Alright so this week I started a new job.

The game consists to determine what was my previous job and on what I was working on.

In order to help you, I'm going to post various pairs of pictures and keywords as hints over the following days. There will be 14 pairs in total, and all hints will be presented in chronological order.

Good luck! :)


Here is hint #1:

GRAPES

Night watch-man for a vineyard?

I fail to see how's that related to the picture... except maybe for the black background. :lol:


Hint #2:

CAPSULE

Well the figure with the black background is also packing heat (although it actually looks more like a dueling pistol on second thought)...

So now we have: grapes + sidearms + bugs bunny + capsule + MotoGP winner =...

Guess #2: Pharmacist

Rationale: pharmacists sell grape-flavored capsules (or pills) and sometimes these capsules (or pills) take the shape of bugs bunny (or the flintstones or anything). The MotoGP winner must be part of a promotional advertisement they're running trying to encourage kids to take their vitamins and then they too can grow up to win big at Valencia.

Translation: No clue... I'll let someone else have a swing at it.

I'll have to admit, MadHatter's last guess is well constructed! But I think I should clarify that each hint represents a separate project, otherwise it would make no sense at all later on. ;)

The next hint could be a little obscure, but if I went further than that I would have given the answer away, sorry about that.

Hint #3:

UNIVERSE

Job#1=Cartoonist who works with the colors grapes come in, i.e. RED, PURPLE, &/or GREEN....

Job#2=Nutritionist, & I hope MH won't feel like I'm ripping him off... ;)

Job#3=Some sort of proffessional dancer...

Sorry Tuf, but all hints are from the same job, but for different projects. Please try again. ^_^

By the way, unlike the previous hints, the next one represents something that is not well known. Be warned.


Hint #4:

GO

Well I think one of the biggest hints so far is the fact that you had projects you were assigned to. So this doesn't sound like you were an assembly-line worker at the box factory or anything that low-level.

I don't know why but these seem like commercial products (e.g. Hint #4 looks like "Go FIDO" - a Montreal cellphone slogan) or perhaps video games (e.g. hint #3 looks like "DDR Universe") so I'm guessing you worked in advertising or in video game r&d.

In that case, I'm at a loss for words, at-least for now... -_- :(

Close! ^_^'

Your overall guess is also getting warmer, but that's not it.

As for hint #4, it's not THAT obscure.


Hint #5:

THRILL

Well maybe hint #4 isn't so obscure after all, I've seen it in a shop today. =|

Starting from the next hint I switched for a different employer, but still for the same job.


Hint #6:

CONFLICT

Yeah I thought you'd be all over the FIDO reference for #4. You're French Canadian, non?

Hint #5 reminds me of Soul Train, that old Funk show with Don Cornelius as the host. I used to love that show, although I'm sure that's not what you were referencing. Topeka returns zero relevant hits for "Thrill Crash."

Hint #6 - Conflict Development? Sounds like the general progress of my relationships with women. At first it's just little things, but slowly the conflicts begin to develop and suddenly I'm of no use to her anymore. :D

Yes indeed. Which itself is some sort of hint. :lol:

By the way I hope you get luckier in love... -_-


Hint #7:
NUNCHAKU

Uh... I don't think Death Jr. had nunchucks but it was developed in Canada... But that was West coast I think...

I'm still leaning toward a game developer of some sort. Topeka says A2M had gained licensing from WB and had put out some Bugs Bunny games. I know they did a few music games too, including Flow: Urban Dance Uprising but I'm not sure about anything else.

Indeed, in Vancouver to be more precise. Which is totally not Quebec. And I never moved. Hmmm...

Oh, here's an interesting one...


Hint #8:
CAN

I'm on a roll!


Hint #9:

ALLIANCE

CanMail?

As in Canadian Mail?

That's... completely wrong. "CAN" is definitively not for "Canada". But most importantly, there wasn't even a chain mail on the picture. >_<

It's much more simpler than that! I'm sure you can figure it out...


Alright, 5 hints remaining! Time to bring out the big guns! :)

Hint #10:
UNDERWORLD

This reminds me of Okibi's competitions.

I was still a lurker back then. (=>

Hint #11:
MALLET

There was an indie game whose name I can't recall right now but it was very popular and had these little ninjas that look just like that. Maybe it was called Little Ninja? I can't remember.

The next hint is the easiest. I think everybody should figure out what it is without any trouble.

Hint #12:
CRASH

(Yes it's Batman in the picture.)

And this one is very recent. So recent that there's a lot of marketing material currently available about it, and even some free additional content was released today!

Hint #13:
CAUSE

There's a documentary about Che Guevara called Red Chapters - A Rebel with a Cause: Death of a Man, Birth of a Legend but that was over 10 years ago.

I want to make the previous one into a Crash Bandicoot title, but I can't seem to. I'm drawing blanks.

So far away MadHatter, so far away... -_-

For the last hint, it's something that is not even available yet, although it's already announced.

The answers will be revealed this weekend!


Hint #14:
SHANGHAI

Here are the answers:

[spoiler]
#1: Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal (PS2, Wii)
The picture is pretty obvious I think. "GRAPES" refers to an in-game advertisement about raisins - it is even in the instruction manual.

#2: MotoGP '07 (PS2 - not credited)
The brand and the year is on the picture. "CAPSULE" is a reference to CAPCOM (CAPsule COMpany) in order to diffenciate it from the THQ version, which has the same name.

#3: Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 (Xbox 360 - not credited)
There are 2 dancers, see?

#4: GoPets: Vacation Island (DS - not credited)
As I said, it was a bit obscure, especially since it is a spinoff of GoPets, which is now offline. Oh, and here's an even more obscure bit of trivia: if you set your clock back in time, the next time you boot the game, you get a Mr. Resetti-like cutscene about a sad rock. Wow.

#5: Thrillville: Off the Rails (PC - not credited)
A sim game by LucasArts. I unfortunately couldn't find a picture of a derailed train near a city.

#6: Conflict: Denied Ops (Xbox 360 - not credited)
It was the first FPS in the series. And it has the worst reviews in the series too!

#7: Death Jr.: Root of Evil (Wii)
Not to be confused with the original Death Jr. 2: Root of Evil on PSP. This one plays with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk!

#8: Gauntlet (DS - unreleased)
The damn game is almost complete, but it has been canned instead! C'mon, it's Gauntlet! It would have sold like cupcakes even if the online component would have been removed!

#9: Monster Lab (DS, Wii)
An RPG for kids! Surprisingly the DS version is much superior because it does not have loading times. "ALLIANCE" is a reference to the "Mad Science Alliance" from the game.

#10: Tomb Raider: Underworld (DS, Xbox 360, Wii)
The Wii version is terrible, it's unfortunate it was the one that sold most! By the way I also worked on the downloadable content on Xbox 360.

#11: Mini Ninjas (DS, Wii, PC)
A kids game by IO Interactive, the same developers than Hitman. "MALLET" is a reference to Futo, a ninja which uses a mallet as his weapon. Come on, seriously? He even appears on the box art!

#12: Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
I just LOVE that game! I never get tired of playing challenges over and over! By the way I also worked on the downloadable content, the Nvidia PhysX PC patch and the Game of the Year edition. Seriously, if you don't have the game, go buy it!!!

#13: Just Cause 2 (PC, Xbox 360)
The ultimate sandbox game in my opinion; this game is HUUUUGE! The box art of the original Just Cause is actually based on that Che Guevara picture I posted.

#14: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (PC, Xbox 360)
After Mini Ninjas, it's hard to believe IO Interactive also made this game! It's not even released yet, so I can't talk much about it. Since it was announced that the setting was in Shanghai though I used it as a hint. What I can say is that it's definitely not for people that are easily shocked. It's innovative, but personally I find it less fun than its prequel.[/spoiler]

So... NOW can you guess what was my previous job?

Lumberjack? :P

KIKORI!! :link:

EDIT: Just had to say it... :D

Eh, well I think I'd have a pretty good guess by this point. :)
If it is what I think it is, you're a lucky dude for sure. I'd love to start working for a company where I could actually respect the output.

Eh, I think your guess is pretty good at this point. Or rather, quite exact. So I think I'll remove the "Mysterious" part in my forum title. :)

The only thing missing now is the job title WHICH IS DEFINITELY NOT LUMBERJACK, but rather [spoiler]QA tester[/spoiler]. I was specialized in [spoiler]compliance testing for first-party (Microsoft/Nintendo/Sony) standards[/spoiler].

Although I didn't start there right away. I was a freelancer for 3 months beforehand for a shitty subcontracter (the first 5 titles were in my freelancer period), but it opened me the door.

But you know what else is lucky? That the company got bought by [spoiler]HOLY MOLY SQUARE ENIX ZOMG[/spoiler], so I can also say that I am a former employee of them! (Who would have thought?) It's too bad I had to resign in order to gain experience in game development (my current job is [spoiler]programmer at Gameloft[/spoiler]), but maybe one day I'll be back...

As for people wondering about [spoiler]Deus Ex 3[/spoiler], I did work on it, but only for about a week, so it doesn't count. And it's still too early to say anything about it, so sorry.

By the way, if you're curious, if you look for me in the credits, it's [spoiler]ALWAYS THE LONGEST FREAKIN ONE[/spoiler], so you can't miss it.

Wait, SquareEnix assimilated [spoiler]Eidos[/spoiler]? Does their hunger know no bound? *lol*

Anyway, do you specialize in some particular kind of [spoiler]programming[/spoiler] SmashManiac? You know, out of curiosity.

Yup, all new releases will have a pretty Square Enix splash screen at the beginning, starting with [spoiler]Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Just Cause 2[/spoiler]. Also, check out the [spoiler]Deus Ex: Human Revolution[/spoiler] teaser trailer, the whole thing has been done by the [spoiler]Final Fantasy[/spoiler] cinematic team in Japan based on the concept art and original 3D models. Funny enough, it's the first time they're actually working on something other than [spoiler]Final Fantasy[/spoiler]!

I just started my new job a month ago, so I'm not specialized in anything right now. I'm doing lots of [spoiler]C++[/spoiler] if you're wondering.

Bump thread because I just saw the credits of [spoiler]Deus Ex: Human Revolution[/spoiler]. They actually put my freakin' face in there but not my name. I get that I was not part of the development team, but I was at least expecting a special thanks for my contribution. LAME!

For those of you that have an iOS device, you might want to check out [spoiler]Asphalt 6 - Adrenaline. It's the first commercial game I worked on as a programmer.[/spoiler] It's not the greatest thing ever, but it's very impressive considering the hardware.

In other news, I am now an [spoiler]Unreal Engine[/spoiler] expert. :)