http://www.magicalwasteland.com/ en Copyright 2008 Mon, 05 May 2008 17:33:12 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Amadeus (1984) where enlightened ruler and patron of the arts, the “musical king” Emperor Joseph II, having just witnessed a performance of Antonio Salieri’s opera Axur, King of Ormus, confidently declares it to be “the best opera yet written,” awarding the composer a medal on the spot to a standing ovation from the audience in attendance. This occurs in full view of our hero, Mozart, whose own recent opera, The Marriage of Figaro, has just closed down after only nine performances. One does not need to be very knowledgeable about classical music to know which of these two operas is still enjoyed today by audiences the world over and which has fallen into obscurity.]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/05/the_best_opera_yet_written.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/05/the_best_opera_yet_written.htm Commentary Mon, 05 May 2008 17:33:12 -0800 Lately, it’s seemed as though not a few weeks go by without some long-time editor leaving an enthusiast publication. Just when I feel like I’ve familiarized myself with someone’s output, they’re up and gone. Occasionally they join competing outlets, but often it seems like they more or less “drop out”: maybe do some freelance work while they set up their moody blogs or work on their artsy pursuits. Or, they simply leave the games behind to cover a more respectable industry. Even the people who haven’t left yet just don’t seem to believe writing about games is any kind of sustainable living. I imagine them quietly plotting their escape into actual game development. http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/04/forget_developers_burning_out.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/04/forget_developers_burning_out.htm Commentary Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:34:24 -0800 GameSpot Tournament descriptions]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/03/the_names_are_funny_too.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/03/the_names_are_funny_too.htm Bad Writing About Games Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:08:46 -0800 How is one really supposed to write about a game? Most major game reviewers spend at least some of their review stepping into the shoes of an imaginary Everyman, attempting to impartially value a game based on ostensibly universal metrics. But there has always been experimentation with a more “gonzo,” experience-based writing approach, focusing on a writer’s personal exposure to the game world, something that doesn’t pretend to be objective at all. http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/03/the_problem_with_experiencebas.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/03/the_problem_with_experiencebas.htm Commentary Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:34:54 -0800 meaning. Everyone agrees, or seems to agree, that video games just Don’t Mean Enough right now, and that’s why we aren’t being taken seriously by Roger Ebert and all his irritating friends-in-opinion. Onwards the march towards Great Import by injecting more Seriousness, more Sadness (games must make you cry, apparently) and more moving, tragic Reality.]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/in_defense_of_the_meaningless.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/in_defense_of_the_meaningless.htm Commentary Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:50:30 -0800 The Escapist and its very odd pull-quotes. The whole point of pull-quotes is to draw a hypothetical reader – imagine him impatiently flipping through the pages of a magazine while waiting for the dentist or for his plane to reach cruising altitude – into actually reading an article by highlighting a key point, an interesting fact or simply an intriguing turn of phrase. The point is not to stump the reader, nor is it to make him not interested in the article. Right?]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/escaping_to_the_land_of_the_ba.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/escaping_to_the_land_of_the_ba.htm Bad Writing About Games Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:37:49 -0800 Does Portal’s Success Presage Game Industry Shift?” In this bizarre piece, a writer on the game industry admits he has no sales data, cites no budget information, then suddenly makes the claim that Portal's “profit margin is easily better than AAA hardcore titles that require tens of millions to develop...” Huh?]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/making_claims_with_absolutely.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/02/making_claims_with_absolutely.htm Bad Writing About Games Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:01:51 -0800 Next Generation. “In looking to the future, we inevitably look to the past as a guide.” –GameDaily. “Listen, writing is hard.” –The Escapist.]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/losing_the_war_against_banalit.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/losing_the_war_against_banalit.htm Bad Writing About Games Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:36:29 -0800 Surfer Girl by a group of men. This is how they play out: 1. Surfer Girl probably isn’t actually a woman. 2. If Surfer Girl is a woman, she’s probably some kind of secretary or an assistant to a powerful and well-connected executive. 3. Yeah. Surfer Girl must be, like, this receptionist who sleeps around everywhere to get all her information... well, she may also get messages from tipsters from time to time. The conversation usually diverts from there into some stories of promiscuous women that the people in the group have heard about.]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/maybe_we_can_do_something_abou.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/maybe_we_can_do_something_abou.htm Notes in Brief Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:21:44 -0800 Trilogies seem to be the new way to pitch big games. The basic idea is that so much investment is required up front to create a new franchise that two more installments down the line (with lower production costs) are all but required to recoup the cost. This is sometimes referred to as a “Lord of the Rings” model, since that is supposedly how most of the profit on those films was made. Sequels tend to do well in games generally, and this development model ties in very nicely with marketing (“the story we wanted to tell was just too epic for one game”) and with Wall Street (“we aren’t just publishing games – we’re creating lasting entertainment franchises”). Additionally, if the first game tanks, the next two can always be cancelled. So, it seems like we can expect to see trilogies, whether the material really calls for one or not. Tying in with this is the next trend:]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/some_underreported_game_development_trends_and_issues.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/some_underreported_game_development_trends_and_issues.htm Commentary Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:18:21 -0800 The Wall Street Journal (editorial).]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/bad_writing_about_games_pt_v.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/bad_writing_about_games_pt_v.htm Bad Writing About Games Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:08:06 -0800 Kotaku. ]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/bad_writing_about_games_pt_iv.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2008/01/bad_writing_about_games_pt_iv.htm Bad Writing About Games Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:56:26 -0800 1. Let’s think about the future for a second. You probably don’t understand the kids that make up the bulk of our audience, but I do. I call them the network MySpace remix 3.0 social generation. Unlike any other people before them, young people today like to interact with each other. They also like music. YouTube is the perfect example of whatever point it is I’m making. Everything should be online and customizable. http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/five_short_video_game_industry.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/five_short_video_game_industry.htm Levity Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:25:29 -0800 Imagine there’s a company– let’s call them “Midway”– that owns a number of different restaurants, each with its own specialty. The meals these restaurants serve are getting fancier and more complex as people’s tastes grow towards the elaborate. Unfortunately, even though the preparations are more difficult and expensive to make, the price for customers doesn’t have much room to go up. This company and other restaurant-owners are concerned about this trend. It’s clear to that whole industry that everyone will need to figure out to make these extravagant productions in a way that doesn’t bankrupt them. http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/storytime_a_tale_of_technology.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/storytime_a_tale_of_technology.htm Commentary Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:46:20 -0800 ran a feature posted on August 21, 2003 about how to improve, or at least move forward, the dismal pseudoscience we in the industry call “game journalism”. It seems worth rereading in light of recent controversies. Writers on games that you may have heard of, if you bother to pay attention to the bylines at all, such as Brandon Sheffield, Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh, Chris Kohler, and Tycho Brahe (Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade) weigh in with personal thoughts on the matter. It’s too bad we don’t see enough of this energy shine through in the work they do for their day jobs. It probably doesn’t sell well.]]> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/insert_credit_on_game_journali.htm http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/12/insert_credit_on_game_journali.htm Notes in Brief Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:44:47 -0800