Some robot news for you today. ZDNet reports that the Google Self-Driving Car has caused its first accident by assuming a bus would yield, aka by kind of cutting it off. The early reports on the Google Car said that it was perhaps too hesitant and polite, causing it to be the recipient of road […]
Author Archives: Game Writer Guy
Do You Watch Your Friends Play Games?
Not everybody enjoys watching others play videogames, just like not everybody enjoys others play sports. There’s something about games that demands that hands-on experience. Of course, a big part of it depends on the style and personality of the person you’re watching. If you’re a stealth gamer, you probably wouldn’t enjoy watching a brawler barrel through levels, […]
Videogames Are Murderer Kryptonite, Says NPR
For your enjoyment, here’s another salvo in the ongoing discussion about “do videogames make kids into psychopaths,” aka “First-Person Shooters Were Designed by ISIS and the Taliban to Extend Satan’s Nefarious Reach into Our World.” As you might expect, this TED Radio Hour episode connotes play with balanced human psychology. Less expected, perhaps, is a researcher who finds that […]
How to Harvest LR41 Watch Batteries from Junk Mail
In the Geek Skills category of Game Writer Central, I’m happy to announce this new lifehack: converting junk mail into value…! LR41 Watch Batteries in Your Mailbox If you’re in the right neighborhood, you’ve been getting an occasional giant postcard with a little plastic “sweepstakes” gadget attached, like this one. Mine comes from my local […]
How Do You Meet Game Writers and Designers?
I got an interesting question recently on Quora and thought it might be useful to repost the Q&A here: How do I meet game developers? (I titled this post targeting game writers and game designers because that’s a little more relevant to this blog.) Here’s my answer: That’s not hard. 1) Find a local meetup […]
Videogame Indictment: Dragon Age Inquisition
A Dragon Age Review with Bugs Attached Been playing this popular game on PS4 recently and man, am I disappointed. I really want to love it, but instead I just think about how Bioware shipped this thing about six months before it was finished, with some bad design decisions baked in. I’m also a bit irate […]
How Bad Is the Astros’… Chron Blog?
It’s October baseball, folks, and the Astros are in the postseason for the first time in 1,000 years. Hope and delight reign in the hearts of Houston sports fans, but torpor rules on the pages of the Astros’ primary blog, blog.chron.com, where Astros fans often turn for news. Why? If you’re like me, you’ve noticed that […]
Star Wars Battlefront Beta: A Review
The new Star Wars Battlefront beta is out and we’ve got some unsolicited impressions. First the bad news. The Star Wars beta is overflowing with snipey reload-free blaster gameplay. In this Star Wars implementation, a standard blaster has a high fire rate, high magnification in zoom mode, and nearly infinite range, allowing ridiculous snipefests on […]
ACL Festival video + Shia Arrested, Of Course
If you missed the Austin City Limits Music Festival (like I did) or are just looking to relive some of the moments in video, check out the Red Bull TV video highlights. It’s not the most generous assortment of headliners, but you can find songs from Gary Clark Jr., Nate Ruess (of Fun), San Fermin, […]
WTF, WWF?
Zynga’s Words With Friends. I’m a word guy, obviously, and I can’t help playing this game against friends and strangers. It’s crowdsourced word puzzles, really. But why, Zynga? Why does your QC have to be so utterly lousy? Why are you so hellbent on proving you couldn’t care less about this marquee property? Here’s example […]