Sweet, sweet, sweet Pete: give InsaneBear some good publicity. Now he has to do it. He has to!

Also, I’d like to think that the fine folks shouting out “Braddigan” were inspired by Ryan and I, who felt the need to encourage the good man with a zestful shout of his name on just about every drum solo.

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It’s sort of hard to believe, but today marks this website’s two-year anniversary. It’s certainly seen some ups and downs since Ryan and I started it up back in 2009, but the important thing is that it never stopped regurgitating news or providing substantial rants reviews for you, dear readers. And we certainly appreciate your continuing support! Jacob has asked me to assure everybody that your loyalty will be rewarded; our plans for world domination have been progressing nicely and our most devout readers should all be receiving their private islands very soon (that’s in bear years, though, and the conversion calculations can get very complicated).

But besides all that jazz, I suppose you folks want some sort of insights on what the past year of writing has taught me or brought to my attention. To be honest, things really haven’t changed that much from last year. I still think cost-effective development is the industry’s biggest issue. I’m also starting to see a troubling lack of diversity in our blockbusters. It seems like every major game is streamlining itself to the point where there won’t be much difference between your Mass Effects and Uncharteds and Call of Dutys. Perhaps the FPS’s inevitable crash from over-saturation (does Activision even realize they’re resigning CoD to Guitar Hero‘s fate?) will be the catalyst we need for some diversification and new ideas.

Another issue I’ve come to see is the unsustainable nature of the industry’s current pricing models. With multiple AAA titles releasing nearly every month, often within the same genre and utilizing similar mechanics, gamers simply can’t afford to buy every game they’re interested in. My recent adoption of GameFly is a perfect example of this. The problem here is that GameFly has essentially limited my new-game purchases to a select few games with exceptional value. At $60 a pop, I see very little reason to buy an eight hour game that I’ll play once. It’s not hard to see what this means for the developer of that game. Unless publishers start adopting more flexible pricing schemes that more accurately reflect the value of their game, then they’re pricing themselves into bankruptcy. It’s too easy to play a game without buying it new these days, and publishers need to realize what that means for their games. If things stay the way they are now, then the only games left standing will be persistent multiplayer experiences, MMOs, and lengthy RPGs. For everybody’s sake, I pray that the $30-$40 game becomes a reality within the next few years.

It might not happen until half-way through the next console generation, but I really do believe that the video game industry is in store for some major changes. I simply don’t see how increasingly expensive-to-develop AAA titles that are recycling generation old mechanics will compete with cheap and accessible browser-based titles like Farmville. For better or worse, changes are coming, and I believe that those changes will focus on broadening video games’ appeal, making them more accessible, and giving them greater value. The optimist in me says this will provide us with new and diverse experiences while the pessimist says it’ll lead to over-simplified and over-monetized responses to market trends.

But enough of all that rubbish. I feel the need to remind myself and everybody reading this that video games are fun and that’s why we play them. They always have been fun and they always will be fun, despite what new directions they might go in. And in case you haven’t noticed, 2011 looks to be one of the greatest years in video game history. I’m still trying to figure out how I’ll have a fraction of the time necessary to play all the games I want to this year. Maybe Skyrim will answer that question for me by sucking me into its world so thoroughly that I quit my job and drop out of school and give up any prospects of a social life…

Anywho, I think that covers everything I have to say. I can’t say how proud I am to still be writing for this site two years later and to still have you guys as my readers. Hopefully we’ll have a few more community members by next year!

Oh, I almost forgot: MR. RYAN IS TOTALLY COMING BACK! Yup, my original partner in crime is returning to InsaneBear to offer his wonderful writing talents. I hope you’re all as excited as I am, because he had to do some pretty despicable stuff to get back into Jacob’s good graces; it’d be a shame if all those disgusting acts were for naught. So don’t forget to check out his articles. His new responsibilities include PS3 and Wii reviews, an endeavor into the big, bad world of indie games, and a video feature that sees him dipping into his sizable backlog of games. Be on the lookout for these things and more in the coming weeks.

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Game mechanics and mechanism design panel: There’s a really annoying guy sitting right next to us. Should be awesome.
-The panelist didn’t really introduce themselves, sooo, we’ll call them bald guy and guy with long hair.
-What is game theory? How to make decisions when the consequences of your decision depend on the decisions someone else makes. Using game theory, you can map out every possible outcome of a game.
-You should care about game theory because you’ll win games more and make better games. It applies out of the games industry too. He gives Wall Street as an example. Knowing game theory can really help your career advancement.
-”Single player doesn’t count.” Game theory depends on other people’s decisions.
-Now they’re analyzing rock, paper, scissors with game theory. Checkers and chess can be “solved” too. But the more possibilities available in a game, the harder it is to solve. Chess has yet to be “solved” because there are between ten to the forty and ten to the fifty power possibilities. I’m not entirely sure the point of what they’re talking about since a super computer is necessary to solve the ultimate solution to any of these complex games.
-”Zero-sum games” require a winner. “Non-zero-sum games” allow for multiple winners. As an example, the Olympics award multiple medals. Poker, a zero-sum game, involves a set number of resources that end up in one person’s hands.
-A symmetric game gives each player the same number of possible strategies. Asymmetry gives varying strategies. Street Fighter is an example of this. If you perform a move one frame later than your opponent, even if it’s the same move, it’s a different strategy. I’m really confused about the usefullness of this theory if it requires a super computer to “solve” a game.
-”Perfect information” hides no information from the player. Chess is a good example, because it’s turn-based and you can always see what your opponent is doing. Imperfect information would be like an RTS that blacks out part of the map.
-The difference between these two concepts should be important to game designers because the game completely changes based on the information available to players.
-”The prisoner’s dilemma” – Two people are in jail. If they cooperate and work together, they both get the same amount of jail time. If one person defects and rats out his partner, he gets off scott-free and the other guy is in jail for even longer and vice versa. If they both defect, then both of them get a longer sentence.
-”Three player games are almost universally broken.” If two smart players cooperate against the third player, that third player has zero chance of winning no matter how good he is. If one of those two players defects in the middle of that cooperative agreement, he has the greatest chance of winning.
-Video games have structures that enforce cooperative agreements. If one player agrees to give another money later in the game, he has to or he’s cheating. In the real world, enforcement is much more difficult.
-The “Nash equilibrium” – There’s some sort of complicated math charting saying that you only make things worse for yourself by changing your strategy during a game. If both players retain their strategies throughout, then there can only be a draw. They said something about Monopoly that seemed to bash it for being a game of endurance since the outcomes are essentially determined unless somebody gives up.
-”Meta-games” – A game where you make a new game. And they didn’t really go into much detail on that.
-”Mechanism Design” – It’s a a meta-game. DDR is a game that encourages players to dance. Technically, you could play with your hands and not dance, but the game is encouraging you to play another “game.”
-This can be applied to MMOs and other games as well. Achievements are an example of mechanism design. They call achievements lazy because they don’t actually affect the game. For example, if you get an achievement for carrying a garden gnome around the entire game, it’s meaningless. But if at the end, you notice a collection of gnomes with one missing, and they start to dance when you place your gnome with them, you somehow feel more rewarded than you would if you get an arbitrary number of points.
-MMORPGs are the kings of mechanism design. Developers will give you a reward just as you’re about to get sick of the game in order to keep you playing. Raids are an example of a social obligation that keeps you invested in the game.
-There isn’t enough mechanism design in table top RPGs. D&D isn’t a very good game (apparently). Individual player rewards are completely meaningless because the game becomes broken if all players aren’t around the same level. There’s also an issue with the complexity of combat versus social actions. You only role one die for charisma checks, but you role many dice in combat. Good point.
-Table top RPGs tend to be more fun when things go wrong for the player. If things go smoothly and players always win, like the game design encourages, it’s less fun.
-Failure needs to be encouraged.
-Casinos are the best example of game theory in the universe. You cannot beat the house, but you’ll still play.
-Umm, he’s saying stuff about Wall Street right now. My primitive intellect doesn’t understand it.
-And that wraps things up. They said some interesting stuff in this panel, but I really didn’t understand a lot of it. It also seems highly impractical for anybody without a super computer.

Sorting Workshop: So this is a thing were we write things that hopefully don’t suck and hope the professionals who read them think they’re suitable for some branch of the industry. Yay!
-AJ Glasser is moderating the panel. John Segerson from Telltale is also here. Sue Bolling is here from the publishing side of things. Suzane Arth from the Escapist. Naughty Dog’s Community Manager is here too. And an Community Manager from Acitivision. And let things begin. I need to go write things in a notebook now that you can’t see, so you should just assume that I’m doing awesome stuff.
-Okay, so I just finished writing my preview of the demo we saw. Having only ten minutes to write, I certainly felt a little rushed, but I did get all the info I needed down. I could have used five minutes to edit, though. I feel like I wrote with some confusion of perspective in my prose and I didn’t get to infuse it with much personality.
-While the panelist review our submissions, we get to watch a YouTube video about embargoes. Yay!
-Monotone voices for the win!
-”I will honor the embargo for the rest of my working life as I have no intention of ever writing about your product.”
-Now a video about becoming a journalist. Oh, the harsh realities of journalism possibilities are so funny when they’re spoken by animated animals. “Your dream life is dying,” in reference to print media.
-More videos. “Look pal, just tell me who to email my stories to. I want to deal with the top bitch around here.” “It would be economically more sensible to get a part-time job two days a week” than to be a travel writer.
-Now they’re giving tips on the hiccups you’ll run into when previewing demos. Always take names from the video because the developers don’t always get names right.
-You need an attention-grabbing sentence. You should take a basic journalism course even if you want to work in PR.
-Don’t use opinion unless it’s supported by fact.
-Dan Amrich says…Use active verbs. Don’t read like a book report by listing things off. Depending on the publication you work for, First-Person writing might be frowned upon. The best write-ups grab your attention write away and capture the spirit of the game without going into too much detail. Always end by giving info on where you can go for more information on the game.
-Arne Meyer says…Preview pieces generally shouldn’t be overly negative if you want return opportunities. You have to accept that you’re looking at something that isn’t done yet. Give your overall impressions early on before going into details.
-Susan says…There were lots of “turn and burn” previews, which are common at things like E3 where you only have ten minutes in between games. They don’t necessarily read awesomely, but they get the facts across. Information is more important than being cute or funny. -If you’re trying to pitch something to your editor, make sure you communicate what you’re trying to pitch.
-Don’t assume the audience cares about your personal opinions. And don’t insult your readers by attacking things you aren’t a personal fan of. Don’t try to be cute and lose the point you’re trying to make. “If you’re specifically trying to make someone laugh, you won’t.”
-AJ says…When writing a preview, don’t confuse the guy who’s playing the demo with yourself or your reader. Make sure to communicate whether or not you played it or watched it played.
-Make sure to communicate what systems it’s coming out on and when.
-It’s effective to compare demos to other games, but make sure you explain why the comparison’s there. Don’t use jargon that non-gamers won’t understand.
-Okay. That’s the end. A pretty good panel over all, but a Q and A session would have been nice.

IDGA building the digital canon panel: John Gibson, Iam8bit’s founder is here. Dave Gibson from the Library of Congress is here too. Chris Mellacinos, the curator for the Washington Smithsonian’s first video game art exhibition is speaking as well. And lastly, a man that I didn’t catch the name of, who will henceforth be referred to as the man with the loud sweater, is speaking on the panel too.
-The Smithsonian art exhibition’s purpose is to show that video games can express complex human issues and be art. Because players are such an integral part of video games, the players’ votes in selecting the games on show are important.
-The initiative to make a digital game canon was inspired by similar practices in the film industry. Things got started at GDC 2007 but lost some steam. They’re hoping to relaunch the efforts.
-It’s more about picking the most important games than picking the “best” games. Every year, ten more games are selected for preservation.
-One of the issues is figuring out how to preserve in the digital age. With film and photography, finding the original prints is what defines preservation. With video games, there are questions of finding the original source code, how to store the games, etc.
-Games that are selected need to have been ground-breaking in some way.
-There are also issues of how seriously the higher-ups in the Library of Congress take video games. As an example, the violence and profanity of Pulp Fiction has kept it from being preserved as a film. What does this mean for video games as long as these people remain in power?
-Throughout gaming history, a high ratio of executive turnaround has led to companies losing track of old assets. Sometimes, companies have storage facilities full of boxes even though they don’t know what’s in them. These can get thrown out or just left to neglect. It can be a lot of work finding obscure things like old box art because of these companies’ practices.
-Blizzard is one company with a designated librarian. Not many companies value preserving old documents or assets. At least that was the case not too long ago.
-There’s a difference between playing games on the original console as intended or playing emulators on PCs.
-High technology companies often have similar problems. Guys in the lab are more concerned with cranking out new tech than archiving what they’ve done in the past.
-The entertainment industry is one industry that’s done a good job of archiving their intellectual properties’ assets. Are video games art/entertainment or technology products?
-There’s also a challenge of preserving the hardware because NES games look different on SDTVs than they do on HDTVs, etc.
-If you look at the libraries of the world, most of the star pieces weren’t collected by the museums but individuals who made donations.
-The IDGA needs fan input on created the standard of what needs to be preserved. Are original games more important than sequels than build on their concepts? It’s up to us to decide.
-Documentation of how people use games at any given time is important too. Any old reviews or previews will show that gamers experienced older, less technologically advanced games very differently than they experience modern games. We need to know what gamers were doing with their games when they were new.
-The interactive nature of video games can make for far more vivid and expansive memories than simply remembering a favorite movie or book.
-Will anybody remember what arcades were like? Shakespearean theaters and old double feature movie theaters seem to be renovated, but arcades are just built over.
-Q and A: How to we factor multiplayer experiences into preservation and documentation? – Documentation outside the games is currently the best way to preserve major events in online virtual communities.
-There are also some serious legal issues in documenting events in virtual worlds. For example, in Second Life, if a bunch of people collectively built an island, you’d have to go to the developer and ask for the names of all those individuals behind the avatars for proper documentation.
-How do patches and updates affect what’s preserved? – We’re not there yet in knowing how to account for this. As of now, specific versions of game code can be preserved, but as time goes on, it is unlikely that games will ever be in a static state.
-What if you chose to archive a particular version of a game, but then another version of that game has a great influence in some way, such as a tournament that changed the way the game was played. If the version you’ve archived is different than the replays that are available for that tournament, then you can’t have those replays.
-How do you decide which platform to preserve a game on? – The platform is less important than getting the game preserved no matter the cost.
-Do you approach employees who are no longer with companies to see what materials they might have personally that would aid in preserving a game? – They’d like to start doing that more. As time goes on and people become more aware of preservation issues, though, companies tend to contact preservation institutions themselves because they want their work remembered.
-Some companies don’t want old assets shown, though. Legal matters can make putting these things on display very difficult.
-At what point does maintaining old hardware outweigh the advantage of only preserving original copies? Wouldn’t emulators make it easier? – With digital products, it’s less of an issue, but with analog games, emulators aren’t that accurate. 100 years from now, it’s probably not that realistic to be playing an original NES. That’s just the nature of the beast. But for now, it’s important to people.
-And that’s the end. Not really what I had expected to see, but it was moderately interesting nonetheless. Sure would have been nice to have a discussion of what games are worth preserving, though. This panel dealt more with the ins and outs of preservation and why it’s important.

It’s not the length, it’s the mirth: game length vs. value panel: Last panel for us before we hit the dusty. We’ve got a guy from Joystiq, one of the founders of Twisted Pixel, some other guy, some dude from WR Studios, an indie studio, and lastly, Justin Mcelory from Joystiq. Seems like an interesting bunch.
-There’s a huge breadth of game experiences, but we as gamers seem to always boil things down to how much time you’re getting per dollar.
-How do developers determine their price points depending on whether their game is infinitely replayable or linear and curated? Microsoft sets a lot of the price points for XBLA games, but when developers chose themselves it’s more about market influence. “What’s the difference between a $10 and $15 game? Marketing.”
-”It’s either a good game or it’s not.” Why do we get so hung up on how long games are? Would we rather have filler than a highly refined, shorter experience?
-Portal is a game that demonstrates what’s wrong with fixed pricing points. It’s one of the most acclaimed games ever, but it’s so short that people feel like they’re getting ripped off if they spend $60 on it. That’s why it had to be packaged with other games when it sold on Xbox.
-iOS games are still working out their pricing structures. Without micro-transactions, you can’t build a company around a $1 game. The price will rise when larger studios gain a foothold in that market.
-They argue that once games gain wider acceptance as art entertainment, then value won’t be defined by length.
-Do professional reviewers contribute to this problem? If anything, reviewers like shorter games because it makes their work easier.
-When Steven Spielberg was working with EALA, he wanted to make a three hour game with lots of replayability. One of the reasons that game was never made was because EA didn’t know how to sell a three hour game.
-Do people want games to be long so they can escape into them for a longer time? Is that unhealthy?
-What about episodic distribution? For whatever reason, not many gamers seem to be interested in it. It’s also important to note that television and video games are structured differently when it comes to finances. Plus, TV hooks us with interesting characters, whereas games tend to hook us with a mechanic.
-The people who complain about DLC and indie game prices tend to be a very vocal minority. It makes sense for developers to raise prices to $15 as opposed to $10.
-With other media, music for example, there is an accepted range of price points, but within that range, there aren’t complaints of value. We don’t complain about only getting six songs on a $20 album, so why should we complain about only getting five hours of gameplay in a $60 game (and they fail to acknowledge the huge difference between $20 and $60).
-Do video games bring this grief on themselves with different delivery and pricing models? No.
-Q and A: How does digital distribution and the fact that you can’t resell those games affect this equation? – It’s a legitimate concern, but that’s why those games are so much cheaper.
-Something about how quickly games go on sale. – If you don’t want to spend $60 on a game, wait a month for it to go on sale.
-DLC map-packs ghettoize online communities. How does that affect DLC pricing models? – Developers are fully aware that they fragment their community with DLC. You have to plan for DLC from the very beginning to minimize how much it throws off the community balance. Sometimes, developers are so scared of fragmenting their community and getting backlash that they’d rather just do a sequel than provide DLC.
-Why don’t developers focus more on character to build lasting relationships with gamers? – It is a problem that replayability is only viewed through mechanics today. If a game doesn’t have multiplayer, people tend to think it doesn’t have much value. We do need characters worth returning to.
-Do subscription and advertisement models put pressure on developers to put filler in games? – When corporations are investing $15 million in a game, they want that money back, so there is pressure to conform to standards that have made money in the past. But why do consumers put up with that filler?
-How much do critics contribute to this problem? – Once reviewers stop treating games like products instead of experiences, this “problem” will be less of an issue.
-Does the popularity of shorter, social games stunt the growth of lengthy, character-driven games? – FaceBook games will never overtake the market; they’ll only be a segment. As long as you keep buying the games you like, developers will keep making them.
-Is there anything that can be done to change consumers’ irrational purchasing habits? – XBLA seems to have a healthy pricing model that’s steady and allows developers to make money. Publisher regulation of prices tends to keep things going smoothly.
-Do remastered games always have to adhere to a lower price point? – Yeah, because mechanics age and don’t offer as much value as they did when they first came out.
-Why isn’t there more diversity in pricing models? – There probably will be more diversity in the coming years, but psychology does influence what people buy. Irrational as it is, we often perceive a $20 game to be better than a $10 one.
-And that’s that. PAX is over for us. Hope you enjoyed it.

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Just because you have an idea doesn’t make you a game designer panel: Starting a few minutes late here, so I missed the who’s who.
-Answering some twitter questions: “Can I be a game designer even if I don’t have an idea?” Yes. Can you be a creative director without an idea? No. Creative director is Miyamoto–the guy who comes up with the idea. Game designer is the nuts and bolts guy who makes levels, etc. But it’s important to note that everybody can come up with ideas. It takes more than that.
-Next question: The guy wants to become a game designer to create this one game he has an idea for. The panel says that “nobody cares about your idea.” It’s “mental masturbation.” It’s hard to convince other people that your idea is more important than theirs. Build it yourself, even if it’s only a conceptual board game. If you can’t explain your idea to someone else to the point where they can then go explain that idea to someone else just as well, then you won’t get very far.
-”Vertical slice” concept – demo a level that shows the core concepts of your game.
-Any idea you have needs to be fueled by your passion, but actually have a chance of making money as well.
-Next question: “Is programming the most necessary skill stat for a game designer?” You don’t need to have that scientific basis to be a designer, but you do need to know enough to string a system together logically. You need a tool to prototype with, but it doesn’t necessarily be have to be programming knowledge. It certainly helps, though. -C++ is the most useful language because it works everywhere. Actionscript 3, Python, Pigame.org, Unity,are all useful programs for beginning level coders. But if you’re not a coder, you might be better served focusing on your trade and finding a friend to code for you.
-”I don’t know anybody who was hired as a game designer.” You can work your way to the top, even if you start in the mail room, but nobody will hire you as a game designer right away. “Yeah, but don’t be a dick.” “No, I totally disagree with you. Be a dick…” “Okay, so be a diplomatic dick.”
-”Go out there and be completely gutsy.” You can’t just get a job out of college. You need to network.
-Next question deals with how useful design school is. You can learn great writing or level design skills at school, but school’s generally don’t teach the intangibles necessary for a game designer. The games you’ve made are more important than your education in getting hired.
-Academic institutions are a great resource for indie developers. Indie development is bigger now than ever before. “Especially if you don’t like eating.”
-If you’re going to start your own studio, you need to decide that your game will not fail no matter what. “If you haven’t made that decision, you are fucked.”
-Didn’t hear the next question because some smelly mooks next to me are talking over the presenters…classy.
-They’re discussing how important math is to game design. They give Limbo as an example of a game that probably didn’t require a lot of math in designing mechanics. Communication is the most important skill a designer can have. You need to be able to communicate effectively with all different departments of a studio.
-”What techniques do you use for brainstorming?” – “Putting people in a room where they can’t do anything else.” Coming up with initial ideas isn’t that hard, but coming up with ideas when you’re stuck is hard. “Take a few days off and do anything else.” “My last great idea, which happened a while ago, happened in the shower.”
-Question about getting your idea off the ground. Boardgamegeek.com Game jams. These are things where people just get together and make games.
-”How did each of you get your start in game design?” – “I was on a clusterfuck project that went to hell in a handbasket.” A bunch of people left and everything was going wrong, so he had to take up additional responsibilities. “Do you think failure is integral to game design?” “Oh yeah, oh yeah” (in Kool-aid man voice). Just get back on the horse. “You don’t want to get back on the same horse.” “Yeah, find a new horse.” Another guy made a board game with friends in college, which eventually led to a QA position and onward from there.
-How do you know your game’s going to be successful? Get it into as many hands as you can and listen to their feedback. If you have something really really bad or good, you’ll know. The scary part is when you’re in the middle, because that’s when you or your friends won’t be honest in their feedback. You need to understand the difference between the potential of your game and the current state of your game. Polish doesn’t necessarily fulfill potential if the mechanic is just mediocre. If you believe you have something really good but other people aren’t seeing it, find out why they aren’t seeing it.
-”Is there a time to ignore criticism?” “Almost never.” Obviously the number of people giving negative feedback influences whether or not you should act on the criticism, but you should never pick and choose what you listen to. “One of the biggest insults you can give to somebody at Zygna is ‘You seem really attached to that idea.’”
-Next question deals with someone who’s worked at a company for a couple years as a QA guy and he wants to know how he can get noticed as a designer. Don’t just say you have ideas, build solutions and demo them. Make yourself helpful to the designers. QA is almost the best way to get into design because you’re constantly looking at problems and giving solutions to games. Don’t just find a problem and give one solution, though. If you can give multiple solutions to your designers then you’ll have a design job within a year.
-”What’s the biggest dead baby you’ve ever had?” – I should clarify, that a dead baby in this context is an idea that had to be killed off. “When you make a game try to do one thing really well before you try to do many things really poorly.”
-”What if I have tons of ideas but no technical skill?” – If you have no skills you suck. Get programming or art or QA skills. If you don’t have any skills, then find friends who do and then make a game with them. You’ll learn skills in the process.
-What sort of things in an entry-level designer set off red-flags? If you have no communication skills, if you’re close-minded, or if you make eye contact (scratch that last one) then you won’t make it.
-”How does a marketer make it into game design?” – Marketing is creating something that everybody wants, so the skills lend themselves to game design well. At Zygna, almost all design decisions are influenced by market trends. So a marketing background is very useful, but it doesn’t tell you how to fix the problems in your game.
-If you’ve got all the skills but you don’t have a job, what do you do next? Make a game, preferably a somewhat original one. There’s nothing wrong with making it small. “I look good naked.” You don’t need any context for that.
-”At what point is getting into code a good idea?” After the vertical slice. Get your core mechanic down before you deal with code.
-Parting comments – “Do one thing and do it right.” Don’t overwhelm yourself with a million features. Gives Braid as an example.
“If you’re interested in making games, make games.” Do it all the time.
“Start doing what you’re doing and don’t stop.” He promises an island off of Bermuda if you do this.

Snagging the marketing or writing job of your dreams panel:
-Actually here on time for once. Maybe I’ll get some names this time.
-Sue Bolla is a PR person. She’s the panel moderator. Jonathan Myers is a writer at an indie studio in Boston. J.P. Et? He’s some guy at Turbine. Kevin Joise is part of an advertising firm that’s worked with Blizzard on World of Warcraft. Sue (something) is a journalist who got her start as a QA tester. None of them originally set out to work in video games, but life took them there.
-A PR position is good for good writers who can sell themselves. PR departments often take a lot of interns.
-Joing IDGA, go to GDC, and do freelance work if you want to be a creative writer in the industry. Networking is super important.
-QA is the foot in the door for any position. You need to have passion about games. You need to go network at meetings and conferences in the major market areas.
-”Intelligence is the key.” Observing how other games advertise is important too. You don’t need to be a hardcore gamer to be in game marketing, but you need to at least be literate in the language. Always play the game of the company you’re interviewing at.
-In the journalism field, you need to play a variety of games. You need to be able to express your thoughts in writing. The better you can communicate your ideas and with other people, the higher you’ll go.
-There are jobs in more places than the traditional game industry. Edutainment games are growing rapidly.
-No typos in resume…thanks for the insight. Listing your interests on resume in a concise manner can define your personality and set you apart. Also, only list prior jobs that are relevant to the position you’re applying for. DO A COVER LETTER. You need to set yourself apart and make yourself a person. Immediately indicate what you’re looking for.
-Questions: What are key pieces that should be in your portfolio? – “Whatever you think represents your style best.” Samples, either professional or modifying other writing that you think is flat. Show what you can bring to the table. Also consider the media you’ll be using in your position. If twitter and FaceBook will be a big part of your job, show what you can do with them.
-What can you do if the city you live in is not a major market as far as getting involved? – Join the IDGA mailing list. Use online forums to learn from people in the industry. Try to start an IDGA chapter in your area.
-What’s more important if you’re trying to get into PR: getting a degree or going into the field? Long-term, a degree is helpful. English and technology degrees are good, but anything is helpful. Even if you can only get an Associates degree to supplement your main degree, it shows that you’re flexible.
-How can you get your name out there? – Get a card. Network. Go to game jams. Get together with other people and make a game to demonstrate your creative writing skills. Don’t be shy or worry about offending anyone, even if you don’t have a portfolio. You need to put yourself out there. Volunteering is a great way to do that.
-Working as a third-party advertiser, how do you decide which accounts you want to pursue? – Didn’t really understand that answer.
-How does marketing for video games differ from marketing for movies or television? – It’s not really that different. Just know your stuff and what you’re trying to sell and you’ll win everybody over.
-Is journalism experience outside of the industry valuable? – Absolutely. Being a journalist is more important than being a gamer.
-A very similar question. – Any kind of writing experience is valuable. But be careful of using a writing position as a stepping-stone to a design position.
-Is experience more important than a graduate-level degree? – “I think Activision exclusively hires people with MBAs.” Graduate degrees aren’t always necessary, but many companies prefer them. However, many graduate schools value if you have a few years of real-world experience before you go for your MBA. In PR, you do not need a Masters. In Marketing, you do.
-Is it ever too late to attempt joining the game industry? – No. Turbine has hired people that were retired at one point. It’s never too late.
-How do you promote yourself to big-time journalism outlets? – Set yourself apart. What makes your reviews different? Can you review an MMO in a hundred words or less? Also, conduct yourself as a professional and let the people you’re talking with bring out your geekiness.
-How do you find out which marketing agencies have worked on which games, and how do you get your name to them? – Google what you’re looking for and it’ll come up. There aren’t a whole lot of agencies, so it shouldn’t be hard to find them all.
-There’s a puppet master speaking now…if you have a website and it starts to take off, how do you make money out of it? – “Partner with a larger media entity and see if you can become part of their network.”
-How can you break out of the job you’re in and get into your field of passion? – Internships are the best way to sell yourself. Prove that you’re willing to sacrifice your time and money to do what you want.
-How can you leverage publishing industry experience to get into games journalism? – Just highlight the skills you have that transfer over and be willing to take a cut in pay. Your experience will put you on a faster track to your dream job.
-Someone walked into a major journalism outlet and was ambushed with a game he’d never played, and told to write a strategy guide in forty minutes. Is this typical? – No, this is not typical. But writing quickly is. Just write as fast as you can to get it down and edit later.
-If you have no experience in the game industry, should you make mock pieces for your portfolio? Also, how can you break into the creative writing side of the industry? – Make a game, even if it’s just a mod, to show that you can tell a story. Samples of anything are good.
-If you’re not represented by an agent in the game industry, do you have a chance? Also, what if you’re in an area with no internships? – Move to a place that does have internships. You need to show that you’re more passionate that everybody else. Be positive when networking.
-What if your previous job experience isn’t taken seriously by the people you’re talking to? – You need to project your image positively. Also, don’t appear over-qualified.
-Something about writer’s block. – Deadlines are important. If you’re stuck, you need to figure out what the problem is and fix it. Talking to a friend often helps.
-Are there more opportunities in smaller companies or bigger companies? – Almost always more opportunities at smaller companies. Freelance and contract work are the best chances for entry-level writers. You need to build up a portfolio before you can get into the big companies.
-How can you get your name out there if you have no published work? – Blogs are okay if they appear professional. Set deadlines and word limits for yourself to show that you can do the job. Mock portfolios are just fine, but it shouldn’t be hard to get published if you’re willing to work for free.
-What colleges are good for creative game writing? – Full Sail has a great program.
-How can you make your blog more legitimate? Do readership numbers matter? – It is very important to write without overwhelming emotion. market yourself to gain more readers.
-How important are technical skills in getting a creative writing job? – It really helps.
-If you start in QA and have design ideas, how do you move up? – Don’t show up on day one proclaiming yourself as a designer. Bust your butt and work with the real designers. Then kindly ask them to look at your designs when you get to know them.
-Do you know of any channels to pursue voice-acting in video games? – IDGA.
-Can stories you’ve written in the past come back to bite you? – It depends on whether or not it was fair. If you’re being a professional journalist, people will respect you.
-Do you have to be in California to get a job in the industry? – If you can afford the flights out there for interviews, no.
-Do you need to know how to podcast, use twitter, FaceBook, etc? – Yeah. Show that you can do more than one thing.
-Does your degree matter once you have your foot in the door? – Not so much. What matters is what you’ve done in the industry.
-How can marketing people dissuade gamers from pirating in this weak economy? – Add more game incentives for buying new, like EA’s online codes.
-And that’s all she wrote.

2027: The near future: Live demo of Deus Ex: Human Revolution: There are way too many colons in that title.
-Opens with trailer. Same as the announcement trailer, but super bassified in this theater. The art direction and lighting in this can can most accurately be described as “dope.” No new footage, but they are mashing up various trailers into one dramatic marketing tool. My ears kind of heart, but I want the game.
-Kyle Stallock, Eidos Montreal’s community manager is now speaking. Introduces Jean-Freancois Dugas, the Game Director, and Jonathan Jacques-Belletete, the Art Director. They give some general background on the game. The part of the game being demoed is early on. There’s a hostage situation but that’s not your priority, as you’ve been sent to secure your boss’ military prototype. Let the demo begin!
-”Sarif Under Siege” mission. You can choose your weapon loadout. Now they’re showing some of the augmentations available. He wants to play stealthily, so he buys “smart vision” to see through walls. Buys cloaking as well, which is available in various tiers.
-He enters the building now, finds an energy bar in a locker. Loot is promised. Now they’re focusing on the background landscape, a beautifully rendered city on fire. Jenson begins speaking to a guard and there are dialogue options. “At least a dozen questions we can ask this guard.” “It’s cyber-punk. People are never happy in cyber-punk.”
-Ooh, some pain killers! Jenson climbs down some ladders, he could have dropped from the roof but he would have needed a special augmentation to reduce damage. Now he performs a non-lethal take down on a guard and hides the body. If other enemies find the body, they’ll wake him up and look for Jenson. Stealth take downs go to a third-person perspective, as does cover. Guards show up on radar, making it easier to sneak about.
Rather than directly assaulting, Jenson moves some boxes to climb up a roof, then snipes two guards with a tranq gun. Ladders and vents are highlighted; it’s unclear if this is the result of an augmentation.
Now Jenson is sneaking through a warehouse and using an x-ray vision augmentation to spot enemies and avoid them. The developers highlight at least three potential paths Jenson could take. The one he does take brings him to two guards who are talking. The devs say listening to NPCs is always a good idea, as they often reveal useful information. Jenson waits ’til they separate and knifes a poor sucker. This lethal kill is louder than non-lethal kills.
Now they’re onto a simple hacking mini-game. Nothing out of the ordinary. Upon entering the next room, the devs highlight several potential routes, such as overhead vents or using the stealth cloak on the ground floor. The AI doesn’t seem especially great, but an ignorant guard gets some laughs from the crowd.
More hacking. It’s essentially a line-based puzzle game with experience incentives for taking risks to unlock non-essential nodes. It could certainly be fun.
Now they’ve loaded up a new file with a more combat-focused loadout. Jenson is popping off rounds from cover. The enemies don’t seem too concerned with taking cover for themselves. But hey, they’ve got some decent animations.
They show off both a sub-machine gun and a pistol–pretty standard stuff. The graphics are certainly aren’t bad, but it’s easy to tell that the game is several months from release.
Now they unlock a new augmentation and purchase a turret augmentation. Afterwards they hack a computer to disable a turret. They could have turned it against enemies. Hacking wouldn’t been necessary if they’d found a code earlier.
The turret augmentation allows you to hack turrets, but you could also take a strength augmentation to lift it and move it around. Multiple paths are emphasized.
Jenson walks into a cut-scene and a dude shoots himself in the face, apparently against his will. Demo ends.
-Q and A: Can you customize Jenson’s appearance? – No, because they wanted to build a strong and unique character.
-How are you going to handle the moral ambiguity of body augmentation? – Player choice in the mechanics reflects player choice in the narrative. If you kill NPCs in the game then they won’t be around later to provide other potential options.
-What’s up with the poor AI? – This build is three months old. They’re still balancing, trying to find the funnest level of enemy intelligence. Absolute realism isn’t always fun.
-In previous games, if you killed an enemy somewhere and returned there later, his loot would still be there. Is that the case for Human Revolution? – Yes, it is somewhat persistent, but the game is pretty linear in directing you where to go. Sounds like there won’t be much reason for returning to old areas.
-Can you hack people in the game, like trailers have indicated? – No, that’s purely a narrative thing.
-Any differences between PC and Console versions? – PC will support Direct X 11. It will have other advantages that will be discussed later.
-Is there going to be a sword like in the first game? – There is no sword, but there’s a bunch of variety in how you can play.
-How hard is it to make a prequel to a ten-year-old game without over-stepping the technological bounds of the first game? – They don’t view Human Revolution as less technically advanced than the first game. They were more concerned with studying what technology might realistically look like thirty years from now and making a fun game within that framework.
-Stealth take downs drain his energy bar a little bit, which is linked to augmentations. What’s the rationale behind that? – Jenson’s body is largely mechanical and even “mundane activities like breaking somebody’s leg” drain a little bit of energy. It’s also a matter of balance.
-What’s the inspiration behind the UI? – User ease and intuitiveness is the main priority, and then aesthetics make their influence felt because there’s narrative justification for having a HUD; Jenson actually sees the HUD in game, because it’s part of the future.
-Any unorthodox weapons? – Yes, but they can’t go into details.
-What sort of difference can we expect from different difficulty settings? – There are three settings; the easiest is for people who just want to enjoy the story, the middle one is a challenge, and the hardest is about staying true to the Deus Ex name.
-How much does the story branch? – The overall story is the same for everyone, but everybody’s unique choices will lead to a different experience and endings.
-Is the August 23rd release date concrete? – Yes.
-Will there be philosophical conversations in Human Revolution? – Absolutely. The more you go out of your way to find texts and news papers from the game world or NPCs from side-quests, the deeper an experience you’ll have.
-Will there be any relation between Adam Jenson and J.C. Denton? – “That’s a really good question.”
-Will there be any modding support? – For the moment, no.
-Which augmentation would each of you guys most like to have? – X-ray. “Which one would your boss have?” “The social enhancement.”
-In the first Deus Ex, there was locational damage. Will that translate to Human Revolution? – No, the damage is unified over the entire body in the name of faster action.
-Does health recharge over time or do you have to look for health packs? – It does regenerate over time, but not a whole lot. Pain killers and the like will be necessary for survival.
-How important is the dialogue? Is it a viable play style? – Dialogue and social skills will show up in several places and demand more than simple right and wrong choices.
-What are major artistic influences? – They generally look at other video games last. Looking at architecture in the world and other non-gaming sources provides fresher visual directions. For example, the “cyber-Renaissance” visual style came about this way. Industrial design, operas, etc are great non-traditional visual influences.
-Can you plant grenades as mines in Human Revolution? – No, grenades and mines are separate items. Specifically, you get mine templates that you can combine with varying grenade types to make your own mines.
-And that’s that. The demo was pretty good, but I don’t know if I feel like this game will live up to the reputation of the original Deus Ex. Then again, not many games could.

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-Just arrived at the “What the heck is a community manager?” panel, a little late, so I missed the speakers’ names.
-Naughty Dog’s community manager is talking about his responsibilities. Involve fans through forums. Multiplayer feedback,etc.
-Insomniac’s CM is speaking now. Started out programming the website. As time went on more people came under his responsibility and they were able to do more things like podcasts and such.
-Capcom’s CM is talking now. He became the CM because he always wanted to work on Street Fighter. All of them have talked about gaining the respect of the rest of the team–programmers and artists and designers don’t always understand just what a community manager does, but once they do, it’s a big happy family.
-CMs help determine what goals are realistic when developing a game. Weigh cool ideas that fans suggest vs. what’s financially feasible.
-One of the hardest things a CM has to do is explain to fans why certain features can’t make it into a game without going into technical details.
-The GiantBomb crew subtly walked in a minute ago. I told Ryan to take a picture but he wouldn’t. They left, so this must be a lame panel. Also, Jeff was wearing a bandanna over his face.
-CMs need to sift through fan feedback to find the constructive feedback hidden amongst a sea of rage.
-Insomniac’s CM “just ignores petitions.” They pay attention to emails, tweets, FaceBook comments, and other direct forms of communication.
-Arena net’s CM is discussing how the feedback that’s most likely to get a response is the logical, unemotional feedback.
-Capcom’s CM often uses forum polls to gauge interest in ideas. He also says that CMs make themselves easily available to fans who want to voice their ideas. That’s their job.
-Naught Dog’s CM is talking about the backlash that came from an Uncharted 2 patch that changed damage modeling months after the game released. He says the best way to deal with backlash is to just be open about why changes were made.
-Insomniac’s CM says that personally responding to forum rants can really calm the storm. “Being honest is really key.”
-Capcom’s CM differentiates CMs from PR. CMs don’t have to tow the company line. It’s their job to speak for the fans, so if something sucks they need to acknowledge it sucks.
-Crazy fan stories time! “I’ve ended up in a furry video chatroom once.” – Insomniac’s CM. Now he’s talking about people who call the offices everyday to try personally complimenting the writers. CMs have to handle situations like this nicely.
-Arena net’s CM is telling a story about a fan who found out that she was having a bad day, so the fan sent her a present a couple days later. Thankfully it wasn’t a furry costume.
-Insomniac’s CM is now talking about how if you want to write about games for a living, you need to start out by hanging around forums, writing, and getting to know the community.
-Naughty Dog’s CM highlights the importance of developing an individual voice.
-Arena net’s CM says journalism is one route to community management, as it’ll develop and hone your writing skills.
-Capcom’s CM says he was in the “right place at the right time.” He hired one guy right off of Xbox Live because he was a regular in the community and he ended up bringing some awesome art skills to the table. It’s a matter of some luck, but also persistence.
-The moderator comments that the CMs at Media Molecule got noticed through the levels they built.
-Now onto the question of upward movement from the CM position. Insomniac’s CM says his passion is interacting with the fans and that he isn’t in it to advance into a development role. The CM field is growing, though, and more positions are opening all the time.
-Arena net’s CM says “Different community managers have different roles at different companies.” Community management is a new field even outside of video games, and nothing’s really set in stone yet.
-Capcom’s CM says CM is “secretly the best job in the video game industry.” CM is marketing, but most marketers don’t realize this. “This is not only an awesome job, it’s the future.”
-Insomniac has five CM positions. Naught Dog has just the one, but they’re looking to hire another person. Arena net has three CMs, each working on a different language. Capcom has four CM spots.
-Q&A: This should be interesting. “Red shirt guy” – He’s a CM himself. Wondering who the panel speakers answer to in their respective companies. Do they set marketing strategies?
-Insomniac’s CM is independent, answers to president. ND’s CM answers to co-president. “We’d love to be integrated with marketing plans.” Arena net answers to customer support department. Capcom’s CM says “Be aggressive, go as far as you can.”
-Next question: How do you deal with corporate pressure?
-Capcom’s CM says “prove that you can have success and they’ll leave you alone.”
-Next question – Asking what you can or can’t say when the people above you try to restrict your speech.
-Insomniac’s CM offers that if you absolutely have to submit to the higher ups, just be honest with the community and say that you can’t say anything about the issue at the time.
-Next question: There are loud noises so I didn’t get the gist of the question.
-Yeah…
-Next question: What’s the next step to communicate with fans after Facebook, Twitter, etc.
-ND’s CM says to give the fans a way to express their voice–forums, wikis, etc.
-Arena net’s CM says you need to have a focus for each outlet you’re using for exposure. “Why do you have a Tumbler, why do you have a Facebook?” Don’t spread yourself thin.
-Capcom’s CM says “Don’t open outlets you’re not going to feed.” It looks bad if you have unupdated outlets.
-Last question: Didn’t hear it, but Insomniac’s CM said “We’re probably responsible for announcements of announcements.”

Uncharted 3: The Making of an Announcement: Introductions, and a previously unseen video about the making of the announcement trailer. Nothing especially insightful or interesting to be honest. Ryan just started bleeding at the end of the trailer. I don’t think there was any degree of awesomeness that caused it, so it’s probably just exhaustion taking its toll on his body.
-Some human being that I cannot see over the sea of people is talking about the thought-process that went into the reveal trailer the and order of environments and characters presented.
-Now they’re talking about motion-capture. Now the size of Naughty Dog’s offices (read: huge). The developers on the panel are discussing what it was like to have an outside company filming the development process to document the making of the announcement. They’d often forget film crews were even watching them.
-There are loud cheers going on outside the theater that kind of sound more exciting than this particular panel…there is an absolute exodus going on right now. I’m sure the Naughty Dog guys on the panel are feeling great.
-Now the guys are talking about making a 3D trailer. A lot of technical talk that boils down to them converting the gameplay footage into cut-scene footage in order to project it in 3D without a PS3. It’s “a testament” to how good the gameplay looks.
-After far too long talking about 3D, the panel is now discussing how difficult it was to convince the marketing department that behind-the-scenes development footage is worthwhile.
-Yay! Some cutting-room floor footage of Uncharted 3 and Nolan North fooling around. “I tried to leave out everything that was racially offensive.” North is making some fine grunting noises. Real professional work. “Sully and Drake snorted a key of cocain…” More grunting. “That’s pretty sexy.” WHy do none of these recordings make it into the game? Now North is shooting enemies and laughing. Sully says, “Nice job, now let’s get the fuck out of her.” There is so much grunting in this recording session. “Jesus, are you drunk!?!” as sully balances on a beam. He sounds like he’s emptying his bowels. “”There’s no way out. We’re trapped!…spoke too soon.” Drake shoots some enemies. “Seriously, I shot that guy in the dick like eight times.” Now a stairwell collapses and Sully’s character is gltiched, just floating in the air. “Sully, how are you doing that?” Some pretty hilarious dialogue in there. Too bad it’ll never make it into the game.
-Q and A: Someone asks for more co-op. Next guy asks about the Uncharted movie, but the panel has nothing to say about it.
-Next guy is dressed as Drake. He asks about campaign co-op. The Naughty Dog guys say narrative integrity dictates that.
-Now a girl is asking why the studio chose to make a documentary-style behind-the-scenes. The panel says they think they’re a unique studio and they wanted to show the fans how they work. They also happened to know the guys at Two-Player (the company that did the documentary).
-Next question asks why they chose the VGAs for the reveal. Timing, and the fact that the show is televised were the determining factors.
-How common is the horse-play we saw in the voice-acting video? Naughty Dog allows their voice actors a lot of freedom to improvise. Some of the lines make it in, some don’t.
-Is there going to be a Hardcore or Realistic mode for Uncharted 3? It’s more about making it fun to play than making it realistic.
-Is Drake going to get together with Elena? “Who said anything about Elena?” Questioner responds, “Or another girl?” Answer: “Or Sully.”
-Why continue Uncharted instead of make a new IP? ND has ideas for new games, but they’re just focusing on Uncharted right now.
-How much tech is shared between Sony studios? ND likes sharing and exchanging with other studios. For example, they sent a few guys to Blizzard one day and vice versa to exchange ideas.
-Spin-off games? Uncarted.
-Naughty Dog has no producers. What’s that all about? They can manage themselves without a project overseer. ND only hires people who are proactive and can work without someone over their shoulder or tying them to schedules.
-How are project timelines determined? Marketing milestones like the reveal trailer often dictate what needs to be done by when.
-There is a foreign guy asking something that I don’t understand. “If you’re a marketing person there’s lots of things to be afraid of.” “I’m afraid of the legal department.”
-Do you think 3D is the future of game development? ND was initially skeptical of 3D, but once it was implemented in the gameplay, there were some real functional benefits. Playing other 3D games has also given the studio a positive perception of the technology. ND predicts that 3D will continue to grow.
-Last question. Is there a specific reason why there has never been a driving section in an Uncharted game? “Too many barrels.” Also, they value making great set-pieces over anything else.

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Well, not the actual Mecca, but my personal Mecca, Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. I’ll be gone all weekend and hope to return full of brats, cheese, and the joy that comes with seeing the Bills lose. And yes, this trip totally coincides with Tokyo Game Show. I swear I don’t plan my vacations out to avoid covering trade shows! It just happened that way, and unfortunately, I won’t be able to cover all the breaking news coming this weekend. In fact, the good times have already begun, and I’ll provide according links below. But until Monday, maybe even Tuesday, you’re on your own, dear readers.

The Last Guardian trailer.

Ni no Kuni trailer.

New Devil May Cry announced, trailer included.

Ninja Gaiden III announced.

Trailer and impressions for the Team ICO Collection.

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So being that Morrigan was my favorite character in my favorite game of 2009, I was understandably excited when BioWare announced the “Witch Hunt” DLC and promised answers to some of the mystery surrounding the outspoken Witch of the Wilds. In fact, I was so excited that I went ahead and purchased my first piece of downloadable content ever…yeah. Unfortunately, the $7 I paid for this brief add-on would have been better spent on just about anything.

“Witch Hunt” starts off right in the thick of things with you and your war hound coming upon a feisty Dalish Elf who also happens to be looking for the elusive Morrigan. Five minutes later and you’re leaving Morrigan’s abandoned home for the Circle of Magi and some Elvish books that might help you find your former companion. Here you befriend yet another stock-character that hardly differentiates himself from any other sarcastically quipping ally in your travels. The worst part is that we’re stuck with these three undeveloped goons for the duration of “Witch Hunt.” Frankly I would have rather gone about it alone and reminisced over the interesting and faithful companions of Dragon Age: Origins‘ main game.

But if the characters are underdeveloped then the combat may as well be non-existent. True, there is plenty of fighting across a nice sampling of areas already seen in the main game, but it’s just so pathetically easy that it’s nothing more than a tedious block in the road. The only boss fight of the add-on is lackluster to say the least.

After roughly an hour and a half you and your companions will have tracked down Morrigan and you’ll finally get to have the conversation you’ve been waiting to have. I suppose I’ll mention that these next few lines are spoilers if you haven’t beaten the main game, but if you haven’t gotten that far then you probably shouldn’t be looking into this DLC to begin with. So yeah, what’s up with that god-child you and I conceived, Morrigan? How’s he doing? Learning his ABCs? Oh, he has a destiny, you say? Wait, that’s it? You’re really going to charge me $7 for a big Dragon Age II tease? I busted my butt tracking you down all over Ferelden for a five-minute conversation that reveals nothing I didn’t already know? I can’t even affect the story? Bogus.

In short, “Witch Hunt” has scared me away from DLC for a while. It just wasn’t good. Maybe if it were free then I could appreciate it as a vehicle of hype for Dragon Age II and say I had a fair amount of fun playing more Dragon Age for free. But as it is, with no interesting loot, no new locations, no challenge, and nothing remotely interesting in terms of plot, it’s a waste of money. But on the bright side it has a few chuckles packed in there!

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Hey, so I totally wanted to put a feature up this weekend and all that good stuff, but I’m in a bit of a whirlwind right now with the move to college. I’ll try to get things back up to snuff within the next few days.

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Come on, people. It's not like you have to carve it in stone!

So normally I would have terminated such an underutilized section of the site with extreme prejudice with InsaneBear’s quarterly refinements, but I’m going to go ahead and give this second chance of a section a second chance of it’s own. I know all of my current readers are creatively bankrupt bums with nothing to say here, but I’m hoping some of the chaps I meet at college might be interested in this sort of thing. “What exactly is ‘this sort of thing?’” you ask? Well, it’s a place where any registered user can write their own rant, rave, or any other reflections on video games. Doesn’t matter what the topic is as long as it’s tied to video games some how. Could be a scholarly essay, could be a charming poem. Be as creative or straight-forward as you want. Say what’s on your mind. Just say something! I’m hoping somebody with a passion for video games feels compelled to say something about our favorite pastime. Share it with the IB community!

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And by that I mean I’m going on vacation and not coming back until August 23rd. Yeah, yeah, I know I just shut the site down for a whole week two weeks ago, but this is just one of those things. But keep checking the site, as my good man Ryan will be posting a podcast real soon. And upon my return, it will be my first priority to whip up a mighty good feature. Until then, you should probably go outside and enjoy what little bit of the summer we have left.

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