Hi there,  I’m Dan Magaha (aka dgackey) and this is my (professional) blog.

I’m a computer/video game producer living in Austin, TX.     I got my start working at Firaxis Games, in Hunt Valley, MD back in 1999.   There I worked on a number of projects including Civ III, Pirates, Civ IV, and Railroads.    Prior to joining the games business, I was an IT consultant by day and ran a Dreamcast fansite that few people remember.   I’ve been a gamer almost as long as there have been games.

In 2007, I left Firaxis for the warm climate and BBQ excesses of Austin, TX to head up an innovative and exciting new MMO at NCsoft.   Unfortunately, my team was one of the first casualties of the “Great Austin Gaming Meltdown of 2008” .  After a (mercifully) short stint as a stay-at-home-dad, I pitched, recruited and founded a new studio here in Austin that was working a kickass new project.   Sadly said kickass project was shut down thanks to our benefactor’s piggy bank woes, despite having an extremely fun, working MMO prototype and great designs for the art direction.  These days I wander the central Texas wasteland, earning my keep as a ruthless hired gun, a production mercenary.

I have been married to a wonderful woman for ten (!) years and have two young children, all of whom keep me extremely busy but also help me keep things in perspective.

Oh Yay, Another Gaming Blog Blowhard!

I really hope not, because the world has plenty of them and frankly I’m too lazy to try to keep up.  No, my goals in establishing this blog are threefold:

1. I needed to do something with my atrociously poor website that had remained more or less untouched for the past 3-4 years.
2. I wanted to exercise my rusty web development and writing skills.  It’s been a while, and both are in need of some sharpening.
3. Hopefully to fill a void in the gaming blogosphere; namely, the producer point of view.  There are a lot of vanity blogs out there but few substantive voices from real producers in the trenches.   Hopefully I’ll have some useful things to say.  If not, I’ll try to post funny pictures as diligently as possible.

What’s a Hyperbolist?!

One who engages in hyperbole; more specifically, on a frequent basis.  This is a tendency of mine I’m scarcely conscious of but which tends to lead to lots of ensuing hilarity, usually at my expense.

What’s With the Scary Dude In the Header?

That’s Flagface, a painting by legendary (and sadly, recently deceased) illustrator, Tim Hildebrandt (of the Brothers Hildebrandt).  My dad had a book of their artwork I loved to look at when I was younger and that image has always been in the corners of my mind, evoking equal measures of power, horror, reverence, and irony.   If you’re as strangely drawn to it as I always have been, I highly recommend picking up some books on The Brothers Hildebrandt, if not visiting their online gallery.   The sheer quantity and range of their work is really amazing.