offs too. Let's hope the Obama effect spills our way as well. I'm no expert on U.S. politics but most people here in Canada seem a lot more hopeful since the election. I hope the warm fuzzy feeling translates into people getting their game projects and employees back.
Well it's check out time. Let's go see if I have a home to move into or a crack house to dissinfect....
In the meantime and in between time, thats it, another edition of Wrestling Gamers united.