The Ready At Dawn website has updated and apparently, Daxter has sold over TWO MILLION COPIES worldwide. Holy fucking shit!! :D

Well, Daxter’s been out for a week now, and it’s been reviewed many times by all publications, big and small. They’re all high 80s and low 90s, and gamers seem to absolutely LOVE the game. Awesome!

I’ve been keeping track of all the fan boards, reviews, magazines, etc, and it’s been a rush. Universal praise. A lot of people have been saying that it’s the best PSP game there is, which is a huge honor and a head rush.

So last weekI performed my usual ritual of going to a game store and looking at my game box last week… sat there for a good five minutes, holding it and just grinning like an idiot. Three of my characters are even on the box art!

What’s an even bigger trip is that Daxter has his own TV ad now. I might be mistaken but I believe official Sony policy was to not have commercials for individual games, preferring instead a montage of footage from different games, so they could better sell the system. Well, they seem to be making an exception for Daxter, who has his own 30-second solo commercial that’s airing on Fox during prime time, MTV, Comedy Central, Spike TV, VH1, G4, etc. Totally freaking insane. None of us have seen it yet, but we’ve heard reports from all over. What an honor!

It’s pretty wild to have a game out there that’s going over SO well. I just hope it sells well so I can make some damn money off of it. :)

That being said, GO BUY DAXTER!

More of my usual postings will be coming soon, just been busy with a lot of things. Such as getting started on RAD’s top secret next project…

The internet’s first Daxter review is online at IGN!

And we got a 9.0 out of 10! WOOOOOO!!

“It’s not just the simple return to skillful jumps and level navigation that makes the game so damn good and refreshing, though — it’s the overall design of almost every aspect of Daxter that puts it a tier above most everything else on the system. This is an extremely polished game through and through.”

and

“This is one tremendously great looking game, and its audio is certainly no slouch either. From a distance and on the PSP’s little display, the game mimics the look and feel of its console brethren extraordinarily well.”

and

“Daxter is simply an outstanding PSP game that brings back the old-school platform gaming the industry has been shying more and more away from. From the great level design to the ultra-refined controls to the excellent production values, Daxter is a game every PSP gamer should check out.”

Looks like that was an excruciating 16 months of my blood, sweat and tears ratherwell spent.

God damn I’m happy. It was worth it. :)

NOW GO BUY IT WEDNESDAY MARCH 15!

Just found out that Daxter is shipping a week early! Look out for it in stores on March 15! :)

Daxter has gone gold! It’s been shipped off to manufacturing and will grace US store shelves in March 21, 2006.

GO BUY IT! PLAY MY GAME! :)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the chance to write a Developer Diary for Daxter on Gamespy. I had a lot of fun writing it, go check it out!

http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/ready-at-dawn-project/687319p1.html

We’ve just released a NEW Daxter trailer as well as new, never-before-seen major features!

Here’s a bigger, longer trailer that shows off TONS more gameplay and levels than we’ve ever revealed before!! I’m really excited about this one. And yes, this does actually run on the PSP exactly the way you see it here.

View Trailer #2 here: Daxter trailer #2 at 1up.com!

And here’s some brand-new information showing off two major new game features we haven’t touched on before:

Daxter PSP Preview

I’m thrilled. We’ve been holding back SO much, and this is an absolutely gigantic dump of info that’s actually up-to-date. We’re so close now to release I can taste it. Really hope you guys enjoy it.

And don’t worry… there’s TONS more content yet to be revealed. We have a staggering number of game levels and dream levels that haven’t yet been shown in screenshots. The final game will be a HUGE surprise to everyone with how much we’ve accomplished in so short a time.

Go watch!

Wow! Our game, Daxter PSP, is IGN’s most anticipated PSP game at E3!

http://psp.ign.com/articles/611/611243p1.html

I’m totally flattered and impressed! That’s a lot to live up to, but I assure you that we’re going to the ends of the earth to do our very best. :)

What I find most stunning about this is the fact that we haven’t relased ANY pictures, ANY information, or ANY detail of any kind of the game other than the fact that it features Daxter, is for the PSP, and connects to Jak X to unlock new characters. To my knowledge, we’re not even doing any kind of marketing or advertising yet. All the buzz the game has been getting is completely from outside parties on the promise of the IP it’s being built on and the practically unprecedented agglomeration of old-school, hardcore talent that’s behind it. Unbelievable, and inspiring.

——–

And in other subjects, I have a friend, David Murphy, that’s an extremely talented indie musician that put out a kick-ass indie rock album all on his own, including all instruments and singing, and he wants me to help him market and sell it. I thought it was an interesting challenge, and given the fact that I’ve never personally understood why I should be compelled to undertake a hobby that isn’t a marketable skill, it seemed like something fun to spend time on.

I bought four books on the subject:

The Songwriter’s Market Guide to Song & Demo Submission Formats

This Business of Music Marketing and Promotion, Revised and Updated Edition

The Self-Promoting Musician

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians & Bands

Seems like enough to get me started. It should be an interesting challenge to take a flying leap into a brand new industry for fun in my spare time with zero risk. I’m a little concerned at what I’ll find considering what a horrific beast the music industry is, but I think that with some careful study, bold action and guerrilla skillz, I can accomplish something meaningful, have fun and learn a lot.

The reason I post that is because I found a pretty interesting article on the subject of clever music marketing that I wanted to link to. It’s about a country musician named Dierks Bentley and the steps he and his marketing team took to creating ethical artist evangelists that helps spread the word about his music. It’s a pretty interesting read. You can find it at the link below:

How to Turn Entertainment Fans into Active Evangelists (Responsibly)

Just wanted to post quickly and say that the game I’ve been working on at Ready At Dawn Studios has finally been officially announced. We’re working on Daxter PSP (working title), an all-new adventure platformer starring Daxter, the small orange lovable ottsel from the multi-million-selling Jak and Daxter series from Naughty Dog. The target platform is the Sony Playstation Portable, which is the coolest game machine in the world.

Is it any wonder I love my job? :) I’m so happy I can finally share it with the world. My job is working on characters and anything animatable. I’m doing most of the main characters in the game and all the big, cool animated set pieces.

I can’t believe the amount of beauty we’re pulling off on a handheld. To my eye, it’s on par with the best PS2 games. Fortunately for the viewing public, you won’t have to wait much longer… Daxter PSP will be shown off next month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in sunny Los Angeles, California.

I’ll be getting booth duty there, so feel free to drop by and say hey, and check out my game! :)