Holiday Break

I'll return with new wonderfully exciting posts on Monday.

Until then, Merry Christmas everybody.

Game State

So you do know that Star Chamber is a finalist in the Independent Games Festival, right? This means potentially great press and exposure amongst the world's top independent games. While SC has been around awhile (official launch date was November 2003), the recognition is nice and after playing some of the other games it definitely feels like we have a shot at the title.

I have downloaded and played almost all of the available games, and here are some thoughts. I'll go through the list alphabetically, as they are listed on the official IGF site:

1. Creatrix - Not available

2. Detective Brand Golf - Not Available

3. Global Defense Network - Haven't played it (the only one other than Revolved that's available that I have not), but it looks very interesting.

4. Lux - Really cool game. It's basically online Risk, and if you remember how long Risk games took, you will fall on your knees and weep when you see how fast and smooth this one plays. I was very (very) turned off by the sounds on this one (they make Star Chamber's sound like they were crafted at Lucasarts), but the gameplay is solid.

5. N - Awful title, very interesting game. Like a new age Lode Runner, the control is excellent and the gameplay is good.

6. RocketBowl - Look, bowling on the computer is simplistic at best. While EA hasn't yet bastardized it on a console yet (analog control would make this sport come alive on the console), this game is very easy and simple but is addictive and kept me playing for quite some time. I do believe it needs some more graphical goodness and personality, but the core is there and should be commended for its sheer playability.

7. Revolved - Not played, but available, as mentioned above.

8. Star Chamber - Well, um, you know where my bias lies, don'tcha.

9. Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space - Unavailable.

10. Wik and the Fable of Souls - Really guys, and I thought N was a bad game title. Wik and the Fable of Souls, jeez. Why not call it Gollum with a Long Tongue, as that would adequately describe both the character and the gameplay. This physics-based world comes alive through excellent control, but its mundane suck-and-spit character mechanics couldn't hold me for long.

In this category it appears to me that Star Chamber should have no problem with any of this competition. However, Weird Worlds may pose a challenge (they've done well in the IGF in the past), and who knows what the fuck Detective Brand Golf is.

Lastly, and this has nothing to do with games (more along the lines of ranting), stop putting i in front of words to make stories sound more interesting. Take a gander at this. Look guys, that is a pretty good site in terms of information and the Market Pulse (tm). But iShares? What the iFuck. Nobody gives an iShit about how iClever you think you iAre. So please iStop it, k?

The Half-Blood Prince

For you Potter fans, you should be reading this announcement with glee. While I certainly don't believe a quote in there, as this is PR goodness at its best, the fact that the book does have a release date is very exciting news.

What's even better is that I get to now re-read the series to catch up on the tale so far. These books are instant classics (my favorite: The Prisoner of Azkaban, which thankfully wasn't a bad flick either) and should be shared and shared alike.

On a more personal front, the Xmas shopping season is winding down and that means mine is just gearing up. Tonight's foray into consumerism may very well be my last (as I've got a few gifts around me right now), but it will probably be an ordeal like all the other times I've subjected myself to this ritual of procrastination.

Anyway, Ericka has done a fantastic job with the rest of the gifts and I'll probably be doing some gift wrapping of my own tonight. Between the shopping and the wrapping, I don't know if I can stand anymore holiday cheer.

And if I hear one more obnoxious Salvation Army ring-a-ding-ding stick, I'm gonna hurt somebody.

Trailer of Sin

Oh man, the gifts they just keep on giving! Enjoy the new trailer to Sin City. Wow!

PSP is the Gamer Porn of 2005

My lord people. You just can't get away from its sweet, sexy music!

Take a look at this review. As if you needed convincing.

Your Blog is Fucking Up Google

Hahaha, this is hilarious and the hilarity comes from its truth.

Of course, here I am doing the precise thing he is ranting about, and Trackback still makes me think of a chain letter. But regardless, my blogger ways don't have crappy, disfunctional systems that can be DoS'd by a script-kiddie (static pages all the way, baby!), and I always wondered by Tony's Site is so damn slow (particularly when commenting). Now I know, eh?

Movable Type has a long way to go before it becomes the Premier Blogging Tool, as I don't even think that crown is available at this point. I've used a ton of Content Management Systems, and simple seems to win out every time (did I mention static pages?).

Funny read, regardless.

When Ninja Attack

Exciting, cool, great artwork, neat mechanic.

Plus, can you get any damn sweeter with that Ninja Star (Shuriken) expansion symbol?

This, along with Star Chamber: Rebellions to be released in just a few weeks (check out my Turn 6 article on the matter with some preview cards), its going to be a good time for a CCG fan next month :)

Right Side, Left Side

In Today's Political Fuel, we learn a few things.

One, Time has said that, for the second time in 4 years, George Bush was the Man of the Year. Wow, who knew he was just that damn important and interesting. Personally, I appreciate how he has become a puppet for right wing conservatives along with aiding the money grubbing corps (Haliburtan anyone?) and truly showed the rest of the world that you don't need bombs for us to invade your country. You just need a dictator. And, may I note, a dictator that we don't like. Because if we like him, he can have all the rape rooms he likes.

I heard a really great Fresh Air program last week. You can click on that link to hear it. It concerns a former right-wing writer and how he was ostracized from his colleagues after trying (and failing) to write a doom and gloom book on Hillary Clinton. The publisher and the fellows were dead set on throwing out a book full of lies and accusations, and this guy just couldn't let himself fall into the trap. He has since suffered the consequences.

Also, on a lighter side of things, Maureen Corrigan's Best Books of 2004 is good, as her sultry yet slightly snoody and rambling voice turns into some very interesting language. I love how she can't help but over-pronunciate her words to the point of transfiguration, her syllables clay to her potter's mouth. She loves to emphasize and follow the ebb and flow of language as strangely as possible. Plus, there are some good books to be found, so if you dig reading take a listen, eh?

For some more Right vs Left craziness, this Fresh Air piece (you might've noticed I'm a fan of the show) has the first Direct Mail political marketer, and how he has Come Into Power, so to speak, with the ideals and aspirations of the American Right (I love these heady phrases). It's a disturbing listen for the liberal, and an enlightening one for the conservative. The best quote of the show is "People are far more likely to vote against something than for something." True words.

And finally for something truly enlightening, enjoy this interview with the first ever openly gay minister. He has a choice quote as well (and I'm paraphrasing): "Hating the sin yet loving the sinner doesn't work. My sexual orientation and relationship is so much of who I am, you might as well just say you hate me." Would you not be horrified if someone asked you take off your wedding ring? To not hold hands with your spouse? To stop looking at each other like that?

It's a sharp contrast from the Direct Mail guy, and a real eye-opener in terms of where the Right wants us to go (BAN GAY MARRIAGE! IT'S EVIL!), what they want America to conform to (NO ABORTIONS! BUT NO WELFARE, EITHER!), and how they will accomplish it (GOD WOULD VOTE FOR GEORGE BUSH, SO WHY AREN'T YOU?).

And the political world turns, and I find it oh so amusing.