Every once in a while something awesome happens. I dont mean just "good", something that you smile at and move on, but just something that is freaking awesome. Last night was just such a night. Rob's birthday became a double celebration as we celebrated Rob.age++; but also as we celebrated the game going gold. Years of hard work, testing, waiting, anticipation, finally going gold. The game is going to be on shelf soon and our community has stuck with us.

Anyway, so what do an office of total computer geeks do when we have something to party about?

Order expensive chinese food, take over a miniature theatre, hook up a gaming console, and make fun of other games, of course! Last night, we took a break from One Must Fall: Battlegrounds seemingly to remind ourselves of the type of gameplay we were trying to avoid. Button masher after button masher. Its why this game has taken as long as it has, we wanted to get it right, Rob did not want to let something go out the door that a bunch of fighter fans could sit back and laugh at as you dominate the game with one button. It was a great time, hillarious, lots of fun.

I apologize in advance for the grainy nature of the pictures, I had to do a bit of levels manipulation to get them to show up ok, it was rather dark in the theatre and even with the flash they were still a bit on the dark side.

Josh prepares to get his head handed to him in a game of button-mash.

The team awaits fighter selection, choose a fighter and get on with the beating already!

We play a game of sit-and-stare. Juan is kicking it back all cool, sarah waits patiently for Josh to get beat down and hand the controller to someone else.

Yet another fighting match has ended, one player's button-mash kata has been found lacking. The other continues to lay down the bruises.

Following dinner, an ice cream cake, and MORE gaming (including a not-pictured-here painful experience of Bruce Lee bumbling around trying to beat things up all the while sounding like a herd of dying chickens, gandalf getting beat down by orcs after being bored to death by extended cinematics, and rob showing us what its like to snowboard in his Tricky world), rob, juan, judy, and myself retired for the evening to the also-not-pictured-here 8th floor suite to relax and talk. Oddly enough, the talk soon turned to gaming and video rendering. Imagine that. Game developers. Discussing game development. Novel concept.

Candy. Relaxation. Team. Food. Games. It doesnt get much better. Well, doesnt get much better without raising the rating of this log ;)

Thanks everyone for the good wishes surrounding Gold and for helping to make rob's birthday fun. Now go buy the game or that big ugly guy without much hair will get angry. Remember, kevin knows where you live (note that kevin is not pictured above but was at the party).