We found out that our Mitsubishi TVs can talk (the system interface has a female Japanese voice), and that our remote controllers control all three TVs at the same time. Guess we can't use the remote or we'll be messing with one another's display constantly.
My setup consist of a TV, a PS3 Devkit, a Wacom table and a mobile workstation outfitted with Maya, Motionbuilder and ZBrush. While installing, we found out that PA's in-house plug-ins don't work with Maya 2009, and we had to install Maya 8.5. Thankfully the Maya license is backward compatible. よかったですね。
Once setup, Kawashima-san showed us how easy it is to quickly export models and animation data from Maya to the PS3 Devkit. I guess if we were to do the same thing, we would either have to purchase their tools and Chidori (千鳥) Engine, or we'll have to create similar tools ourselves. I shudder at the thought of the latter :S
After setup we had a meeting with the staff involved with the training programme. Present were Motonobu Kawashima (our Game Visual Lecturer), Tatsuya Nozaki (Game Programming Lecturer), Kouta Murase (Game Producing/Industry/Design Lecturer), interpreters Stephen Russel (English), Robert Michael Conkey (English) and Hao Guanguan (Chinese). We went through our weekday schedule, PA company rules, how to use the internal phone and Yushin Building rules.
At 7:30pm, Murase-san brought us to a yakitori restaurant. It was a quaint underground place, with Sakura tree decor indoors. They served fusion food, which ranged from tasty to eyebrow-raising (I'm not too keen on eating parts of chicken other than the meat). Andrew and I decided to order some sake, just because Nozaki-san seemed to be enjoying his so much. It was rated a +4 on the menu and came in a small, wooden, box-like container. I don't know what the +4 means, but the strongest I saw was +13. I find the sake mild and sweet compared to the soju I had in Seoul.
The restaurant served food really, really, really slowly. Some local dude had his 44th birthday party at the next table with his group of friends. They were drinking and enjoying themselves greatly. Our group was a mix of Japanese, English and Chinese speaking people. Murase-san, who recommended the restaurant and brought us there, had to go back to the office to do some work but then never came back (!). Kawashima-san, who is fluent in English, brought a new staff along, and she spoke pretty good Chinese for a local. Stephen is from England but speaks Japanese very well, not surprising considering he has a Japanese girlfriend. Nozaki-san seems to understand a fair bit of English, but alas spoke very little. He is a veteran game programmer of 16 years, and his answers to my questions regarding game creation always sound so cheem (full of depth). Finally, the three of us trainees spoke mostly English, Chinese and broken Japanese.
It was after 10pm by the time we left. あの日、疲れた、でも楽しかった！
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