| Best Label Ever |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|08:26 pm] |
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I have within arm's reach of me a very small plastic tub. In that plastic tub are aniseed balls. On the plastic tub is a label, this label simply has three words on it:
Ingredients
Sweets
70p |
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| Rough Beasts Starting To Slouch.... |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|02:52 pm] |
Mostly posting this as a reminder that I want to write up my own thoughts on this topic at some point soon.
Lots of rumblings recently -- Teh Fyooture is a' comin'. Given the things I've got cooking backstage, I'm finding all of this very, very interesting.
First up: Announcements made by White Wolf at the International Camarilla Conference about where their business is headed, coupled with more definitive statements from Ryan Dancey in an interview with Gamasutra. Long story short -- WW is transitioning. Tabletop RPGs are a "legacy business", they're going to gradually move towards ePublishing, in whatever format.
Second: Very insightful thoughts from former Adamant freelancer Malcolm Sheppard about what it all means for the future of the business -- the coming post-tabletop games, the idea of traditional RPGs as "IP Prototyping" (the real gem concept of the entire article). Well worth reading.
All of this dovetails really well with the data I've been collecting, which is bubbling in my head, making steps towards coming together in a primordial soup of a new business model for Adamant (and perhaps other traditional hobby game companies).
I have to admit some degree of hesitancy in aggregating everything and presenting it in one grand thesis statement. It almost seems like all of the various ingredients I've been looking at are there for all to see, but nobody has combined them specifically with the idea of applying the separate elements to the game industry IP-presentation model. The nagging worry (born of egotism, I know), is that I'll assemble the post, present my concept, and then get beaten to market by folks who say "Hey! That's a great idea!", and rush to launch, either on the back of a better budget, a larger staff, or just half-assing it.
In other words, the selfish side of me wants to keep the inspiration to myself, and just LAUNCH. |
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| Friday Music |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|11:41 am] |
Hey there, Kats n' Kittens -- another weekly mixtape of 'teh intarwebs' for ya:
First, one of the tracks that featured in Emilie Autumn's show this week -- a remix she had featured on the soundtrack to Saw IV, which I will now forever associate with fire-hoop dancing: Emilie Autumn - "Dead Is The New Alive (Manipulator Mix)"
Here's a bit of a rare gem -- an unreleased track from Muse, taken from (I believe) their sessions from The Resistance. The Internet is a wondrous thing, neh? Muse - "Soaked (unreleased)."
Love this -- a roots-music/folk/alterna-pop act called The Wailin' Jennies do a brilliant cover of an Emylou Harris classic. Even better, this is a live recording, giving a clear picture of just how good they are: The Wailin' Jennies - "Deeper Well."
Pomplamoose have a new cover song out on YouTube -- their version of MJ's "Beat It." After you've done watching, click here to download the mp3, which the band has made available via mediafire: Pomplamoose - "Beat It."
Here's a bit of the new hotness in the South African electro scene. It's been growing on me the more I listen to it. Popskarr - "Tonight."
The local "alternative" station does a show at lunchtime called "The 90s at Noon", and this week, during one of my rare forays into radio listenership, I heard them play "Angry Johnny" by Poe. Whereas I loved that song, you still hear it from time to time -- but you almost never hear her other single from the same album, which I loved even more: Poe - "Trigger Happy Jack (Radio Edit)"
Watching the news this morning -- seeing the stories from Fort Hood, pictures of the lunatics that the GOP brought to Capitol Hill for yet another anti-Obama protest, and stories about the wars we're still in nearly a decade on... I needed to hear this song. I think it's worth spreading around. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding."
Listening to Costello from that period always leads me to think of this track from Marshall Crenshaw from around the same time, who was very much of the same ilk, and whom I was convinced would be equally big. Marshall Crenshaw - "Someday, Someway."
There you go. If a link gives you trouble, try copy-and-paste -- some of these are pulled from flash players and sometimes they don't like hotlinking, but a C&P usually gets around that.
Enjoy, and I'll see you for more next week. |
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| The Game Based On The Game That Shall Not (Yet) Be Named |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|03:13 pm] |
Having decided to push ahead with the secondary theme to The Game That Shall Not (Yet) Be Named, just prior to OddConUK, I printed a fully themed version of the game on some temporary cards so the game had a nicer deck, easier to understand without looking at the printed rules, and to finally get the game closer to the final version. (Although a few incorrect rules slipped onto some of the cards - oops!)
However, after spending an evening cutting out all of the "cards" and putting them into card protectors with Mythos cards to give them weight, as I was going to sleep I thought of a whole new aspect of the game.
At OddConUK, I had some really great feedback from the game and most people responded positively to the concept of the extra aspect of the game. I've now tried out the game with the new aspect twice now and I realise that what I now have is two games in one: a "Basic" game and an "Advanced" game, and there are at least a couple other optional rules that can be applied to either to make it fairly scaleable.
I've still not really playtested the "Advanced" game quite as much, but so far it doesn't seem to have quite as detrimental an effect on the gameplay as I feared, and certainly does add a new aspect of consideration to the cards you play. I certainly wouldn't want it, however, to be the only version of the game that I make available since there's a lot to be said for the "Basic" game which is easily played by simply ignoring the text on the 42 cards with the special "Advanced" rules abilities.
I'll have the game with me at IndieCon and Conception for anyone who is going to be there and want to try it out. |
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| Deleted Scenes |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|10:44 am] |
One side-effect of DVD's becoming the delivery medium of choice for films is that the extra storage space can be used for cool things like making of documentaries and deleted scnes which were filmed but then didn't make the final cut of the film.
Some deleted scenes didn't even make the DVD release, though.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
JASON BOURNE (Matt Damon) has broken into CIA headquarters, where he has confronted ALBERT HIRSCH (Albert Finney), then man who robbed him of his memories and made him into an unstoppable international hit man.
Bourne: Tell me who I really am! Who am I!? Why Did you do this to me?
Hirsch: Do this to you? Jason. You came to us. You volunteered.
Bourne: You're a liar!
Hirsch: Am I? You committed to the programme, Jason. We did nothing to you which you didn't agree to.
Bourne: Damn you. You would say that. If it's true, prove it.
HIRSCH takes out a suitcase.
Hirsch: Inside this case are the things which were most important to you in your previous life. The things which you said mattered the most to you. We keep them, in case any of our sibjects ever want to come back. If you open this case, Jason, you'll know who you were, remember everything. But I advise you not to. Accept who you are, Jason. Come back to us.
Bourne: It's gone too far for that! I've got to know who I was!
BOURNE opens the case and takes out a huge piece of oddly-shaped fabric.
Hirsch: I warned you.
Bourne: Is this...
HIRSCH nods.
Hirsch: Yes. Oversized ladies underwear. Quite a lot of it.
BOURNE pulls a sheet of paper out of the case.
Bourne: Oh, God.
Hirsch: I'm afraid so. A restraining order banning you from every launderette and washing line in Nuneaton and Kettering for the rest of your life.
BOURNE hangs his head.
Bourne: Can you...?
Hirsch: Wipe your memory again? Sure.
Star Trek (2009)
JIM KIRK (Chris Pine) and SPOCK (Leonard Nimoy) are talking round a campfire in their ice cave.
Kirk: So we're friends in the future? But you're got a stick up your ass a mile high and a chip on your shoulder a mile wide!
Spock: That may be an accurate description of my younger self, yes, but likewise his opinion of you is also not innacurate. But with time you two will...define one another in ways you cannot yet begin to imagine.
Kirk: So how old are you now?
Spock: In your terms? A little over three hundred years old.
Kirk: Must say, you've aged pretty well. (grins). What am I like when I'm older?
Spock: I do not think it would be wise for me to answer that question.
Kirk: Aw, c'mon! What's the worst that could be?
Spock: Well, I suppose you have a right to know.
SPOCK produces a picture of William Shatner.
Kirk: That's me? What the Hell happened to me? How did I get so fat? And what the Hell is that on my head!?
Spock: It's called a Tribble, Jim. You said it suited you.
Kirk: But...how'd I get so...fat? Did I lose the use of my legs in a warp-core breach? Attacked by cholesterol-injecting space flowers? What?
Spock: Any answer I give could risk a severe change in space-time, jim. I can't-
Kirk: What? Vulcan is a Black Hole, Time-Romulans are threatening Earth and above all, you're here, and you're afraid of changing the future? It's already changed!
Spock: Jim. All I'll say is... If you ever come across a planet made entirely of pastry and jam just...just don't land there. Trust me on this one. |
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| Electric Ballroom ID requirement |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|10:45 am] |
Just had confirmation from their office that ID IS required for any of their nights - their response to my email:
Hi, sorry for delay, unfortunately we do need photographic id now for entry
into the club, details are deleted at the end of the night, but I will get
Brian (manager) to respond to your email next week as he is not here at the
moment. So there you have it. Not sure I really believe they wil actually delete the details - I believe that they will be required by the police or council or government or some other party to hold them for at least two years, possibly longer... so I'm going to get confirmation as to the way they will be storing my info (if I go again) and how they will be disposing of it...
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|10:01 am] |
london was perfect last night. crisp and cold, with the smell of explosives hanging on every corner.
things that are excellent:
♥ hanging with friends
♥ sushi. especially if mined with wasabi.
♥ pickled ginger. i think i may buy some for snacking.
♥ throwing fireworks around in a fashion that would have public safety films crying.
d got into a ruckus at the bus stop last night, apparently, and has coke all down his jacket. i don't remember this. ( 1x bottle rose, half a 35cl bottle of whisky = 17.13 units)
whoops |
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| The Adventures of OddBall |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|12:17 am] |
So, I'll write up about OddConUK properly soon, but in the meantime, I just received this in my inbox and thought I'd share.
To put a bit of context, one of the raffle prizes was an awesome cake made to look like Oddball (our mascot). This Flickr photostream shows his adventures after OddConUK!
http://flickr.com/gp/ferbray-photos/E2A00T
Enjoy! |
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