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.
Jan 312007
Jan 302007
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 what field I find myself in, there are always cool people hoping to work together to make things happen.
Jan 282007
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 there’s no new plan to turn it around despite four years of trying to do just that, then it’s time to cull it.
Word had it that Peter and his team had hoped to turn Gen Con So Cal into a replacement (at least partially) for the radically altered E3. Apparently that didn’t work out.
Still, there’s a silver lining here. Now that the Gen Con staff isn’t spending time and money trying to prop up So Cal, it can concentrate on building Gen Con (the original, in Indianapolis) instead. Anything that makes my favorite four days of the year better, I’m all for, even if it means no other Gen Cons in the US again.
Jan 252007
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 Live, feel free to add me as a friend.
Jan 252007
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. With luck, I’ll have teasers to share with those who attend. Hope to see you there!
Jan 252007
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 the real world. As humans, we excel at this, and that’s why we find them fun. We also use our pattern-recognition skills to analyze and reduce games to their simplest forms once we grok what they’re about.
It’s a good basis for understanding how and why we play games, and Raph’s writing is clear and accessible throughout. While he mostly talks about video and computer games, he’s also played many tabletop games, and you should be able to take his ideas and apply them to just about any sort of game.
If you’re a game designer, would like to be one, or just enjoy games, be sure to check it out.
Jan 242007
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 Gen Con book, written by my pal Robin Laws. So, if you have a thing for the best gaming con on the planet (I have my biases), pop by and share a tale or a photo or just bask in the communal love.
Jan 222007
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.
Jan 222007
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.
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 Simner, Lawrence M. Schoen, E. Sedia, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Craig Laurance Gidney, Beth Bernobich, Cassandra Clare, and Holly Black.
Look for Magic in the Mirrorstone in Spring 2008.
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