To: Ash and Flynn From: Crecente Re: My Face Friggin Hurts

We had our second Game Club discussion group meeting last night. The room filled up pretty quickly and people both took to a reader-run IRC and the site to keep abreast of the discussions about the indie game. It’s hard from my perspective, so close to the centre of this thing, to figure out if it’s working and if people like it. I’m a bit more worried about the first question than I am the second. I hope that the Game Club is getting people to think about video games, or at least this video game, differently than they have in the past. Not to say people haven’t long had thoughtful discussions about things they find interesting, including video games, but my hope is that that will become more the norm than an oddity.

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Stallone Writes Well. No Really.

You’re a damn dirty liar. Even if I’m willing accept what everyone says about Rocky, and I’m not, it had to have been ghost written. HAD to have been…

I’m working on a story for the Rocky about the upcoming glut of video games we’re about to be submitted to. I went through the release calendar between now and the end of the year and only including like the very good, to the OMG good games, I count about 50. FIFTY. WHAT THE FUCK! Someone better start delaying shit, because not only can no one buy all of those games, no one can play them…to review…for angry editors. Come on man, give a writer a break.I imagine a sort of apocalyptic Christmas where people literally waste away playing these games, where games like Bioshock and Lair get bargain binned… OK that last thing isn’t going to happen, but 50?

What you missed:

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Smelly Beans and Dead Fish for Breakfast

Wow, I didn’t think it was going to be this busy today, but boy did it fly by. I ended up doing three interviews, one for a newspaper, and two for Kotaku, and turning in a package about Madden 08 for the Rocky. The funniest thing was that Rob Yescombe, over at Free Radical, actually called me up because he wanted me to interview them. His tactic worked, I was completely flustered during the entire interview. I also ended up talking to Gail Simone, comic book scribe and the lady behind GameTap’s Pre-Teen Raider mini-series. I’ll be posting both stories tomorrow. Simone was pretty interesting, and, as always, the Free Radical guys cracked me up. I really can’t wait to get my hands on Haze.

What you missed:

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Mrs. Bashcraft Pwns

Crane games? I suck at crane games. It’s the only arcade redemption game I suck at, and I truly suck at it. We had to take our dogs to the vet today for their annual check-up. Turns out our border collie, Lucy, has cracked molars, so I need to get her teeth fixed… for $350. Ouch, but at least she’ll stop groaning in pain at night. Oh, and then on the way hope we stopped by a store so I could pick up a Sonic electric toothbrush… they really need to do some cross-promoting with Sega, don’t you think?

What you missed

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Cameron Diaz Is Mannish

My niece’s killer was sentenced today. The coward opted not to go to trial and instead admitted to killing Jennifer. He also had to turn in a buddy who was involved in the shooting. In exchange he received 35 years in a Texas prison, 35 years that I can only hope will feel like the lifetime he cut short.

It was strange not being there, but I think it was better for me. My brother (Jennifer’s dad) and my mum and Jennifer’s mum all appeared in court to finally get a chance to talk about what Jennifer’s death did to them and our family. It’s been nearly a year and a half and we’ve only put one of the two people responsible in prison. It’s strange to see justice meted out from this side of the chalk line.