What A Game Can Do: Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy 7

Growing up, I was always a big reader. You could also insert nerd, dork and dweeb following that sentence, and it would sit just as well. While I enjoyed watching shows on TV or even Empire Strikes Back on VHS – which was my favorite movie until Jurassic Park came out – I never got quite the same satisfaction as I did reading a fun adventure on paper. There was something about holding the story in my grubby hands, interacting with it by turning pages, seeing the words as they formed whatever pictures I dictated and really having time to connect with characters. Sure, movies had people that I loved, but spending several weeks with a character in my brain was infinitely more satisfying than just a few hours on a screen.

But I never knew a video game could do the same thing until Final Fantasy 7. Continue reading →

Writing for Yourself as the Audience

Aesops FablesYou can’t please everyone, so you might as well please yourself. It’s one of Aesop’s Fables and a song by Rick Nelson, but it’s a true thing that I think writers need to keep in mind as well. In a recent post on her blog, Jane Espenson, writer on such shows as MASH and Buffy, discusses the question of if in today’s age of high speed communication, does the audience have a much greater impact on the storylines of shows than ever before.

In a move that made me incredibly happy, Jane discounts that idea completely. The short of it is this: write for yourself as the audience. And from my (extremely) limited experience, I’d say she is 100 percent correct.

The answer I give to this is that I consider myself to be the audience I’m writing for. I write what I would want to see. Continue reading →

The Raggedy Edge

standing on the edgeIn the realm of things that are totally are-you-freaking-kidding-me ridiculous: last night, I officially hit my goal of writing 100,000 words for Seven Sons. There was no fanfare associated with this, nobody standing there and cheering or popping champagne bottles, but it was an event for me nonetheless.

The threshold was crossed on the following sentence: A few lies would set them back on their way just as easily as a blade, but the death would only mean questions later.

Continue reading →

The Power of an Idea

Yesterday I saw first hand the power of an idea.

As I posted a few weeks ago, my wife and I are currently on vacation in Orlando, Florida, where we partook in the theme park candy that is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the new addition to Islands of Adventure. On top of re-creating the likes of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Hogwart’s Castle, I daresay that whoever conjured up this fantastic place also accidentally created time travel, because I immediately felt like a six year old. I was full of wonder, joy and had quite possibly the biggest and stupidest grin on my face for the entire day. Continue reading →

Why I’m Tired of Viral

City 17

I apologize in advance about the rant-y nature of this post.

I’ll go ahead and say it: I’m tired of viral videos. I really am. Not viral videos in general, though. I’m tired of the weekly recycled “awesome fan made x trailer/short film” (x being some property like Doom, Batman, AntMan or what have you). This is a conclusion I’ve reached recently, and it’s caused me to look at online video in an entirely new light, like getting a bucket of cold Fortress of Solitude ice water thrown on my face: for the most part, viral videos have turned into a derivative pile of predictable drivel.

For years now, the Web has been heralded as some kind of wide open landscape ripe with potential for creative types to find a home for their exciting and original content. At times, we’ve seen just that: people that become a unique force in a way they might not have outside the tubes, whether they are comic artists, Web show creators or video game reviewers. But is the Web actually living up to this promise, or are we making backwards progress? Continue reading →

Sewer Pirates and Writer’s Block

Every now and then, I’ll read or see something that stirs up creativity like one of those old water vortex jugs you used to make as a kid, with ideas swirling in violent circles. For me, this usually boils down to a handful of movies or stories that always make me yearn to create my own. But occasionally, it’s something different.

Take this story from the L.A. Times today, which spins the tale of a buried ship at the World Trade Center, just discovered this week. Damon Lindelof linked to it on his Twitter account with a joke about the Black Rock and Lost, but my mind went different places. Continue reading →

Achievement Unlocked

Crackdown 2

Last night, something weird happened when I played the demo for Crackdown 2. I loved the first game, but most of my memories with it are associated with hunting for agility orbs, which allow you to run faster and jump higher. I collected every single one in the first game, and ignored much of the game proper simply so I could do it. In fact, I spent several weeks hunting for the last 2 or 3, to the detriment of other real things I should have been doing. Continue reading →

Creative Tenacity With Tiny Wooden Sticks

Sometimes I like to pat myself on the back for sticking with things. Like spending 40-60 hours to beat an RPG. Or writing almost 75,000 words on a book. Or making hours and hours of Web content. Or just getting up on time and making it into work without looking like one of the special infected in Left 4 Dead.

I suppose these are all accomplishments, but they pale in comparison to this guy who made San Francisco out of toothpicks. It’s either tenacity or insanity. Or both. But I love it. I guess writing a few hundred words a night isn’t nearly as big of a deal as adding a few hundred toothpicks a night for 35 years. Continue reading →

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