Capcom is just an incredible snowstorm of activity right now with Lost Planet kicking into high gear. (Yes people, pun intended sorry!) Therefore, I wanted to give you readers a first-hand look at what its like to be in the center of all the hub-bub.

Meet Brian Dunn, the man with the Lost Planet blog, a deadly thirst for Snow Piracy and, thus far, the most kills racked up on his Lost Planet multiplayer belt. There is no better person on these premises to better give you a peek into the world of Lost Planet than Brian.

Until I get a few more paying hours logged, that is!

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Scarlett: So Mr. Dunn, what brought you here to this illustrious mecca of gameplay known as Capcom?

Brian: I originally started out here as a translator, although I do a mix of marketing, translating and blogging now. I studied Japanese in high school and college, and spent a few years at art school before getting my degree in Japanese Literature from the University of Washington.

After college, I learned about localization by working on a few projects, including Dark Cloud 2 and Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, through a translation agency.

That was 2002. Then in 2003 I got a few other contract/freelance jobs, including translating comic books for Tokyo Pop where I did a handful of issues of Rave Master, among others. Around the spring of 2003, I also got a job as a Japanese tester at Microsofts external certification test lab, and then moved up to Japanese test lead after that, which I continued until I started at Capcom.

That summer I had applied to Capcom. I didnt hear back right away, probably because I was in Seattle and Capcom is in California. But around November I think, Ben Judd got in touch with me about the translator position. I did a translation test, and then I did short interview over the phone with Ben. I guess I did all right, despite doing the interview in the midst of being house-ridden with a nasty sinus infection, because they flew me down to Sunnyvale a few weeks later to an interview in person. I got the job and moved to California in January of 2004, just a month or so later.

Scarlett: So what the heck do you do around here besides try to keep team members from walking into their own grenade blasts in Lost Planet multiplayer?

Brian: For the first couple of years, my main duty was translating internal communications, such as reports, emails, design documents, interviews, financial reports, bug reports, etc. My technical, computer and A/V skills also meant I have been able to lend a hand by running presentations, like at our January press events in Las Vegas, Producer Day at E3, and being the techie go-to guy for our setups (TVs, kiosks, HD trailers, audio, etc.) at those events. And just recently I moved up a bit in the marketing department to a product marketing position, and now I do a lot of market research for the team on top of my translation duties. Basically, I keep up with whats going on in the industry, from what first party (console makers) are doing each week and what other games are coming out, to what kind of news, issues and controversies are big each week. I filter and compile all of that for our internal team who are busy day to day with making sure our own games do well and dont always have time to keep up with everything else going on in the industry. And then most recently, I was lucky enough to get to be the first blogger voice of Capcom by way of my Lost Planet blog, which I thoroughly enjoy, by the way. Actually, everyday is fun at work, no matter what Im doing. Of course, the Lost Planet multiplayer sessions at the end of the day are a little more fun than translating technical documents. Just a little. ;)

Scarlett: Speaking of Lost Planet, I see youve been logging a lot of time! What is it about Lost Planet that keeps you coming back for more?

Brian: With a wife and two young kids, and being addicted to movies, music, and lots of TV shows (like Lost and Battlestar Galactica, the best shows on TV right now!), I dont have as much time for games as I would like. So for me, a game has to be fun in order to play. If its not fun, I dont waste my time on it, because I have plenty of other things to do instead.

Scarlett: I know what you mean!

Brian:So I think the best way to describe Lost Planet is that its just plain fun. Im into shooters anyway, but Lost Planet offers something very different from any other game Ive played. Cool weapons, massive Vital Suits, Akrid creatures that range from flowers on tripod to a gigantic mix of insect and crustacean, all on a white, snowy planet. Its like an epic sci-fi movie. So, yeah, I like it. I like it a lot. I actually just played through both stages on the demo the other night, at home on my semi-large HDTV and wall-rattlin, as my friends can attest to, surround system. By the way, if you dont have surround sound yet, you need to get it for this game. Anyway, now I can get through the Akrid stage on the demo in about 15-16 minutes or so, while still clearing out most of the Akrid. And I can finish the Snow Pirate stage in about 7 minutes now. Ive been playing the story mode at work, though, and its definitely a lot more challenging. But overall the full game is just a lot of fun with so much variety, you dont really have time to get bored.

Scarlett: Tell us about Multiplayer mode I can hear the sounds of crazy fragging over there in your cube after 5 oclock! (And the screams of defeat from down the hall!) Whats it like and what keeps the gang eager to play every night at 5?

Brian: Well, just like the single-player game, the multiplayer mode is a ton of fun. A while back we got more test kits and theyve been distributed around the office, so we have been playing all the maps at our desks.

Team Elimination is a blast. Plus, it evens out the balance, so rather than one or two people dominating every game, the teams have to work together to take down the other side. People who arent necessarily good enough to take top place can still make great contributions to the team. Most of us use our headsets, so even though some of us are spread out or in different sections of the building, we can still communicate with each other. Aside from the screams of agony or elation that can be heard 50 feet away from that office. The other day the vocal one was on my team, and he yelled out I killed him!! like a giddy little school boy, ecstatic that he took down the other teams top player.

But basically, we just have a blast shooting each other with rockets and lasers, running each over with VS, sticking each other with grenades, and trash talking each other (using the headsets). And doing it with teams makes it that much more fun, because everyone has a better chance to survive and take down the enemy.

Scarlett: Whats the link to your blog and what sorts of fun stuff can we expect to read there?

Brian: My blog can be found at http://blog.lostplanetcommunity.com/blogs/brian.php (accessible from the top of this blog as well). I have been updating a few times a week now since I started it several months ago. Ive linked to interviews with the developers found on other websites, posted pictures from various events weve held, blogged about our crazy multiplayer sessions. I also did my first interview for the blog with Eric Bailey, the guy in charge of the localization of Lost Planet, and have since started a series of weekly exclusive interviews with various members of the development team. These interviews will run up to the launch of the game, and they will feature exclusive content and pictures people wont be able to read or see anywhere else. Im really excited about where my blog is headed, so stay tuned.