Watching an interview of Glen Schofield (Call of Duty WWII, Callisto Protocol, Dead Space 2008) on YouTube and I'm struck by how broken he seems to be after being let go from Striking Distance amidst the financial failure of the Callisto Protocol. From his version of events, it does seem he really got burned by the corporate beast.

On the one hand I understand his gripes with the industry (metacritic scoring system, games not being sold at enough of a margin unless they do crazy numbers, etc), on the other, I'm not as sympathetic. Consumers should not get broken products at launch.

From my layman's perspective, I think they overestimated the appetite and market for horror. As far as I can tell, anything that is not Resident Evil usually tops out at about 2 million units globally(Alan Wake 2 for example). If I'm not mistaken I think they were look at selling 5 million+ if not 10 million copies to be profitable. This being said, he has intimated in the interview that he did request an additional three and a half months to finalise on the product but was shot down in favour of the original release date.

On a personal note, I actually really like the Callisto Protocol. Its one of my favourite games of all time and it is technically very impressive. There were a few missteps such as the never ending corridors and conduits but I do love it as it is. I also really liked Call Of Duty WWII. Perhaps I have a favourable view of Callisto Protocol because this was the only piece of Schofield's work I was familiar with at the time. I'm only playing through Dead Space Remake now and only lighlty touched the original.

Image credits: Sony

Full interview here.

From the running pitch battles between MAGA loyalists and the Tech Bros a lot of what can be said has been said. People can follow the respective arguments (good faith) on X and come to their own conclusions. I do think that many in the MAGA movement are right in pointing out that the H1B1 visa program has been gamed to unjustly favour cheaper labour from India/China over American labour. They are right in pointing out that corporations would rather outsource jobs(call centres abroad) than hire locally to save on costs/maximise profits. However, I think they are partially right with regard to not raising the cap on legal immigration. I think they are completely wrong when it comes to immigration moratoriums and creating stricter requirements for immigration. The existing laws are good enough if implemented justly and do seem to be well thought-out for the most part. In fact, the tech bros are right in pointing out that there is an overzealous rejection of applicants from bureaucrats.

The overwhelming argument from the MAGA folk is that the requisite talent and skill needed to fill positions at companies can be gleaned locally. While this may be true in certain fields, it is not true of all fields. Many countries do have a list of critical skills in fields that are usually understaffed and do require foreign input. As an example, in South Africa, plumbing is considered to be a critical skill. There are simply not enough qualified plumbers in the country to sustain the needs of the country. Not enough people study and qualify for the skillset required. The difference between this and say the H1B1 visa in America is that this is not advertised or even encouraged. Only those looking to apply for said visa know of the need.

A key assumption being made by a lot of MAGA (& non-MAGA) folk is that one can just rock up in America, get a visa and after a few years of work find some path to citizenship and thus dilute the American bloodstream. Getting a visa is not a guarantee of permanent residency leave alone citizenship. H1B1 visa aside, visa application processes are also incredibly complicated and more often than not are unsuccessful. Sometimes visas are rejected for dubious reasons other times for genuine ones. Many Americans who've never left the country don't realise what a gift the American passport is. One can simply rock up at a port of entry in most countries in the world and be given unfettered access(tourism, hospital visits, visiting family). For most other residents of other countries, apart from where special treaties are in place, one has to apply for a visa. It is an arduous process that often includes having to prove financial ability, criminal checks, proof of limited duration of stay, etc.

There is an argument that immigrants displace local talent. This isn't an argument unique to the Americans, it is an all too familiar argument in other parts of the world. The MAGA loyalists on X are right in pointing out that a country isn't just another company where personnel can be replaced at whim for more efficient alternatives.They are however wrong in assuming that there is always a pool of local talent for companies/individuals to draw from. In addition, labour laws in most countries guarantee that the locals are the premier pick of the litter before considerations are given to foreign alternatives, though, this can be gamed if there is enough of a financial incentive.

Finally, immigration is not an easy task. It is arduous, capital intensive and stressful and many cases unsuccessful. Part of the reason why I have not emigrated or sought out a visa for temporary migrant status in any foreign country is that I hate being a second class citizen. Always having to worry about my papers being rejected or visas not being renewed. One can't simply settle down if the near future is uncertain leave alone the distant future. Also, a visa often has one locked it to do one particular thing in a foreign country such as study at just the particular institution applied to or work for the particular company that hired said individual. In my view, this is not a way to live.

In my written piece, In Pursuit of Skynet, I posited that the more common use for "A.I." would be to democratise art in the present and perhaps in the near future spark off another Industrial Revolution. While the latter remains to be seen, the former is already a reality, with some caveats.

I’ve always gone for a very particular visual presentation with my written pieces. Often I pair heavy use of metaphors with visual representations of these metaphors. As an example, if I use creatures from Greek mythology as an analogy of current affairs, I would use a picture of a minotaur or a coloseum. These are often easy to find as many artists have imitated classic art depicting similar.

It becomes more of a challenge when I have a very specific metaphor/visual analogy I’m going for and need an image that lines up with what I’ve pictured in my mind. Often, I would go for what is closest to what I had in mind. However, at times I can’t find anything remotely close to what I'm looking for and thus have to modify my metaphor to suit the image I’d like to use. As an alternative, I could hire a digital artist to render the image I would like to my specifications or learn the skill myself. This would cost time and money. While I do value my craft, I have no interest in spending copious amounts of money on random musings I post on the internet.

Enter A.I. Image Generation.

For my latest written piece, American Godzilla, I wanted to have a split face of President Trump and Godzilla (2014 rendition) mashed together. I also wanted to have extra images of Godzilla to use in other places in the article. I searched for royalty free imagery in my usual hunting grounds and couldn’t pick up anything. Additionally all the images I found that were quasi-relevant were all "A.I." generated.  As Grok’s image generator is free to use at the moment I opted to use it to generate the imagery I needed. A few prompts later and on my third attempt I was able to get the imagery I wanted. No skill required from me. In addition, I was able to have the images generated in the particular art style I like them in. Often A.I. generated images look like A.I. generated images. They have a particular "sheen" to them that is noticeable and one I don’t really like. And yes, all work and no play will not make Keli a dull boy.

While A.I. is supposed to have been trained on publicly available information or at least information it has been granted access to, such as user data on Twitter/X, the images it generates may not necessarily be in the public domain. I created an image of Godzilla using Grok 2 but I suspect that the likeness of Godzilla is copyrighted by the company that created and owns the IP. This may be why it was hard for me to pick up royalty free images to use that were not A.I. generated. Additionally, while the images were accurate in the depiction of what I needed, I still have to work on the images generated to have them in the proper format and elliminate some unwanted details.