The Bloody Guts Inside Our Games

Curious about the process of making games? It's a messy process, full of blood and sweat and rivers of tears. Knowing the travails involved grants a new perspective on the industry, so if you want to expand your knowledge, check my latest article out.

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The Confusing Costs of Crowd-funding Campaigns

Who's up for a new article?

The scoop:

Crowd-funding can be a confusing endeavour. The true budget of a project and the goal posted on Kickstarter are often wildly different, and the fault does not lie with creators alone. There are many factors that contribute to the incongruity between backer perception and reality, and if we don't start addressing them, crowd-funding may be headed for an unfortunate end...

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To Buy or Not to Buy: That is the Question

When news breaks of abusive work conditions afflicting the creator of something you love, what do you do? Do you continue to grease the wheels of the oppressive machine in order to experience that creator's latest work? Or do you deny yourself the pleasure in order to make a stand?

This is the question fans of the Metal Gear franchise now find themselves faced with. What is the right decision? Read on to find out.

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An Ode to the King of the Couch - RIP Split-screen Halo

Halo, the seminal sci-fi shooter that heralded the popularity of the FPS genre on consoles and introduced an entire generation to the joys of fragging your friends, is no longer the game it once was. With Halo 5, developer 343 Industries will not be including split-screen multiplayer, stripping out what is one of the core tenets of the franchise. The studio's excuse? A poor blame game. Read on to find out more.

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The Video Games Industry is Failing its Most Creative Minds

The recent tragic passing of Satoru Iwata raises a troubling question: how do we acknowledge the triumphs of the people who have made the video games industry what it is today? So many of our leaders and revolutionaries are cloaked in shadow, and when we don't even know their names, how are we supposed to honour them?

In my latest article, I examine the issues surrounding the proper preservation of gaming's important legacy.

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Beta: I don't think you think it means what I think it means

What do you expect from a beta? What connotations does that term carry for you? Should we hold all betas to the same standard of quality?

My latest article for Grab It explores the many different uses of the term, and the implications that the confusion surrounding it has for the video game industry.

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Was Apple's Guilty Until Proven Innocent Confederate Flag Reaction the Right Move?

How much control should we place in the hands of content distributors? I take a look at Apple's recent decision to excise all apps from the App Store with references to the Confederate Flag and discuss its effect on the agency of consumers. You can find my latest article here.

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From bad to worse

The latest Kickstarter from the creator of Mega Man has now gone behind the backs of its supporters to source funding from outside the service. In my latest article, I question what this means for fans, as well as the game itself.

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In regards to paid mods...

As a follow-up to the article I wrote regarding the Steam paid mods debacle, I have just published a piece that takes a look at a potential alternative to the outright payment scheme for game mods. A service called Sprked aims to encourage fans to support mod creators through a subscription support scheme, much like Patreon, and it certainly seems like an interesting approach to the matter. If you want to read some more of the my thoughts on the topic, the follow-up article can be found here.

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What Does Inafune's Presumptuous and Disingenuous Red Ash Kickstarter Say About Gamers?

My latest thought piece for Grab It is live right here! What are your thoughts on the recycling of old ideas, and the preference they seem to get over fresh creativity?

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HoloLens and Augmented Reality: Are Games about to Transcend the Digital Divide?

Hi everyone!

My latest article for Grab It has gone live, right here! It takes a look at Augmented Reality technology, namely Microsoft's recent unveiling of its HoloLens device, and postulates on the potential pivotal changes the technology could bring to the video games industry.

I'd love to hear your opinions on the matter, so please feel free to chime in!

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The Psychological Impact of Video Game Sales on the Playing Experience

Hey guys! My latest article for Grab It is live. It looks at the subtle and well-concealed ramifications to cheap games, and how the act of playing is altered by the nature of the purchase. Some of these factors are quite hard to spot, and even awareness of them doesn't entirely eliminate their effects. I suggest you give it a read if you've ever found yourself questioning why you purchased that game that's been sitting unopened on your desk for longer than you can remember.

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Why do you game?

My latest article for Grab It Magazine is now live here!

Exploring the motivations behind why I, personally, play video games, the article dives into a facet of escapism that is not so often touched upon in the discussion of gaming. Games, after all, can be many things to many people. Fun is only one tiny variable in a very big equation.

So, why do you game?

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My second article for Grab It Magazine is live!

Hey everybody! 

My second piece for Grab It Magazine is now up for reading here, Concerning the concept of paid-for mods, it discusses a number of the potentially not-so-obvious consequences to introducing an economy to a community accustomed to a free distribution model. Give it a read, and let me know what you think on the topic!

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An Ode to the Witcher

Striding forth through meadows kissed,
With morning sun wot rise betwixt,
The waving oaks, their branches bowed,
With birds of black, an omen sowed.

Upon his back, two blades hang sheathed,
Their points exposed so blood may breathe.
One steel, it sings the fate of man,
One silver, forged to purge the land,
Of monsters, demons, ghouls, and wraiths,
The nightmares wot turn men to faith.

This hero--No, let's folly not.
'Tis gold that stirs him from his cot.
This man--And even that's a lie,
For there lurk hellfire in his eyes.

There be but one name fits him fair,
Geralt of Rivia, the Wolf with White Hair.

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Adventure Games?

For those of you interested in the point-and-click adventure games of yore, I wrote a post-mortem on Double Fine's recent release, Broken Age.

Check it out here!

And be sure to comment with your opinion, if you've had a chance to play it!

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The Value of a Dollar

Money is a means to an end; its only worth amounts to the intent of its deliverance.

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A Sneak Peek into the Forge

For anyone who's interested, here's an extract from an in-progress anthology of mine, revolving around the consequences of the proliferation of a head-mounted camera-computer combo, and the impact it has on society as seen through the varying perspectives of a number of ordinary people. 

I hope you enjoy it!

***

13 Bradley Drive, Sylvia Heights.

“There’s the bastard.” Nate gestured to the lurid orange Lancer across the street, chewing up a flowerbed of former tulips with its back tyres. Muddy dirt splattered across the bay window of the cottage-style flat. “EMP’s a no-go, so I’m guessing we do this the old-fashioned way?”

Jarvi grunted acknowledgement and rummaged through the equipment locker at his feet, retrieving a tubular rifle and hefting it high.

“Can’t fault the classics,” he said, smirking ever so slightly.

He wound down his side window and propped the rifle’s barrel across the frame. Nate inched the patrol car forward, angling their approach to give Jarvi a clear shot at the Lancer’s wheels.

“Firing in three, two, one...”

A mechanical thunk sounded the ejection of hundreds of tiny balls, arcing through the air and carpeting the lawn beneath and around the Lancer’s wheels. Each ball would bristle when subjected to heavy pressure, shooting out needle-thin spikes with enough force to puncture metal. The Hedgehog, they called it. Great for disabling vehicles when electromagnetic countermeasures were unavailable.

Jarvi thumped the siren back on and Nate gunned the engine. The squad car leaped forward into clear view of the Lancer’s driver. Nate stabbed at the dashboard controls and routed the car’s radio to the loudspeakers atop its roof.

“This is the police.” His amplified voice carried across the street, drowning out even the thunderous roar of the Lancer’s archaic combustion engine. “Turn off the car and step out with your hands on your head.”

The perp’s response was just as expected.

The Lancer catapulted forward, ploughing straight across the bed of Hedgehog balls and bouncing off the gutter onto the road. Without pause, it skidded sideways and rocketed off in the opposite direction from Nate and Jarvi. Nate slammed the accelerator and they took off in pursuit. Almost immediately, a shrill alarm blared insistently from the dashboard. Nate took one look at the main screen and snarled.

Dangerous velocity detected. Reduce speed to match acceptable operating parameters.

Punching the steering wheel, Nate lifted his foot off the accelerator until the beeping stopped. The on-screen message changed:

Regulation velocity re-established.

Jarvi shared his partner’s frustration. All the ‘criminal rights’ they had to honour these days were just roadblocks to justice. Because hey, you wouldn’t want a criminal killing himself trying to escape, right?

“Thirty seconds and this guy’ll be riding his rims,” said Nate, pumping the accelerator and pushing the squad car to the very limit of regulation speed. The Lancer was gaining ground, but Nate refused to go a single notch above the prescribed maximum.

“Thirty seconds and we’ll have lost him,” seethed Jarvi. This guy could be the key. The crack that blew the whole thing wide open. They couldn’t let him get away.

“I ain’t breaking the rules again, Jarv. Not for some measly snot-nosed dirtbag.”

Jarvi ground his teeth and watched the Lancer pull further away, flecks of rubber already flying off its tyres. Lurching right, it swerved around a white van and into the oncoming lane, missing by millimetres an unsuspecting hatchback coming the other way. The hatchback screeched to a halt, blocking both lanes and forcing Nate to slam on the brakes and skid to a stop too. He punched the steering wheel again, this time with both hands.

“Bastard,” he hissed. He hammered the radio button on the inside of the steering wheel. “This is patrol car D13, we’ve lost visual on the vehicle. Requesting additional units in vicinity of Sylvia Heights to—“

“No.” Jarvi grabbed Nate’s hand and wrenched it off the radio switch. “We’ve got this.”

He shifted focus to his eyeD display. The automatic image recognition software had picked up the Lancer’s plates and pulled down the owner’s file. Dismissing it, Jarvi forwarded the image profile to the crowd-sourced eyeD tracking system, ignoring the warning reminding him that the service was to be used for emergencies only; unwarranted privacy invasion was not a lawsuit the force wanted to face again.

Within seconds, the eyeDs of dozens of unsuspecting users reported back with sightings of the Lancer. Jarvi loaded up a map of the city and plotted the various sightings. An erratic course zigzagged out of Sylvia Heights towards the financial district.

Jarvi flicked the vehicle registration file back up.

Vehicle registered to Mr Wesley Jones, 58 years old, vice-president of marketing firm MassMedia. Vehicle insurance extended to cover Mr Avery Jones, his 23 year old son.

Jarvi grimaced and cursed mentally. Nate’s prediction had just picked up a point in its favour.

“Turn around,” he said, steeling his jaw. “I know where this guy’s going.”

***

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A Canticle for Cold

Cover me with hands of hail,
Envelop me with storms,
Embrace me with arms sheathed in ice,
Winter be my form.

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Memory Leak in Beyond Science Fiction!

Hi everyone!

My short story, Memory Leak, makes an appearance in the April edition of Beyond Science Fiction magazine, along with a wonderful selection of tales from other great authors. The blurb for Memory Leak follows:

Can you remember the last movie you watched?

Nieko can't. Not just the name; she has no recollection of the scenes, the actors, not even the basic plot. This isn't an anomaly either; she can't seem to retain the memory of any movie, TV show, or other digital media she watches. The doctors are clueless, and her classmates are ruthless. High school is not the best time to be different.

But there's something more to Nieko's 'sickness'. The doctors say it's not uncommon, yet there's nothing about it on the internet. The medication they give her only makes her forget more, not less. And no one is willing to give her a straight answer. None of it makes sense. Reality itself seems to be broken.

Nieko has no idea how right she is.

Check the issue out here if you are interested!

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7 years ago...

Important PSA: 2008 was 7 years ago. Kids born then who are now attending school do not know a world without iPhones, a world containing CDs and CRTs and internet incapable of streaming video. The concept of dial-up and floppy disks are alien to them. Facebook has always been an ever-present part of their lives, dictating their social status and interaction. Phone calls are an ancient art to them, employed only when Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and SMS prove insufficient. Waiting more than five minutes for a response is excruciating, obeying the strictures of correct grammar and punctuation is a waste of energy.
And these children hold in their hands the tools that will shape humanity in the next generation and beyond.

What form will it take?

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From Seeds They Sprout

Ideas are like sand: Abundant, yet insubstantial. Apply sufficient concentrated heat, and you can forge glass: Brittle, but beautiful. Reinforce with a steel frame and layers of laminate, and you have yourself a window to another world.

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Lost Seconds

When you live every day trying not to forget
Every second that's slipped by, life is naught but regret.

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To wit

A man without walls spends his life building them.

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When History Repeats

They say: Don't be a pessimist,

But the whole damn world's a rotten mess.

And I find no comfort in a lie,

When it changes not the end: We die.

They sell opinion with fact facades,

Like Prada bags and Magic cards.

The 'real deal' they proclaim with smiles,

While fangs betray their cunning wiles.

"You're different: you're wrong, you illiterate pig!

"Can't you see I'm right? Just check out my sig!

"I've been here years; I'm a veteran, son.

"So listen to me: this argument's won."

Survival does not equal smarts,

True wisdom is a product of more than its parts.

They can stand by tradition and wear timelines on their sleeves,

Slip on rose-tinted glasses with the changing of the leaves.

Doesn't matter: I don't buy it; the past is dirt and dust,

Living life looking backwards and venerating rust,

Holding fast to what is better buried six miles deep.

Turn around! Death is knocking: your life is going cheap.

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A fantastic review of Guerrilla Internet in The Australia Times!

The Indie Books division of The Australia Times have included a fantastic review of Guerrilla Internet in their latest issue. Along with the astute assessment from Tracie Pascoe, there is a Q & A with me regarding my pursuit of writing and the lessons I have learned thus far. It is well worth a read, so jump through to page 22 here to do so!

Thanks to everyone out there bestowing me with their precious time. You are all wonderful!

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