Television poker has spread all over late night TV like an aggressive mold growth, and I realized recently that it’s leaped over the proverbial shark, several times. No great revelation there, but it really sunk home for me the other night when I surfed into a game where Phil Ivey was at the table eating […]
Author Archives: Game Writer Guy
Donate to Haiti – and Have It Go 2x As Far
Haiti needs donations badly, as everyone knows. The situation is bleak. But I just found out that several Austin organizations are offering a generous 1-to-1 Haiti donation match. You don’t have to be in Austin to participate. This is a great way to double the positive impact your dollars have. Many thanks to the Entrepreneurs […]
A Game Job: Not for Everyone
Do You Want a Job in the Game Industry? Game jobs aren’t easy to land, and we get pretty regular inquiries about how to do just that for game writer, game designer, and other game industry jobs. The game industry is small, insular, and fiercely competitive. There are a lot of very smart people who […]
The Avatar Movie
Game Writer Thoughts on Cameron’s Avatar Movie The Avatar movie is all the rage right now, and with good reason. Here are my quick, spoiler-free thoughts. Gorgeous. The Avatar movie is simply gorgeous. It feels real, although it does have a heavy Halo texture to it too. To be fair, Cameron’s already trod this territory […]
Best Halloween Costume Ever
Credit for spotting this goes to one of my friends on Facebook. I can’t remember who but you’re welcome to identify yourself. I grew up in a college town, and one Halloween our doorbell rang and we opened the door expecting to see trickortreater—but what was in front of our open door—was another door! Like, […]
Game Designer Hopefuls, Read This
Game Design Competition at SWSW 2010 Game designer wannabes, this is your opportunity, but you’ve only got a few more hours. The Screenburn at SXSW Game Design Competition deadline is today. This is a two-phase game design contest in which you file an entry first, and then a followup presentation if you’re picked as a […]
Uplifting Astronomer Trance Hit!
Dangit, lost a few posts thanks to the incompetence of 1&1 Internet hosting. However, I’ve found a backup and I’m reposting the goodies. Sorry if this is a repeat for you…! Take a listen to this killer tune by Carl Sagan, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Richard Feynman, and Neil deGrasse Tyson (with a little […]
A Game Hero Should Be Voiceless: Part Two
The Rude Game Hero The voiceless game hero? He’s an ass. Well, inadvertently. Have you ever noticed how a voiceless game hero fails to respond to mid-mission communications? I recently finished Resistance on the PS3, and the game’s avatar, Nathan Hale, is a classic, cliche game hero with little to say and a lot to […]
A Game Hero Should Be Voiceless: T or F?
Game Case Study: The Voiceless Hero The typical game hero is mute. Have you noticed? Especially in first-person shooters, your typical game hero is a stoic son of a mesh. He has an inhuman pain tolerance, miraculous healing powers, and can tote as much military hardware as a Sherman tank. But he can’t communicate. He’ll […]
ET, Please Phone Home
If you’re a habitual This American Life radio listener like I am, you might have heard the story about a guy who has differences with his dad in the program entitled “Go Ask Your Father.” Unlike most father-son conflicts, this one wasn’t about sports, report cards, or borrowing the car to make out with the […]