The columns are in the grand tradition of the column being a string of things I had read or thought about in the past few weeks, especially the former, which features Warren Beatty, singer-songwriters, corporate decision-making as affected by drugs, a Sideways reference, and various other curiosities. Also, I had the column completely written with the intent of hallucinogenics and pixie dust being two separate things (pixie dust being, well, pixie dust), but after reading through it I noticed that could change the entire column by adding three words to the applications of pixie dust; because I felt like it, I did so. (There is not much to about the second column, other than it is meant to be read after the first.)
Yes, there was a three month gap in between those editions thirteen and fourteen, due to other commitments and even a little writer’s block. There was two intended columns in between—the Resident Evil 5 response (which I ended up putting here because I felt it had an expiration date) and “A Splendid Look at Cognition of Sir Robert Yescombe: An Internal Monologue.” The following, which obviously never made it near completion, is all I wrote for that:
I am now a solo mad proper gangsta, and I am now the only face of the artistic masterwork I am shilling. There is no Free Radical or anything, and Random House is only representing my literary work in a financial way. I have to rely on myself, because literature is a self-promotional medium. What should I say on its behalf, on my behalf? What is the new “Mike Tyson driving a stream train”?There was also a master list of column ideas, most of which never made the light of day, and some of those follow.
Firstly, I should promote myself—I mean, I am no longer the corporate crooner masquerading as the coroner on the corner.
I am the next Roy Blount Jr.
“Heavy metal codpiece winning a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Larry King biopic.” Something works there, something does. Who is Larry King again? Oh yeah, the stone-age Yankee with suspenders and talk show.
“A triumvirate of Miss Matisyahus initiate a metaphorical albeit intranational conflict, but they have a change a heart. It turns into a sort of The Rage: Carrie 2 through the filter of The Great Gatbsy.” I think that is brilliant; it gives an abstract summarization of my great work and shows how I wrote what is two books for the price of one, a twofer if you will.
“Twenty Questions” - Such as “If interactivity is the defining characteristic of games as art, why isn't Spore being hailed as the zenith of the form?” or “Text-based adventures of the 80s were written so well, why is the writing of current action-adventure titles so poor?” or “Is it possible to have subtlety in game where you primarily shoot people?”
“What McSweeney's Can Teach Us” - I guess this sort of emerged in the Christopher Monks interview
“Huey Lewis' Game Company” - inspired by this SF Weekly article, a confabulation depicting a scenario where renown musician Huey Lewis has a game company and he invites some his audience, who end up knowing a hundred times more about what people want than the executives or gaming luminaries at the company.
“Alex Litel: Unofficial Development Consultant” - amongst other things, I tell Swordfish to drop the 50 Cent Gears clone for a Diablo Cody Gears clone
“The Metaphors of Boom Blox” - mock analysis of the depth of the Spielberg puzzler
“The State of Humor in Gaming” - serious analysis of the not-so-serious
McCain and video games - (a) fake interview with McCain and games (b) McCain on games (c) campaign memo to capitalize on games (d) McCain reviews games (d) campaign/RNC Guitar Hero fundraiser
What Jim Henson Can Teach Us
Most of the rest don’t really make sense to me. (In fact, I was re-reading another column—no, not the Silverlake one—a couple of days before, and that didn’t make sense to me either.
Even though the Tumblr blog is more active, I am not abandoning this blog, though there may be less gaming-related posts. There is something planned for next week that I’d say is the filmic complement to the Imagine: Party Babyz review (I don’t think I’m going to appreciate the subject as much, though).
