Featured Employee: Ryan Oddey

Position at Irrational:

Office Manager

What that title actually means:

“Well, I get to do a little bit of everything.  I make sure the bills are paid and that the day to day office operations run smoothly.  For the past seven months I have been pulling double duty and working as a recruiter as well. I read every resume that comes in here, and when we talk to a candidate, I am usually one of the first people they speak with.  All things considered, the recruiting we have done is what I am most proud of during my time at the studio.  I also get to dabble in PR from time to time and do the occasional press interview.” – Ryan

Games worked on:

BioShock!

Describe Life at Irrational in 3 words:

Best Job Ever

I asked 5 different staffers to give me a word to describe Ryan Oddey and here’s what I got:

1.Clever
2.Ambitious
3.Knowledgeable
4.Big Love
5.Towering (in heart and personality)

What is your favorite game of all time?:

Civilization, because everyone should get a chance at world domination.

Name a game every one should play once in their life:

Counter Strike-Simple brilliant fun and in my opinion, the best team based head to head action for an FPS…..and the reason I damn near failed out of college my freshman year.  We need more online shooters that do not let you respawn .

Ryan, you’re known for wearing shorts- spring to fall- and sport coats in the chilly days of winter – care to share some style advice?

As a pinnacle of big man fashion I make it a point to keep up on all the latest trends, from year round cargo shorts, polo shirts, jeans with an elastic waste, and sport coats.  My advice for my fellow big men is this, WWJGW, what would John Goodman Wear?  Unless it’s a formal event, in which case the question becomes WWMW, what would Meatloaf Wear?

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Basketball, Football, Fishing, Poker, and hunting down Noobs over Xbox Live.

Favorite movie:

R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet has to be the best comedy ever.  What’s that, it wasn’t a comedy, or a movie?  Wow, this really changes everything.

Tell me your best Irrational story:

My favorite Irrational Story has to do with the first press hands-on for BioShock.  We were having a big event in New York City and because the press was going to be playing this for the first time, we really needed to make our mark.  We spent all week in Boston testing the build for the event, found many bugs and ironed them out.  A day before the event we sent a producer down to New York City to begin setting up the build on the dev kits that were sent to the event.  For some unknown reason, the dev kits we tested on and the dev kits we received for the event were not the same, and we were experiencing a lot of crashes.

Very quickly one solution became apparent and we decided the only option we had was to get our dev kits to New York.  At this point it was 5pm in the evening, just more than 24 hours before the press event in New York was to begin.  I pulled all of our QA guys into the backroom, put my arms behind my back, and gave the best pep talk I could think of.  At the end, after explaining our situation, I looked up and asked the team who was willing to stay the night and get the builds on to the machines.  I am proud to say that every member of the QA team stayed at the studio that night, along with our IT department and some members of production.

We created an assembly line to install and test the builds, and when that was up and running myself and the Director of Operations, Emily Brinkert went to Logan Airport so we could rent a car– it was now 2 am.  Emily and I got back to the studio around 3 am and the team began loading the dev kits into our vehicle.  At 4am we were ready to go, and Emily and I began our drive to New York City on no sleep with 30 dev kits and the hopes of BioShock in our trunk.

We got to New York City around 9am that morning, dropped off the dev kits and headed to the hotel.  I remember being exhausted, but I was nervous and couldn’t sleep.  Finally I passed out, woke up, and headed over to the event around 7 pm.  I really didn’t know what to expect when I went to the venue, but when I went inside and saw the set up, and so many people playing BioShock, I flashed a pretty big smile.

To this day, I am amazed at how we pulled that off under those circumstances, but I think getting that night right was an important part in the success of BioShock.  The best part, Emily and I had such a good time working together on this that they offered me a full-time job with the studio, and I have been here ever since.

One Last question – Aren’t you the ass guy from Ozzfest 07?:

…….

Why we think he’s swell:

Ryan Oddey is often the first person you speak with if you’re being considered for a job with our lovely little studio. In a lot of ways, that alone makes him special to the studio, since he is often our first interaction with Irrational and made us all feel welcome when we were shiny and new to the company.

He’s also pretty sick on Rock Band, and is always willing to hang out to play some tunes after hours.  Need some coaching on your rock band showmanship? Just ask Ryan to come play some songs with you, and you’ll be set up for rock legendary! He also looks pretty sharp in a sport coat…and what else is there to say after the word sport coat enters the room? Nothing, that’s what, ’cause sport coats, like Ryan, are serious business. Srsly.