The latest issue of Game Writers Quarterly—published by the Writers SIG of the IGDA—features a joint interview of several professionals about writing for excellent characters in video games. For this, they lumped me and my sometimes flip answers in with those of an all-star lineup of game writers including Armand Constantine, Rich Dansky, Christy Marx, and Rhianna Pratchett.

The newsletter is a free PDF, so be sure to check it out.

The IGDA just launched a new Game Design Special Interest Group (SIG), which I joined right away. It focuses on the actual design aspect of games, as opposed to programming, art, writing, and so on.

The SIG welcomes people working or studying both video games and tabletop games. It’s young and still finding its footing, of course, but if you fall under its remit, consider contacting the Google group‘s owner Sande Chen for admission to the group.

The next meeting of the Madison chapter of the IDGA is slated for September 30. Check the site for all the details. I plan to be there, and I hope to see any local game developers there too.

Turns out the scheduled date for the IDGA Madison meeting in Green Bay was during the E3 show. It’s been postponed for now and will be rescheduled for a later date.

The time, date, and place for the next IGDA Madison meeting have been set—7 PM on July 15 in Green Bay! Details are at the chapter’s website (for which I humbly serve as webmaster these days).

Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to make the six-hour round trip to the event. However, if you’re in Madison, you’re much closer, and if you’re in Green Bay, you lucky dog, you’re already there.

The IGDA Writers SIG just had its second book published: Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing. While I didn’t contribute to it directly, Beth A. Dillon interviewed me for the “How to Break In and Stay In” chapter that leads off the book. The book also features chapters from many other wonderful game writers, including my friends Alice Henderson and Rich Dansky.

If you’re interested in writing for video games, this is worth picking up. My copy hasn’t arrived yet, so I can’t comment on anything specifically, but browsing the table of contents suggests that the writers and the topics they tackle should make for a good, instructive read.

The next meeting of the IGDA Madison chapter will be April 1, 2008, at Herzing College (5218 East Terrace Drive), starting at 7 PM. Despite being one of the board members, I’ve not been able to attend the last couple meetings, but I’m planning on making this one.
We have three speakers scheduled for the event: Ben Geisler of Frozen Codebase, Tim Gerritsen of Big Rooster, and Chris Rhinehart of Human Head Studios. After that, we’ll walk over to Erins Snug Irish Pub (4601 American Parkway), just around the corner from the school, to continue the conversation.
If you’re interested in computer game design and how developers work, this should be worth your while.

When I decided to start writing for video games a couple years ago, one of the first things I did was join the IGDA. I’d been a member through Human Head when I worked there, but I ponied up on my own after I left. I’m part of the board of directors of the Madison chapter, and I’ve helped out with the Writers SIG too.

The Writers SIG has a new book about to come out, edited by Wendy Despain: Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing. I’m not listed as one of the writers, although I did answer interview questions for the “How to Break In and Stay In” chapter.

I’ve not had a chance to read any of the book yet, as it won’t hit shelves until April. If the book’s anywhere near as the group’s first effort—Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames—it should be well worth the money for anyone interested in this sort of work.

While I won’t be able to make it out to the Game Developer’s Conference later this month, I’ll be there in spirit. As a card-carrying member of the IGDA, I pitched in to help the Game Writers SIG with part of the writing for a party game for the IGDA Members-Only Party.

If you make it to the party, the black Villain cards are my fault. I’m looking forward to hearing the live-action results.

The August meeting of the Madison chapter of the IGDA is set for Tuesday, August 13. With luck, I’ll be there, but either way those who attend will get the chance to listen to the talented artist Mark Nelson talk about art in both paper and computer games. I hope to see you there!