Because God needed a Dungeon Master.
Lift your dice in tribute, friends, for Gary Gygax has gone on to that Great D&D Campaign in the Sky.
WAR iGoogle Theme
Kudos to CrypticApathy who pointed out that there’s a pretty sweet WAR theme available for iGoogle now.
I’d like to think it was created with me in mind.
[UPDATE] I couldn’t resist reposting this quote from vazzaroth:
[I]s it just me, or does it seem ironic that a search engine company doesn’t seem to have a “Search Theme” option? I can search by newness, Most used, and “Hottest”, whatever that means.
Quick update: BOOM! Studios (NOT WAR RELATED)
Last month, I pointed out that our friends at BOOM! were giving away free digital versions of their new book North Wind. While a number of retailers apparently threw a fit, it looks like the effort paid off, because sales of issue #4 of North Wind are UP 30% over the norm for new series:
“We did see a bump [in sales for ‘North Wind’ #4],” Chip Mosher told CBR News. “But let me put this in perspective for you. We usually see a dip of 10% or more between issues #3 and #4 for any of our series. That said, we saw nearly a 20% increase in orders between issue #3 and #4 of ‘North Wind.’ An increase like this has never happened in the history of our company. Never. Bottom line - we are talking about a total 30% increase over the norm.”
So kudos to them (and to everyone who - like me - went out and bought a copies of North Wind after sampling it online).
Home again, home again.
Super-producer Lance Robertson and I just got back from an EA press event in New York City, so keep your eyes peeled for coverage in the coming weeks (hint: Ten Ton Hammer probably got the best interview of the entire event, since they seemed to not be distracted by the open bar OR the free food and because they’re made of liquid awesome - so relentlessly hammer their site until they cough up a report). We showed off live beta goodness the whole time, including some swanky RvR battles that lasted well over an hour as the two sides clashed again and again vying for control of a town in the early portions of the Empire and Chaos territories. So kudos to the beta testers, even though they had no idea we were watching them.
The weather was nutty and I was convinced we were going to die on our way into LaGuardia, but I think it worked out fairly well in the end. The first day it just rained in a horrible, soul-crushing fashion, but the second day was bright and cool. I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art while I was there and killed the battery in my camera taking pictures of crazy armor and weaponry. I’ll have to post some shots later, as there were some AMAZING pieces that would (and I realize this is perhaps the geekiest thing I’ll ever write) be PERFECT on a Witch Hunter. In fact, there was an entire wing that I’m convinced is secretly just Witch Hunter tools and supplies with sneaky, fake labels attached to them.
Finally, homework:
Go see: Diary of the Dead
Go play: Zombie Fluxx
Have a great weekend!
Your daily dose of Barnettics*.
Paul’s taken one of his infrequent breaks from running around the office yelling strange things at people to give a speech at the Lift Conference in Switzerland. Here’s his talk:
Make sure you go and lavish him with praise and affection here when you’re done watching it (or before, if you’re a disingenuous sycophant).
* “Barnettics” is a great term shamelessly stolen from the inimitable Kate Flack. It’s only a matter of time before the cult starts up, so get in early!
Yum!
I found this in a box I was cleaning out in the office:
Now, somebody just needs to make up some gobbo-blood mustard and some High Elf barbecue sauce and we’re ready for a truly disturbing cook-out!
For love of the game.
Ryuta Kawashima, the researcher behind Nintendo’s Brain Age series of games for the DS portable system, would rather be working than enjoying $11 million in royalties he could have earned from his creations.
…
Under the terms of his agreement with his employer, Tohoku University in Japan’s north-east region, Kawashima was entitled to accept half the Brain Age royalties personally. Instead, he used the proceeds to help fund $6.5 million in construction projects on Tohoku’s campus.
“My hobby is work,” he said. “Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it.”
I suppose, technically, he DID take some of the money - he just chose to spend it on the University instead of his family and self. Still, that’s some kind of dedication.
Mmm… BEEEETA.
I had a small deluge of PMs, emails and frantic IMs waiting for me this morning, so let me just say a few things:
- Yes, it’s true. We let some more folks into the WAR Beta.
- Yes, these were people who won contests, attended certain shows, etc.
- No, these were not all of the people who won contests, attended certain shows, etc.
- No, this is NOT the Guild Beta.
- Yes, the Guild Beta is coming.
- No, I won’t be offering any information on when or how the next round of invites will go out.
- Seriously. Even if I knew, I couldn’t say.
- No, we won’t be specifying what metrics were used to choose people for this round (or any round).
- No, it’s NOT a vast conspiracy aimed at confusing or punishing you.
- Yes, you SHOULD keep an eye on your email SPAM folder (just in case).
Finally, if you got an email about updating your DXDiag information and ARE NOT ALREADY IN THE BETA, disregard it. Some wires got crossed and those went out to a few people accidentally.
Please also note: If you were one of those people it doesn’t mean you’re more or less likely to get in. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with your PC and thus we won’t ever choose you. It doesn’t mean something is special about your PC and thus we’re more likely to choose you. It doesn’t mean we’ve chosen you and your invite is on the way (it doesn’t mean it isn’t either).
I’m sure there are other ways to misinterpret the mistaken emails that I can’t think of at the moment. Rest assured that those misinterpretations are also wrong.
Anywho, to the New Testers - welcome! You’re in for more than a few surprises. To everyone else, hang in there - your time will come.
WarCry IRC chat TONIGHT!
A group of us will be answering questions via IRC this evening, care of the good people at WarCry. Details (shamelessly lifted from the WC folks):
When: 01/30/2008 8pm EST
Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcryWho: The developers of Warhammer Online
Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client
Be there!
A blast from the past.
I was sorting through old stuff over the weekend and found a DVD with this on it:
It’s the Imperator cinematic trailer we made for E3 2005. We had a lot of fun putting it together way back when, but I don’t remember if we ever showed it outside of the little “theatre” we had set up in our booth at E3 that year.
TRIVIA BONUS: The male narrator is played by Earl Boen - the psychiatrist from the Terminator films (among many, many other roles).