Monthly Archives: July 2009

Gulp

July 10, 2009

This, to be perfectly honest, isn’t something I ever expected to see.

It certainly does make it real. I was hoping to put together something like a panel discussion to take some of the pressure off, but that turned out to be more complicated than I thought. So there it is, and here I am, all jittery and uneasy two months in advance and hoping that I can come up with enough interesting material to justify this trust I’ve been given.

The AGDC Game Writers Summit web page has been updated with most of the sessions, so I have been able to glance at some of the company I have been placed in. Looks like there are some big designers and writers from Valve, Eidos, Sony Online, Red Storm, and Ubisoft. Wonderful. And there are some really interesting talks planned, such as Mary de Marle’s “Redefining Our Role [More...]

Category labels: game design, interactive fiction | 5 Comments

LucasArts classics on the iPhone?

July 9, 2009

Not to just parrot another blog entry, but I thought this was interesting. I’m sure most of you are by now familiar with the news that LucasArts is in the process of reviving some of their classic point-and-clickers like Secret of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis for XBLA and PCs, which is beautiful news indeed.

In addition to this, though, is the report from Joystiq (via TAUW) that we might be seeing some of these classics on the iPhone someday soon. As reported:

…we did get a vague answer in the affirmative (from LucasArts): “On iPhone, you know Apple’s policy that we can’t talk about a release until it’s ready to release. But it would make sense that we would do something like that if we were to go in that direction … wink wink, nod, nod.”

It certainly makes sense, [More...]

Category labels: adventure games | Leave a comment

The End of Prohibition (Sort Of)

July 2, 2009

On a completely unrelated topic…

Just wanted to take a moment to recognize that July 1st marks a new cultural era in the state of Utah. Those of you familiar with Utah know that this place has long been known (and ridiculed) for its arcane and often bizarre alcohol laws. I should emphasize the word “arcane,” in the sense of, “understood by few.” I have lived in this state for 12 years, and to this day I’m not sure I understand half of the laws regarding the purchase and serving of alcohol in public establishments. Trying to explain these laws to out-of-state visitors was always frustrating, and usually ended with something like, “I’m not sure anyone really knows.”

The most well-known and understood of these was the “private club” law. Establishments whose receipts due to alcohol were greater than a certain percentage compared to food (not sure what it was…maybe [More...]

Category labels: miscellaneous | 5 Comments

The End of June Vespers Thing

July 1, 2009

Hard to believe June has completely come and gone already. We’re now halfway through 2009. To be honest, by this point I was hoping for more with this project — a completed Vespers demo, more frequent blogs, maybe my own television series. Really, you’d think by now I’d know better than that, since I seem to say the same thing about every six months. I’m not that bothered, though. Earlier this month the wife and I were having dinner with some friends when the topic of the neverending game came up, and one of them was struck by how much passion I seemed to have for the project, having stuck with it so persistently for so long. She understood and acknowledged that it must be more about the process than the product. Although I knew this already, it still had an impact hearing it from someone else. It was nice. [More...]

Category labels: Vespers | 2 Comments