Ain’t It Cool News sent a correspondent to the set of the Mutant Chronicles movie last summer, and I just discovered the report. I got there by way of the revelation of the new teaser poster for the film. It’s evocative.
On the IGDA Board
I recently joined the just-formed board of the Madison chapter of the International Game Developers Association. Together with Eric Francksen, Norb Rozek, and my old Human Head boss Tim Gerritsen, we’re ready to take on the world–or at least Wisconsin. At the same time, I’m helping edit the quarterly newsletter for the IGDA Writers SIG. It seems like no matter …
Good-Bye Gen Con So Cal
Gen Con So Cal has been cancelled. For details, see the official press release and my pal Peter Adkison’s open letter about the decision. I’m sad to see the convention go away. I made it out to the first two and had a wonderful time, but Peter’s an astute businessman. If a part of your business is losing money and …
My Gamertag
I recently picked up the Xbox Live Vision Gold Pack, which comes with a camera and a year’s subscription to Xbox Live Gold. I don’t play a whole lot of online games through the Xbox 360, but enough to make it worth my while, at least as professional research. My gamertag is mforbeck. If you’re interested and you’re on Xbox …
Adepticon
The fine folks at the Black Library have asked me to join them at Adepticon, a convention for Games Workshop fans. It’s held in Schaumburg, Illinois–just northwest of Chicago–from March 30—April 1. I’ll be there on Saturday, March 31, to sign books, shake hands, and have fun. Coincidentally, I should have my fourth Blood Bowl book polished off by then. …
A Fun Theory
I just finished reading A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster. Despite being 256 pages long, it’s a short, easy read. Raph illustrates his ideas with single-drawing cartoons on nearly half the pages, and the layout does not fear whitespace. In short, Raph claims that creatures (including higher-order animals) are wired to play games as practice for …
GenConHistory.com
My friends at Atlas Games have set up a website at GenConHistory.com to collect stories and photos from the Best Four Days in Gaming: Gen Con! Those who share have a chance to snag a free copy of the book and even a four-day pass to Gen Con Indy 2007. This is all to support their upcoming 40 Years of …
Oh, Snap!
I just added a new plugin to the site: Snap Preview Anywhere. Just hover your pointer over any link on the page, and you can now see a preview of the page it leads to. Pretty snazzy.
I Am a Tie-In Blogger
The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) just launched a blog, to which I plan to contribute. In the meantime, you can read the posts of my fellow writers Lee Goldberg and Jeff Mariotte, with many others to come.
The Mirrorstone Anthology
Earlier this year, Wizards of the Coast asked me to pitch a story for a Mirrorstone anthology, a collection of short stories for young-adult readers, edited by Steve Berman. I jumped at the opportunity, and now I’m told my story will accompany those of Eugie Foster, J. D. Everyhope, Sean Manseau, Tiffany Trent, Gregory Frost, Jim C. Hines, Janni Lee …