My friend and the editor of my Idiot’s Guide books, Kris Oprisko of IDW fame, just started a new audioblog: Gomek Soundbombing. Kris is a huge music fan and has spent the last couple years living in Spain with his wife and kids, broadening his horizons, along with his musical tastes. Check it out!
Forbecks in the News
My family’s been in the newspapers around here a number of times lately, for various reasons. My sister Kim–who lives with her family in Shorewood, just north of Milwaukee–is heading up an effort to give every house in the village a reusable shopping bag.
Meanwhile, my son Ken’s photo was in the Janesville Messenger. We were at a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the middle school where my wife Ann was a school social worker. (She’s moving to a new building next year to concentrate more on helping homeless students in the district.)
Then Ann, Nick, Ken, and Helen appeared in the Stateline News as part of a photo montage about the Fourth of July celebration here in Beloit down at Riverside Park. We had a wonderful time watching the concert and the fireworks. The city managed to get the park cleaned up well despite the flooding from previous weeks, and enough people stayed away because of the flooding that we had great seats and lots of room to roam around.
Of course, there’s also the news that my father will be back in the courtroom “in a few weeks.”
ETA: Kim was on the evening news in Milwaukee too!
Libraries and Games
The Arizona Daily Star has an excellent article about how libraries are integrating video games. Better yet, it mentions how the ALA (with funding from the Verizon Foundation) has launched a $1 million research project about how playing video games affects players’ literacy.
One of the librarian members of the study’s national panel is my friend Liz Danforth. Besides being an active librarian, Liz is a fantastic illustrator. If you ever read any of the Middle-earth Roleplaying books from ICE back in the 1990s, you certainly saw her work.
The best quote in the article:
“Games are the medium of choice for the millennial generation, and for libraries to ignore that would be foolish,” Danforth said.
Diana Jones Award Shortlist Released
The title says it all. To sum up, here’s this year’s shortlist:
- The Canon Puncture podcast
- The Child’s Play charity
- The Come Out and Play festival
- Grey Ranks by Jason Morningstar (Bully Pulpit Games)
- The Open Design funding process and roleplaying game projects and its inventor Wolfgang Baur
- Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media edited by Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin by (MIT Press)
For more information, see below for the full press release or check out the newly updated Diana Jones Award website.
Congratulations to everyone involved with the items that made the shortlist!
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Atomic Array Podcast
Ed Healy (who sometimes comments around here) just launched Atomic Array, a new podcast about tabletop games. First up, Ed and his partner-in-crime Rone Barton tackle Colonial Gothic, an alternate history RPG from Rogue Games. It’s worth checking out.
IGDA Green Bay Meeting Postponed
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.
Story Writing for Video Games Classes
This Thursday and the next (July 10 and 17), I’m teaching a pair of classes about “Story Writing for Video Games” at the Loves Park, IL, branch of the North Suburban District Library. Each is for ages 12—18, and it’s free, free, free!
If you or a teenager you know might be interested in hearing me blather on about writing for computer games for an hour at a stretch, just give the library a call (815-633-4247 x. 4) to register for the classes. (They’re free, but you still have to sign up.) I’m told that the 20 slots may already be spoken for, but it’s worth a phone call if you’re interested.
I also see that Will Pfeifer will be teaching a pair of class on comic-book writing the following two weeks. I don’t know Will at all, but he’s taking over from John Rogers for a two-issue fill-in on Blue Beetle, among many other things. That alone would get me to sign up if I could possibly pass for 18.
Games for Educators
Games for Educators is a cool site to show teachers how to integrate tabletop games into the classroom. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the convergence of education and games lately. Dr. Jim Gee at the University of Wisconsin has a lot to say about how this works with video games, but it’s great to see some low-tech, lower-cost tools like this and GAMA’s Games in Education program too.
Another BBKC #1 Review
Lee over at Comics And… Other Imaginary Tales gives Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #1 a great review. The money quote:
Don’t expect any redeeming qualities, just lots of pointless fun.
The Toy and Game Inventors Expo
Last year, I went to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair (ChiTAG) for the first time, and I had a great time. I wandered around the exhibit floor, took part in the inventors’ forum, and helped out with the Ask an Expert event.
This year, Mary Couzin (the woman behind the whole event) of Discover Games had decided to spotlight the inventors’ forum by running it by itself for a full two days before ChiTAG. The brand-new Toy and Game Inventors Expo (TAGIE) is a good chance for prospective game designers and toy inventors to get a crash course in how the industry works, network with like-minded souls, and even network with the people who might publish or purchase your ideas. Afterward, you can show off your wares to the public with a booth at ChiTAG too.
Because this is a professional show, attendance does not come cheap. Still, if you’re looking to break into the mass market as a designer or inventor, consider it tuition well spent.
I will likely show up at ChiTAG again to help out with Meet the Experts, and there’s a good chance I’ll be able to get down for TAGIE too. If so, I hope to see you there.