Christian Gyrling is Leaving Naughty Dog after 17 Years

Naughty Dog via Twitter

Our Head of Technology Christian Gyrling has decided to leave Naughty Dog after an amazing 17-year career at our studio. We’re grateful for his many contributions to the studio, our games, and his teammates. We will miss christian greatly and wish him the best of luck on where his path leads next. Travis McIntosh, a 19-year veteran at Naughty Dog, will succeed Christian as Head of Technology.

This departure is just five months after Christian took on the role of Head of Technology. That title was proceeded by being a Co-Vide President since December 2020, alongside Alison Mori.¹

Christian started at Naughty Dog in September 2006 working on Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. He had many titles at the studio, with his longest stint being a Lead Programmer from January 2010 to March 2017. As I understand it, Christian is one of the many people that make Naughty Dog’s internal engine sing. It’s what makes them look and run so well on Sony’s hardware.

Travis McIntosh has also been a Lead Programmer and Programming Director at Naughty Dog since 2004, with his first title with the team being Jak X: Combat Racing.

I wonder why the shake up so soon after a promotion.² I’m curious what Christian is off to do next. There has to be a deep well of knowledge, not just about Naughty Dog’s own engine, but of the PlayStation architecture as well. For a studio that hasn’t put out a new game this year, there sure is a lot happening at The Kennel.

Side note: I couldn’t find a leadership page on Naughty Dog’s site. I should get on that.

1. Who took on the role of Studio Manager and Head of Operations when Christian took on Head of Technology this past July.

2. Is going from Co-Vice President to Head of Technology a promotion? The leadership promotions/shake up in July 2023 after Evan Wells announced his retirement read to me as a clarification of the leadership at the studio. Folks seemed to be put into more clearly defined roles. Maybe I’m wrong about that.

The Trailer Masters Strike Again in Early December with GTA VI

We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto. We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you.

Thank you,
Sam Houser via Twitter¹

Well I’ll be…

Friendly reminder that Rockstar makes immaculate trailers. I consider these Red Dead Redemption II trailers to be all-timers, alongside the 2017 Breath of the Wild trailer and the “Everyone is Here” Smash trailer.

Another friendly reminder would be to not believe any release window in said upcoming trailer.

1. I can’t call it X. I can’t.

Racing in Banjo-Pilot – Super Chapter Select

Hello everybody! Back in July, Logan and I announced Super Chapter Select. It’s a member-supported tier of the show with longer shows, exclusive episodes, and bonus videos. A failure on our part was to not really show that content to our audience. We figured the concept was ubiquitous in the space, that the promise of that content was enough.

Now, that feels rather foolish on my part. I think we are making some neat stuff and potential members should know what they are paying to get access for. So in the coming weeks, we are opening the gates a bit.

In the interstitial weeks between the remaining Season 6 – Pokémon episodes, we’ll be releasing one member special video to the public from each season. This week, we are starting with one of the first videos we made.

Using the power of the MiSTer FPGA platform, Logan and I raced in Banjo-Pilot, the GBA racing game that we did not play for Season 3 – Banjo-Kazooie. We filmed this last May when Logan was in town for a work trip. We also filmed Logan playing Grunty’s Revenge for the first time and our FireRed/LeafGreen Pokémon battle (which you will see in a few weeks 😉).

We hope you enjoy seeing this stuff. It’s going to be neat to see how the quality and style grows over the course of the seasons. When we made this, we didn’t even have a name picked out! I was figuring out game audio versus our own. It ought to be a neat display of the show’s production growth.

If you’d like to see everything we have to offer, you can sign up for Super Chapter Select right now! It is only $2.50 per month or $20 a year! You’ll get access to nearly 30 hours of member-exclusive material across almost all our seasons. I’m real proud of what we make and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Thursday Night Stream – Optimizing my Retro Consoles with the RetroTINK 5X

I upgraded my RetroTINK 5X Pro to version 3.71 and that means all my profiles were wiped out. I figured a stream would be the perfect time to reenter all my settings. I plan on going through each system and re-entering the settings/profiles¹ I had from Wobbling Pixels. I’ll be tackling my SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, PS2, and my PSTV.

I’ll also be trying out ADC calibration to make the colors look even better. This seems the most tedious, but hey, isn’t that what the stream is for? It’ll be a fun, casual hang out while I set stuff up.

Come swing by the stream tonight at 8:00 PM EST to hang out and tinker with some retro consoles.

1. Man, I can’t wait to have profiles just loaded onto an SD card.

An Update – November 2023 Edition

I feel due for a life update here on Max Frequency. I entered September and it feels like all my time has vanished. Without being active on Twitter, I feel this strange disconnection from sharing where I am at in my work and creative process. Heck, even just my takes on Spider-Man 2 or a deep dive on the Analogue 3D.

It’s all stuff I want to write, but I just haven’t had/made the time.

September was a blur of charity streams for St. Jude and Relay FM. I still want to write my post-analysis on how that went from the creative side. Chapter Select kept on trucking with Season 6 – Pokémon. We still have to record the last two episodes.

To bury the lede a bit, I lost my job three weeks ago. I’m good now and have already found work. I am fortunate to have had such help getting back so quickly. Then Abby and I were sick for a solid week. Totally just cleaned our clock and deleted a week from our lives. I hate having my time robbed like that.

I’ve got some projects in the works. I do have a deep dive on the Analogue 3D in the research phase. Lots to read and dig into. I’m working on adapting my Art of Escalation piece into a video essay. That seemed like a good one to adapt and dip my toes into a more polished video. I continue to work on Chapter Select and find guests for MFP. I’ve had a dream slate lately and am super proud of those episodes. I’m currently reaching out to some folks in hopes of episodes.

Thanks for indulging this brief catch-up. I have felt it as a strange burden looming. Now that it’s out there, I can get back on track and keep making the stuff I love.

Update (like two minutes after publishing): Oh yeah. I’ve also begun the slow process of manually archiving all my online writing in Markdown and linking it all in Obsidian. It’s already led to some great and neat discoveries and recoveries. More soon.

Chapter Select: Season 6, Episode 6 – Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Art inspired by the *Pokémon Ultra Sun* start screen, designed by Max Roberts

It’s time to catch some waves and some Pokémon! Kanto-natives Max Roberts and Logan Moore are joined by islander Grant Callahan to explore the interdimensional tropics of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Does breaking tradition lead to a better game or was this a trial that Game Freak couldn’t complete?

Download (56MB) – Episode Transcript

Super Chapter Select is a premium version of the show that provides access to longer and exclusive episodes, as well as bonus videos. Sign up for $2.50/month or $20/year to gain access to everything!

Pokémon Sun and Moon

Developer – Game Freak
Platform – Nintendo 3DS
Release Date – November 18, 2016
- November 17, 2017 for Ultra
Game Directors – Shigeru Ohmori (Sun/Moon) and Kazumasa Iwao (Ultra)
Producers – Junichi Masuda, Shin Uwai, Takato Utsunomiya, and Hitoshi Yamagami
- Same as base Sun and Moon, Takanori Sowa, Shigeru Ohmori, and Shin Uwai (Ultra)
Composers – Minako Adachi, Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda, Tomoaki Oga, Hitomi Sato, and Hideaki Kuroda
- Minako Adachi, Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda, and Tomoaki Oga (Ultra)

Metacritic – 87/100 (84/100 for Ultra)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on July 12, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Grant’s Threads @grant__callahan

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Art designed by Max Roberts.

Thursday Night Stream – Halo Infinite Multiplayer

The boys wanted to play Halo Infinite, so I decided to stream it. I argue we are sticking with the spooky theme since Infinite‘s launch was scary. Heck, I’m sure my play style will be horrific to some of you too. It’s going to be a fun night.

I haven’t touched Infinite since the multiplayer launch two years ago. I never touched the campaign due to the lack of co-op at launch. Maybe I can convince the lads to play some SWAT. Is a SWAT playlist even a thing in Infinite? I guess I’ll find out. I’n not entirely sure when my friends will be able to hop on, so I may not start with Halo right away. No matter what, I’ll dabble around on the XSX and we will have some fun!

Come swing by the stream tonight at 8:00 PM EST to hang out with the boys and shoot some Spartans.

“Building the Ephemera” with John Linneman

John Linneman swings by to chat about analyzing games throughout the generations and how John’s gaming capture setup works, before lamenting the all-digital future standing before us.

Download (34MB) – Episode Transcript

RSS Feed – Overcast – Apple Podcasts – Spotify

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Chapter Select: Season 6, Episode 5 – Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire

Art inspired by the *Pokémon Sapphire* start screen, designed by Max Roberts

Sound the trumpets! 🎺 Water fanatics Max Roberts and Logan Moore are joined by land stan Cameron Hawkins to set sail and stop primordial forces. Do the Hoenn adventures really have too much water or are there bigger problems just beneath the surface?

Download (46MB) – Episode Transcript

Super Chapter Select is a premium version of the show that provides access to longer and exclusive episodes, as well as bonus videos. Sign up for a year for just $20 to gain access to everything!

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

Developer – Game Freak
Platforms – Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 3DS
Release Date – March 19, 2003
- November 21, 2014 for Omega and Alpha
Game Directors – Junichi Masuda (R/S) and Shigeru Ohmori (OR/AS)
Producers – Hiroyuki Jinnai, Takehiro Izushi, and Hiroaki Tsuru
- Junichi Masuda, Shusaku Egami, Takato Utsunomiya, and Hitoshi Yamagami (OR/AS)
Composers – Go Ichinose, Morikazu Aoki, and Junichi Masuda
- Shota Kageyama, Minako Adachi, Hideaki Kuroda, and Hitomi Sato (OR/AS)

Metacritic – 82/100

I’m Coming Back to Being a Content Creator – insaneintherainmusic

I’m Coming Back to Being a Content Creator by insaneintherainmusic

Now I’ve realized that the burnout and the difficult feelings that I was experiencing weren’t necessarily because of the specific work that I was doing, but more so about the mindset I had while I was doing it.

It seems like Carlos and I have had similar journeys, although he is far more successful at it. After roughly 22 months and a few albums, Carlos Eiene is back making video game music covers on his YouTube channel.

I, too, left writing and podcasting for a stint feeling burnt out. It took some time for me to realize that I do want to write and podcast; I just had to find it on my own terms.

I’m thrilled Carlos is back and I cannot wait to hear what he cooks up.

Thursday Night Stream – Dead Space

Continuing the theme of dabbling with the spooky season by trying out the Dead Space remake on PS5. I read the ESRB description this time, so there should be no mature surprises. 😅

I haven’t played Dead Space in over a decade. I’ve always touted it as a titan in survival horror. Based off reviews, that stands, but it will be nice to experience it for myself again with this dramatic new coat of paint. Also, I fixed the audio issues from last week, so I’ll be able to use headphones and avoid bleed for you all.

Come swing by the stream tonight at 8:00 PM EST to hang out and cut some aliens in half.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered Leaks

The Last of Us 2: Remastered listed on Naughty Dog dev’s LinkedIn by Tom Ivan for Video Games Chronicle

The Last of Us 2: Remastered has been spotted on the LinkedIn profile of a Naughty Dog developer.

The developer in question is lead outsource artist Mark Pajarillo, who has been at the Sony studio since January 2021.

“Responsible for overseeing the production of all outsourced environment art assets, weapons and interactive props for two iconic titles The Last of Us: Part One and The Last of Us 2: Remastered,” reads his LinkedIn profile.

While Sony hasn’t officially announced a Last of Us Part 2 remaster, one is anticipated.

LinkedIn? More like LeakedIn, am I right?

As of this writing, Mark’s profile stills lists The Last of Us Part II: Remastered.¹ This PS5 (and presumably PC) version of Part II has been rumored for some time now. I’m just shocked employees freely disclose these in-production titles on LinkedIn.

Concerning the game itself, I wonder what will be the differentiating factors between it and the PS5 patch for the game. I suspect the usual table stakes; faster load times, a variety of visual modes, increased resolution, etc. I’d guess that the enhanced character models from Part I will make the jump where appropriate.

But where else? The PS5 patch already gives a solid 60fps. The haptics change per weapon on the DualSense.

To me, this version of the game is Naughty Dog migrating The Last of Us to the updated PS5 and PC engine pipeline to clear the deck and prepare the way for their future titles. The IP is popping right now with the show. Get both games on all the modern hardware. It’s exhausting to see remake and remaster so frequently with nothing truly new, but I get it. Hopefully, this is announced (and released) soon.

1. It irks me to no end when outlets and the game’s own developers don’t use the proper title. It’s not “The Last of Us 2” or even “Part 2.” It’s The Last of Us Part II. The remake of the first game is The Last of Us Part I; not Part One, Part 1, 1, or even just The Last of Us, which is the PS3 version of the game. I know, I know. SEO rules all and second is convenience. No one wants to type out Roman numerals.

Side note in this footnote: I wonder what the codename for this remaster is. The Last of Us was “T1.” The Last of Us Part II was, you guessed it, “T2.” Part I was “T1X,” so my guess is that the Part II remaster is “T2X.” The only gap i could see is dependent on what the codename for The Last of Us Remastered was. I’ll have to look that up.

Friday Night Stream – The Order: 1886

Well folks, I did it. I raced every cup, track, game in the Mario Kart franchise. We raised $620 over the course of the month! This totally blew my mind and I am so thankful for everyone that tuned in or donated. I plan on writing a reflective post about what I learned and some behind-the-scenes¹, but now it is time for my Thursday* night streams to return to “regularly” scheduled programming.

For October, I wanted to pick some spooky-themed games. To kick off the month, I decided to return to The Order: 1886. It’s a short and sweet game that seemed perfect for streaming. I won’t beat it in one sitting like I did eight years ago, but I imagine I’ll still have fun.

I’ve long been a defender of The Order: 1886. The game seems to be having a reflective resurgence this year with people realizing/remembering it wasn’t all that bad. Maybe in today’s landscape of 60-100 hour open world RPGs, a highly polished AAA 5-6 hour cover shooter is refreshing. Come hang out tonight and let’s find out if I was right eight years ago.

1. Wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do some big post-event deep dive. 😅

Chapter Select: Season 6, Episode 4 – Pokémon Sword and Shield

Art inspired by the *Pokémon Sword* start screen, designed by Max Roberts

The mainline Pokémon series finally heads to the big screen! Childhood friends Max Roberts and Logan Moore hit the gym with their teams for some clanging and banging to become the next undefeated Galar Champion. But has the switch to the telly made the grind too easy or have our hosts outgrown the quest to be the best?

Download (33MB) – Episode Transcript

Super Chapter Select is a premium version of the show that provides access to longer and exclusive episodes, as well as bonus videos. Sign up for $2.50/month or $20/year to gain access to everything!

Pokémon Sword and Shield

Developer – Game Freak
Platform – Nintendo Switch
Release Date – November 15, 2019
- June 17, 2020 for The Isle of Armor
- October 22, 2020 for The Crown Tundra
Game Director – Shigeru Ohmori
Producers – Junichi Masuda, Hitoshi Yamagami, and Takanori Sowa
Composers – Minako Adachi and Go Ichinose

Metacritic – 80/100

Links

This episode was originally recorded on August 6, 2022.