The ever-reliable GamingReport.com posted the results of the Origins Awards, which were presented at a ceremony in Columbus, OH, last night. Congratulations to all the winners!
I didn’t make it to Origins this year. The summer gets packed with conventions of all kinds, and I can only make it to so many of them and still get my work done and see my family. Other shows had stronger pulls this year, so I’m home instead, missing my friends, but enjoying my time with my wife and kids.
Prey, the fantastic first-person shooter game from my old employers at Human Head Studios, has officially gone gold. This marks the end of a five-year-long development cycle and a triumph for many good friends.
I downloaded the game’s demo the first day it was up, and I played through the whole thing soon after. It’s even better than I remember it when I used to play around with it in the Human Head offices. Of course, they’ve had a year and a half since then to polish it to a gleaming shine, and it shows. This is quality gaming at its best, and I’ll be standing in line to get my copy the day it ships.
Wizards of the Coast announced that they’re sponsoring a D&D Fan Film Contest. Entries must be under five minutes long and will be posted at GameVideos.com. I’m curious to see what kind of tiny gems this might produce.
For all you computer/video game fans out there, what’s your favorite dungeon crawler? I’m looking for the latest and greatest. Thanks!
Here’s something for fans of both comic books and the Worst Case Scenarios Survival Handbook. Quirk Books has The Batman Handbook and The Superman Handbook. Be sure to click on the “View an interior spread of this book” links to bask in these books’ full glory.
The duotone artwork and layout reminds me of the interiors of the DC Heroes Roleplaying Game that Mayfair Games published back in the mid-80s. In college, I spent one summer running around Chicago and Milwaukee, playing demos for which Mayfair paid me cash and expenses, spreading the gospel of Greg Gorden’s logarithmic system.
Anyhow, these are too funny. I hope I spot some copies floating around Comic-Con next month. If so, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist snatching them up.
As Gamespot.com announces, Games Workshop has licensed its Blood Bowl brand to Cyanide for use in an upcoming line of video games. At the same time, Cyanide signed over to GW its Chaos League brand, ending any dispute over the similarities between Chaos League and Blood Bowl.
I suspect this dispute and settlement has been coming for some time. My original title for my Blood Bowl novel was Sudden Death, which I had to change due to a conflict. It seems clear now that the problem came from Chaos League: Sudden Death. Perhaps this means I could now use the title for another Blood Bowl novel.
Either way, this is great news. I’m happy that all involved were able to come to an amicable solution, and I can barely wait to play a Blood Bowl computer game!
Yesterday I ran up to Madison and visited my friends at Human Head Studios. CEO Tim Gerritsen gave me the nickel tour of their fabulous new offices, which include a real train car in the lobby and the best home theater system I’ve ever seen. (The chairs are better than any you’ll find in a real theater–and less sticky too!)
Tim also showed me the latest effort from the adventure games division I used to run for him. Normal, Texas, a roleplaying game of 1950s, B-movie action, is due out this fall, and it looks fantastic. Jason Blair did a bang-up job with the design, and Leanne Buckley gave it a shiny-keen polish graphics-wise. Be sure to pick it up when you can.
On his blog, Justin Mohareb muses over an old copy (from ’92) of The Gamer magazine he found in his collection. I’d almost forgotten about the magazine, which featured an all-star editorial cast, including Scott Haring, Greg Costikyan, Doug Niles, and Tom Wham. He also mentioned a short bit I’d sent in:
And Matt Forbeck won a free subscription for his entry in the “combine two games” contest;
Rocky & Bullwinkle RPG/Call of Cthulhu: “Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat! — AIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHH!
Classic Forbeck.
ICv2.com reported this today, but I first learned about it from Justin Mohareb’s blog: Jordan Weisman is leaving WizKids.
I suppose that given the recent round of layoffs at the company, I shouldn’t be so surprised, but the news still shocked me. In many ways, Jordan personified WizKids, even after he sold the company to Topps. Without him and many of the other people no longer with the company, it’s going to be a very different business.
Justin somehow dug up Jordan’s termination agreement with Topps. Apparently since he’s a highly placed executive at a publicly traded company, Topps has to file these sorts of things with the SEC. It makes for some interesting reading, especially the bit about a Star Wars constructible figure game.
In any case, with 4orty 2wo Entertainment and Cathy’s Book, plus no doubt other notions floating around, I’m sure this won’t be the last the gaming industry hears of Jordan. For the sake of gamers everywhere, let’s hope not.
As recently announced on the Firefly Games site, I agreed to help write an introductory adventure for the upcoming kids’ roleplaying game Faery’s Tale. This is the first RPG writing I’ve done in nearly two years, and I’m looking forward to it almost as much as seeing the game itself. Fortunately, since it’s due out in August, I won’t have to wait long!