Furious Coder’s Blog

I’ve decided to move this blog to the new Spaces site at Live.com. Check out all future posts here:

http://furiouscoder.spaces.live.com/

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, and now seemed like a good time to start up again.

The biggest news for me is that in the last nine months, I’ve been developing the MSN Games release of Degree Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, which officially released yesterday. This is a great poker game, with a slick look and feel, and we’re getting a lot of people in and playing. In fact, today it beat out ever other game on our site for the most simultaneous players. Not too shabby.

There are some other cool things planned, and more stuff is in the works, but of course it’s all very hush-hush. I’ll keep you posted as I can, but in the meantime, go play Texas Hold ‘Em here: http://zone.msn.com/en/texasholdem/

Another topic I’d like to discuss is the recent leak of Microsoft salary information to WashTech, an organization attempting to form a union for workers within Microsoft. Various websites and bloggers (http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/03/09/microsoft-salaries-on-display/, http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2006/03/internal-microsoft-compensation.html, http://slashdot.org/articles/06/03/09/1754252.shtml) have commented on this, and there seem to be two main camps:

Camp 1) If you don’t like what you’re paid, go work somewhere else.

And

Camp 2) Microsoft needs adjust bonuses and raises so that they’re higher, because we’re not paid enough now.

Personally, I think both of these attitudes are destructive and drastic simplifications of an issue more complex than simple numbers would indicate. Each attitude is selfish in their own respect. Those in Camp 1 would have the employee believe that they’re all interchangeable cogs in a vast machine, that the company doesn’t care about any individual, that they’re lucky to work there in the first place, and if they’re really so selfish to ask for more than what they have, they should just take their bad attitude out the door with them.

This is an attitude that’s extraordinarily bad for employee morale, not only coming from on high, but also expressed among peers. No one wants to work for a manager who feels this way, and no one will realistically want to see a peer with this mindset promoted to any position of power.

The Camp 2 attitude is really one of entitlement. These people have the same mindset as those who think that government spending on NASA is a waste, and that it could be put to better use elsewhere. What they leave unspoken is that they think that money should be given directly to them, since they can’t conceive of the benefit that that spending gives to other families, nor the return on the technology investment, the advancement of human understanding, and so on.

In the big picture analysis, the first thing we find is that Microsoft salaries are extremely competitive. Certainly in the games arena, Microsoft pays better than every other development house I’ve ever had the pleasure (and displeasure) of working for. Even outside of games, compared to other commercial software development companies (check http://www.salary.com), we find that Microsoft pays above average wages. When we factor in the total compensation package of health benefits, stock options and 401(k), the available legal plan, and so on, we find that Microsoft rewards it’s employees handsomely. The fact is, it’s difficult to find a job somewhere else that actually pays more.

Despite these glowing numbers, we have to realize that we are not in the heyday of the MS Stock Explosion. Millionaires are not being made every day in the post-Dot-Com crash era. Anyone who expects this kind of reward simply for working at Microsoft has sorely misjudged their goals. Still, it’s a fantastic compensation package, even if we can’t all go buy a new BMW 3-Series every month.

Those in the entitlement camp must also learn that longevity and seniority are not factors worthy of major reward. Cost of living increases for doing your job year after year are to be expected as the norm, not as some effect of mismanagement. Microsoft is a company that hires employees who are expected to grow out of their positions on a regular basis. The real benefits are to be had by “leveling up” through promotions. And simply doing what is asked of you is not enough to attain a promotion. To be promoted, you must already be performing at the level to which you will be promoted. It’s a simple risk management technique – who would be better to put in a position of greater responsibility than the person who has already demonstrated that they can handle that responsibility?

There are some (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000070.html )who believe that raises are a bad idea, and the best workers work because they love their job. I think this is only true in Fantasyland. At the end of the day, everyone has bills to pay, and expects to be rewarded for a job well done with something other than pride of workmanship. Others think that office politics play too much of a role in deciding who gets promoted and who doesn’t. At Microsoft, there are dozens upon dozens of groups, most of which are hiring all the time. If your group is overly political, check out another group at the company and see if it’s a better fit for you. Politics can’t be avoided entirely, but part of growing as an employee is being able to communicate effectively and to promote yourself and your accomplishments to your peers and superiors. Again, if you can’t perform legitimate self promotion, how can you be expected to promote a major product, or the company to the public?

In the end analysis, the average employee at Microsoft has it pretty good. The skills that are most valuable for excelling here are the same skills that are useful in excelling at life: Do your job well, be an effective communicator and self-promoter, and always strive to be doing beyond what is expected of you, and you will reap the rewards that are justly due.

With E3 a week in the past, the dust is starting to settle regarding the revelation of the Next Generation Consoles by Microsoft and Sony. (Nintendo announced their Revolution, but all bets have them running a distant third in anyone’s interest.)

As the politics heat up, with each side vying for Position One in the great Spec Wars, it’s important to take a step back and look at what we’re being offered. The XBox 360 and PS3, while differing in mainly CPU design and GPU manufacture, are essentially neck and neck when it comes to the design of overpowered gaming devices. There are certain circumstances where one will clearly outshine the other, but overall, any development team worth their salt will be able to put out astounding titles for either box.

This is really the crux of the battle: The hardware specs are nice to argue over, the way anyone can argue PC vs. Mac, or Islam vs. Christiantity, but in the end, it’s the Games, stupid, and we won’t know what they’re really like until November 2005 at the earliest.

Obviously I’m biased toward the 360. I work for Microsoft, and I was a developer on Forza Motorsport, an XBox title. I’ve also only owned one other console besides an Atari 2600, and that’s an XBox (I’m a PC gamer at heart), although I have played a few PS2 games and admittedly been underwhelmed by everything but Ico.

Still, I think as gamers, we’ll see some amazing titles on the PS3. I’m sure Sony will encourage studios to punch out titles like video games were refridgerator magnets to be sold at a tourist trap - a handful of them have to be good. I probably won’t buy a PS3, but only because I’ve become a fairly frugal guy. One console is plenty for me, and it will almost certainly be a 360. I know some guys on that team, I know how much smarter than me they are, and I really want to keep playing Forza on my console, so XBox 360 it is.

Either way, whichever console you wind up buying, the competition is good for gaming. Aside from the well publicized deluge of WWII shooters, we’re seeing more and more artistic and unique game styles that are largely made possible by the capabilities of the hardware. Of course the talent of the developers and artists matter, but where before a cel shaded concept sketch would be simplified down to 32 pixels of 2D art, now we can see that vision in full 3D Cartoon Glory. Games like Katamari Damacy, with it’s tank control trash-gathering weirdness, or Zelda: Wind Walker, stylized cartoon-adventure. And then there’s Forza, with ultra realistic physics and graphics, not to mention car customization that blows away any other racing game available.

In the wider view, we’re seeing better gaming experiences, and better entertainment for everyone. Of course my bets are on Microsoft taking the lead, but I don’t want to see Sony go away, ever, actually. Their talent and drive pushes every game developer, every hardware manufacturer, and every gamer forward, into to terratory. Without competition, gaming will simply stagnate, as it did before in the 80’s. So I welcome Sony, and even Nintendo, to the table. I say to them, let’s see what you’ve got, and let’s see how fun it is.

Because even if it’s mediocre, it’s still pretty damned good, and no matter what you show, I know there’s an XBox 360 team out there that’s trying to be even better. In the end, all gamers win.

This is my new Blog, which will largely post my professional thoughts on software development, gaming, and occasionally music.

Enjoy!