TheRealMattKain

For anyone interested, my brother and I competed on a new IGN/YouTube reality show called The Next Game Boss. The show is basically an elimination challenge between indie development teams who have to design and implement a video game. We even managed to sneak in a not-so-subtle (and cheesy) shout out to Wisconsin and the Packers. The show was a blast and the final product looks pretty slick (I was worried about what a show centered on a bunch of scruffy game devs would look like, but it was all put together by Reveille, the company that does the Office, the Tudors, the Biggest Loser, and a bunch of other stuff). Anyway, we're TEAM FIST PUNCHER. Check it out and feel free to poke fun since, come on, it's an internet reality show about making video games.

Being the lone "true" programmer must be pretty neat. I'd imagine it gives you quite a bit of freedom and latitude when working on projects. Based on your description, I assume your job requires interfacing and planning with people whose computer skills may be all over the board (office people, warehouse workers, management, etc.). Do you find this challenging? I work for a company that writes bio-tech and medical imaging research software. I've worked on a bunch of different projects in varying fields (confocal microscopy, fluorescent imaging, cancer research), but I currently focus on storage, retrieval and analysis of imaging modalities for cardiology (IVUS and OCT being the 2 big ones). We're a small company, so like you I have to wear a variety of hats (I might be coding on Monday, making a tradeshow banner on Tuesday, and writing technical documentation on Wednesday). My job also has many travel benefits. We sell world-wide so I've been lucky enough to travel around North America, Europe, and Asia on the company dime. Overall it's good work with many pros, but it's also a tough, competitive market with a ton of red tape (lots of regulatory and QC stuff that slows the process down). It sounds silly to think that I'd trade my current field to do videogames, but I guess I'm a dreamer. MattKain

Just out of curiosity, what sort of software do you work on for your day job? Figuring out the gaming workflow is definitely tough. It's very counter-intuitive to normal Windows programming. I first went through this issue when I was learning Flash actionscript programming. I had to wrap my mind around a model using a game-action-update state-machine that was triggered on the framerate. The good thing is this seems to be the model used by many game engines so the learning can be transferred to new environments. MattKain

Congrats on the win! That's awesome. We just submitted our game, Fist Puncher, to the Independent Games Festival. We don't expect to win, but the act of submitting is a success in an of itself. How do you like XNA? I've been learning it too. The biggest hurdle that I have is spending 40-50 hours a week working in Visual Studio for my day job, and then coming home and trying to jump back into the same environment for "fun" coding. Not easy. MattKain

There's a lot of discussion in the comments section on gamasutra, but I don't think they have a dedicated forum. IndieGamer has a nice forum: The app hub forum for Xbox dev is pretty popular: I know there are some very active sites where people discuss indie game dev on classic consoles as well. AtariAge.com for example has a large community of individuals making new Atari 2600 games (cart and all). I'm not sure what else is out there. MattKain

If anyone's interested, here's a couple of pre-release trailers for the game titled "Fist Puncher" that we're working on: MattKain

If you're ever interested in trying to throw something together but don't want to get too into the programming there are some good game development apps like Stencyl or GameMaker that work well for the non-programmer. As far as making money, the scene is really hit or miss. Something like "I Made a Game with Zombies in it" was all done by one guy (art, coding, and the amazing soundtrack that he sang himself) and he made a fortune on it. On the other hand, I'm shocked at how many little studios or indie developers put a year or more of their life into a great little game only to see the game get buried and only sell a few hundred copies at a buck a piece. Anyway, here's a few of my current favorites indies: I Made a Game with Zombies in it Dead Pixels Kung-Fu Fight Canabalt http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/ MattKain

Sort of an obscure question, but with the recent renaissance of indie game developers on the Xbox, PC, and other platforms, I was wondering if anyone else out there shares my hobby. I've actually started a little 2-man operation with my brother and we'll be releasing our first Xbox Live Indie Games title hopefully by first quarter 2012. So, anyone else dabble in game design in their spare time? Or is there anyone here that follows the indie game scene on any platform? MattKain

With 2011 looking to go down as one of the top seasons in Brewers history, what do fans rank as the top 5 greatest Brewers seasons? Obviously 1982 has to be number one, but what about after that? Without including 2011 (since it's not over yet) I'm thinking maybe '82, '81, '08, '79, '92. What do others think? Here are some highlights from some of the more memorable seasons: 1978 Brewers win 93 games in first winning season Mike Caldwell wins team record 22 games and sets team records for complete games and shutouts 1979 Brewers set team record for Wins and Winning Percentage, finish in second place Gorman Thomas leads league in Homeruns 1981 Brewers make playoffs - lose in Division Series Rollie Fingers wins MVP and Cy Young awards 1982 Brewers make their only appearance in the World Series Brewers tie team record for wins Robin Yount wins MVP and leads league in WAR, Slugging, Total Bases, Runs Created, and OPS Pete Vuckovich wins Cy Young award Yount, Cooper, Molitor finish 1-2-3 in league standings for hits Gorman Thomas leads league in Homeruns 1987 Brewers tie MLB record with 13-0 start. Juan Nieves throws only no-hitter in Brewer history Paul Molitor has 39 game hitting streak Paul Molitor sets team records for batting average and on base percentage 1989 Robin Yount wins MVP 1992 Brewers finish 92-70 - miss playoffs by 4 games Yount gets 3000th hit Pat Listach wins Rookie of the Year 2007 Brewers finish over .500 and break streak of non-winning seasons Ryan Braun wins Rookie of the Year and breaks MLB rookie record and Brewer record for slugging percentage Prince Fielder becomes first Brewer to hit 50 homeruns, leads league in Homeruns Francisco Cordero sets Brewer save record 2008 Brewers win Wildcard - first playoff appearance in over 25 years CC Sabathia has dominant second half for Brewers setting team record for ERA 2011 Brewers have 3 All-start game starters Prince Fielder wins All-Star game MVP Ryan Braun has 30-30 season Brewers win division(?) Ryan Braun wins batting title(?) Ryan Braun wins MVP(?) John Axford sets Brewer save record(?)

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1943&position=P#pitchtype

I've been in the software business for about a decade. Some brief comments from my experience at work and at home: Dell: Terrible, terrible laptops. They *are* cheap, but they do not last. My GF had a Dell Inspiron which ended up having issues with the power board which prevents the system from charging the battery (check it out online - this is VERY common). Bought her another Dell Inspiron and it ended up having the same problem within a year of purchase. Sony: I've had great luck with both Sony desktops and laptops for both personal and work use. I know the price tends to run a little higher than Dell or HP, but again, I've had good luck with them. Lenovo: no experience with their laptops, but I've had great experience with their desktops. Cheap and very durable. We have a couple of Lenovos that we use for trade shows. These systems get shipped all over the country and get heavy, heavy use. No problems. Fujitsu: had a few Fujitsu tablet laptops. Pretty reliable, but the batteries didn't last long. Had a few quirks with the screen response as well. I'm on the fence with them and wouldn't feel comfortable recommending them. Macs: Personally feel that they are not worth the price. Like all Apple products, excellent marketing has created tremendous demand, but there are many, many better options out there if you're willing to do a little research. I don't want to have a Mac/PC debate, but I would say if you have deep pockets and want a fashion accessory, get a Mac. HP: I currently have an HP laptop that I use for work and at home. It's been great. System gets heavy use, runs CPU and RAM intensive apps well (high-end image analysis, video editing, and MS software development apps), and I lug it with me around the world on business. No problems at all over about 2 years. Also I do have a warranty and the warranty has already saved me. Quick story: inadvertently smashed my laptop screen (so, yes, a problem, but totally my fault). Sent it in for repair on Monday, had it back on Thursday. Cost me $0. Without warranty would have cost about $400 to repair locally. The lesson here might be the same as the previous poster said: get a warranty. Overall advice: -if you're using a laptop for basic stuff like music, internet, word processing, etc. there is NO reason to spend a lot of money. I constantly see people buy powerful laptops so they can surf the internet and look at pictures from their cell phone. Don't make this mistake. You can get a solid laptop for around 500 bucks (or less) that does everything you need. -if you want the laptop to run long term without worries, get a warranty. -make sure to run reliable anti-virus software and be careful what you install on your system. I have plenty of friends who hand me their laptop and tell me it's dead or unusable only to discover that the system is bogged down with bloatware and malware.

6-1 in the 3rd? Unreal. After all this controversy the Brewers are now stealing signs on the road? When will it end?

So what is going on with the home/road splits? I thought it might be fun to look into this a little deeper. Runs per Game at Home vs. Runs per Game on the Road Below is a list of each team's runs per game at home and on the road and the percent increase from the lower to the higher. http://images.yuku.com/image/bmp/0fd15b9c8d65dd32b0fbc6839c65641272b2859.bmp Are the Brewers numbers so skewed that they must be cheating? Based on the numbers above, the Brewers are scoring about 32% more runs at home than they are on the road. This is high, but not improbable. Teams playing in traditional hitters parks are seeing similar jumps (Texas scores 34% more at home, Colorado 37%). Similarly teams in pitcher's parks are seeing similar jumps when they go on the road (Tampa 36% more on the road, SF 29%, SD 26%). It's also important to mention that these numbers only show differences. A huge difference in home and road splits could be due to park factors, over-performance in one setting, under-performance in one setting, random variation, or who knows what. Note that Oakland plays in a pitcher's park yet scores 22% more runs at home than on the road. They must be stealing signs too. 2011 Team Results vs. Expected Results Now if the Brewers *were* stealing signs at home then we'd expect to see performance similar to the predicted results on the road and a huge increase from predicted results to actual results at home. In 2010 the Brewers were 4th in the league in Runs per Game. In 2011, the following happened: -The top 5 offensive players (Braun, Fielder, Weeks, Hart, and McGehee) all returned. -The starting catcher would be entering his sophomore year and age 25 season where one would expect improvements in offensive stats. -The starting center fielder returned. -The worst offensive player, Escobar, was replaced with Betancourt. Although Betancourt is in no way remarkable, his offensive track record implied that he would out-perform Escobar's 2010 offensive numbers. Based on on this, it's fair to say that one would expect the Brewers' run production to be near the top of the league in 2011. Again, let's look at the numbers. In 2011, the Brewers are 3rd in the league in Runs per Game at Home. Nothing unexpected there. However, on the Road the Brewers are 15th (!!) in Runs per Game. Far, far below reasonable expectations. What this implies is not[/i] that the Brewers are scoring a ridiculous amount of runs at home, but rather[/i] they are scoring an improbably low number of runs on the road. 2010 Individual Results vs. Expected Results The same as above, if the Brewers were cheating at home, then we'd expect to see several players with unexpected and potentially suspicious inflated offensive numbers since individuals would be getting this huge home field boost. Below are OPS+ ZiPS projections and the actual results from 2011 for Brewers with 200 PA (I threw in Kotsay who has 199). http://images.yuku.com/image/bmp/7601579a8269da32bfe82796b1b788d75b51f7a.bmp 6 brewers are exceeding their ZiPS projections, 4 are below their projections. Braun and Fielder are having awesome years. Not shocking - they're offensive superstars. No Brewer is having a ridiculous outlier season (other than McGehee who is suddenly terrible) and Morgan who has been pretty good in a small number of PAs. All of the overall results seem attainable. Conclusion It actually appears that team offensive numbers look pretty reasonable. If anything, the Brewers' offense is performing abnormally terrible on the road (rather than abnormally amazing at home). The way I see it one of two things is happening: -Due to random variance over roughly 50 home games and 50 road games the Brewers' offense is performing about as one would expect at home and terrible on the road. -All other teams have joined together and are cheating when the Brewers come to town. This is most likely done by using mirrors to shine light into the eyes of Brewers' batters just like in the movie Back to School. In fact, based on my research I think we can all agree that it's almost statistically impossible for other teams not to be cheating when the Brewers are on the road.

Looks like Dickerson *is* getting his chance. NY called him up and he's starting in RF today.

We're at the 25% mark for the season so I thought it might be fun to take a look at the 2 big trades the Brewers made this past offseason. Shaun Marcum for Brett Lawrie Brett Lawrie (AAA Las Vegas) .325/.381/.578/.960 14 2B, 8 HR, 9 SB, 7 E Lawrie is tearing it up offensively in AAA and should be up in Toronto's Bautista-led lineup in the next couple months. Couldn't find much in the way of advanced defense stats, but his 7 Errors speak for themselves. His bat may be ready, but I would question his glove. Shaun Marcum 5-1, 56.2 IP, 2.54 ERA (149 ERA+), 1.059 WHIP, 54K, 13BB 1.6 WAR With Gallardo scuffling and Greinke still in preseason mode, Marcum has been no less than a rotation savior. His K9 and K:BB ratios are the best of his career. Marcum is in the top 10 in the league in ERA, ERA+, WHIP, Wins (for those who still use them), Ks, BB/9, K:BB, Win Probability Added, and a whole bunch more. Exactly what you would expect when a top-tier pitcher transitions to the NL. Greinke/Betancourt for Escobar/Jeffress/Odorizzi/Cain Alcides Escobar .217/.252/.266/.517 (47 OPS+), 7 2B, 0 HR, 5 SB -0.2 WAR Brutal, brutal offense. Somehow he's worse than last year when he put up an ugly 67 OPS+. Baseball-reference has his OPS+ at 92 out of 94 qualifying AL hitters. Not good. It'll take some time to get a good grip on his defense, but, from the little bit I've seen, his D looks fine. End of the year metrics will probably show that it is closer to the good-great range. Still, his WAR is atrocious and Fangraphs even did a piece on Escobar's "incompetence": http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/alcides-escobars-magnified-incompetence Jeremy Jeffress 15 IP, 3.60 ERA (112 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, 13K, 8BB 0.1 WAR He got roughed up last night in the 19-run debacle against Cleveland, but otherwise he's been solid and his 96.7 mph average fastball would be a nice addition to our bullpen. As expected lots of Ks and, of course, lots of walks. Jake Odorizzi (A+ Wilmington) 3-0, 36.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 0.982 WHIP, 55K, 8BB Yikes! I hope this one doesn't haunt us. It's only high A, but 55K with only 8 BB in 36.2 innings is fantastic at any level. Lorenzo Cain (AAA Omaha) .283/.362/.460/.822 10 2B, 2 HR, 5 SB His AAA numbers look good. Not sure how long KC plans to hold him down and keep playing Melky Cabrera. I guess as long as Melky is hitting, there's no reason to rush Cain. Zack Greinke 2-1, 15 IP, 6.60 ERA (58 ERA+), 1.20 WHIP, 20K, 2BB 0.5 WAR The superficial stats, like ERA, are deceptive. 20K and 2BB in 15 innings has me guessing that Greinke could be getting ready to go on a dominant stretch. It stinks that he missed the first month of season due to a fluke injury, but now that he's back I'm a lot less worried about the front of our rotation. Yuniesky Betancourt .225/.248/.326/.574 (58 OPS+) 2HR, 0 SB -0.3 WAR Apparently in a battle with Escobar for worst offensive contribution. With 2 HR, his power is nowhere near advertised. Baseball-reference has his OPS+ at 86 out of 92 qualifying NL hitters - so, yeah, not much better than Escobar. There's plenty of argument on this board about Yuni, and we all know he is capable of the occasional flashy play: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14645257 Still, we've also seen plenty of defensive misses as well. I'll just let his -0.3 WAR speak for itself. It might be fun to look at some of the other deals and signings too (Saito, Morgan, etc.) EDIT (added two more) Nyjer Morgan for Cutter Dykstra Cutter Dykstra (A+ Potomac) .217/.238/.233/.471 2 2B, 0 HR, 5 SB The move to the Nats organization has not been kind to Cutter. He's been absolutely abysmal so far. He's spent a little time at second and third, but most of his playing time has come at DH. A crummy hitting DH trying to move up in an NL organization - not good. Nyjer Morgan .379/.419/.586/1.006 2 2B, 2 3B, 15 games .8 WAR When he's been healthy, he's been terrific. Sadly, that hasn't been much. No way he can keep this up when he returns, but there is almost no way that he doesn't make the team better. If we get a return to his 2009 form, I think most fans will be happy. Sergio Mitre for Chris Dickerson Chris Dickerson (AAA Scranton) .248/.370/.354/.724 7 2B, 1 HR, 8 SB, 21 BB He's showing some good on base skills in AAA but his power is almost non-existent. If Swisher, Gardner, and Jones continue their mediocre play, he might get a shot in the bigs again this year. Sergio Mitre 14.2 IP, 1.84 ERA (209 ERA+), 1.0.23 WHIP, 6K, 5BB 0.0 WAR Mitre's been one of the best in our somewhat unpredictable bullpen. His 1.2 K:BB ratio makes me a little nervous. Is he really this good or is he getting lucky? I would suspect that there is certainly some luck involved. Still, in 54 innings in NY last year he managed to give up very few runs while putting up similar K and BB numbers.