Judge’s Guild President Dying

I know, I know. It sometimes seems like half the posts on this blog are about one sort of tragedy or another. Such things are a part of life, and as the gaming industry gets older, we’re going to lose more and more of our founders and heroes. It’s good to take a moment to remember them, especially when they’re still with us and can appreciate it.

Bob Bledsaw, president and co-founder of the Judges Guild, has terminal cancer with only a short while left to him. The Judge’s Guild published the first ever D&D adventures, before TSR (the game’s first publisher) got around to doing them. This included the legendary City State of the Invincible Overlord, which sparked many adventures in my teenage years.
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1 vs. 100

51Suig2P-Bl. Aa280 I forgot to mention another game I worked on that came out recently (well, before Christmas): the 1 vs. 100 DVD Game from Mattel. This recreation of the TV game show starring Bob Saget can be played with any DVD player, and it features both single-player and multiplayer versions.

I wrote a few hundred trivia questions for the game, and I had a ball doing it. I finally found a way to get paid for all those decades of accumulating useless knowledge. Honestly, though, after the first hundred or two, I’d run through all the easy ones and had to start looking to the world around me for any kind of inspiration. Fortunately, we live in a strange and interesting world, so such triggers aren’t hard to find.

Playing Birdman

I finally had a chance to play through the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law game on the Wii, and I loved it. It looks just like the cartoon, and the actors did an excellent job with the dialog. I laughed lots, especially at the stuff I didn’t work on at all. (Jokes work better if you don’t know the punchline beforehand, I think.)

Sadly, my name was left off the credits. This happens, especially in large productions like videogames, and more especially if you’re not in the office when the credits list is created. While I’d love to see my name up on the screen, it matters little compared to being a part of it in the first place. It’s an unintentional oversight, I’m sure, and the checks all cleared, so I cannot complain.

As the critics have pointed out, this is a short game. It’s based on cartoons that last under 12 minutes, so that’s no surprise. For someone as busy as me, that’s actually a bonus, and I still clocked in several hours playing the game. I didn’t want to wait until my comp copies showed up, so I paid good money for my copy, and the game was worth every cent.

Websites! Get Your Websites!

My friend Rich Kummer, former owner of ACD, pointed me to a new gaming blog a friend of his is writing as part of a class. Brandon is clearly a sharp guy asking intriguing questions. I may not always agree with his terminology or his sentiments, but it’s fun to watch him wrestle with various issues either way.

Meanwhile Matt McElroy tells me his excellent site, FlamesRising.com, has gotten a facelift, and it looks great. He’s also provided updated links to an interview with me, a review of Dracula’s Revenge (the board game), and a review of World of Darkness: Ghost Stories too. The site’s much more readable and has a fashionable Web 2.0 feel to it. If you enjoy horror or dark fantasy at all, give it another look.

Day Late, But Still Great

There’s a heartwarming story going around the web about Patry Francis and her book The Liar’s Diary. Patry busted her hump writing the book, which got rave reviews in hardcover. Then she was diagnosed with cancer, making her unable to do much if anything to help promote the book.

Yesterday, the book came out in paperback, and over 300 bloggers banded together to flog it for she who could not flog. I had planned to join in but had a relatively insane day yesterday in what’s been a nutty year already. But me being a day late doesn’t make the book any less good.

Be sure to check it out if you can. Even if it’s not your type of tale, make sure to read Susan Henderson’s excellent encapsulation about how this all came together.

Star Wars Bikers for Cancer

Tommy Lee Edwards, the fantastic artist who provided covers for my Dracula’s Revenge comics from IDW, is taking part in the Ride for Kids on May 4,2008. For this event, thousands of motorcyclists ride to raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, which funds research for a cure for brain tumors in kids.

This is a great, worthy cause all by itself, but to sweeten the pot, Tommy lined up permission from Lucasfilm to provide limited-edition prints to the first 300 donors who contribute $30 or more (plus shipping costs). Appropriate to the event, these feature a squad of stormtrooper biker-scouts from Star Wars, and Tommy signs and numbers each print. Be sure to check it out.

On a Walkabout

Fellow Alliterate and longtime friend Steve Sullivan recently launched his own publishing company, Walkabout Publishing. He already has four books out with more in the works.

This joins two other self-publishing efforts from the Alliterates. Steve was involved in the first too–Popcorn Press–along with Lester Smith and Rob King. For the second, Wolfgang Baur is ramping up his fifth Open Design project as well as building his new baby, Kobold Quarterly.

Lester also runs PoemTee.com (which offers his poetry on T-shirts) and Hobby Hearse (which sells rare and used games). Meanwhile, Don Perrin continues spinning lead with his latest miniatures company, True North Miniatures, and publishing articles about it in HMG Magazine. Plus, he keeps many of the rest of us in print with his Quality Print-on-Demand.

Meanwhile, many of us still write novels and design games. We’re a busy lot!

Enter the Judge

Friday afternoon, my father wore his judge’s robe for the first time. My 85-year-old grandmother flew out from Michigan to help him into it during his investiture ceremony.

My father’s 14 grandchildren sat in the jury box (which has 14 seats)–all except for his namesake (and my son) Kenny, who stayed home sick. His brother Patrick proudly carried Kenny’s framed photo around as a substitute. Dad gave a little speech, acknowledging his parents, his wife Nancy and each of his kids, including the steps (as I’ve called my step-siblings since even before my father and their mother married). Then he found and used his gavel for the first time to adjourn the event.

Afterward, we gathered for a reception at La Casa Grande in Beloit. My mother did me a huge favor by watching my kids (and a few extra to boot!), with help from Missy Henderson and Dana Bull-Beckwith.

Saturday morning, we woke up to find the event as front-page news in our local paper. We couldn’t be prouder of Dad, of course, and we think Rock County is as lucky to have him as a judge as we were to be his kids.

Storytellers Unplugged

My latest essay is up at Storytellers Unplugged. Still deep in depression about the results of last night’s Packers-Giants playoff game, my thoughts inevitably turned to football fans and how we’re all alike under the facepaint. I hope you enjoy it.

Nextcat Feature

For some reason, the folks at Nextcat (a networking site for people in various entertainment fields) have placed me on their featured people page for the gaming category. Steve Ince, who I’ve met online through the IGDA Writers SIG, headlines the page, while I share the bottom ranks with the likes of John Tynes, who makes for no shabby company at all.

Like all fame, this is of the fleeting sort. I’ll be replaced soon, I’m sure, but I’ll bask in the virtual limelight while I can.