Here’s why we think Shane is swell.

Emily Brinkert, Operations Director: Shane is fairly new, but out of the gates he is clearly a badass. He immediately took the lead in making sure our team has all of the technology and infrastructure that we need in order to make a groundbreaking game. He is upgrading left and right and using his Southern charm to get the job done. Most importantly, he has an amazing Donkey Kong painting in his office, which in and of itself has raised the class level of the operations department. Now, if we can just teach him how to drive in the snow, he’ll be golden.

Your title is IT Director. What does that mean?

Shane Smith: I help manage the process that keeps the bits flowing so the developers can focus on making great games. I help make sure just about everything with a plug or a battery is working. My role requires a love of technology and a desire to support creative people. Every now and then, I get a chance to script or design — and “pretend” to be a programmer too.

What games have you worked on?

SS: The entire Gears of War series, Unreal Tournament III, Bulletstorm, Shadow Complex and Infinity Blade 1 & 2.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

SS: Very passionate people… well, that, or “I’m on fire.”

What is your favorite game of all time?

SS: I’m hoping to not catch a bunch of grief from my new coworkers with this answer. Even though I’m not very good, I have a lot of good memories playing StarCraft in college. Not much has changed; I play SC2 now and I still suck.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

SS: I’m sure it’s cheating to say BioShock . It’s hard to say: I grew up with so many great games, it’s hard to choose the one that got me excited playing them. I’m going to say Pong. If you play that, you’ll have to appreciate all the amazing games out now and how far we’ve come.

What is your favorite movie?

SS: Again, at the risk of getting made fun of… Amélie.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

SS: Hiking, road biking, running, gaming, live music, attempting to play guitar and banjo, and tinkering.

What sort of tinkering have you done? Have you built anything you’re particularly proud of?

SS: I’ve made a lot of furniture. Most of it was old furniture that I’ve repaired and restored. I just like fixing and building things. I also fix old electronics, like classic arcade cabinets. Like a boss.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

SS: I just got here a few weeks ago, so I can’t say that I have a favorite story. However, I can remember when I was in a meeting about BioShock Infinite. It was a pretty amazing feeling to realize I could give feedback and that it was valued. It’s a simple thing, but it’s nice to realize I was part of such a talented team.

Here’s why we think Ken is swell.

Clint Bundrick, Principal Designer: Ken loves language and is quick to display that in everything he generates. Whether he’s putting lines like “the Handyman’s grabby, porcelain ape-hands can pound the player into meaty bits” into design documents, describing a weapon as “the bastard child of a hospital lab and the slaughterhouse” or creating temp Nostrum names like “filth gorger” he’s always good for a laugh and a clever name. He happens to be a great systems designer as well and can intelligently discuss everything from the Skinnerian reward structure to how we’re seriously lacking a dude-bro moment in one of our beats.

Your title is Principal Systems Designer. What does that mean?

Ken Strickland: It’s my job to bring the core gameplay of Bioshock Infinite to life, which is kind of like being a surgeon in the school of Victor Frankenstein. I raid the graveyard of terrible ideas for new parts, grab some of the good stuff from the big brain trust we have going on here, and hack away until only the useful bits remain. Stuff like our weapon set, Vigors, or our AIs.

That’s the easy part; almost anything sounds good in isolation. Once I sew all these component pieces together I see whether our core combat experience has become more than the sum of its parts. When my creation inevitably fails me, I take it apart, preserve the parts that work, and tinker with the rest. I’ll do that about a thousand times before we ship.

Luckily, I’ve got a great team of systems designers that I can point at all the really hard problems. And I have not once called any of them “Igor.”

What games have you worked on?

KS: I worked on a bunch of the PS2 and PSP Ratchet and Clank games, some prototypes that never saw the light of day, and the original Resistance: Fall of Man. Lots of playing with fun, absurd weaponry.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

KS: Fantastic creative maelstrom.

What is your favorite game of all time?

KS: Silent Hill 2. This is how you do horror, not with monster closets but by investing a character with stakes and slowly peeling them away. Incredible monster design, too.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

KS: Mass Effect 2. Halo’s core combat is still uncontested champ, but Mass Effect 2 brought together RPG, FPS, and Hollywood movie DNA in a way I find really compelling. Definitely a case of the sum being greater than its parts.

What is your favorite movie?

KS: “The Big Sleep” beats out “The Usual Suspects” by a nose. I’m a huge mystery buff, mostly in the style of Chandler and Ross Macdonald, and Bogart captures Marlowe’s weird combination of compassion and being a super-judgmental asshole. I also think it’s hilarious that they slid a movie about gambling, sex scandals, and the corruption of wealth past the Hayes Code; maybe having William Faulkner on the screenwriting credits bamboozled the censors.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

KS: I do a bunch of writing and toying around with indie game dev engines, but of course that waxes and wanes depending how engaging my current work project is. Needless to say, that home edition of Visual Studio isn’t seeing a whole lot of use right now.

I also enable my terrible baked-goods binges by going to a small Kenpo school a few blocks down from work.

Kenpo? That sounds fun! How’d you get involved with that?

KS: I’ve been doing some form of martial arts since the Resistance days, when a bunch of us designers decided we needed a little less “crunch gut” and a little more “flying kicks delivered at midnight from head-height cubicle walls”. We enlisted en masse at a local Kung Fu school, and it ended up becoming this crazy, pivotal experience for a lot of us. I got my black belt with those same friends years after we had moved on to different projects and roles within the industry.

Of course, when I moved to Boston, I spent way too long forgoing exercise in favor of exploring the city (by way of its restaurants), so I’m trying to plug holes in my Kung Fu training while starting afresh in this new style.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

KS: There are a ton of great stories, but I think my favorite is still my first day in town! I had just moved into some temporary housing at the edge of Quincy, and after an hour I was convinced the complex was deserted except for phantom sounds and ghosts from “The Shining”. I had to get out. I called Bill Gardner to arrange lunch later in the week, and after thirty seconds on the phone he stops and says “Wait, you’re here, in town, now? Don’t move WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU.” Ten minutes later, no joke, this Black SUV pulls up and some game designer I’ve never seen before jumps out and tells me to hop into the back, and that it’s almost “too late”. No one can explain exactly what we’re going to, except that “It’ll be fun” and “Oh, it’s in the abandoned schoolhouse on the hill.” At this point I’ve texted my girlfriend to arrange ransom money.

We arrive at the school in the dead of night, and we enter one at a time into a pitch black hallway. I feel my way forward through some twists and turns, and eventually a series of tiny tea lights in the floor lead me into a room which my tired brain first identified as the dream sequence from “Twin Peaks”. Red draped walls, small stage with a jazz crooner, and a bunch of confused people all holding playing cards. A man in a white mask, the bird equivalent of Sander Cohen’s rabbit fetish, hands me a card and tells me to wait my turn. Then and only then am I told that I’m actually seeing some experimental take on MacBeth called “Sleep No More”, and not say, attending some sort of cult sacrifice already in progress. The show itself was incredible, but the experience of hurtling towards some deserted stretch of night with one’s soon-to-be coworkers, wondering if you trust them with your life, well, it’s the sort of thing that sticks with you.

Here’s why we think Scott is swell

Jim Bonney, Audio Director: Scott is hardcore about pretty much everything. Whether it’s sound design, game development, ping-pong… you name it, he hits it hard. As the Audio Lead, Scott is both enforcer and advocate – making sure we get the job done, on time, and then representing our department to the rest of the dev team. Since we’re a small team, Scott is also constantly getting his hands dirty: doing field recordings, creating sound effects (like the zeppelin rocket barrage in the E3 demo), and authoring our most complicated technical audio systems. Besides being an accomplished musician and sound designer, Scott is an experienced programmer, and we all rely on his advanced technical expertise on an hourly basis.

Scott is also responsible for enlightening us with most of the “inside jokes” we continue to sling at each other day after day in the sound department – so in that way, he brings a lot of “depth” and “culture” to the group.

Your title is Audio Lead. What does that mean?

Scott Haraldsen: I actually wear quite a few hats as the Audio Lead at Irrational. Aside from the regular managerial tasks that every lead has to perform, one of my main duties is to work with the tech team to make sure we have all of the audio technology we need to make the game sound amazing. On top of that, you’ll typically find me creating sounds, implementing audio into levels, field recording or doing post-production on voice-overs.

At the end of the day though, my main duty is making sure that the work the audio department does is of high quality and delivered on time. I’m kind of like Patton going through Africa. Hell or high water, it’s going to get done.

What games have you worked on?

SH: Bully: Scholarship Edition, Empire Earth, Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, Star Trek: Legacy, Rise & Fall and Natural Selection.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

SH: Un-f%@*ing-believable.

What is your favorite game of all time?

SH: I was going to say Team Fortress 2 but in the end I’d have to say Diablo II. It has everything, an amazing story, addictive gameplay, great music and it’s a game that never gets old. It’s as fun today as it was when it was released over a decade ago.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

SH: E.T. for the 2600. Anyone who plays that game more than once needs their head examined.

Seriously though, the one game that I recommend to everyone is Beyond Good and Evil. I don’t think many people played it on release, which is a shame because it has some of the best characters ever created in a video game. They recently re-released it in HD for the 360 so if you haven’t, play it. NOW!

What is your favorite movie?

SH: I’d have to go with Blue Velvet since it’s the one movie that has influenced my career as a sound designer the most.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

SH: Music and Mixology. The nice thing about those two hobbies is they go great together.

Music and Mixology? What do you play? Are there any concoctions you have made that goes well with the music you’re playing?

SH: I mainly play organ but I also play guitar and bass from time to time. Also, I’ve found that certain drinks better suit the different styles of playing. For example, if I’m playing blues, I like to go with a whiskey based drink like a Manhattan or Sazerac. For jazz it’s Martinis all the way. For funk I prefer a cognac drink such as the Sidecar or Vieux Carre. It’s a beautiful thing.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational

SH: The early stages of a project are both the most difficult and the most fun for the audio department. It’s difficult because we have no idea what we’re going to need two or three years down the road when the game is in full production, but also fun because it gives us a lot of time to experiment and try new ideas.

The one thing we knew we would need back when BioShock: Inifinite was conceived was a lot of wind recordings. And not just your typical everyday wind, we needed something that was new and strange since that is what Irrational does. Jim Bonney, our Audio Director, and I had gone out a number of times to different locations trying to get the sound we wanted but at the end of the day the recordings we got just ended up sounding like wind. They were technically great recordings, but they just didn’t have that strange sound we were looking for.

After experimenting a bit, we finally found something that we liked. We had recently purchased some contact mics (microphones that pickup vibrations through solid surfaces), and we wondered what kind of results we would get if we recorded the sound of wind affecting a solid object rather than just recording the wind. So when a gusty day eventually rolled around, we trekked out to different locations and recorded the sound of the wind affecting things such as aluminum framing and high tension wires. The results were amazing and we’ve used those recordings in a number of the sounds that you’ll hear in BioShock: Infinite. It was, by far, one of the most productive field recording trips that I’ve ever been a part of.

Here’s why we think Dustin is swell:

John Abercrombie, Programming Lead: Dustin’s passionate about game development and laid back at the same time, which makes him one of the easiest and most effective people to work with anywhere. As an animation programmer, he has his hand in nearly every aspect of the game systems we make, including the systems and AI behaviors on top of the animation system for our complex AI. He shoots from the hip, constantly seeks perfection, is a seriously smart and talented programmer, and is an all-around great guy.

Don Norbury, Senior AI Programmer: What should you know about Dustin? His drumming skills make him a first-pick in company Rock Band competitions. You’d never know that he’s an Indiana native… until his second glass of Jack Daniels and a wild-eyed homage to the Oregon Ducks, followed by a description on the particulars of corn-husking. And most importantly? You never — ever — want find yourself on the painful end of his weapon in a Halo match.

He’s also been known to program on occasion… Dustin is our animation tech incarnate: He eats, sleeps, and breathes blend-networks, character-state representations, artist pipelines, and all sorts of nerdy crap he worries about so you don’t have to. Dustin also moonlights as an AI programmer and if he wasn’t busy running our animation, he’d probably take over all our AI work as well. (And we would love him for it.)

Irrational Games is Dustin’s first studio and we’re amazingly lucky to have nabbed him straight out of Digipen.

Your title is Animation Programmer. What does that mean?

I handle the majority of the animation programming and occasional AI programming, interfacing with Morpheme and setting up systems that the rest of the AI team uses to make things happen on screen.

What games have you worked on?

Just this one. When I started here we were working on an unannounced project, but that was only for a few months and then I transitioned onto BioShock Infinite from the start.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Opportunistic, awesome, and challenging.

What is your favorite game of all time?

I spent a lot of time on Halo MP but if I had to go with one I would say The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

Shadow of the Colossus. I played it well after it came out and it was still unlike any other game. It’s on a whole other level of entertainment.

What is your favorite movie?

The original Matrix is good but I would pick Braveheart. I saw it when I was younger and it was epic.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

I play soccer. I just had a game last night.

Are you any good?

I ‘m the goalie and it was 6-0, so I guess so.

How long have you been playing?

I played a lot when I was younger, then played in a league in middle school. My hometown didn’t have a high school team so I didn’t play at all from middle school until college. When I came here, there was a game developer league for a little while so I was paying with the Irrational guys. That eventually disbanded and now I play with Ray (our systems admin) in another league.

Did you ever win a championship?

No, my middle school team wasn’t very good.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational

When I started, I was on an unannounced project. When we transitioned off of that, we did a lot of sitting around and talking about what we wanted the game to be. I got to sit in on a lot of those conversations, so I was getting to listen to Ken, Nate, Shawn, Kline, Bill and all the other original BioShock guys hashing out what they wanted the new game to be. I even got to chime in every once and awhile. That was a really awesome experience.

Here’s why we think Gavin is swell:

Lead artist Shawn Robertson: Here are some things you should know about Gavin. He looks like he should be driving a 1932 Ford Roadster. He postponed his start date here at IG so he could finish his tattoo sleeve (a ballsy move). And he can probably model a fully detailed character, rigged, complete with multiple materials, in the amount of time that it took me to write this paragraph.

Gavin came to us as a simple character modeler but quickly grew beyond his job description.  If you look at our recent demo, you can see Gavin’s touch everywhere.  From character rigging, to facial animation, down to the hats that our NPCs wear, Gavin was involved.  Not bad for a quiet artist with a raging battle between a waitress and a horde of zombies depicted on his arm.

Your title is character artist. What does that mean?

Gavin Goulden: I model and texture characters and creatures, or objects that are related to characters (like statues, or hats and props the characters can hold). Most of my work the public has seen so far has gone into making citizens and enemy characters.  I also try to help out on the tech art side where I can–assisting with pipeline development, weighting character meshes, and toying with our facial animation system.

What games have you worked on?

GG: Before joining Irrational, I was a character artist on Dead Rising 2 and The Bigs 2.  I also contributed to Dragon Age, F.E.A.R. 2, Damnation and a few other titles including everyone’s favorite target shooting game, NRA Gun Club.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

GG: Stepping into darkness.

What is your favorite game of all time?

GG: Doom.  I spent countless hours as a kid both playing and creating fan art for that game and consider it my biggest influence for actually wanting to make games.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

GG: I think everyone should play the original Fallout at least once, even if the graphics are considered dated.  I mean, drug addiction and point blank shotgun blasts to the eye in a post apocalyptic setting–what more do you need?

What is your favorite movie?

GG: Reservoir Dogs.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

GG: I’m Canadian. I do what an average Canadian likes to do in his spare time: saving baby seals from the toothy maw of an orca whale, hunting bears with a spear, taming the wild moose of Cape Breton for our world famous Glooscap Parade, taking in a game of our national sport lacrosse, listening to the extensive catalogue of Celine Dion, playing high stakes poker, racing polar bears, snowshoeing from coast to coast.  Other than that, I’m just a regular guy who likes tattoos, whiskey, and a nice cigar every now and then.

Can you tell us more about the tattoo hobby? Do you have favorite artists?  What’s your decision and planning process for each new piece?

GG: For current guys, I have a strong bias toward the artist who has done the majority of my work, Breadman–a.k.a. Steve Cole from Sacred Heart in Vancouver. Lately,  I’ve been following Shawn Barber, Vinny Romanelli (the artist who did my knuckles), and Marcus Kuhn, an artist Shawn recommended to me.  In general, I’m a fan of old-school, traditional Americana style.

Very little planning goes into my own pieces.  I like to give the artist a rough idea and let him run with it. I have full confidence that the artist knows what to do and, given the freedom, will make a piece he really wants to make.  I research the artist’s work heavily before committing, so my trust is already built up.  My Alice sleeve started with a simple idea of a few different elements–Alice, the Hatter, and the Cheshire Cat.  It’s a fairly iconic story, so it was easy to tie in different ideas.  While we were getting that done, Steve and I started talking about a zombie sleeve and more or less had it all planned out before my first sleeve was done.

What’s your favorite story about life at Irrational?

GG: My entire interview and new hire process was an epic journey.  After meeting the team and seeing the project, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of Irrational, but the actual process of picking up and moving from my home of 10 years was a crazy experience.  Within the course of a month I had finished an art test, travelled from coast to coast (Vancouver to Boston) three times, switched jobs, finished my zombie sleeve, gotten married, gone through the visa application and immigration process, and leased a new apartment.  It was a ton of life-altering events in one month. It was stressful, but totally worth it.

Here’s why we think Kayla is swell:

Director of product development Tim Gerritsen: Kayla is so relentlessly positive that you can’t help but find yourself suddenly smiling when around her.

If I could have written the perfect recipe for my personal assistant, she would be it:

• Two teaspoons funny
• One teaspoon spaz
• One tablespoon geek
• 1/3 cup energy
• Add a pinch of relentless
• Throw in a dash of cosplayer
• Blend until amazing

I never had a personal assistant before Kayla, so it’s been a journey of discovery for both of us.  I don’t know how I got by before her–she gets me where I need to be, keeps me scheduled, and is the perfect foil for my witty banter.

Plus, I’m apparently stuck with her since, like a puppy, if you feed her once she just keeps coming back.

Your title is “Administrative Assistant.” What does that mean?

Kayla Belmore: My job here at Irrational has two parts. First and foremost I am the assistant to Tim Gerritsen, our director of product development. That means I manage Tim’s schedule, book his meetings, and make sure he has all the things he needs to be awesome. The second part of my job is the administrative part. I help out all around the studio doing things like booking travel, logging tasks, and taking notes.

What games have you worked on?

KB: BioShock Infinite is the first game I have worked on. I’m pretty excited about it.

Describe life at Irrational in three words or less.

KB: Amazing, challenging, experience.

What is your favorite game of all time?

KB: It’s definitely a tie between Silent Hill 2 and Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. I refuse to choose between my two greatest gaming loves.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

KB: I think everyone should give Portal a try. It’s a great game for people of all levels of gaming experience, and I have yet to play anything else with such fun and witty dialogue.

What is your favorite movie?

KB: I have a shameless passion for Japanese cult slasher movies. My current favorite is “Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl.” Here’s my synopsis without giving away too many spoilers: What happens when the most popular brat in school is crushing on you AND the mysterious transfer girl gives you a suspicious chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Maybe the Kabuki mad scientist and his assistant the sexy school nurse can help resolve this cat fight….

What are your hobbies outside of work?

KB: Playing video games, cosplay, running, and bento. [Some of the fruits of Kayla's cosplay expertise were on display during last year's Halloween Spooktacular, which included Kayla and fellow Irrational employees Sarah Rosa and Phil Frechette dressed as BioShock splicers.]

Explain what you mean when you say one of your hobbies is “bento.”

KB: Bento is a Japanese style packed lunch, usually in a fun container called a bento box. I started getting into bento-making because I wanted to start eating balanced non-frozen meals but hated the idea of cooking.  When I saw bento boxes on the Just Bento blog, I thought, “These adorable boxed lunches don’t seem at all the same as the unsavory chore of cooking.”

My favorite things to make are fun-shaped onigiri (rice balls) with colored furikake (savory rice sprinkles). My favorite ingredient to cook with is Sake (although not all of the Sake ends up in the food). I watch a lot of Iron Chef America, so admittedly I do dance around my kitchen pretending to be Chef Morimoto.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

KB: As an assistant I get to go on some fun adventures as part of my duties. My favorite so far has got to be working our booth at PAX East this year. I got to stand next to the giant Songbird statue, take wacky photos, throw t-shirts, and talk to fans.

It was pretty amazing, and I got to meet some really swell people.  I had the opportunity to work the whole weekend at the booth meeting people and having a great time (and occasionally sneaking down to the show floor to buy dice). Every so often I’d just smile and think, “OMG, this is my job.” It’s a pretty great feeling.

Here’s why we think Dan is swell:

Quality assurance lead Robert Tzong: Dan joined the team with prior testing experience, but it wasn’t yet enough to tackle the demands of being an Irrational Games QA tester.  He’s not one to back down from a challenge, though, be it virtual (read: World of Warcraft) or otherwise. Dan picked things up quickly and is now one of our many superstar testers.  He’s learned the ins and outs of the Unreal Engine from next to nothing and now creates maps for us to isolate game functionality for testing purposes.

To avoid any confusion between him and the dozens of other Dans at Irrational, we call him DJ.

Your title is “Quality Assurance Tester.” What does that mean?

Dan Johnson: The easy answer is “tester,” but the more important half is “quality assurance.” We’re responsible for making sure that everything that goes into the game works – both functionally and in the sense that it results in a fun experience for the player.

What games have you worked on?

DJ: I worked on Frontlines: Fuel of War at Kaos Studios; Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, and LEGO Rock Band at Harmonix; and now Bioshock Infinite here at Irrational.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

DJ: Great conversation starter!

What is your favorite game of all time?

DJ: Honorable mentions: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Uncharted 2, Red Dead Redemption, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Beyond Good & Evil, Super Mario Galaxy.

The winner: Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the original Game Boy. It’s one of the first games I ever played, and it’s still a memorable experience for me.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

DJ: Limbo. Beautiful visuals, flawless gameplay, and just enough world and story to draw you in and get you filling in the gaps on your own. I have to mention Portal as a runner-up, though, for its puzzles and awesome script. But first-person games can be daunting to non-gamers, which is why Limbo won out. Both games shine for the clarity and brevity with which they present their core concepts to the player.

What is your favorite movie?

DJ: When I was 13 and planning my future in Action Paleontology, I ran out of the room every time a commercial for Jurassic Park came on TV because I didn’t want to know anything about it before I saw it in the theaters. (I still do this with trailers. -IG.Chris) It blew me away in the theaters, and 17 (wow, 17) years later it hasn’t lost a scrap of what made it so impressive.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

DJ: I’m a raid leader in a casual World of Warcraft guild, which leaves time for Xbox and PS3 games as well – generally single-player or cooperative. I snowboard or bicycle as the weather permits, I spend time with my Italian Greyhound and Schipperke (look it up; they’re adorable), and meet up with six friends about once a month for Dungeons & Dragons.

Tell me about life managing a WoW guild and balancing your hobby with work.

DJ: To be honest, when I first started playing World of Warcraft, I definitely played too much – four to six nights a week, four-hour raids, the works. Shortly after I got my job at Kaos, I reduced my playtime by a lot, and I canceled my account completely when my girlfriend and I began looking for work in Boston. After several months at Harmonix I started playing again, but I dialed back my playtime even more to make sure I still had time for other things, like necessary chores or evenings out with friends.

I think I’ve found a good balancing point for WoW. I enjoy the game a lot; I’ve made strong friendships within my guild (by sheer coincidence, my guild leader is also in Boston and he and I are good friends), and I’ve learned a lot about working with people through leading raids. Most recently, I’ve been making sure to find more time for other games; in the last month I’ve polished off four that I’d played three-quarters of the way through but never finished. I think it’s important in this industry to have experienced a wide variety of games.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

DJ: Shortly after I joined the company, we had a large picnic event in a park near the office. Significant others were invited; it was an all-day-you’re-getting-paid-to-eat-hamburgers-and-play-frisbee event. The whole deal. The office team put together a monstrous triple-decker cheeseburger for Ray in IT, who was playing shortstop in the softball game. Not only did he accept and consume the whole thing, but he actually made a play mid-burger.

It’s a pretty accurate description of both Ray and Irrational: sometimes you need to – and get to – make a play mid-burger.

After the picnic, several of us adjourned to a nearby bar, which was having Wednesday afternoon Bring-Your-Kid-To-Karaoke. We’re talking seven-year-olds in little princess dresses. One of my coworkers got up and kicked the crap out of “Ice Ice Baby.” That’s a pretty good representation of life at Irrational, too.

Here’s why we think Adrian is swell:

Associate producer Adrian Murphy came highly recommended from folks he’d worked with at Luxoflux who cited his strong work ethic, love of games, and the fact that “he just gets it.”

Over the last year-plus Adrian has been at Irrational, we’ve seen all three evidenced in spades.

Adrian excels at making sure that progress is constantly being made on the most important tasks, that vital creative calls from our leads and directors never get lost in the cracks, that members of the team get all the info they need to do their best work.

As tech lead Steve Ellmore puts it, “He’s persistent – in a good way.” Art lead Shawn Robertson says he has a great memory for following up on items others have forgotten. He’s the office nexus of World of Warcraft expertise and discussion. And producer Joe Fielder says, “Adrian’s a really good bullshit detector. He keeps us all honest.”

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Adrian pops a collar with the best of ‘em.

Your title is Associate Producer what does that mean?

Adrian Murphy: Depending on what company you work at, this position can mean 100 different things. Here at Irrational, I work with the design department to help support their needs. That ranges from long-term scheduling to following up on issues blocking the designers so they can continue working. At the end of the day my job is to make sure design has everything it needs to work efficiently and provide the other departments with whatever content they may be waiting for.

What games have you worked on?

AM: Kung Fu Panda and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, both for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or fewer.

AM: Blood, sweat, tears. (Order optional)

What is your favorite game of all time?

AM: The original X-COM: UFO Defense. I lost an entire summer to just this game. My family even went on vacation to visit relatives in Ireland, and my only concern was getting a suitable power converter for my laptop so I could keep playing. This game is still incredibly deep by today’s standards, despite its age. Base building, research trees, turn-based strategy, meta-resource management–it has it all.

There’s also the ability to name your soldiers, which was hilarious when your custom-named A-Team of you and all your friends got all decked out in the best gear, only to be completely obliterated doing one mission.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

AM: Shadow of the Colossus. It’s such a fantastic example of restraint. The premise of the game is decidedly simple, but the overall experience is much greater than the sum of its parts. The 13^th colossus in particular is a high watermark of an amazing gameplay experience I have yet to see outdone.

What is your favorite movie?

AM: Batman Begins. I have been a Batman fan my whole life. After the disastrous previous film adaptations, I was hoping for a lot from this film, and it delivered in spades. Nolan did a great job taking what many considered to be a dead movie franchise, reinvigorating it for a new audience, and wiping away the shame of past films.

The real genius is the level of detail. The suit, the car, the gadgets–none of them were unexplained background elements. They each had a specific and believable reason for existing.  It’s a lesson all entertainment media should heed, because no matter how good the core elements of a story are, those minor immersion-breaking details can ruin the whole experience.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

AM: Mostly (read: sadly) playing video games. I try to play as much as I can of a wide variety of games. I’ve also recently gotten back into sculpting. Other than those hobbies, most of my time outside work is spent trying not to freeze to death during record New England winters.

You’re well known for your popped collars and bold fashion choices. Would you like to share some of your clothing wisdom with the world?

AM: The popped collar thing actually started with playing rugby in college. You just naturally put the collar on a rugby jersey up to help keep dirt from going down your shirt during a game. I got so used to it, and the associated awesomeness of how cool popped collars are, that I kept with it. I do love that I work in an office environment where I can wear what I want how I want, because a button up shirt and tie would look very strange with a popped collar. (That said, I’m starting this look too. It’s going to be known as formal collar.)

At the end of the day, no matter where you work, you have to be yourself and go with what you like. If that means popped collars and purple socks, then so be it. But try to convince others to pick up on the trend, so you don’t look dumb all by yourself.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

AM: Right after we released our demo, watching the press reaction to our announcement and what we had accomplished was amazing. I don’t think prior to that I had as concrete an understanding of how much the BioShock franchise means to the modern video game landscape.

The highlight was watching our metric tracking software for social media and seeing at the end of our announcement day that we were the highest trending topic on all of Twitter for that 24-hour period. Take that, Bieber

Audio director Jim Bonney: It’s hard to decide where to begin when it comes to summing Pat up, but the most striking thing about him is that he seems to have no ego whatsoever. All Pat wants to do is work with the team to make the game sound kick-ass–and he’ll go to just about any length to do it. From drowning to electrocution, he’s subjected himself to all varieties of self-induced abuse in the name of creating authentic sound design.  He perpetually maintains a positive attitude, a tireless work ethic, and a fantastically creative mind.  We’re trying to figure out how to clone him.

Your title is “audio principal.” What does that mean?

Pat Balthrop: As audio principal, my time is shared between conceptualization and content creation. This means that I explore new ideas, new methods, and even new systems for making our games sound unique and exceptional. The fact that my position even exists at Irrational Games is proof of the studio’s appreciation for the way sound can bring interactive experiences to a new level.

What games have you worked on?

PB: Some of the recent games I’ve shipped include BioShock, and Harmonix’s games Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, Rock Band 3, and Dance Central.

Pat creates sounds during a field recording session.

Describe life at Irrational in three words or less.

PB: “Sound designer’s dream.”

What is your favorite game of all time?

PB: This is an impossible question. If I measure this by which game I play the most, it’s Team Fortress 2. I’m already in your base, and you got blood on my suit.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

PB: Can I get away with saying The Orange Box? [Sure. -Ed.]

What is your favorite movie?

PB: My favorite movies tend to correlate with my favorite sound professionals. To name just two out of many, Randy Thom and Walter Murch have had a huge influence on how I think about and approach use of music, mix, voiceover, and sound design for media. Apocalypse Now, The Incredibles, Ratatouille…every time I hear these films, I learn something.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

PB: I enjoy producing electronic music and playing in my band The Hole Punch Generation. I like writing and collecting standalone programs and patches for audio software Reaktor, Max/MSP, and SuperCollider to design my sounds. Lately I’ve been dabbling with open-source platform Arduino in the hopes I will start building custom hardware controllers.

Tell us your favorite story about life at Irrational.

PB: This is a tough one, but a really defining moment for me as a sound designer was finishing the BioShock X06 demo. The sound team worked pretty hard leading up to finishing it. Ken called the whole studio into a conference room to watch the demo. The audio team stood back and listened to the demo with the rest of the team, and it was at that moment when we realized we were on to something–that we had done something really unique.

Simply put, level builders create worlds.  As a level builder, you are directly responsible for creating our worlds.  You will need to combine a strong aesthetic sense in creating visually interesting spaces with a solid understanding of how gameplay is affected. You will also need to possess the technical skills to ensure that your levels work within the constraints of the game technology.

Job requirements:

• Understanding of contemporary 3D first-person engine technologies and editing tools
• Experience creating first-person levels using Unreal, Quake, Half-Life or similar technologies for commercial titles (this must be demonstrated through actual levels created for these engines)
• Understanding of and desire to create first-person shooter gameplay
• Interest in and understanding of architecture, lighting, texturing and other elements that are required to create aesthetically pleasing 3D levels
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to work and contribute effectively in a team environment
• Collaborate with the Art Director to lead the creation of consistent, high-quality work
• Model, texture and light 3D environments for a state of the art next-gen game engine
• Meet project deadlines and milestones

Required skills:

• Outstanding communication skills
• Ability to work within technical constraints and generate top-quality art
• Ability to create a highly modular, reusable building system
• Clear understanding and implementation of technical guidelines and constraints
• Ability to effectively collaborate with other departments

Bonus Points:

• Experience with UE3
• Traditional art skills, ability to do occasional environment concept drawings/paintings
• Capable of creating any aspect of a 3D game environment including modeling, texturing, and lighting of terrain, architecture, world objects and collisions
• A fluent knowledge of 3ds Max and Photoshop
• Experience with animated environment effects (such as particles)
• 4+ years of industry experience.
• Ability to use basic programming or scripting tools

When Applying for this Position:
Please remember to include art samples as appropriate including 3D rendered material, concept sketches, 2D work and/or animation. When submitting extensive samples of 2D work, please send high-resolution samples, preferably on a CD submitted through mail, or provide the address for your online portfolio.  No one will be considered without a portfolio. To be considered for this position you must submit salary requirements.

We are looking for level designers who can hit the ground running.  We expect you to conceive and execute level ideas that shock, immerse, amaze and create an experience that blows gamers’ minds. No applicants will be considered who aren’t able to demonstrate they’ve got the skills to build industry-changing levels.

Responsibilities:
You will be responsible for conceiving, documenting and tuning a number of different levels. Additionally, you will be required to work with our design tools to implement game mechanics or parameters. This position requires you to coordinate with artists and programmers to create levels that are second to none in the industry.

You must be familiar with the current state of the art in game design across a wide range of genres on both PC and console. You must be capable of analyzing and critiquing game designs and levels.  We expect you to be familiar with BioShock and other 2K Boston/Irrational products and be able to speak critically about them.

Finally, there are a wide variety of miscellaneous other tasks associated with this position such as speaking at conferences, working on game documentation and manuals and occasional PR duties.

Required Experience and Skills:
This position requires a high degree of creativity. You will be required to work with the team to form a “vision” of your levels and use that vision to inform your design decisions.

An important part of the role is communicating that vision clearly and concisely to the rest of the team and ensuring that they have a clear and specific mandate for their work. You must also provide a receptive ear so that other team members can provide input on the game design.

Above all we are looking for somebody with enthusiasm, passion and the desire to create levels that are going to amaze gamers.

When Applying for this Position:
Please remember to include:  video, screenshots or save games for levels that you created in the past.  Game design documents, writing samples and/or game analysis should be submitted as appropriate. To be considered for this position you must submit salary requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop, grow, manage, maintain, and ensure success of:
-IrrationalGames.com
-BioShockInfinite.com
-Irrational Games Youtube channel
-Irrational Games Facebook page
-Irrational Games Twitter account, and Ken Levine’s Twitter account
-Irrational Games Flickr page
-Irrational Games podcasts

• Provide an long term plans for our online presence, including budget needs and content needs
• Set objectives, develop supporting strategies, and translate these strategies into tasks with deadlines, managing the project to meet the goals by mobilizing internal and external resources
• Encourage, recruit and provide internal/external experts with the resources to post
• Ensure that projects are completed, and those involved are compensated and recognized.
• Provide leadership to motivate and maximize the impact of the online community’s efforts
• Develop promotional campaigns to generate traffic and awareness, through SEO, online media buys, promotions, and frequent delivery of content.
• Ensure that each of these media becomes a viable tool enabling communication to consumers, by constantly analyzing its performance and the effectiveness of the content.
• Be available to staff, assisting them in identifying and using online tools if it can help them achieve their goals related to their position, guiding and encouraging them and providing support
• Constantly evaluate our platforms to increase their technical performance, and usability.
• Constantly evaluates new opportunities in the interactive space
• Create detailed weekly and monthly community reports for internal stakeholders, outlining recent progress and future initiatives.
• Work with the development team, the marketing team, and external parties to ensure a frequent delivery of updates and features.
• Provide guidance for moderation in the forums on Irrational Games website and individual game communities; ensure that a positive environment is maintained and reflects Irrational’s commitment to excellent customer services
• Develop strategies to engage and motivate Irrational Games’ most active online advocates & ensure their efforts are recognized
• Coordinate the efforts of evangelists, employees, external agencies, forum moderators so that affected projects are executed efficiently and in a timely manner
• Perform market research when required, analyzing competitive communities, and gathering community feedback to improve future fan-oriented efforts.
• Stay abreast of new tools, best practices and competitive activity, so that Irrational Games can continue to be on the forefront of new web developments.
• Participate in professional networking by following the prominent bloggers, online writers and web seminars.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of online marketing experience, developing interactive campaigns, and websites, of which at least 5 years of experience on a management level
• Passionate about social media and interactive marketing
• Experienced gamer with an understanding of competitive products and online communities
• Excellent organization, interpersonal, and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Self-motivated with ability to work independently.
• Driven to help the company achieve its objectives, approaching the role as serving an internal client
• Strong planning and project management skills and good analytical skills.
• Working knowledge of HTML and HTML editing programs, Microsoft Office, basic knowledge Photoshop,
• Applicants should have a topical understanding of and be prepared for use of: SEO, Lithium, Rowfeeder, Meltwater, PitchEngine, CrimsonHexagon, peerfluence or other Reputation Management/WOM measurement products. Bulletin Board Management Software / Forum Software, Social Media platforms, seeding and online community marketing strategies.

Reports To: Irrational Games Marketing Director.

To be considered for the position please provide your salary requirements.

This means a no nonsense approach to problem solving, daily communication with all the members of the team and working in support of the producers in handling management and tasking challenges. You will receive specific tasking, but the ideal candidate shows immense personal initiative and be able to self direct and thrive in the most chaotic of situations.

Responsibilities:

• Supporting the producers and development director in every aspect of development, from scheduling and management of the internal team to working with contractors, outside publishers and licensors
• Working as a part of the development team with artists, designers, audio designers, and programmers tracking tasks and helping developers stay on schedule
• Taking detailed meeting notes and distributing them in a timely fashion
• Facilitating cross department communications and being a product knowledge base for the entire team
• Contributing to the production process and helping refine production pipelines.
• Providing administrative support for the team leads
• Cultivating a positive and cohesive team, inspiring the cooperation and confidence of others
• Other duties as assigned

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience shipping at least one video game title
• Effective communication and diplomatic skills, both written and verbal
• Excellent planning, and interpersonal skills
• A passion for games
• A great attitude
• A love of multitasking
• The ability to be self-directed and detail oriented
• A strong desire to contribute to a creative environment
• Very strong initiative with a desire to learn and be challenged (an absolute must!)

Please submit salary requirements.

Our programmers build the systems and tools that our content creators will use to create the amazing game experiences that Irrational Games is known for. They need great communication skills, a passion for building games, and the ability to work in as many different technical areas (physics, audio, graphics, animation, AI, optimization, multithreading, SPU programming, networking, etc.) as it takes to “make things happen”.

If you join our team, you will be responsible for:

• One or more major areas of the game software, and/or multiple systems
• Working closely with the content creators to help them achieve their goals
• Working with your manager to generate technical designs and schedules
• Writing, documenting and testing the code that you design
• Supervising junior or mid-level programmers (if applicable)

Required Experience and Skills:

• Excellent understanding of C/C++
• Commitment to code quality, documentation and sound testing procedures
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience working primarily on any of the following: Gameplay, Real-Time Graphics, AI, Audio, Physics, Optimization, SPU Programming, Multiplayer Networking, or Tools
• One or more shipped game titles
• Experience with recent game console technology (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii), especially PS3
• Experience with Unreal Engine technology

When Applying for this Position:

• Only applications with salary requirements will be considered.
• Please let us know how you heard that we were hiring.

Here’s why we think Tim is swell:

Design director Bill Gardner: As a former programmer, Tim brings over a decade of coding experience to help bridge the gap between design and programming.  “Daywalker,” “Hybrid,” “Zed” — whatever his friends here call him, history will look at Tim’s time at Irrational and call him “The Great Gap Bridger”–only some historian will probably have a fancier name.  He’s played a huge part in helping designers stay on the same page as the programming department, all while coming up with awesome gameplay mechanics and squeezing the most fun possible out of our engine.

An obsessive gamer, Tim plays everything short of Michael Jackson: The Experience.  Seriously, this dude is a savant — and it’s not just video games either.  He’s about as avid a board gamer as you can imagine.  Tim channels all of this experience and passion into helping develop the best games possible, while creating Excel-based design documents that would make an accountant’s head explode.

You’re a designer. What does that mean?

Tim Austin: It means we make the game fun!

Specifically, my job is on the technical side of design: working out the math behind game systems, translating wacky ideas into a specification that can be implemented, and making many colorful spreadsheets comparing one thing to another.

What games have you worked on?

TA: I started making games around 25 years ago, bedroom coding for the Apple II and the BBC Micro. Since then I’ve worked on a number of games, large and small, from most genres: racing, sports, platformer, RTS and FPS.

I’ve worked on several critically acclaimed commercial failures, including Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising for PC and Cold Winter for PS2.

With BioShock Infinite, I have the opportunity to help make an awesome game that will get the recognition it deserves!

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

TA: “Inspiring to greatness.”

What is your favorite game of all time?

TA: X-Com: UFO Defense (or UFO: Enemy Unknown, as I knew it). When I first discovered this game, I ended up playing in shifts with a friend. One of us slept while the other played, as we only had one PC to play it on.

The way your troops turn from bags of random stats into strong personalities though the stories they share with the player is still unmatched.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

TA: Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising. It’s a rare blend of FPS and RTS gaming, with an interesting story told in an unusual way. It’s a huge shame it’s almost unheard of, and I’d like to see more people get to experience it.

What is your favorite movie?

TA: The Princess Bride, of course. It is the best film of all time, after all. There’s so much subtlety and self-referential humor in the dialog and performances. Each time I watch it I notice things I’ve never seen before.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

TA: Gaming, gaming and more gaming–board games, card games, roleplaying games. I have had an ongoing MMO playing hobby since I first played EverQuest in 1999 (how we miss you, Veeshan). I’ve played dozens since then, but only EverQuest and now World of Warcraft have held my interest for more than a month or two. I play much more casually now, but several years ago, I helped lead a guild that was in the top 50 worldwide WoW raid guilds.

What recent board game have you loved? What do you look for in a new game?

TA: Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. It’s a cooperative game in which all players must work together to survive a journey on extremely limited resources. Except…some of the players are Cylons. Their job is to sabotage the other players’ efforts without getting caught doing so. The atmosphere of mistrust and paranoia this dynamic creates is wondrous.

When seeking out new board games, I look for interesting new mechanics–different ways of interacting with the game and with other players.

Tell us your favorite story about life at Irrational.

TA: Just after joining Irrational, I went to my first game design meeting. Ken Levine explained the philosophy of BioShock Infinite, then he told us: “If there’s one thing I can teach you designers, it’s this…”

What that thing is will have to remain a secret!

Here’s why we think Matt is swell:

Lead programmer John Abercrombie: Matt is the guy who implements amazing game features and has a great time doing it.  Then he puts hilarious comments on his submissions. For example: “I was trying to be cute and use \n in my debug messages.  I got a crash somewhere else that was using them so I decided to stop being cute and write them like a normal person.”

Matt also has inspired programmer animation (a move known as “the Helbig”), and excels at Beer Pong (with a certificate to prove as such).

Your title is “gameplay programmer.” What does that mean?

Matt Helbig: It means I program everything that has to do with what the player does in the game.  The design team comes up with ideas and I make them functional.  Some examples of my work in the demo video are the powers Telekinesis and Murder of Crows, and the sniper rifle.

What games have you worked on?

MH: Previously I worked at Big Huge Games on their upcoming title Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Before that I made a game called Marble Mayhem for a school project with a fellow Irrational employee, Dustin Vertrees.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

MH: “Fun-filled adventure.”

What is your favorite game of all time?

MH: Halo: Combat Evolved is one of my favorites.   I remember hilarious nights playing it over a LAN in high school with my friends.   Also, playing the co-op campaign straight through with my best friend was a great experience.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

MH: A recent game I think almost anyone would love is Q-Games’ PixelJunk Monsters on the PS3.  It’s good clean fun.

What is your favorite movie?

MH: One of my favorites is V is for Vendetta.  It is an awesome action movie that has deep meaning.  Plus, Natalie Portman is smokin’. <3 <3 <3

What are your hobbies outside of work?

MH: Outside of work I like to play soccer, run races that include obstacles, and have fun adventures involving alcohol and my co-workers.  For example, getting face tattoos with Sharpies and ruining couches and dogs.

At work I like to flex at IT guy Ray, make fun of fellow programmer Dan Scholten, and bounce on exercise balls while thinking.

You listed ruining couches and dogs as a hobby, I’m scared to ask but how many dogs and couches have you ruined and how?

MH: Okay, so I’ve only ruined one dog and couch that I remember have heard about so maybe it isn’t technically a hobby.  Here’s how it all went down.  We were having a Mexican night at fellow employee Don Norbury’s mansion with yummy food and Tequila shots all around.   Halfway through the night, Ian Bond convinced everyone we should tattoo my face with a sharpie.  Mike Monsalvatge, an amazing artist from Harmonix, did a rendition of Mike Tyson’s tribal tattoo.

Anywho, part way through the night, the Tequila and time started to get to me.  I forgot all about the tattoos and started lying down on things and dying them blue.  Including poor little Dixie!  The three tears on the side of my face are for the men I killed…

Obstacle runs sound pretty hardcore. What got you into it?

MH: My girlfriend did, actually.  She’s a combat medic in the Army reserves and she somehow convinced me it would be fun.  About halfway through I was thinking that we may have different interpretations of the word “fun.”  Afterward, there was beer and endorphins though, so she was right as always.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

MH: There are so many that it’s hard to choose one.  I enjoyed the night of our announcement in New York.  We all gathered around at the office and watched the press unveiling on a live stream with Nate Wells cracking jokes the whole time.  After the unveiling we had food and festivities.  I destroyed fellow programmers Dan Scholten and Dan Amato in beer pong.  The next day, I made a cheesy Microsoft Word certificate so they can never forget.

Here’s why we think Jorge is swell:

Lead artist Shawn Robertson: Jorge is a talented artist–and not to be trifled with in any fighting game arena.

Little known fact:  Jorge was the first person to actually create art assets for BioShock Infinite.  He was tasked with doing a couple of character sketches of people from the early 1900’s.  We didn’t tell him what he was working on at the time, but I am pretty sure that he’s figured it out by now.

We originally hired Jorge to be our storyboard artist, but since then his job has expanded to fill a concept role as well.  If you liked the Bioshock Infinite pre-rendered trailer, you can tip your hat to Jorge and his storyboards.

Your title is “storyboard/concept artist.” What does that mean?

Jorge Lacera: I’m pretty damn lucky. I get to be a  part of the planning process as a storyboard artist—plotting and visualizing each cinematic moment.  And as a concept artist I’m able to create unique character designs, props, and worlds for the game.  I get to exercise my creative chops, visual chops, and my intellectual, strategic side.  It’s an awesome combo of left-brained and right-brained work. I’m an integral part of designing and detailing the narrative of the game.

What games have you worked on?

JL: None! Well unless you count Sushi Pack: Beat the Heat.  Which you probably don’t.  (This game is pretty fun! -Chris) I come from an animation/ licensing background, so I had to learn games in a trial by fire.

Describe life at Irrational in three words or less.

JL: Talent + Caffeine = Awesome

What is your favorite game of all time?

JL: Mega Man 2. I got it for Christmas when I was 9 and I remember clearly the euphoria of playing that game nonstop for hours on end. This song is now embedded in some groove in my brain for life.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

JL: Psychonauts. Specifically, “The Milkman Conspiracy” level. Also, play any Street Fighter on an arcade machine. Your life can’t really be complete until you’ve grappled with the existential angst caused by losing to a ten-year-old…

What is your favorite movie?

JL: A toss up between Akira and Pulp Fiction.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

JL: I’m a big movie buff. I like tracking down obscure foreign films or indie flicks. Most of the time you end up walking away feeling disappointed (or confused), but it’s all worth it when you find a great one–Let the Right One In being that most recent great one.

One of my favorite things about you is that even when you’re not at work you’re off doing fun art and posting things on your blog just for fun. Can you tell us a little about the blogging you do, and why you choose to do it?

JL: I started blogging in 2005. I was about a year out of art school and I realized that there was stuff I was not getting to do at work, and techniques I was learning from my full-time gig that I wanted to apply to my own artwork. So it started as a way to creatively vent and has now turned into a running diary of my creative process.

It’s a great way to try things out and get feedback from friends and colleagues. It’s also been a fantastic networking tool and has connected me to all sorts of talented folks on the interwebs. Check it out at: http://lacera.blogspot.com/

Do you have any tips for the aspiring art students out there?

JL: For those trying to get into games, keep your focus on traditional drawing and painting skills. Those lessons apply to everything else you do in any art-based career. But really, the biggest thing is to fully commit to what you’re passionate about. It shows in your work and will make you happiest in the long run.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

JL: That would be my interview. When I first applied to the position, I was excited but slightly skeptical of the whole thing. Driving into Quincy conjures up a combination of history and grime. The vibe at the studio was laid back and casual. The art “pit” as it was called back than had a college dorm feel, complete with obligatory fake rose for “decoration.”

Then I was taken into a small room and shown what the studio was working on.  I was blown away, but I still wanted to play my cards close to my chest. Throughout the day, with every new person I met I realized the level of talent, imagination and brainpower was unusually high.

As I waited for my flight home, I realized, “Shit, I really want this job.” All at once I was back sitting in high school wondering if a girl likes me too.

It all worked out for the best and I’m honored to be part of such a bad ass team of girlfri–errr…developers.

Here’s why we think Phil is swell:

Philip James Frechette makes an amazing first impression. Visitors to Irrational Games could ask for no better.

Phil is warm, gracious, fashionable (depending upon the state of his beard) and makes everyone feel welcome. He goes to great lengths to keep the team happy, never shying away from doing what needs to be done, even if it means plunging a toilet. Or shipping a package at 7:00 p.m. Or running and grabbing the last copy of Sophie’s Choice within a 50 mile radius (for the third time) because the team needs it for a review session.

His MacGyver skills with most things IKEA are a wonder to behold, as is his willingness to stay until 2:00 a.m. assembling previously boxed furniture to hit a deadline. Phil has managed more office moves and flood-related chaos than should be legal, and he throws a hell of a holiday party.

His dedication to the well-being of the team is as clear as his love of all things Gaga.

Your title is “Team Support” What does that mean?

It means that it’s my job to keep people happy and healthy. That can mean running their errands or ordering food for the whole office. I coordinate flu shots in the winter and fun times year round. Basically my job is to make sure everyone has what they need to get the job done. I also have some administrative duties and sometimes like a good boy, I even answer the phone.

What games have you worked on?

BIOSHOCK!

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Wicked Pissah kid

What is your favorite game of all time?

I have many and could never pick a favorite of all time. I’m a huge fan of the Mario franchise so I’d have to go with Double Dash, but lately it’s been Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

PINBALL, especially the Lord of the Rings table.

What is your favorite movie?

Cry-Baby

What are your hobbies outside of work?

My dog Cooper, my cat Fattouche, my fish, sewing, geocaching, playing video games, and of course singing my heart out in the shower.

You have become quite the practiced tailor, and I know you even make dog clothes. What’s your main inspiration for your fine canine fashions?

My dog Cooper has really short hair and he’s only 15 lbs., so he gets really cold in the winter and he hates rain. I always hate trying to buy him something for 40 bucks that is totally ugly and not comfortable. I decided to merge my love of sewing with my superb taste and my love of dogs and voila, a star was born. Oh, and Lady Gaga, of course.

Jeff Seamster mentioned Geocaching also. Have the two of you ever run into each other while on the hunt for a cache and had an epic battle? More realistically, do you have any awesome stories to share about the hobby?

Do I? In fact, I have the most epic story about Geocaching EVER! It all started when Jeff and I first met, which was due to Geocaching. Jeff was traveling by bus to a remote destination when due to an unruly passenger, the bus crashed and flipped over an embankment and landed on some train tracks. Thankfully, Jeff managed to get out just as a train came by and smashed the bus to pieces, causing the train to jump the tracks.

The next thing I know, I am the head of a team of U.S. Deputy Marshalls, and we are doing everything we can to find Jeff and get to the cache before him. He proved to be quite difficult to find though, avoiding our every attempt and concealing his identity along the way. At one point, after he stole an ambulance, we trapped him in a tunnel inside a dam; I chased him through the drainage system, fought with him at gunpoint, and eventually cornered him near the end of a spillway. He kept insisting that he “didn’t kill his wife,” but since my job was to find him and get to the cache before him, this information was completely irrelevant. So I told him again and again: “I don’t care.”

Then without notice he took a swan dive off dam into the freezing water below. Jeff hid for months eating oranges and making fake ID’s, during which time he went to work at a hospital as a janitor in disguise and even helped a few patients. I looked for Jeff and the cache and chased every lead I could, since I needed to find that cache before Jeff did. Jeff, however, needed to find the One-Armed Man, since it was his only chance at ever being a free man again. Finally Jeff figured out who the one-armed man was and it turned out he was working for one of our colleagues, Jim Bonney, who was also a Geocacher. Jim had cleverly planned this scenario from the beginning. Knowing that Jeff would get there first, and that I would stop at nothing to find Jeff , he had organized the hit on Jeff’s wife to keep us distracted long enough so he could find the cache first.

Well, when Jeff found out about this he was livid! He stormed the hotel at which Jim was giving a speech, and called him out in front of everybody. This led to a chase through the hotel, with Jeff and I in hot pursuit all the way to the hotel roof, where they crashed through a skylight and onto the top of an elevator. I followed again and we ended up in the laundry room. Jim almost shot me, but to my surprise Jeff stopped him, even though we had been fighting over this cache from the beginning.

Once we left the hotel, Jim was detained but Jeff and I were given police escort away. To his surprise I handed him a small bag containing the cache.

“I thought you didn’t care,” said Jeff.

“I don’t,” I said.

And that, my friend, is my very epic battle Geocaching story. Or maybe it was the plot from The Fugitive.

Tell me your favorite story about life at Irrational.

There are too many, but I think I will pick the sad irony of Valentine’s Day 2007. It started like any other day, except it was raining and snowing. We were in full crunch mode for BioShock and that meant a lot of random errands for me, as I was doing my best to keep everyone in-house and working on the game. I’m not sure how many people know what it’s like to work 16 hours a day, but it means you pretty much don’t have a life outside of work. More accurately, you have a life outside of work, you just can’t use it and you miss lots of important things. So being a hard worker and a nice guy I volunteered to take money from people and make a list of gifts and cards to pick up for significant others. I ended up with about $800.00 in my pocket and I hit the road.

Now, I have already mentioned that it was raining and snowing, which is super important because what happens next will blow your mind. I was driving on the highway and without notice my car dies. Literally dead, nothing I can do, all hope is lost, dead and stuck on the side of the highway with no breakdown lane. I called AAA and they told me that based on my location it was an EMERGENCY. Well, duh! So I sat in the car long enough to freak out because I could just imagine someone flying down the highway and not seeing me stopped and plowing into my car and killing me. I had to get out and stand a safe distance away and wait for AAA. So that’s what I did. I stood there and waited, and waited, and waited. Two hours later they came and towed my car. By then I was soaking wet and just about frozen all the way through, and, oh yeah, I still had the money that everyone had given me. Needless to say it wasn’t a very happy Valentine’s Day for some of the peeps here who went home empty handed. You know what they say about good intentions.

Keith is a human Swiss Army knife – the kind with the tweezers and the saw blade and the magnifying glass.   His ability to complete any and every task that would otherwise fall through the cracks is, quite frankly, a bit spooky.

Need a video edited?  Done.  Need someone to build a tool in PHP?  Done.  Need someone to crack open the editor and quick-fix a level?   Done.  Need someone to record a podcast?   Done.  Keith is a runaway problem-solving machine, and his contributions since arriving here at Irrational are too numerous to catalog.  His dedication and immense value to the team have not gone unnoticed by his co-workers.  We are thrilled to have someone like Keith on staff, even if we’re a little freaked out by how many different things he can do.

And as if that weren’t enough, the man wears a mean kilt.

Your title is ‘Associate Producer.’  What does that mean?  And does the job change depending on the department you assist?

The title Associate Producer, or AP, can be difficult to define here at Irrational, but the primary goal is to assist the team with the development of the game. Of course what ‘assist’ means changes on a daily basis and can range from doing things like taking notes in meetings and tracking developer tasks, to flying out to California to hand deliver the game to the manufacturer.

At Irrational, each AP is assigned to a department to assist them with their particular needs, as well as being responsible for general production tasks.  During my five years here I’ve performed my AP duties in some capacity for basically every department (Art, Programming, Design, Audio). Each one has its own specific needs, but I’ve found them all to require some degree of technical knowledge in that department’s specialization. I think Irrational is unique in that, as an AP, I’ve actually done a great deal of development work that has made it into the final game.

What games have you worked on?

I playtested The Lost for a few weeks when I was in high school… does that count? My first full development game was BioShock. I’d say it was a good start!

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Challenging but rewarding.

What is your favorite game of all time?

I have a soft spot for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  It was the first RPG I had ever played.  I just wasn’t aware prior to playing it that that kind of depth could exist in a game.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

I can’t really suggest one because games are highly subjective.  Play one that your friends, kids, or significant other enjoys playing.

What is your favorite movie?

Movies are like games for me, in that I don’t internally rate good movies over others; they just exist in a mental list of movies I liked.  If you force me to choose, I might say Spirited Away, No Country For Old Men, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, or Garden State, depending on the day.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Other than gaming and watching movies, I enjoy spending time with my fiancée Heather and beagle-basset named Hazel. I also dabble in web development and aspire to ride my bike more.

Can you tell us about the joys of web development for fun?

Web development is a lot like game development: you get to create something that a wide audience can interact with.  I have a CS degree so messing around with Ruby on Rails is a good outlet for my technical abilities, and the design side feeds my visual creative needs.  Also it’s just fun to pull something from your head and have it exist in the real world.

Inquiring fans wants to know: when do we get to see a picture of you in the field hockey outfit?

Haha… well I scoured photo albums for some, and couldn’t really find any images better than these:

I think the picture on the left is the one they used in the year book so it ended up being a 20th of the size of the other player pictures. I regret not having had more pictures taken of me at the time.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

Our original office space flooded about two winters ago while most of the office was out on vacation. It created a bit of a headache as the space was practically unusable.  But in classic Irrational fashion, we didn’t let that stop us from working on kick-ass games.

Many of the crew moved into a make-shift office space at a nearby hotel for what was only supposed to be a short stay. It took much longer than expected to repair the original office space, so we decided to take over a recently vacated space on the floor below while we waited out the repairs. Once the office was de-funked and inhabitable again we moved back upstairs. We liked the lower floor space, and because we were growing, we decided to permanently make it part of our Irrational home where most of the Irrational crew now resides.

While the delays, moving and uncertainty of that period might have sunk other companies, we soldiered on and turned lemons into awesomely-styled lemonade.

Irrational’s four-person audio team may be small, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in talent, dedication and heart.  “Talent, dedication, and heart” – that sums up Jeff pretty well.

When he isn’t doing spot-on vocal impressions, kicking ass in any number of video games, or bringing his co-workers to tears with his wonderful sense of humor, Jeff can be found hard at work making our games sound oh-so-sweet.  Armed with vast skills and a devilishly handsome smile, he comes through no matter how thorny the problems he faces.  And we can always count on Jeff for an honest, unvarnished opinion on any subject, audio or otherwise.

He’d be a incredible asset to any team, but he’s ours.

All ours.

You can’t have him.

Your title is ‘Senior Sound Designer.’  What does that mean?

I design, author and implement sound effects for all aspects of our games. These range from one-off sounds for things like weapons, Foley and explosions, to more complex subjects like ambients, animations, and full-blown cinematics.

What games have you worked on?

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Blitz: The League 2, SimCity Societies: Destinations, SimCity Societies, Caesar IV and Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Inspiring beyond measure

What is your favorite game of all time?

You know that question is totally unfair, right? At least have the decency to ask for a Top 3.  But if I must pick an all-time favorite, a game that I can always come back to, it’s Beyond Good & Evil. It delivers the total package with beautiful and unique environments, charming characters, an amazingly diverse soundtrack, and a nice variety of gameplay. It continues to inspire my work to this day.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

Fallout 2. Trade in your lousy paper money for caps and start your journey into the wasteland.

What is your favorite movie?

Ameliebladerunnerjaws. Did I get away with that? I could honestly watch those movies every day of my life.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

I was a musician before I was ever a sound designer so I continue to write and play music whenever there’s time.  From time to time I can be spotted on a Geocaching hunt, and I also love to cook.

Geocaching?  That must result in some ridiculously nerdy adventures.

Geocaching is a bit nerdy with all the sneaking around in broad daylight, but it seems to be gaining traction now that almost every mobile phone has a built-in GPS. My adventures in Geocaching have ranged from creepy to hilarious.  Creepy: finding a monument buried deep in the woods of Massachusetts left in memoriam of a town that was all but wiped out by smallpox in the 1600s. Hilarious:  running into a person or group on the hunt for the same Geocache as you.  You pace back and forth for 15 minutes trying to be inconspicuous and eventually someone says, “Ok ok, we’re both looking for the Geocache, right?”  If the person just stares at you, the best option is to run away serpentine as though you’re being chased by a crocodile.

You confess that you like cooking.  Any recipes you could recommend to people that are challenged by the culinary arts?

As a native of New Orleans, I had to bring some Creole cooking with me to Boston. I’m also studying up on classic French cooking which not only starts off relatively easy, but also leads to natural improvisation with recipes. For those feeling noobish in the kitchen but interested in some authentic New Orleans fare, start off with Red Beans & Rice. It’s easy and almost impossible to screw up. Once you’ve mastered that, forge onward and keep your knives sharp!  Holler at me on the Community section when you’re ready to take on the Seamster gumbo recipe.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

My favorite story so far comes from my first day on the job. As soon as I walked through the door, our audio director grabs me and says we’re going out to record the Fore River Bridge between Quincy and Weymouth. He’d gotten a tip from our art director that it was going to be raised so that a large ship could pass underneath. The recording gear was packed up and we hauled ass to make it down to the bridge in time. We readied ourselves for some great throaty metal sounds because this bridge is a hulking beast of steel. The warning gates went up and the bridge began to move.

Believe me when I tell you that this bridge must have been designed by a squad of ninjas and padding specialists because it was utterly silent. Not even a peep when the bridge came to rest on what I speculate to be a bed of marshmallows. The only sound that truly stood out during this experience came from a deckhand on the passing ship who whistled Suicide is Painless (the theme from M*A*S*H) as the vessel lazily drifted by. So, if you need a recording of a silent bridge, now you know where to go.

Alexx Kay, a.k.a. ‘A-kay’ or ‘AK-47,’ has been a fixture at Irrational for many a console generation.    His ascent to greatness began in the pits of QA, where his prolific bug-finding skills on Thief and System Shock 2 were unmatched and unrivaled.   His keen mind for game design and his near-neurotic attention to detail led him to become co-Lead Designer on Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, where he helped bring life to the Freedom Force universe – and not just with his design skills.  Alexx also boasts an impressive set of pipes, and so lent his voice-acting talents to a variety of characters including the devious Mr. Mechanical.   Just ask him to “do the voice,” and you’re guaranteed a chuckle.

Most recently he worked on BioShock as a level designer and all-around smart guy.  His technical acumen makes him a natural liaison with the programming team, and he now plies his trade as a Senior Designer and general font of wisdom.    We hope he fills the hallowed halls of Irrational with his jovial laugh and design insight for many years to come.

Also, his beard kicks ass.

Your title is ‘Senior Designer.’  What does that mean?

I wear a lot of different hats, depending on what needs to be done during different phases of the project.  The job of a Designer is, broadly speaking, to make sure that what we’re building is fun for the player to experience.  Being a Senior Designer means that I’ve got enough proven experience that people trust my ideas and instincts.  It also means that I sometimes get given responsibility for entire systems at once.  (What those systems are remains, sadly, Top Secret for now.  I really wish I could talk about them!)

I hear that you do some acting every now and again. Would you like to share anything about that?

I did some acting in high school, and then later as part of the Society for Creative Anachronism.  Last year, a friend of mine talked me into participating in his production of Shakespeare’s Henry V, which was lots of fun.  Well, at least up until the point where, during the preview performance, there was an error in the fight choreography, and I took a sword blow to the head.  Head wounds bleed like nobody’s business, but my costume had a red hat, so it wasn’t immediately apparent to the audience.  As soon as I got offstage, I got it quickly bandaged.  I’m very proud to say that I finished the performance before going to the ER, and most of the audience never realized what had happened.  The show must go on!

What games have you worked on?

I started in the industry doing QA on Thief: The Dark Project.  Then I did QA on System Shock 2, but by the end of the project had moved onto ‘Additional Design.’  I was an Associate Producer during the early days of the (never-completed) Deep Cover and The Lost, and did some voice acting on the original Freedom Force (“Tremble before the might of MISTER MECHANICAL! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!”).  I parted ways with Irrational for a time, and did another QA gig at Impressions, working on Zeus: Master of Olympus.  Did some contract work designing an educational MMO for a dot-com bubble company that has since vanished into the mists of history.  Came back to Irrational to work as a Designer on The Lost, and then Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, where I got promoted to Co-Lead Designer.  Then I was a Designer on BioShock, and the BioShock DLC for PS3.  Since then, I’ve worked o– mmmmph! Mmrrrgg! [further sounds of struggle, as the powers-that-be keep Alexx from spilling secrets...]

Describe life at Irrational in three words or less.

Always challenging

What is your favorite game of all time?

Measuring by sheer quantity of fun, it’s got to be World of Warcraft.  Though I think the most concentrated fun I ever had was in Thief: The Dark Project.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

Passage, by Jason Rohrer.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Gaming, naturally.  Reading, in a variety of genres.  Comics.  Theatre, Elizabethan and/or experimental.  Maintaining The Dragaera Timeline, an obsessive cross-referencing of the fantasy works of Steven Brust.

What is your favorite movie?

Time Bandits.

You’ve been in the industry for a long time. Do you have any design wisdom you’d like to impart to  aspiring game designers out there?

Decide first if you want to go big or go small.  Do you want to be part of a team making huge games of astounding scope and spectacle?  Or do you prefer the purer artistic vision that can be achieved by smaller teams?  If you want to go big, learn to specialize.  Having knowledge of lots of disciplines has value, but big companies are rarely looking for jacks-of-all-trades; they want someone who can deliver high-quality work in a tightly-focused specialty.  Conversely, if you want to go small, learn to do as many different kinds of tasks as you can, because there may not be anyone else to do them.

Learn enough discipline to bring projects to completion.  This is a skill that will serve you well in every aspect of the gaming industry — and in life outside the industry.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

While we were working on Freedom Force, we were approached by an outfit called Electric Playground, who wanted to do a preview story about it.  EP was a cable-based TV show about gaming, sort of like XPlay these days, only with a much smaller audience.

Their shtick was that they liked to stage live-action versions of the games that they reported on.  So their reporter came in a superhero outfit, and they brought another one (mostly in white) for Ken Levine to wear as “Captain Irrational”.  Being well-noted for my super-villain hamminess already, I got to wear a mylar cape as “Dr. Sno-cone”.  A couple of our more ethnic-looking employees were chosen to be my minions.

This was when we still had the South Boston office.  There was a dilapidated garage next door that was the scene for the epic battle.  Ken and I pretended to toss power beams at each other, and the actual beams were Photoshopped in (badly) during post.  They even did some filming from the roof of our building, to get the “isometric top-down view” thing going.

After the fight scene, they interviewed me and Ken, still in costume, and in character.  (Fun fact: in early builds, Ken Levine recorded temp voice for Minuteman.)  It was a wonderfully silly day, though Ken was embarrassed by the whole thing.  Years later, I actually ran into someone who recognized me from that show, so I guess it did get on the air.  Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have made it onto YouTube.  Ken’s probably just as glad

I’m the programmer in charge of making menu screens, and making the HUD work.  I go to lots of meetings to talk about the UI, and then write all the code that makes it go.  Luckily, the only art they have me do is prototype art.  You don’t even want to see the UI elements before the artists get to them!

We hear that you read textbooks for fun.  Any interest in confirming or denying such a vicious rumor? If it’s true, what’s your favorite?

Okay, I might enjoy studying math in my free time, and get overly excited whenever I get a new textbook.  I’m taking a class right now that’s using Otto Bretscher’s Linear Algebra with Applications, and I’m definitely a big fan. For anyone interested in a beginner programming textbook, I highly recommend Starting Out with C++: Early Objects by Tony Gaddis.

What games have you worked on?  I know we hired you right of school, so do you have any student projects you’d like to mention, with maybe a small description?

I did an internship at Tertl Studios, where I worked on a game designed to teach kids programming, algebra, and geometry.

In my senior year of college, at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College, I worked on serious games.  One was called CIMIT RIPS, which is a giant acronym for “Center for Integration of Medical and Innovative Technology Real-Time Incident Preparedness Simulator.”  It’s a simulation/game for training teams in how to respond to large-scale disasters.  I also worked on a game about soccer,  designed to help stop violence against women in developing countries.

Most recently, at Global Game Jam 2010, I worked on a game called Quest for Stick!

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Best job ever.

What is your favorite game of all time?

Banjo-Kazooie, for sure.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

Portal! It’s fun, hilarious, and not even very long.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

In the winter I snowboard as much as I can.  In the summer I like running, sailing, and scuba diving when I can get somewhere a little warmer.  And twice a week I take a class in Capoeira, which is a Brazilian martial art that can only be described as break-dance fighting.  I’m not very good yet, but it’s a lot of fun!

What is your favorite movie?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but with the audio replaced by Brad Neely’s hilarious “Wizard People, Dear Reader” narration.

You’ve done a few Magic: The Gathering tournaments, correct? Any advice for your fellow players?

Yeah, you got me, I have.  I’m no expert, but I’ve gotten into drafting recently, both online and at my local card shop.  My advice: more swamps mean more death.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

My favorite story is actually about my interview here.  It was just before I graduated college, and it was my first “real” job interview, ever.  I went and bought nice clothes, rehearsed what I wanted to say, and worked on presenting myself professionally so I’d be taken seriously.  I was super nervous.  Then when people actually sat down with me for the interview, they were almost all wearing T-shirts, and they swore a lot.  It was not what I was expecting from a job interview at all!

Here’s why we think Kate is swell:

Kate is one of Irrational’s talented UI programmers.   Fresh out of college and a newcomer to the industry, she impressed the entire team with her mad skills and infectious enthusiasm.   And while others may shy away from the difficult task of  coding for the end-user experience, Kate embraces it with gusto.  She has a great time doing a tough job, and with her propensity for smiles and jokes, everyone around her knows just how much fun she’s having.

Ms. Baxter plays lots of games – probably more than most folks in the office.   Card games, video games, board games; you name it, she plays it.

Kate was also a fiercely loyal customer of the late lamented Little Q Mongolian Hot Pot Restaurant.  You never had to ask where she wanted to go for lunch.  You just knew.

I hate that title, actually.  I don’t take calls for my boss Geoff, or get his laundry.  I have been trying to think of a new title for myself and will be taking suggestions.  I think of my job as ‘the stuff Geoff doesn’t want to do anymore and gives to me.’  (No, just kidding.)

Irrational’s I.T. is a wolf-pack of two.   Geoff is the I.T. guru for back-end servers, SANs and Cisco firewalls.  The simple explanation would be that I am in charge of supporting everyone and everything electronic in the studio.  I build, order and maintain all the PC’s we have in the office.  I purchase all the equipment we use (like monitors, TVs, phones, etc.) and I also keep track of our software licensing, McAfee, off-site backups and anything else that may go wrong throughout the day.

What is the worst thing you’ve seen happen to a computer here?

I wish I had some cool fire story to tell, but nothing that severe has happened.  The biggest disaster was the flood in the office a couple of years ago.  There is nothing like the sight of gallons of water falling onto my PCs and TVs.  My heart was in my throat watching that one.  Also during the flood we moved to a local hotel while they cleaned up the damage.  I dropped my PC right on the cement, shattering it into pieces, but somehow it still worked!  I also witnessed someone dropping a monitor during that same move.

What games have you worked on?

Irrational Games and BioShock are my first taste of the gaming industry.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Dream Come True!

What is your favorite game of all time?

Hands down: Final Fantasy VII and Call of Duty 4.

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

So many good games, but if you love puzzle games:  Adventures of Lolo for the NES. I’ve always loved that game for some reason.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Outside of work I try to keep myself motivated and active by going to the gym during the week, and playing in a basketball and soccer league.  Also here and there I play goalie for my roommate’s roller hockey team.  After the gym I will sit on the couch and play a whole bunch of Call of Duty until about 2:00 A.M.

What is your favorite movie?

The Hangover, since I can relate to those guys.  I recently went to Vegas and I have scars on my hand and my knee, with no idea how they got there!  Oooh, Vegas!

You’re a dedicated gym rat.  Can you share Ray’s Insane Workout Tips with our readers?

No soda, and protein is a must.  Eating well and mixing up your routine will get you to your goals the fastest.  Every person has a different goal in mind when working out, but if you want to get into shape and become “cut,” then whey protein and creatine can be your best friends at the gym. They help muscle recovery and build stronger, healthier muscle.  Don’t go to the gym with the same routine every day because you and your muscles will get bored with it; you’ll end up quitting the gym and not reaching your goals.  You quickly end up going back to your old ways of fast food, Smartfood and soda every day.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

We had just hired an employee who was getting on in years.  They would call Geoff or myself early in the morning because their computer wouldn’t turn on.  We would walk in their office and press the button on the computer and Voilá!  On it went.

After the fourth day of early morning calls I decided to ask them if they could show me how they turn on the computer.   It turns out they were hitting the button on the monitor, thinking that would do the trick.  And it gets better!  After I showed them that they had to open the door on the computer case and press the button on the computer, they proceeded to write “POWER ON” on a sticky note next to his computer tower button.  I thought I had seen it all working here, but I guess not!

Here’s why we think Ray is swell:

He’s the Rayman.  The Ray of Light.  The STINGRAY.   Ray is the grease that keeps the wheels of Irrational Games rolling.  Everyone in the studio knows him (because he is constantly fixing their problems) and loves working with him.   He’s got your back.   When you make games of this magnitude, you need an expert troubleshooter when your stuff goes sideways, and Ray is the Man.   Oh, and you do not want to run into this guy in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.  Trust us on this one.

Artist

So your title actually gets to be “Artist?” In the videogame world what does that entail?

I guess that entails putting pencil to paper and defining the face of game being created.  I’ve always been drawn to character concepting work.  I know this comes from growing up loving the larger-than-life characters of the movies and comic books.

How is the art you do here for work different from the art you may do for yourself at home?

The art I work on at home is not all that different from the stuff I work on at Irrational in that, once again, it mainly revolves around characters.  The one main difference is that I work in traditional mediums at home.  I really enjoy large-format painting as well as sculpting.  I hardly ever fire up my home computer to make artwork.  Currently I am finishing up a toy portrait series I’ve been working on for a while.  The series is composed of several large oil paintings of some of my favorite vintage character toys.  Most of these portraits are pretty whimsical. They range from a soulful-looking Ben Grimm to a shameless, bubble headed Darth Vader knock-off.  I also really enjoy sculpting little campy characters in clay and then reproducing them in resin.  I’ve always been fascinated with schlocky hit-and-miss qualities of cheaply manufactured character toys.

What games have you worked on?

System Shock, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, Flight Unlimited, Thief, Akuji the Heartless, Freedom Force, Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, The Lost, BioShock.

Describe Life at Irrational in three words or less.

Barrel o’ fun.

What is your favorite game of all time?

Tron the arcade game!  Light cycles!  Electric blue, light up joystick!

Name a game everyone should play once in their life.

Freedom Force.  Ha!

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Art, candlepin bowling, terrible B-movies.

What is your favorite movie?

Alien.  Nothing beats the stark horror or design work in that movie.

I hear tell that you might be something of a collector or fan of classic comics and figures? Any truth to that? If so, what is it that you love about them?

Um, maybe?  Yes, with comics books it’s the nostalgia, the four-color printing, the crazy characters, the classic artwork and the ridiculous stories.  I even love the smell of vintage, yellowed, slightly musty pulp!  And yes, I have a few old dusty, vintage plastic figures.  I love poorly-realized characters the best.  If it’s from the 70’s, goofy looking and of questionable quality, I probably need it.

What’s your favorite Irrational story?

Some friends of mine from work and I used to hold band practice after hours at our work space. Our old office in Southie [Editor's Note:  nickname for South Boston] was a cool three-story building that used to be a school house.  We were on the second floor playing late one evening and we had left the fire escape doors open.  Suddenly a bottle came flying through the open doors and landed at our feet.  We all stopped playing and looked at each other, dumbfounded.  We heard a nasty, bellowing voice coming from the dark below.  “Shut the f–k up!” We took the hint and closed the doors.  We were pretty sure who the voice in the night belonged to as we were familiar with a Whitey Bulger wanna-be that lived across the way.

See, on several occasions, from our birds-eye vantage point, we had witnessed this guy getting ugly and threatening people that were trying to park in front of his house.  People in Southie are notorious for defending their self-proclaimed street parking spots.  This guy used to put out an orange pylon to keep prospective parkers away.  One day, me and another friend I worked with had seen enough of this guy’s chest beating. I dared him to run down and steal the guy’s pylon.  My friend actually went down and snatched it!  He brought it up laughing and we threw it in a closet.  Whitey ended up replacing the pylon with a sad lawn chair.

Getting back to my story… the next morning after the flying bottle incident, Whitey came over to the office and threatened a random secretary in the building, proclaiming if he heard any more music coming out of the office he would torch the place.  A day or so later my friend, the guy that stole the pylon, found his tires had been slashed.  The parking lot was directly behind our building and in direct sight of our ornery neighbor.  He must have been singled out because he often brought his guitar to and from work.  Old Whitey must have figured this was one of the punks making such a racket a few nights before. 

Anyway, on behalf of Dracula 2000, we are sorry about your tire’s misfortune.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was just a little bit of Southie-style karma for the kidnapping of an innocent pylon.

Here’s why we think Robb is swell…

Robb Waters is a fixture at Irrational.  He has worked on numerous titles and has over 15 years of experience in the industry. If you have played the Freedom Force games, you’ve frolicked in Robb’s sketchbook.

Robb’s love of retro comics and vintage toys gives him a unique style that breathes life into every game he works on.  He gave Andrew Ryan a face, lent Sander Cohen his unmistakable panache, and (despite Tenenbaum’s protestations to the contrary) was the real creator of the Little Sisters.  When he’s not raising the ire of the neighborhood restaurants’ wait staff, Robb continues to bring his brilliant and bizarre vision to our (for now) unannounced title.

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.