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Why Polygon is DOOMed
On the 12th of May, gaming review website Polygon released a 30-minute gameplay video of DOOM. To call it horrible is an understatement. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yYp8ZeQ-I8] The player’s performance is embarrassingly abysmal, quite literally on par with someone who has never played a first person shooter on a console before. It’s as though the concept of…
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FLASHPOINT: TITAN is a Hugo finalist!
FLASHPOINT: TITAN has been nominated as a Hugo Award finalist, and I am proud to accept.
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Japanese Ghost, Western Shell
Ghost in the Shell was among the first animes I have ever watched, and among the first sci fi manga I have ever read. Even today, its themes, aesthetics, technology and design language influence my writing and worldbuilding. When I learned of Scarlett Johansson being cast as Major Kusanagi Motoko for the live action adaptation of Ghost in the…
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A Tale of Two Devs
The recent furore over Blizzard’s Overwatch and Beamdog’s Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear illustrates two very different approaches to game design and response to criticism. Blizzard’s Overwatch is an upcoming multiplayer first person shooter. The original controversy began when people complained about a victory pose employed by the game’s first revealed character, Tracer, claiming that it…
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Rabid Puppies Recommended!
Yesterday Vox Day released a list of personal recommendations for the Hugo awards, which of course is not a call for a block vote, and recommended me for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and Flashpoint: Titan for Best Novelette. I am greatly honoured to accept such praise, and am deeply humbled by the fact that there…
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Behind the Story: Flashpoint: Titan
Lessons learned from writing Flashpoint: Titan