Shannon Appelcline recently posted on RPG.net the latest in his series of articles about the histories of various companies in the adventure gaming industry. This is a two-parter about Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE). I worked for ICE back in the early ’90s. In fact, ICE published the first large book I wrote entirely on my own: Western Hero (also produced …
Protospiel West
This summer, I attended Protospiel as the guest of honor, and I had a wonderful time. I just learned that a West Coast spinoff–Protospiel West–is set for January 27, 2007, in Santa Monica, CA. Best of all, they have my pal Marcelo Figueroa of Playroom Entertainment set up as a guest speaker for the event. If you’re an aspiring game …
(Not a Secret) Agent
This week, I signed on with my first agent: Christi Cardenas of the Lazear Agency. Christi’s going to help me out with an original series that I’ve been pitching around. I can’t say more about it at the moment, but I’m ecstatic to partner up with her on this project. The Lazear Agency is a small group with offices in …
Sweet Home, Wisconsin
Fellow Wisconsin son Jim Muraco asked me to put in a plug for his latest film It’s My House. It’s a documentary about strange and cool houses in the Midwest, mostly in Wisconsin and particularly in Milwaukee. Think of it as Cribs: Brewtown. Or not–I haven’t seen the movie yet myself. With luck, it’ll be ready in January, a perfect …
Jordan and the Escapist
The ever-excellent Escapist concentrates on Microsoft in a series of articles this week. Best of all, they interview my friend Jordan Weisman for two of them. The first is about how Jordan sold FASA Interactive to Microsoft and how that worked out. The second paints Jordan’s career with broader strokes, from FASA through to 42 Entertainment. Both are great reads. …
IGDA Again
Back when I worked for Human Head Studios, the company paid for all of the employees to be members of the International Game Developers Association. When I left in 2004, I let my membership lapse, but I recently rejoined again. I just updated my member profile, most of which I lifted generously from my own site, of course.
Gen Con Tales
My pal Robin Laws is collecting Gen Con stories for a book on the con of all cons, to be published by Atlas Games. I’d be sick with jealousy, but this is Robin. Not only is he a friend, but I know he’ll do at least as good a job as I could have hoped to. This way, I can …
Give Thanks
One thing that having kids–especially quadruplets–pounds into my skull is the value of gratitude. There’s so much to be thankful for in my life, no matter what struggles I may have, and the good outshines the bad like the sun outdoes the moon at noon. I’m always at my happiest when I think more on what I have than what …
IGDA Madison
Yesterday, I drove up to Madison for the first big meeting of the new local chapter of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association). (That’s computer games, for those keeping score at home.) Alex Seropian (founder of Bungie Software and Wideload Games) gave a great speech about the new business model he and his partners are using for Wideload, which seems …
RPG Player Styles
My pal Charles Ryan set up a quiz that answers the question, “What kind of roleplayer are you?” It’s based on Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering by my friend Robin Laws. I take quizzes like this for fun sometimes, but I rarely publish the results. (After all, do you care which superhero I’m most like?) This time, though, the …