Two bits of news came out of Madison last week. First, the good news. Big Rooster, a new studio founded by some of the people I worked with at Human Head Studios, has landed the job of computerizing Talisman (the classic board game from Games Workshop) for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. Congratulations, guys! The bad news is …
Off to Vegas
This Monday, I’ll be in Las Vegas at the annual GAMA Trade Show, hosting a couple seminars. According to the descriptions in the GTS program guide, they are: Monday, 11 am—Noon: Getting Your Game Published Come learn how to submit your games to publishers and get them published. Discover the obstacles you may face in getting your game on shelves, …
Wild(Storms) Days
My old pal Drew Bittner just started up a blog. In it, he reminisces about his days as an editor at WildStorm Productions. In this installment, he writes about the genesis of the WildStorms CCG I designed with him, including a bit about how I was brought into the project. It’s interesting to hear the story from an insider’s point …
Good-Bye, Dungeon. Good-Bye, Dragon.
It’s true. Paizo just announced that the last print issues of Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine will ship this fall. Their license is up to be renewed and, well, it won’t be. Wizards of the Coast plans to use the magazine brands as part of a renewed web presence. In the meantime, Paizo will transition to publishing series of d20 …
Congratulations All Around
Seems like my friends are breaking out all over. Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast finally announced its long-in-the-works imprint for creator-owned fiction, Wizards of the Coast Discoveries. The initial list of writers includes my pals Richard Danksy and Rob King. \ In other news, podcasting author Scott Sigler just sold three novels to Crown at auction. Scott’s spent some time …
Sad Day for the Hokies
By now, you’ve probably heard of the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech, the bloodiest such incident in American history. This struck closer to me than you might expect because Pinnacle Entertainment Group, the gaming company I co-founded with Shane Hensley back in 1996, is based in Tech’s hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia. I lived and worked in and around …
Quotable Mamet
As I charge headlong toward my deadlines, I’ve been picking away at Bambi vs. Godzilla by David Mamet, the legendary screenwriter and playwright. This series of short essays about “the movie business” makes for easy reads in the snippets of time I can scrounge up in the course of a day. His style doesn’t suit my tastes, but I enjoy …
Actually, No OddCon
My apologies to those who came out, but I didn’t make it to OddCon today. Between the various illnesses running through the house and some high-pressure deadlines, I couldn’t see my way clear to leaving town. My biggest regret is not being able to spend some quality time with my pal John Kovalic, who took a hard, personal blow this …
OddCon 2007
The fine people at OddCon (read: Jerome Van Epps) have asked me to join them this weekend in Madison, WI. I’ll be there Saturday at noon for: Turning your favorite story or show into a game. What kind of game would you make of Dr. Blink? Matt Forbeck, Christopher Jones, John Kovalic, Melissa S. Kaercher, Monica Valentinelli, Jerome Van Epps. …
An Official Computer Game Credit
Although I worked for a couple years at Human Head Studios and served as the president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group as we developed a Deadlands computer game (that never quite made it), I’ve yet to have my name in the credits of a published computer game. It’s the nature of such things. I have friends who spent years of their …