I’m so blessed to have grown up in a world that is so interconnected. It is sad to think with all our facilities we still can’t communicate to understand each other but that is another post once again. So after a few years of college, graduating and starting in the games industry as a software engineer specializing in audio, UI, and UX, I continued to have a best friend I had never actually met. Most likely because I am stubborn and like to take things slow; we grew our friendship to allowing me to help her out of an unloving and emotionally abusive marriage. Helping her realize there was more to life than what she was experiencing helped me understand what an awesome woman I found bumping marbles one afternoon. After a couple trips here and there to truly see we weren’t serial killers, we decided we should give a relationship a go and found that building a relationship as best friends first, results in a marriage I think is stronger than most others. We never fight as we see other couples fight, I mean we definitely argue but she just hits me to make me realize I am wrong and then we are happy again. The biggest issue in our life is that she likes Miracle Whip over Mayo which just makes her wrong. Also she doesn’t like that I don’t like sharp cheeses, which usually come in yellow varieties so I avoid them. What I’m trying to say is Xbox Live brought together two complete strangers who are now quite happy despite life’s hardships, and can’t imagine our lives without the other person.

I’d like to say thank you Microsoft and thank you Xbox Live for inspiring me in my career and helping me find the best thing to happen to me, my lovely wife Nikki.

Mark G.

Then friday the 13th arrived, we were all pushing for a build to send to our new partners to approve and the entire studio was caught off guard. Our email accounts were severed, then HR and parent company IT stepped through the door to announce the entire Fierce Wombat Games studio was being shutdown. That day was our last day and although a couple employees who were at the parent company before this studio was founded managed to keep their jobs, everyone had to pack up and leave an almost finished product sitting in limbo. I've always heard stories of games that were pretty much done but funding was cut and the launch just couldn't go through. I am sad to say I have one of those stories now.

I know startups run the risk of closing all the time but since we had a solid parent company I figured we really could make a product and release when it was ready. Opinions change and although no one person can be at fault I can't help thinking I should have put more time in earlier on to hit our first milestones. If I had, maybe we could have kept the decision makers happy long enough to see what a success the company could have been. I am however extremely glad for the experience as I met 22 of the best people in the industry. The most interesting veterans I've yet to meet and it was an absolute joy to work beside them. I hope I can stay in touch with everyone as I know every single person will continue to make their mark in the games industry.

As for my plans, I've updated my RESUME and will start the job search again. Most likely continue searching for a development/engineering gig as I learned at Fierce Wombat I have a ton more I am eager to learn. It is truly amazing how sheltered I was working on a single platform, and even though I thought PC and 360 were different platforms, I know now I have plenty I can learn to be the very best engineer I can be. I do still like to flex my business knowledge, and it continues to help me be a better engineer, knowing what the producers, designers, and even the studio heads are going through.

If you wish to chat or have an opportunity you feel I would be a good fit for please don't hesitate to contact me. My email is my name at gmail dot com and I make every effort to respond to my emails within 24 hours. I am also open to helping anyone who wants advice as I know its rough in this industry and any support is welcomed. For now I wish everyone the best and I may be writing a few more posts about different topics I want to share my thoughts on. So stay tuned here and on my social links.

Mark G.

I currently drive from Oakland (near Emeryville) to San Jose and have been averaging 1hr30mins with guaranteed bumper to bumper cars for 65% of the drive. Although I am usually a patient driver, california motorists can do the most inconsiderate things and this makes the drive particularly taxing. After searching for the perfect place, Nikki and I will be moving at the end of August and saving both my sanity and my car. We are hoping for her to transfer Aerotek locations as there is an office near the San Jose Airport. With any luck we will have our afternoons back and can stop bleeding money for gas. If you wish to have our new address feel free to email me. Other than that things continue to move on, Ashley has gone back home for college after a wonderful 2 months, Jasmine & the Guinea's continue to be loved and cause mischeif, and Nikki and I continue planning our beautiful future together.

Best wishes to all of you.

Mark G.

I think the best way to start out this post is to mention no news is good news. Thus the non-updating means things have been going well. My arm has pretty much healed and I have a great scar to make up stories about. I've been married to Nikki for a little over a year now and although we have had a few disagreements it was absolutely the best decision I've made in my entire my life. Family has visited, Ashley did wonderful at Aerotek and should be returning in May (if all goes well), and life has continued on without too many hiccups or major catastrophes.

This leads me to the "news" portion of the post. I learned last week that the studio I work for will be closing down on July 1st. This of course means I will be without a job and will be actively searching for a new position where I can once again reaffirm that someone's decision to hire me is a good one. The first question I usually get is why are they letting us know now? To best answer that I should let you know what I think is the reason for the decision. Total Immersion is definitely still privately owned and the decision comes down to one very smart person, with whom I respect greatly. All of the funding for this company comes from the government and with the recent budget delay, etc. the company will find itself in a potential funding debacle. This isn't the reason for the decision but certainly has to be an influencer. For this studio, many of the projects will naturally end at the end of June, and the lease for the building we are currently in will be up for renewal. The company has been looking for other locations to move but instead of paying for the move, the owner has decided to shut down this studio and consolidate all development from the current two locations to the one location in Austin. The plan of course is to hire more engineers in Austin to take over continuing projects from the Alameda studio and in the end it will be better to have customers fly to one location instead of two to see progress on deliverables. The decision makes sense from the owner's perspective and I do appreciate the early heads up. Change is never fun and the sting isn't any less, but having a job and income while knowing you need to job search is beneficial.

The plan at the moment is cast a wide net and see where the opportunities come from. The idea of moving back to the east coast, primarily North Carolina region, is still weighing heavily on my mind but if the right opportunity knocks I will consider it at the same level as any other. I will try to update again once I find my new place and let friends, family, and colleagues know how they can reach me. I will definitely be keeping this website up to date as well so if you know of a contact, feel free to pass them my direction. Any and all help is grateful as networking is the best way to move around in the games industry.

Thank you all for the future support and best wishes.

Mark G.

I know I haven't updated for awhile so I figured I would at least talk about two topics today. First being that I broke my arm this past month and have been surviving that unique experience. The second topic being the awesome time I've been having with Nikki's little sister visiting and interning where Nikki works. The bad timing bit is since I did break my arm I haven't been able to enjoy all the fun memories Ashley and Nikki have been making. She is a wonderful girl and going into college this fall. I definitely want to wish her the best of luck in everything she does and want the world to know how nice it has been for Nikki to have someone to confide in about the whole breaking arm situation. It has been rough on all of us especially since the medicine I've been on has been giving me mood swings. Other than that I've been healing well and have managed to get back to work even though I can only type with one hand. Now to get on to the arm story.

Nikki and I have a portable AC unit ( one that sits on the floor and is rather powerful and heavy) and at about 1 a.m. on July 7th, it malfunctioned and created a sound that I can only describ as a jet engine crashing our bedroom. This of course startled both of us awake and caused me to go into Fight or Flight mode. I jumped up out of bed and unfortunately slipped instead of standing upright. This caused me to fall down at an angle into the wall where I proceeded to put all my body weight into my elbow which was now pushing against two large plugs into a wall power outlet. After shattering the plastic of the power socket and pushing it into the wall my humerus bone snapped just above my elbow. After that I crawled on the floor to unplug the AC unit and sat up holding my arm and proceeded to experience the most painful and scariest moment I've ever experienced before. To make the rest of the story short I went to the ER, took an x-ray to see the horrendous damage, got scheduled for a surgery, got a plate and screws holding the bone back together as it heals and have been going through my first real injury of my life.

I've included pictures below of the break and the metal plate. I thank God that things happened the way they did because I could have had a good deal more complications then I did. That and He sent me to the best doctors and gave me the most polite nurses to get through a trying and exhausting ordeal. In the end I am slowly recovering and have grown to appreciate and love Nikki more since she is such a perfect match and a wonderful wife for me.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support.

Mark G.

Thank you all again for all the love and support.

Peace & Love,

Mark G. & Nikki G.

Long Story: This past Saturday we came home after running errands to find a few (definitely feral) cats and this cute little kitten near our front door. Nikki really wanted to keep her however I felt she looked too healthy to truly be stray even though there was no collar to speak of. So we left her outside where we had to hear the cringing meow for a good hour or so. After being sad, yet glad ( since sunday we got married) we talked it over and decided that she may have just been let go by an owner that couldn't take care of her. This came with a lot of praying and my ultimate decision that if she was near our front door Monday night we would take her in and give her a good home. Sure enough our neighbor had picked up the cat Sat. night and Monday night had a notice on our general mail box about adopting or claiming the kitty. Nikki and I took this as a sign and immediate went to get supplies and come home to take her into our home. Jasmine is a name that came to me in the middle of the night as I was praying and thinking about her safety and Nikki took to the name as well. (Except she calls her Princess Jasmine :) ) She did not have any ear mites or any other illnesses that we can see and her fur is very beautiful and healthy. She is very lovable, using the litter box and definitely loves attention and us. We have been keeping an eye out for missing cat postings but for now we feel she is a blessing and we are happy that we can provide a good home for her. That and she has been very well behaved (not tearing up our furniture or home) and minus wanting to wake up an hour before we do, she has integrated well into our routines. Pictures will be added as we take them but for now go to the gallery and welcome the newest addition to the Gugler home - Jasmine.

Pictures Link

Pictures of Legal Marriage Day

Nikki and I would like to invite you to join in our special day and although we know most of you can not make it to the physical location of the ceremony or party, we would like to extend an invitation to an online get together and chat. Feel free to comment on the post, in the forums, or on any of our community sites. We will also be posting an update with all of our registered websites so that if you have and care to give, you can. The physical invitations are posted below and although the scan quality is not that great, the paper quality is excellent and we do have extras if you care to receive one. Email me if you do want a physical copy. We thank everyone for coming, commenting, or participating in advance and thank you all for wishing us our best as we get married and start the rest of our lives together.

With lots of love,

Mark & Nikki