11:08 AM : Play that Funky Music White Boy is playing on the PA, and a small crowd has gathered for the Q&A that was supposed to start 8 minutes ago. Oh, here we go! Jamil and Perry take the stage!

Jamil is talking about how awesome Dave Perry is. I tend to agree. We are pleased an honored! Applause!

First question...are you the tallest developer in the industry? Yes, yes he is. Even taller than Phil Harrison. He gets the same thing I did in high school. Everyone wanted him for sports. I feel his pain.

Perry is talking about the gaming scene in Northern Ireland in the 80's. Programming in basic, self-publishing, creating booklets. Games in plastic bags on a cassette tape. Those were the days.

He programmed on a Sinclair ZX81. You needed imagination to play games back then. The industry was revolutionized when the 16k memory module came out. He's showing picture of old games. I'll show you those a bit later.

Jamil's next question: Was there a peer group you could work with?

They would have little meets. Perry got his start handing out stickers dressed up like a creepy cartoon character at trade shows.

Haha! Early tries at photorealism. Taking photos, scanning them and editing them.

What games and developers inspired you? Ooo, good question.

He looked up to Peter Molyneux, Chris and Tim Stamford from Rare.

What could you earn during the early days of game development?

Early jobs paid nearly nothing. Starting at nothing, but once a game succeeded your salary would quickly increase.

He wrote a platformer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the PC, Commodore and AMiga in a week back then.

He moved to the US when Virgin Games needed him to make a McDonald's game called Mick & Mack's Global Gladiators for the Genesis. LOL. McDonald's hated it at first. It won game of the year, but the company was mad that you couldn't buy burgers in the game.

Talking about the Richard Branson parachuting manuever into the press conference for Disney's Aladdin game, one of the best Disney games ever incidentally.

Jamil: How did you get into a position that you could create your own games within a big company like Virgin?

Once you hit a few out of the park they'll pretty much do anything you ask them to.

On Messiah: "We expected hardcore gamers to buy a game with a crying baby on the box."

Yay Earthworm Jim! Proof that you don't have to be big to get a lot done. Toys, cartoons, Taco Bell toys, No fire extinguishers though.

Hello Kitty is a good place to go for merchandising ideas.

While pitching Earthworm Jim to MGM Universal, studio head Sid Sheinberg came into the room yelling at people, and then told Perry to pitch. Halfway through the pitch Sheinberg interrupted. "This is confidential.Pigs. Pigs are gonna be big. There's been dogs, there's been cats. Pigs. Continue." He went on to create Babe. A visionary!

How do you get a cartoon for Earthworm Jim without a toy line in place, and vice versa?

He invited the head of the toy company and cartoon company out to dinner, where they looked eachother in the eye and said, "I'll do it if you do it."

"Food is the key to everything."

MDK. The publisher didn't see it. It was the first no they got from a publisher. They had built their whole pitch on the innovative sniper helmet the game featured.

They took the same storyboards they used for the initial pitched and created a video. They loved it so much they wanted a toy line and a tv SHOW.

"If you have a great game idea don't write about it...show it"

On the Matrix. Jamil is asking him why there was no game for the first film.They were working on sacrifice. He met with the Wachowskis and all they had to demonstrate bullet time was a burning barrel. They passed on it.

The ESRB wasn't going to give Enter the Matrix a teen rating due to the kiss between two female characters. Shiny's response?

"It's not two women kissing, it's two computer programs kissing."

The ESRB bought it. Hilarious.

Now they are discussing the Top Secret MMO racing game project. How the community took over. They created forums, a wiki, and just basically took over the whole process. It's exciting because he never knows what they are going to do next.

They've come up with very original ideas. Commentator mode, where one player acts as a color commentary during the races for instance. People would fight for a chance to MC the big races. The idea was nothing a traditional game development team would have come up with.

The design stage is done, and the development phase is beginning. "I don't expect them to go kick Tim Sweeny's ass." I am sure Tim is relieved.

Announcing a deal with Mod Center to deliver free development tools to the Top Secret community. Acclaim will pay for any game engine in the world for whoever wins the Top Secret competition. Wow.

The winner gets an industry standard publishing deal and $100,000 cash as their first royalty. They are giving young developers a chance.

The project will also be an iinteresting viral marketing test, as the community will be telling their friends and so on and so on.

The game will ultimately be free to play. Perry went to the biggest publisher in China to explore the microtransaction / play for free model. Showing slides of his trip.

"The old game model we used to use is archaic." The microtransaction model brings in much more money than the standard $49.99 he used to charge for PC games. "The free to play model works fantastic in the US, even better than China." Combined with in-game advertising it is a really good model for the states.

If a Kojima-level personality from China comes to the US and starts delivering games of that quality from China it will have an amazing impact on the gaming industry here. Disruptive innovation, like the digital camera changing Polaroid's business.

The Wiimote is truly disruptive. Nintendo has disrupted our industry. None of Perry's favorite games or games he is looking for are on the Wii. When the great games come out for the 360 and PS3, people aren't going to be content bowling with their Wiimote.

He is talking about the game Plague that he wanted to make, that would have taken $17 million to create. It made him start to worry about how games are created and sold.In China he found free fully-funded MMO teams. He is developing 6 MMOs now, three of which are unannounced.

Until the PS3 is everywhere he can't see himself creating a big budget game.

Added some pics to the bottom here.

Awww, we are out of time. That was much more entertaining than I thought it would be. Thanks for sticking with me on this, my very first liveblog!

Perry tells PDF publication Disposable Media, in response to a question about ways Microsoft can tap into the "Blue Ocean" market Nintendo is targeting, that those casual fans will come around. They just need a shiny object to look at.

Perry speaketh:

The 360 and PS3's graphical power is essential in attracting the Wii's userbase. The fact is, gamers are attracted to beautiful looking games, they always have been, even back when the Konix was thought up. When a game comes out - a game like a Halo or something, something they haven't seen before - they'll drop everything and they'll drop their Wii controllers when it does.

You know, Perry may be right. Gamers weened on a series of quick, pick up and play games may look for something a little more robust when... HEY A NICKEL!!!

Disposable Media Issue #8 [Disposable Media via Next-Gen]

Confused? Maybe Acclaim CEO Howard Marks can clear things up.

Top Secret is like 'The Apprentice' meets 'American Idol' meets 'The Video Game Industry'. We're giving our players a chance to work on an online game that we will actually develop and publish. Our community really loves these games and knows what it takes to make a hit. And it will be a dream come true for one lucky star that shines the most throughout the project.

Perry, formerly of Shiny and better known for games like MDK and Earthworm Jim, is looking for "pure, focused, passionate talent" and promises "surprise guests [...] to inspire and mentor the contributors."

Hit the jump for further explanation in easy to swallow press release form. Michael McWhertor

Acclaim Games Unveils the 'Top Secret' MMOG Project

Los Angeles (February 23, 2007) - Acclaim Games and video game industry superstar David Perry have partnered to present the ground-breaking "Top Secret" project. In this project, players actually get an opportunity to participate in the entire video game development process from start to finish.

In an unprecedented move for the game industry, these players will be given a chance to have their work featured in a massively multiplayer PC game that will be published by Acclaim and directed by David Perry. Perry will choose a winner from the contributors, and Acclaim will be giving them a breath-taking prize, 'A Video Game Industry Directorship', working on a new fully-funded massively multiplayer online PC game. David Perry will be their Executive Producer to help them as needed on their game, and once they complete their project, they will even earn royalties from the game sales!

"I've always loved the idea that someone, from their bedroom, reveals their passion and talent, then suddenly can have an absolutely stunning career explosion, becoming a famous Game Director with a pre-built fan base. We're going to make it happen!" says David Perry who is a Game Director and Chief Creative Officer for Acclaim Games.

David Perry will be building the new online game from scratch and is offering members of the Acclaim player community a rare opportunity to help him develop this video game in a collaborative effort with some of the industry's best talent. "We will bring in some surprise guests along the way to inspire and mentor the contributors," says Perry.

One lucky winner who shines the most during the development process will be given the top prize. "This is the only chance I know of to jumpstart a directorship career in the video game industry," continues Perry. "Everyone wins. They get to learn how to make professional games, and if they get anything in, they get a real professional credit on their resume." Perry finishes, "But, if they win, well then they get their life changed."

Interestingly, applicants don't need any prior game development experience. In fact, Perry refuses to look at resumes. "We only care about the pure, focused, passionate talent they show up with," he says.

"Top Secret is like 'The Apprentice' meets 'American Idol' meets 'The Video Game Industry'. We're giving our players a chance to work on an online game that we will actually develop and publish. Our community really loves these games and knows what it takes to make a hit. And it will be a dream come true for one lucky star that shines the most throughout the project," says Acclaim CEO Howard Marks.

This is a first-of-its-kind project from the new Acclaim, a resurrected company with a very well known name. The new Acclaim will focus entirely on providing quality multiplayer online games for free. The games will be supported with a mix of advertising and virtual item stores. Acclaim has already partnered with IGA Worldwide to provide in-game advertising for its other online game titles.

The entry period will be limited, and so will the number of people allowed in to see the project, so sign up now to become a team member on Top Secret. To register for a free account and find out more about Top Secret, visit http://topsecret.acclaim.com.

About Acclaim Games

Based in Beverly Hills California, Acclaim Games is a revolutionary new company with a familiar name. In 2005 the cofounder of Activision, Howard Marks, purchased the company confident that the Acclaim name would surpass its former glory as one of America's marquee brands. Today, Acclaim Games offers only the finest online games with a focus on accessibility, playability and most importantly fun. To learn more please visit www.acclaim.com.

About David Perry

David Perry is a 20+ year video game industry veteran. He is the Chief Creative Officer for Acclaim Games and also CEO of GAMECONSULTANTS.COM, and prior to that was the founder of Shiny Entertainment, Inc. For more information, please visit: www.dperry.com & www.gameconsultants.com

If you found yourself drooling over the Swarovski crystal covered pink DS Lite designed by Paris Hilton we posted a few weeks back, then not only is their something wrong with you, but there is also a spark of hope, as one is now up for auction on eBay UK. I am assuming the seller simply had too much taste to keep the item for himself.

He also mentions that only 20 of these were made, a fact that I cannot seem to back up from any source. Everyone knew it was limited edition, but only 20? For an item this spectacularly fabulous? Come on. There's gotta be a warehouse full of these somewhere, and that warehouse needs to be bombed.

I do like how it comes with spare crystals and a glue kit, as if they expect someone to actually play this monstrosity and not lock it in a vault deep underground somewhere so it never hurts anyone again. The auction starts at approximately $670, with a buyout of $1465, depending on which conversion rates you believe. A small price to pay to save humanity from shiny pink doom.

PINK NINTENDO DS LITE - PARIS HILTON SWAROVSKI EDITION [eBay.co.uk - Thanks EZ]

Destructoid linked this collection of PS3 factoids, positive and negative, that was posted by Gamepro in order to provide a set of decision-making points by which to decide your next-gen purchases.

The PS3 is super quiet.

At a rating of just 22 decibels, it's only slightly louder than a human whisper. All we know is that we could barely hear it running. That's definitely worth something.

And as the Toids pointed out, #19 is "The PS3 is very shiny." Eliza Gauger

The PS3: 24 Things You Need to Know [Gamepro]

As a gay albino African-Irishman, you just know I have rhythm. If you've ever read Voltaire, you might recall Candide's description of what happened when Cunegonde stripped naked: every bystander fell to the ground in epileptic seizures of ecstasy. Well, that doesn't happen when I expose my mottled, creepy pink flesh, but when I get naked and hit the DDR mat? Everyone becomes my ho.

So excitement! Shiny Founder Dave Perry has announced that he is directing game development on a game that finally meshes my penchant for dance with my inherent catassery: Dance!, a DDR MMOG.

Acclaim's press release focuses on the aesthetic aspects of the player's appearance in DANCE!, promising players will have a chance to create their own unique dancer through variable styles, facial features, clothing and accessories. It's certainly an interesting approach to a game type that's found difficulty moving outside the hack 'n flash of orcs and elves.

Get it hooked up to the Live Vision cam and see me become the Leeroy Jenkins of Dance!. Florian Eckhardt

Dave Perry Overseeing a ... Dance MMO? [1UP]

Well, maybe it wasn't a rash, bad-blood kind of departure, according to the Orange County Register. Just before Atari announced that they'd be reducing their stuff and putting their development studios up for sale, Perry resigned from the studio he founded in 1993, Shiny.

Perry says he's doing it for the good of the studio, that he can help attract potential buyers, but not while employed at Shiny. According to DP:

"If I m an employee of Atari, then I d be stepping all over them. This way, I m representing a buyer. I can act swiftly and get buyers on the table. I pitched Shiny last time and got $47 million."

Good luck, David. But no more Matrix games, please and thank you!

Shiny Entertainment founder resigns [Orange County Register]