There must be someone else who feels this way, but I've never met them - to the best of my knowledge Gabriel is the only person who doesn't find Will Wright's games enthralling. Or, in any case, he's the only person who doesn't mind saying so, willing to put his gamer card at risk by taunting Olympus.

I've said in the past that what distinguishes me from him (and perhaps from you) is that I am willing to meet a game half-way. There may be more points of distinction, but this one is germane to the discussion. I can (as an archaeologist might) use a tiny broom to brush away particulates on an otherwise fascinating surface. Gabriel's issue with Will Wright's games (if I am paraphrasing him correctly, here) is that Will Wright doesn't do the opposite: they won't meet him. He's hesitant to even call them games, actually. They often don't define any kind of linear progression outside of those you determine yourself, which for him is the equivalent of handing someone a box of potentially intriguing but largely alien widgets and telling you to "knock yourself out" before running in the opposite direction.

Of course, systems based on interlocking parts I must generate a narrative framework to contain, well... Yes. I probably don't need to tell you that even the construction of an ordinary sentence, clearly stated, is my life's great pleasure. I have esoteric refrigerator magnets, I have an H. P. Lovecraft set and a Cooking set whose coitus has breached a terrifying, if perhaps overly specific, cavern of linguistic delights. So the management of towns, the ratios of their districts, yea, even unto the codified feng shui of their tiny living rooms bears a certain grammar that has been my constant fascination.

I don't know if this specifically is a console/PC gamer distinction, I'm open to a discussion on the topic, but I believe that is my associates' contention - that I've been trained as a PC gamer to find the sweet liqueur even in an otherwise revolting bonbon - isn't entirely without merit. Simultaneously, I find interacting with systems I have personally imbued with meaning to be an experience that transcends the raw mechanics of most games I play. So, yes. I am willing to put up with a lot, if the upshot is that I can author universes.

On Monday, I'll talk about the portables.

(CW)TB out.

that cursed you and your reasons

So over at the drawing forum I hang out in there’s kind of a cool thread going on. Artists are digging through their closets and pulling out old super heroes they created when they were kids and then redrawing them. I personally have a stack of characters I could go back and dust off but the one I had the most fun with was Sunburst. Jesus just saying his name is embarrassing.

Anyway, this page here is from the comic book I made back in eighth grade. So we’re talking about fifteen or sixteen years ago. God I can’t believe I’m posting this thing. Okay here it is. Enjoy.

The idea was pretty simple. Sunburst is really strong, he can fly and he shoots “sun energy” out of his hands. Here’s a quick sketch I did of him this afternoon. It was pretty fun going back though all my old junk. I may do some more of these later if I have some time. Who knows maybe I’ll even dig up “Savage Blood”. Jesus, I was such a dork.

-Gabe out :o:

Do you know why I am here? To protect you from the kind of indiscretions you can see up there in panels three and four.

(CW)TB

Listen man, I’ve got a closet full of shit here and not all of it is mine if you get my drift. I seem to recall seeing an old piece of notebook paper with your hand written script for a comic book called “Scythe”. Wasn’t she a female assassin who carried a big, what was it now, oh that’s right a scythe! It wouldn’t be hard for that to get scanned and uploaded.

-Gabe out :o:

Now that I really look at it there is a burgeoning, understated power present in your earlier works.

(CW)TB