Mar 15
The Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game for the Wii
Feb 03
I finally had a chance to play through the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game on the Wii, and I loved it. It looks just like the cartoon, and the actors did an excellent job with the dialog. I laughed lots, especially at the stuff I didn’t work on at all. (Jokes work better if you don’t know the punchline beforehand, I think.)
Sadly, my name was left off the credits. This happens, especially in large productions like videogames, and more especially if you’re not in the office when the credits list is created. While I’d love to see my name up on the screen, it matters little compared to being a part of it in the first place. It’s an unintentional oversight, I’m sure, and the checks all cleared, so I cannot complain.
As the critics have pointed out, this is a short game. It’s based on cartoons that last under 12 minutes, so that’s no surprise. For someone as busy as me, that’s actually a bonus, and I still clocked in several hours playing the game. I didn’t want to wait until my comp copies showed up, so I paid good money for my copy, and the game was worth every cent.
Jan 16
Darrel Hardy kindly pointed me to a Gamasutra.com roundup of the major online reviews for the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law video game. Overall, they’re positive, especially about the writing, for which I’m grateful. They all say roughly the same thing: Funny game, but don’t expect dozens of hours of deep, involved gameplay (as you get in the Phoenix Wright games on which the Birdman mechanics are based).
I think that’s a fair call, as it’s what the team at High Voltage set out to do. In that sense, we hit the target dead center. The reviewers’ scores seem to depend entirely on how much the reviewer wanted Phoenix Wright rather than Birdman.
As a short, snappy comedy, Birdman demands less involved gameplay. While I love the Phoenix Wright games (I’m playing through the third in the series with my son Marty right now), the convoluted mysteries of that game wouldn’t play well with Birdman, each episode of which is only 15 minutes long. I’m biased, of course, but I think the game hits the sweet spot. As the reviews show, though, that’s a matter of personal taste.
Jan 09
According to the marketing mavens at Amazon.com, the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game on which I worked should be in stores today. Be sure to get yourself down to just such a store soon and pick up a copy for your Wii, PSP, and/or PS2.
I had a fantastic time working on the game. The Birdman show is hilarious, and I got a special kick out of knowing I was writing dialog for stars including Gary Cole, John Michael Higgins, Peter MacNicol, Paget Brewster, Michael McKean, and Lewis Black. As a writer, you can sometimes hear a character’s voice in your head, but having DVDs featuring those characters already talking really helps you get inside them and make their words ring true (and funny!).
I’d like to especially thank the game’s producer, Kevin Sheller, as well as my co-writer, Micah Skaritka, who wrote more chunks of the game than I did. We spent a number of days locked in a writers’ room together, spitballing ideas back and forth. I couldn’t have asked for a funnier, more talented crew to work with. Also, many thanks to Matt Corso, Eric Nofsinger, John Kopecky, and the rest of the management team at High Voltage Software, who helped make the whole experience so much fun.
Dec 27
Capcom now has an official site up for the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game on which I worked. It’s a snazzy introduction to the game, with all sorts of screenshots and cool Flash bits, so stop by and check it out.
Oddly, the synopsis still lists the game as due November 13, which was the original ship date. The latest information I have says it should be out January 8 instead, a week from Tuesday.
Capcom is running a sweepstakes with prizes for the first 500 pre-orders through their site, although as with most such contests, the details reveal that no purchase is actually necessary to enter and win.
Still, why wouldn’t you want to pick up such a fun and handsome game? It’s available for the Wii, PSP, and PS2. I plan on cracking my copies open as soon as they arrive. I had a hoot working on this game, and I cannot wait to see and play the final results.
Oct 29
On Saturday, I blipped down to Hoffman Estates (north side of Chicago) for a wrap/Halloweeen party for High Voltage Studios. They celebrated not only the upcoming holiday but also the six different video games the company completed this year, including the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game on which I worked.
I had a great time. The place was decked out with horror movie posters, inflatable ghosts and gravestones, and a looped DVD of clips from various horror films. They also had an bar, keg beer, blackjack tables, and a DJ spinning tunes for a lively dance floor.
The costumes stunned me. I couldn’t even recognize some of my friends under them. Kevin Sheller and his fiance Jessa came as Birdman and Birdgirl, and their costumes beat out the ones seen on the live-action parts of the show. Eric Nofsinger made such a good Edward Scissorhands that I didn’t recognize him until I was on my way out the door. Micah Skaritka’s evil clown getup was so perfect he had to tell me who he was.
The unexpected highlight of the night came in the form of an old pal who’d also been invited to the party, along with some other friends from his company. However, due to NDAs, I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to reveal the identity of the mysterious luchadores I encountered that night. Such is the way of the computer game business, but perhaps it’s all for the best.
For myself, I didn’t get the invitation until last Wednesday and have been stuffing my family’s things into boxes ever since, so I didn’t have any time for a proper costume. My wife has a great costume, but it was her night for her book club, so we went our separate ways for the evening. I wore a High Voltage T-shirt under my button-down and went as an employee. I was told I should have come with an ax in my head (via special effects trickery, I hope) and been an “ax-employee.”
Oct 23
The Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law video game I worked on with High Voltage Studios has been officially bumped to 2008. Word is that Capcom didn’t want to release the game in such a crowded period of time. Putting a little breathing space between it at the third Phoenix Wright game won’t hurt its chances either, I’d guess.
While delays aren’t any fun, I’d rather the game had a chance to grow some legs rather than get sucked back into the sea by the pre-holiday tsunami. Birdman fully endorses this product and/or service.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Andy Friedl for the heads-up.
Sep 15
As reported in Wired and elsewhere, Capcom has added a Wii version of the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law videogame (on which I worked for High Voltage) to its PS2 and PSP versions. As a proud owner of a Wii, I can’t wait to point out the problems in the prosecution’s case with my Wii remote.
Aug 08
While at Comic-Con, I stopped by the Capcom booth and checked out their demonstration of an early build for the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law videogame I worked on with the fine folks at High Voltage Software. It looks great, and I can’t wait to see the final package.
A postcard given out at the show, though, tells me I’ll have to wait until November 13, 2007, for the game to hit shelves. In the meantime, we can keep up to date with a new Capcom blog devoted to the game.
P.S. GameTrailers.com has gameplay footage from the Comic-Con booth.
Jul 16
It seems like the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law video game I worked on with High Voltage Software is getting some good buzz at this year’s E3 show.
Thanks to Jason Blair for the heads-up.
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