Weekly Round-up for the Week Ending 4/20/13
Until people start shelling out money for my wonderful books--only one of which is currently published, so I guess my low book sales are as much my fault as yours!--I write content as a freelancer. My clients aren't as numerous or varied since I no longer reside in the Bay Area, a hotbed of writing activity, and I do the brunt of my freelance work as a ghost writer these days, which means little to no credit for yours truly. But when I do get the chance to attach my name to a byline, I like to gather my work here so you--yes, you; it's all for you--can check it out.
Since I don't have time to update this blog much, I've decided to do weekly round-up posts with links to all my work that went up over the previous week. If even one article goes up with my name attached to it over a 7-day period, rest assured you'll find a link to it on this blog come the following Sunday. Bigger news, such as announcements of books and short stories, will come as I get them.
Weekly round-ups serve another purpose. I recently pruned the Vault so it contained only links to my favorite online publications, rather than every single one that carries my name. The round-ups still give me a place to post this, that, and the other, while anything I want to preserve can be canned up and placed on a shelf in the Vault. You can look back over previous Weekly Round-ups by clicking the "weekly round-up" tag located on the left-hand column of the blog.
And now--drumroll please--I present to you the first weekly round-up! Er, actually, you'll need to click the "Read more..." link just below this sentence. Sorry about that.
As this is the inaugural edition, I went back a little further than a week to show you some stuff published here and there over April.
* "Worm Run" review for iphone; published 4/12. Excerpt: "I'm not sure if Golden Ruby Games intended for me to stumble upon the optimal way to play, but their game went from serviceable to an absolute blast the instant I learned how to crank my little runner's speed up to 11 and positively fly. Get going fast enough and you can even run right over all but the largest pits. The sheer act of moving is a joy in Worm Run and a huge leap forward from the simple steering mechanic used in most auto-running runners."
* "Metal Gear: From the Beginning" editorial; published 4/15. Actually, this article came out in June 2008, I believe, published in a special edition of PlayStation: The Official Magazine. Details as to why it only recently made it way online can be found by following the link.
* "The DNA of Dark Souls: Part 1 | Part 2"; published 4/12 and 4/15, respectively. Three motivators influenced me to publish these articles. First, I love Shacknews.com, the gaming community where I got my start as a paid writer back in 2005. I've wanted to write for the Shack again for a long time, and the DNA series provided the perfect opportunity. Second, I love Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. And third, I wrote these articles as a community experiment. As you read through, you'll notice comments submitted by members of the Shack community. My goal was to generate discussion around the design of the Souls games by starting discussion in the articles themselves.
* "Little Chomp" review for iphone; published 4/16. Excerpt: "Half climber, half puzzle game, Little Chomp asks you kindly to guide a caterpillar from the bottom to the top of trees infested with vengeful critters. Moving Chomp is simple. Just pull back on him, line him up where you want to go, and release to catapult him from leaf to leaf. It's much like aiming birds in Angry Birds, except physics aren't as important here. No matter how far back you stretch lil' Chomp, he'll slingshot off exactly where you pointed him."
* "The Other Brothers" review for iphone; published 4/16. Excerpt: "With all the comparisons and nods to Super Mario Bros., mobile gamers might wonder if The Other Brothers is their platformer's Mario. I wouldn't go that far, but 3D Attack's long-awaited entry in the house that Mario built is charming, humorous, and most importantly, feels darn good in motion."
* "The Garden of Fear" review for iphone; published 4/19. Excerpt: "The sound of ragged breathing and dragging footsteps is your cue to shove yourself into the nearest alcove and switch off your flashlight, which recharges its battery and leaves you sitting in the dark while the monster drags itself closer to your hiding spot, its breathing growing louder and heavier. Fingers crossed, it will pass you by, leaving you to scurry on your way."
Since I don't have time to update this blog much, I've decided to do weekly round-up posts with links to all my work that went up over the previous week. If even one article goes up with my name attached to it over a 7-day period, rest assured you'll find a link to it on this blog come the following Sunday. Bigger news, such as announcements of books and short stories, will come as I get them.
Weekly round-ups serve another purpose. I recently pruned the Vault so it contained only links to my favorite online publications, rather than every single one that carries my name. The round-ups still give me a place to post this, that, and the other, while anything I want to preserve can be canned up and placed on a shelf in the Vault. You can look back over previous Weekly Round-ups by clicking the "weekly round-up" tag located on the left-hand column of the blog.
And now--drumroll please--I present to you the first weekly round-up! Er, actually, you'll need to click the "Read more..." link just below this sentence. Sorry about that.
As this is the inaugural edition, I went back a little further than a week to show you some stuff published here and there over April.
* "Worm Run" review for iphone; published 4/12. Excerpt: "I'm not sure if Golden Ruby Games intended for me to stumble upon the optimal way to play, but their game went from serviceable to an absolute blast the instant I learned how to crank my little runner's speed up to 11 and positively fly. Get going fast enough and you can even run right over all but the largest pits. The sheer act of moving is a joy in Worm Run and a huge leap forward from the simple steering mechanic used in most auto-running runners."
* "Metal Gear: From the Beginning" editorial; published 4/15. Actually, this article came out in June 2008, I believe, published in a special edition of PlayStation: The Official Magazine. Details as to why it only recently made it way online can be found by following the link.
* "The DNA of Dark Souls: Part 1 | Part 2"; published 4/12 and 4/15, respectively. Three motivators influenced me to publish these articles. First, I love Shacknews.com, the gaming community where I got my start as a paid writer back in 2005. I've wanted to write for the Shack again for a long time, and the DNA series provided the perfect opportunity. Second, I love Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. And third, I wrote these articles as a community experiment. As you read through, you'll notice comments submitted by members of the Shack community. My goal was to generate discussion around the design of the Souls games by starting discussion in the articles themselves.
* "Little Chomp" review for iphone; published 4/16. Excerpt: "Half climber, half puzzle game, Little Chomp asks you kindly to guide a caterpillar from the bottom to the top of trees infested with vengeful critters. Moving Chomp is simple. Just pull back on him, line him up where you want to go, and release to catapult him from leaf to leaf. It's much like aiming birds in Angry Birds, except physics aren't as important here. No matter how far back you stretch lil' Chomp, he'll slingshot off exactly where you pointed him."
* "The Other Brothers" review for iphone; published 4/16. Excerpt: "With all the comparisons and nods to Super Mario Bros., mobile gamers might wonder if The Other Brothers is their platformer's Mario. I wouldn't go that far, but 3D Attack's long-awaited entry in the house that Mario built is charming, humorous, and most importantly, feels darn good in motion."
* "The Garden of Fear" review for iphone; published 4/19. Excerpt: "The sound of ragged breathing and dragging footsteps is your cue to shove yourself into the nearest alcove and switch off your flashlight, which recharges its battery and leaves you sitting in the dark while the monster drags itself closer to your hiding spot, its breathing growing louder and heavier. Fingers crossed, it will pass you by, leaving you to scurry on your way."