Hey guys,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been working lots which, as a freelancer, I really can’t complain about, but I do anyway.

Most recently I’ve been promoting the National Geographic Channel series Taboo, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/taboo

producing a series of PSAs about railway safety for Operation Lifesaver,

http://3000words.com/PSAs.html

and writing a Choose Your Own Adventure iPhone game for the GA series.

Of course, through all of this, I have found plenty of time to play some new games.

The iPhone Sol Free Baker’s Game seems to continue its hold on me. I don’t know why, other than the fact that it has the strategic yet mindless quality necessary for my longer-lasting game affairs.

Canabalt was doing it for me for a while, but I’m sort of over it by now. It’s a little too monotonous to continue to hold my attention.

I’ve been reading the Gamebook Adventures’ An Assassin in Orlandes (programmed by our own Ben B.). I’m really digging the well-written story lines and how they’ve optimized the choose your own adventure reading experience by adding features you could only get on the iPhone. For example, if you encounter a locked door and your path hasn’t brought you through finding the key, it’s literally locked and you can’t choose that path. Very cool.

I also recently downloaded Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee onto our PS3. I played it a bit when it was first out, so I’ve been poking around in it. The whole thing is undeniably cute, and maybe I’ll spend a little time trying to crack this one.

But for right now, it’s Mole all the way.  This game also has that elusive mix of mindless strategy and I find myself sucked into playing it often.  Plus it was programmed Ben B. and the music was composed by Brent L, both escFactory boys.

If you take from this that I’m a casual gamer, you would be correct. But I have been playing video games since I was a kid. And, since I have your attention, and I’ve discovered that many of my favorite old games have videos on YouTube, I’d like to reminisce… come on, you kids at least owe grandma that!

My dad let me play his Atari when I was a kid.  Outlaw was my favorite.

Yeah… that was pretty much all it was. But it is important to keep in mind that I was little… like four years old. And Night Driver was way beyond me. That paddle controller, I feel that they use the term “controller” loosely, was impossible for me to use.

As I got older and my dad gave away the Atari (I’m still miffed at him about that) I graduated up to computer games. Apogee was my best friend and with titles like Duke Nukem

and my absolute favorite of all time

Commander Keen, which I followed all the way from version 1

through “Keen Dreams” which I think is sorta version 4.5

And, by the way, yes I am totally a fan of Commander Keen on Facebook.

I also remember my sister and I taking turns playing Laura Bow. I don’t really remember too much about it other than getting really creeped out at ghosts rising from the dead in the cemetery, but really, how can you not love a game when you can get naked and things like this can happen to you:

What did you like to play ‘way back when’?

About a year ago, I bought a PS3 for my man for his birthday.  Not only did it promise to have some amazing platform-specific games but it had the blu-ray player and I was all about watching HD movies.

Well… I thought we’d watch more HD movies than we  actually have.  They do look stunning but we watch way more On Demand and HD TV than blu-ray movies.  Also, as I’m sure happens with many early-adopted technologies, I became frustrated that I can’t loan my blu-rays to anyone because we’re “the only ones on our block” with a player.

The graphic quality and gameplay for PS3 games are indeed impressive.  I hadn’t really played anything on it before my man brought home Little Big Planet, a game aimed right at me and my demo.  I’m a casual gamer and I’m big into art, creativity, and crafting.  When we got it, we stayed in all weekend playing with huge silly grins on our faces.  It was superfun.  The problem solving was interesting.  The settings were neat with cardboard and paper and textures and layers.  It was so darn… cute!

I became particularly enamored with the avatar, Sackboy.

And, as a knitter, I knew that I must make one.  Upon research, many had already done so and with great diversity of execution.  There are 3,690 photos on flickr tagged with “sackboy”.

This became the first knitting pattern I actually devised myself.

I made the test from remnant yarn and a zipper I had.

And, amazingly, it got some attention on-line.

Not only was I asked to join a couple of flickr groups but it was also picked up here:

http://www.craftycrafty.tv/2008/11/sackboy_style_little_big_plane.html

Then a friend asked me to make two for his kids last Christmas.  These are much more like the real thing, with clothing inspired by what they can wear in the game.

So… LBP is pretty freaking cool and fun and appeals to my supercrafty side.

You should play it immediately, if you haven’t already.

Now if I can just get past the spinning wheels in Sensei’s Lost Castle…

I’m the writer… I am creating the story framework and copy for the game and the website.

I’ve written tons of things but never the script for a game so I’m still figuring out how to go big on a small platform.  The story needs to be interesting but it can’t be so complex that the game wouldn’t fit on the iPhone.  I also have to make sure that the action will read on a small screen… that the puzzles are challenging but not impossible… etc.  I’m still working it through in my head, but we now have a pretty solid framework to build upon.

Though I am fairly technical for a writer, I am the least technical one of the escapeFactory collective.  I take my opportunities to lend the nerdy book-girl perspective to the project and to ask the boys to decode their geekspeak.

Since we’re working from some pretty far-flung areas in crazy time zone differences (NY and DC, USA, Victoria, AU – it’s tomorrow morning in Australia right now) we have a virtual office/basecamp where we meet and compile ideas.  I’m starting to wish all my clients operated this way.  The internets are great!