GameFam

Guess What I Forgot?

2008-03-31T21:33:00.001-06:00

It seems I forgot to post my first What They Play column last week, so here you go:

All Work and All Play

News You Can Use

2008-02-21T20:05:00.003-07:00

As Mayor Carmine DePasto's 13-year-old daughter said in Animal House, I got a lotta catching up to do. But I don't have a lot of time right now, so I'll just share my news via a quick couple of bullet points:

As you can tell from my updated profile, I am now a producer at EA Salt Lake, working on kid-friendly games. As a result...

...I will be writing a bi-weekly feature column for www.whattheyplay.com, the videogame guide for parents. The site got some good press yesterday from USA Today. I'll be cross-posting my columns here.

OK, that's all for now. But as opposed to my random, haphazard posting the last year or so, I'll be writing some restaurant quality stuff here in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned...

And Let The Church Say...

2008-01-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Amen, MomGamer! Amen!

Colleen Hannon (MomGamer) has an excellent rebuttal to the misinformation that some "family" pundits have been putting out there regarding BioWare's terrific recently-released game, Mass Effect.

GamerDad: Mass Effect Misinformation

By the way, if you take a gander over at the right sidebar, you'll see that I have Mass Effect listed under "Games I'm Playing After My Kids Go To Bed", and not as a game I'd ever let my kids play, with or without me. It's rated M for a reason, people. Now go click the link and read the article.

Best. DS Game. Ever. (a.k.a. REVIEW: Drawn To Life)

2007-12-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting in the bathroom at work a few months ago...

...what?

Oh, the bathroom thing? Take it easy. I'm going somewhere with this. Trust me.

So like I say, I was just sitting there, minding my own business, leafing through one of the many game industry magazines put there for our reading pleasure, when lo and behold, I saw an ad that caught my attention.

Apparently, there was a game called Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS handheld system, that was going to be hitting store shelves in the coming weeks. It seems that players would be able to draw their own characters, and play as them in the game. Intrigued, I ripped the ad out of the magazine...

...what?

Oh, the ripping out thing? Take it easy. I checked the other side, and there was nothing of value there. Trust me.

So like I say, I ripped the ad out of the magazine so I wouldn't forget the name of the game when I got home that night.

Anyhoo, fast forward a few weeks. I ended up getting the game, and it's been one of the best gaming discoveries I've ever made. My kids absolutely love it.

Once you start to play the active platforming part of the game, you will experience what is admittedly some fairly pedestrian 2D side-scrolling. You jump on some bad guys in Mario-esque Koopa-jumping fashion. You jump from platform to platform, hither and yon, collecting coins, hoarding snowballs, and trying to reach your next goal. All well and good, and your kids will enjoy it. But it's certainly not good enough to earn the kind of praise I lavished on this game earlier.

I could also go into more detail about the story. The Raposa, Mari, Jowee, the evil, power-hungry Wilfire, and the darkness he inflicted on the peaceful village. And so on and so on. Also all well and good. And your kids will enjoy the cute story as well. But like the platforming gameplay, the story is also not good enough to earn such over the top kudos.

True enough. So here endeth the part of the review about what makes Drawn to Life like so many other games...

---------------------------

...and here beginneth the part about what makes Drawn to Life truly special.

As you may have guessed, what makes Drawn to Life so amazing for kids is that they can use the stylus to draw their very own characters and play as those characters in the game.

With such a compelling, kid-friendly hook, it simply doesn't matter that the platforming gameplay has a been-there, done-that quality to it, and that the story is good but not awesome. The drawing mechanic is so delightful that it will raise those game elements to new heights. Like Michael Jordan elevating the play of the Luc Longleys and Steve Kerrs of the world, the drawing feature makes its teammates better.

Depending on their preferences, your kids can make their characters as simple as a stick figure, or they can spend as much time as they want crafting the ultimate avatar. There are also optional templates available. It's up to each child to make that decision on his or her own: they're in charge.

Speaking of being in charge, let me go back to the story for a second. While I did say that the story is good, but not great, what is great is that the story casts every player as "The Creator" and as such, every player gets to create his or her very own hero (as well as in-game elements like platforms, a forest, clouds, the sun, characters, snowball-shooting weapons, etc.).

So now let's review...

In Drawn to Life, your child is The Creator, and his/her custom-created character is The Hero.

Game.
Set.
Match.

So if you have a Nintendo DS, do what I did.
Go buy Drawn to Life, and your children's love with it. :)

EDIT: I forgot mention that there are only 2 save profiles. If you have up to 2 kids who want to play this game, then you're golden. If you have more, then you might have a problem. My son and daughter each have a saved profile, and when I wanted to play the game myself last week, I couldn't create my own without erasing one of theirs. Unless I just missed something and couldn't see how to do it.

EDIT #2: I also forgot to mention that this isn't the first game to come up with the create-then-play-with-your-own-custom-character gameplay mechanic. Magic Pengel and sequel Graffiti Kingdom tried this before Drawn to Life, far less successfully. While those games had to rely on the PS2 controller's analog sticks for character creation, Drawn to Life employs the DS' uber-intuitive and precise stylus, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Separated At Birth?

2007-12-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does the wicked awesome weighted companion cube from the wicked awesome Portal .................................

................................. remind any of you of the wicked awesome Gadgetron vendor from a certain wicked awesome video game franchise my kids and I love so well?

Come on, not even a little?

Just a smidge?

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Burlington Quote Factory

2007-12-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

Many people get pretty sick of the ubiquitous holiday ads around this time of year, but one (actually, two) in particular really grinds my gears - Burlington Coat Factory.

The first commercial features a young adult fashionista going over a list of things available at BCF (rich wools! luxurious leathers! saving money!) for a devilwearspradaesque boss/mentor/client type. And each one is punctuated by that most parishiltonesque of exclamations, "That's hot!"

So is heartburn.
* reaches for the Tums after seeing the commercial again *

The second commercial starts with a pair of French doors sweeping open to reveal an idyllic Christmas/nondenominationalholiday party. A woman asks a young girl, "so do you believe in Santa?" To which the girl cheekily replies, "I believe in cashmere!"

To which I ask, "What about the children? Won't somebody think of the children?!"

Each ad is craptacular enough in and of itself, but as a holiday ad duo, BCF truly reaches legendary status this year.

And I can't even give them the satirical benefit of the doubt, as some of my fellow game developers (you know who you are) have tried to do with Westwood's infamous Tighten up the Graphics on Level 3 commercial. Basically, as the thinking goes, it's so unbelievably ridiculous, it would have to be satire, wouldn't it?

Well, in Westwood's case, I know, and in Burlington's case, I'm guessing, that the commercials are both completely serious and completely clueless.

They should be so proud.
Keep up the good work, fellas.

I Read The News Today, Oh Crap

2007-11-07T06:40:00.001-07:00

As many have heard by now, EA Chicago is no more.

I can't go into any details about exactly what is happening, but I will say that EA Chicago was a wonderful place to work. I had the privilege of collaborating with a group of talented, passionate, awesome people, and I will sorely miss working alongside them each and every day.

That said, I'm optimistic about what lies ahead. Wish me (and all my Eachi peeps) luck. :)

EDIT: Since you're already here, feel free to check out my LinkedIn profile. And if you have any awesome openings in the video game industry, feel free to offer me one of 'em. :)

We Were On A Break!

2007-11-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

So yeah....
Took a break.
Had some stuff to do.
Back now, so let's get to it, shall we?

These days, when I get home from work in the evenings, my kids and I still play games almost every night, but since there's more homework to be done these days, our weeknight gaming sessions are much shorter than they used to be. Instead of, say, an hour and half playing a delightfully engrossing console game together, we'll usually have just 20-30 minutes before PJ time.

Now I don't know what that says to you, but to me, our new time constraints lead me to one inevitable conclusion regarding the best type of game to play - casual games. That's right, I said it. Casual games. You know 'em. You love 'em. And more and more with each passing day, you've played 'em.

For several years now, my kids and I have been playing casual games on RealArcade, Pogo, MSN Games, Yahoo Games, et al, and most recently, on Xbox Live Arcade.

Since I've been meaning to write about this topic during my little two-month hiatus, I don't have a list of specific games handy, but I'll start with a few that are top of mind, then add more in subsequent posts.

Diner Dash is one of the more successful casual games of recent vintage, and given the copycat nature of many casual games, several clones have popped up in the last couple years, with some being more successful** (Pizza Frenzy, Cake Mania, Teddy Factory) than others (Belle's Beauty Boutique, Big Island Blends).

** in terms of my family's enjoyment

My kids (my daughter especially) like this type of game a lot, because they find it both challenging and enjoyable, which, when they do well, is very rewarding. The one my daughter likes best is Sally's Salon. In making the natural comparison to Belle's Beauty Boutique, it isn't so much that Sally beats Belle in visuals, interface, characters, or even gameplay. Rather, it's the difficulty, stupid.

Belle just sets the bar too high. My daughter is pretty damn good at these games, and getting better every day. Yet invariably, even when she's in the zone, she can't reach the lofty goals set by Belle each time. And in fact, not that I'm God's gift to gaming, but damn it if I can't either. Sally's Salon, on the other hand, is challenging enough, but sets realistic goals that can be met with a combination of concentration and hand-eye coordination.

To the designers of games like these I'd ask them to please keep their audience in mind. As Chris Taylor said in an editorial that I posted about a few months ago, reward players, don't punish them. And while Sally offers the casual gamer the realistic goal of earning a carrot, all Belle gives you is yet more stick.

Embiggen Yourself! (Beautiful Katamari Demo)

2007-08-22T23:03:00.000-06:00

De-Freakin'-Lightful!

What was nice about this Xbox Live demo, in comparison to the demos for previous games in the series, was that you were able to pick up larger objects much more quickly. So while in the past, you might top out at a fluffy quadroped, this time around, by the time the timer expires, you're picking up adult humans and other items of that scale.

So yeah, this is really a horrible place to stop writing, but I'm pretty much done here.

Basically, it's the first Katamari game for the Xbox family of products**, so if you weren't a PlayStation kind of guy or gal for the last few years, your patience has finally paid off.

** Can you tell I just watched Top Chef***? Speaking of which, how the hell did Trey get sent home? I thought he could make it to the finals.

*** You know, like how host Padma Lakshmi**** always refers to the Glad family of products?

**** Is there a more annoying reality TV show host on TV? No really, I'm asking. She's worse than Season 1 host Katie Joel, which is saying something. Can someone please tell her that the word "food" (as in Food & Wine Magazine) does not have an umlaut?

Ratatouille Demo

2007-08-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

Before they went to bed earlier tonight, my kids and I played the Ratatouille demo that I downloaded from Xbox Live yesterday.

How was it?

Meh. Not bad. Not great. Your garden variety licensed platformer. What's funny is that my kids were having fun pointing out every time we ran into an invisible wall. If they were in college, it would have made a fun drinking game. They've also gotten good at pointing out other noticeable bugs like clipping.

But back to the invisible walls. To be fair, you could run around the demo level a good little bit, but there were plenty of times where we simply couldn't go where it seemed we should be able to. A lot of games use invisible walls, and that's usually not a big deal, but at least when you do it, how about not making it seem like a place you're supposed to go?

For example, the way the cheeses were arranged in the market, it seemed like we were expected to do the platforming thing to get to a higher level, but even though there seemed to be spaces in the cheese wheels specifically for climbing, we couldn't get where we wanted to go. Maybe that's a function of this being a demo build, but given that so many licensed kids' games do stuff like this as a matter of course, I'm not giving them the benefit if the doubt. Sorry.

Ratatouille is a perfect example of a mediocre licensed game that my kids would actually enjoy playing... until the novelty wears off in short order.

So in order to avoid whining when we don't buy the full version after playing the demo, or if I sell or trade a used copy of a game like this, I frame the issue as one of choice.

You can either keep a game that you like...

Ratatouille (OK)
Curious George (pretty good)
Cars (pretty good)
The Incredibles (sucky)
Over the Hedge (sucky)
etc.

...or you can keep a game that you love...

LEGO Star Wars (awesome)
Sly Cooper (awesome)
Katamari Damacy (awesome)
Ratchet & Clank (awesome)
Paper Mario & The Thousand Year Door (awesome - I haven't reviewed it yet, but I mention one of the few downsides in this post)
etc.

...and wouldn't you know it, they seem to make the right choice every single time. I'm so proud.

Ah Crap...

2007-08-08T06:46:00.001-06:00

...I missed Ian Bogost on The Colbert Report last night.

Stupid Barry Bonds.

WANT!

2007-07-27T18:45:00.000-06:00

LEGO Indiana Jones

Who Says Games Can't Be Educational?

2007-07-24T20:45:00.000-06:00

...or was it "Who Says Learning Can't Be Fun?"

Either way, I played Stateris** with my kids before bedtime tonight, and a good time was learned by all.

** Like Tetris, but with states........get it?

Who Says Games Can't Be Delicious?

2007-07-24T20:32:00.000-06:00

No. I'm not talking about the ubiquitous, shark-jumping Martha Stewart Wii cake.

I'm talking about this cool video featuring the authentic sounds from classic arcade games (Centipede, Frogger, Asteroids, Space Invaders & Pac-Man) with some yummy new video.

Of course, food as games/games as food isn't a new concept, since pizza is what inspired Toru Iwatani to create Pac-Man in the first place.

Done And Done!

2007-07-15T19:49:00.000-06:00

My kids finished 2 games today - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure.

In between, we visited with family, played frisbee, rode bikes and went to a garage sale (no luck), but video games were the bread on our Sunday sandwich.

The former (Paper Mario) was the more significant accomplishment, since we had put in over 70 hours together over the last couple months playing the game. Finishing the game felt like turning the last page of a 500+ page novel. Despite a few annoyances here and there, we all loved Paper Mario: TTD.

The latter (Stuart Little) was a little more mundane. My kids had played the game more than a year ago, and in the last few months, had only played it here and there. And as of the last time they played, they were unable to get to the last level. But they picked Stuart Little up again a few days ago, and today, they reached the last level, so today, they finished the game. Simple as that.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm out.
G'night everybody!

I Like The Way Snrub Thinks!

2007-07-14T23:05:00.000-06:00

Man, was I pissed. So much time invested, only to be thrown away because of an infuriating game design choice.

My kids and I have been playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for the past few weeks, and we've enjoyed the hell out of it. It's been our default game that we play after I get home from work and before they go to bed.

But this post is about a phenomenon that really grinds my gears, and I'm using Paper Mario: TTD for illustrative purposes. I'll review it in more detail in the next couple weeks, so my apologies if some of the details here are little confusing.

I was methodically making my way down the Pit of 100 Trials, in order to level up a few times, and just as importantly, to get the ability to carry 20 items instead of only 10 (see? confusing, right?).

I was doing this myself because there was no place to save along the way, which meant that I couldn't share the "heady" experience of the Pit with my kids, who had long since gone to sleep. I was working my way through one of the more repetitive and tedious parts of the game alone, so that the next time we played together, we could spend more time on the fun parts.

I was on Trial 92 of 100. I had 96 Star Points, and you level up (and more importantly for this post, refill all of your health, attack power, etc. Did I mention that you refill your health?) at 100, which meant that as soon as I won this battle, I would level up and refill every power/ability that could be refilled.

Of course, I wasn't really worried about my health, because I had done a good job of using my health items to heal up during the battle. Also, I wasn't worried about whether or not I'd win the battle, since I was ONE MOVE from putting my opponents away for good. But first, the bad guys got to attack, which seemed like a minor nuisance, a mere formality on the way toward a glorious victory and a lovely level up.

Then, out of freaking nowhere, the bad guys unleashed holy hell on me, Mario slumped to the ground, and the wonderful words, "GAME OVER" filled up the screen.

And that was that. It meant that I had to start again from the very first level (EDIT: the first level of the Pit of 100 Trials, not the first level of the game) the next time I booted up the game. All that time I had put in was gone. And like I said up top, man was I pissed.

So yeah, about the title of this post:

A few weeks ago, Chris "Snrub" Taylor of Gas Powered Games wrote a "My Turn" guest editorial for GameDaily Biz about this exact subject. In the editorial, he wonders why game designers punish players instead of rewarding them (in fact, the title of the piece is "Reward Players, Don't Punish Them!").

Why indeed?
Why #$@%*&! indeed?

What's interesting is that I was planning to write about Chris's editorial a couple weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to it yet. And had I written about it earlier, I wouldn't have had this wonderfully convenient experience to so perfectly illustrate the point that he was trying to make.

So what do we learn from this experience? Besides procrastination FTW!, that is?

Well, one thing I learned is that while I still may be a noob as a game designer/producer, there are a few things that I believe that clearly conflict with many game designers more experienced than I. But that doesn't make them right and me wrong.

So I join the esteemed Mr. Taylor in imploring game designers out there, while challenging players is great, punishing them sucks.

The Great Game Giveaway

2007-06-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

Gaming community website The Great Games Experiment is having a promotion where anyone who registers between June 7 - 14 will be able to download a free game from the GarageGames store.

Dibs on Gish!

It's About Time!

2007-06-04T19:03:00.000-06:00

The ESRB is finally waking up and beginning to realize that it needs to spread its message OUTSIDE the insular sphere of the gaming world, and start talking to plain ol' everyday parents out there.

Up until now, all of the ads I've seen have been in gaming magazines. Talk about preaching to the choir! If you want to have half a chance to combat all of the self-serving politicians lusting for the quick win by targeting video games as the latest, greatest evil out there, you need to bring your message to the general constituency at large, not the small, politically insignificant (though the Video Game Voters Network is working on fixing that) subculture of 1337 pwn3rz.

Putting their message in places like Good Housekeeping magazine is a welcome, if overdue, development. Just keep it up.

Foxy Lady

2007-05-31T22:55:00.000-06:00

We seem to have a family of foxes living nearby. The other day, we watched from our bedroom window as a fox doubled back around the neighbors house, to outflank the poor little bunny sitting at the edge of our lawn.

At least, that's what we thought was going to happen. But just when the hunt was approaching its crescendo, the fox took a detour and wandered off somewhere.

Now, my kids aren't big fans of needless carnage or anything like that, but we've watched a lot of nature shows together, and they seem to understand and accept the whole food chain thing. So when that cute, fuzzy little bunny simply spent another hour or two, just sitting in that same spot, instead of running for its life, we were all a smidge disappointed.

EDIT: To clarify, we didn't want to see anything actually happen. We just thought we were witnessing some cool hunting strategy on the part of the fox, and we thought it might result in a little chase. So for a little while there, we had box seats for some wild kingdom drama.

On the upside, we did get to watch the fox scratch herself for a good 20 minutes. So...... that was something, I guess.

Hey, maybe we should let the fox loose in our basement and attic for an afternoon, to see if we have any mice lurking about. I hear she works on a contingency fee, which is payable in mice. It's a classic win-win. Yeah, I know. Not for the mouse. Screw mice. Mice suck.

Nothing like ending a post in a dark place, but there you have it.

Note: this is not "our" fox. I just thought it was funny.

Family Movie Night at the Museum

2007-05-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, we had a Family Movie Night with the kids.

This time, we chose Night at the Museum, starring Ben Stiller.

The movie held their interest the entire time, and both kids had several laugh out loud moments. They were still quoting their favorite lines earlier today. The movie had lots of harmless slapstick moments, and for the most part, was kid-friendly.

On the downside, there were a few moments that, while not a major concern, were just a smidge iffy. To wit:

1) Not a huge deal, but at one point, Ben Stiller's character told the miniature Roman not to be a "kissass".

2) Owen Wilson's cowboy character says "I ain't quittin' you!" to the aforementioned Roman guy, an obvious reference to Brokeback Mountain's "I wish I knew how to quit you!". Now, this will most certainly be over the heads of most if not all young children, so it's not that I had an issue with it personally. It's more that if there are parents out there who may be bothered by this sort of thing, just so you know, it's in there.

3) The feisty Capuchin monkey urinates on and then has a slap fight with Stiller.

Anyhoo, that's about it in a nutshell. We enjoyed it together as a family, and as long as you don't have a problems with the issues I listed above, your family just might, too.

Why, It Only Makes Sense!

2007-05-11T11:50:00.000-06:00

As I've been writing about for a while now, gaming parents are becoming less and less of a novelty, and more and more the norm.

ESA: More Parents Embracing Video Games

Settling In

2007-05-09T21:06:00.000-06:00

Boxes on top of boxes.
Kitchen stuff in the basement.
Basement stuff..... I don't know. Probably out in the backyard somewhere.
Barely room to walk, much less sit down.

For me, however, the enduring image of moving day is my children's backs. As I came downstairs, I turned to see my kids kneeling on the big leather chair, shoulder-to-shoulder, facing backwards, playing New Super Mario Bros. together. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want to turn away to get my camera.

In general, the move went pretty well, though there were a few anxious moments here and there, mostly from the kids, who were understandably unsure about such a drastic change in their lives.

In such situations, where things change and kids are unsure about the solidity of the ground beneath their feet, continuity is a precious commodity. And while my wife and I took great pains to make sure our kids had as many comforting things to fall back on, video games played a prominent role in making our kids feel comfortable the first few days in their new home.

In particular, I tried to play as many familiar games as possible. Sure, I unveiled a new I Spy Game - I Spy School Daze (which we would have played together if my computer decided that I had enough @$#%*&! virtual memory). But for the most part, we played the same games that we had been playing the previous week, and I think that definitely made a difference.

Amidst all the chaos, my kids could count the fact that they could still play their favorite games with their dad. And that's why, although there are still many boxes to be unpacked and drawers to be filled, some of the first things we made sure to locate and set up were this computer & internet connection, the TV with the GameCube (we still have to track down one of the cords from the PS2), and the DS.

Of course, we did many other things as well. We played outside, read books, played with squirt guns, drew on the patio with sidewalk chalk, and lots of other non-gaming-related activities. But without question, my kids' ability to play some of their favorite video games the very first day in the new house helped make this move a very smooth one.

Moving Day

2007-05-04T04:59:00.000-06:00

We're moving today, which is why I haven't written about Bring Your Kid to Work Day yet. I'll do that when my new Internet connection is up and running.

Best! Day! Ever!

2007-04-27T14:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's Bring Your Kid to Work Day at EA Chicago was truly outstanding. My kids and I had a wonderful, memorable day. I'll write more about it over the weekend.

Take Your Little Gamers To Work Day

2007-04-25T06:15:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is EA Chicago's Bring Your Kid(s) To Work Day, and my kids and I are very excited. We're going to take the train downtown together, which should get the day started nicely.

Naturally, all of this reminds me of the last time my kids visited me at work. And no, I'm not talking about this past October, when my wife and kids joined me for the grand opening of EA Chicago's new studio in the River North area of downtown Chicago. And since I mention it, that shindig wasn't the same as tomorrow promises to be. Oh, sure, there was a chocolate fountain and desserts galore, and my kids got to play Sims 2 Pets. That was swell. But other than that, the party was really for the grownups to have fun, especially the booming dance music in the arcade that made my kids cover their ears whenever they were near.

But I digress. What tomorrow makes me think of is the last time my kids visited me at my office during the workday - several years ago at ye olde folding carton company. What are some of the differences between those 2 times, you ask? Let's see now...

Makin' Boxes - Big drafty office to myself. No, really. I had to buy a space heater. :(
Makin' Games - big cubicle/action area that I share with smart, funny, swell folks who also love making games. :)

Makin' Boxes - my favorite thing about the office: I listened to sports radio, since I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven, which is only fair, since my co-worker was allowed to listen to her headphones while she's filing, so I should be able to listen to the radio while I'm collating so I don't see why I should have to turn down the radio because I enjoy listening at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven.
Makin' Games - my favorite thing about the office: the people, the neighborhood, the arcade, the roof deck (coming soon), the fact that I can express myself by displaying as many pieces of flair as I want, and of course, the fact that I'm making games for a living.

Makin' Boxes - my kids' favorite thing about the office: free stickers
Makin' Games - my kids' favorite thing about the office: arcade games, snacks, having a happy Dad.

Makin' Boxes - job that just wasn't right for me. :(
Makin' Games - job I love. :)

I'm sure there are more interesting comparisons I can come up with. So I'll publish this post now and I may add more stuff if I think of it.

So let's just say I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.