I’m leaving for Gen Con in about 12 hours. I hope to see many of you there. If you’re around, please show up to the Brave New World film short and documentary on Thursday evening at 8 PM. To whet your appetite, see the BNW movie MySpace photos page, which features posters for the film. Here’s my favorite of the bunch:
I’m scrambling to get ready for Gen Con next week, at which I’m a guest of honor once more. Here’s my updated schedule, which includes brand-new panels showing off details on the Brave New World film pilot. I hope to see many of you there!
Two of the books I’m looking forward to most at Gen Con are Hobby Games: The 100 Best and 40 Years of Gen Con. I had a tiny hand in each of them, just enough that I don’t have to pay for copies, but I’d be happy to hand over my cash for either.
For the first, Jim Lowder collected a who’s who of game designers and asked them to each write an essay about their favorite game. On the product’s page, be sure to scroll down and click on the “Author List” link for a breathtaking array of talent.
For the second, Robin Laws interviewed dozens of people about their Gen Con experiences, from Gary Gygax right down to yours truly. This makes for a gorgeous coffee-table book that would do any con-going gamer proud. Robin has also provided online the DVD-extras equivalent of interview-snippet MP3s. This includes James Wallis‘s account of the origins of the Diana Jones Award, for instance. The best of the lot, though, has to be Peter Adkison’s rousing tale of the creating of the theme song for Wizards of the Coast.
While at Comic-Con, I stopped by the Capcom booth and checked out their demonstration of an early build for the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law videogame I worked on with the fine folks at High Voltage Software. It looks great, and I can’t wait to see the final package.
A postcard given out at the show, though, tells me I’ll have to wait until November 13, 2007, for the game to hit shelves. In the meantime, we can keep up to date with a new Capcom blog devoted to the game.
P.S. GameTrailers.com has gameplay footage from the Comic-Con booth.
According to Amazon.com, my novelization of the upcoming Mutant Chronicles film is now slated for release on August 26, 2008. It’s slated to weigh in at 320 pages and come to you courtesy of publisher Del Rey. I got the chance to meet my editor, Keith Clayton, again at Comic-Con, at the Del Rey booth. He told me I’d just missed seeing the film’s star, Tom Jane, by a matter of seconds.
Fabio Dall’Ara writes to let me know that the interview he conducted with me a while back is now available in issue #23 of Doomzine, an Italian fanzine devoted to all things Mutant Chronicles. It also has a translation of the “Mutant Memories” essay I posted here a while back. Sadly, my command of the Italian language doesn’t extend very far, but for those who parla Italiano, you’re in for a treat (I think).
One thing I missed at Comic-Con was Sunday (as well as Saturday, since I left on Friday night). On that Sunday, the IAMTW gave out its first Scribe Awards for the year’s best tie-ine novels. While my Prophecy of the Dragons was nominated for Best Young Adult Novel, I was in stiff competition against Steve Sullivan, Christina York, and Alice Henderson, all of whom I count as friends.
In the end, Alice won, and I couldn’t be more pleased for her. Just before my flight out of San Diego, I grabbed a quick bite with her and double Scribe winner Jeff Marriotte, and you couldn’t ask for a nicer, more talented person to take home the statue. Congratulations to Alice, Jeff, and all of the other winners!
For myself, I found a nice plaque in the mail when I got back from vacation. It’s on my mantel right now, sharing space with my Origins Awards and ENnies, and it looks great.
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!
Just home from Comic-Con, which is still going on. Had a wonderful time. Saw lots of old friend and made many new ones too. Off again to an undisclosed location. More later!