I told him that AOE3's Home Cities are a kind of deck you construct, or that it adds an element of persistence to the RTS. These aren't complete lies, they're even sort of true - but he wasn't swayed by my buzzword salvos. He was punished for it. Don't share his fate! Let me offer you the information to graze at your leisure: the most interesting piece I've read on Home Cities is here, at Gamespy.

So after Summer's long drought, the maddening release policy has risen to savage my already beleaguered finances. If I could bring myself to stabilize on consoles or PCs I would fare far better under these circumstances, as it stands I trudge into my Gamestop exhausted and simply bend over the new releases rack.

September and October have, between them, charms aplenty.

Burnout Revenge I had done my best to resist, as much as I liked the first one - it's only been a year since the last version, which is why I imagine they aren't calling it Burnout 4. Before I checked out that demo I was wondering precisely what would force my hand, it turns out that the new track philosophy - where elevation, multiple routes, and "traffic checking" into other cars are emphasized - does amplify the experience. I'm curious to see what Burnout Revenge would look like on the 360, having been made with the current generation firmly in mind, but they aren't saying and I can't guess. Look for it to hit all platforms, PSP included, on the 14th. That's a real date, not the magic bullshit date.

On Wednesday, I was fairly circumspect in my discussion of Indigo Prophecy, because while I wanted you to try it, I wanted you to experience it as cleanly as possible in every other respect. So, I didn't go into how the director introduces the game himself, or how when you hide the murder weapon the camera dramatically pans into the next room so when you come back as the detective there's actually a mystery, or how Indigo Prophecy has the most robust blood-mopping engine available today. Their demo had the intended effect, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Look for it on PC, Xbox, and PS2 come the 21st.

I could go on like this for a couple days. I might, in fact.

Also on the 21st is Myst V: End Of Ages, which is apparently the real-live end of ages because practically everyone has been let go from the developer. People have been asking me if I was taking it hard, and that's quite true. They broke the company trying to create a new kind of shared, multiplayer role-playing experience. They created subtle games with strong literary sensibilities. They inaugurated multimedia. They are from my home town, and it was nice to think that some good thing was happening in that fucking place.

(CW)TB out.

love is a feeling like a warm dark stone

So I survived my dentist encounter and I’m feeling much better now. I’ve mentioned it before here on the site but it was a long time ago so you might not have seen it. I have some issues with anxiety especially when it comes to anything that deviates from more normal daily routine. My dentist is aware of this and she prescribed me Ativan to relax me before my appointment. The last time I had Ativan was a couple years ago and it was prescribed by her for a similar situation. I had a few left over and ended up using them on my trip to New York. History seems to be repeating itself since once again I find myself with some extra tablets and a trip to the east coast. I’m just warning you all that if you come see us in Baltimore, there’s a good chance I’ll be in an uncharacteristically good mood

Whenever I use Ativan I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to take it more regularly. Certainly there are people who use similar drugs to regulate their anxiety issues every day. The feeling the drug delivers is definitely seductive and I some times wonder if this is what “normal” people feel like all the time. Two things keep me from ever actually attempting to obtain a more robust prescription and medicating my life. The first thing is that whenever I feel uncomfortable or nervous I make jokes….people tell me I am extremely funny. I honestly believe that my creativity and my neurosis are linked in some inseparable way. The other thing is that as soon as the effects of the drug wear off I go back to fearing it. The catch is that in order to see a doctor about a prescription for anti anxiety drugs I’d need to first over come my anxiety.

Speaking of the East Coast I’d like to go ahead and post our upcoming con schedule again:

We’ll be at the Baltimore Comic Con on September 17th and 18th. This is only the second time we’ve gotten out to the east coast and we’re really looking forward to it. I may even sample one of your "tastykakes"!

When we get back from Baltimore we’ll be attending the Foolscap Sci-Fi convention in Bellevue. We’re guests of honor along with Harlan Ellison which is, well, quite an honor. From what I understand it’s a pretty small con. I guess everyone has dinner together and the whole thing has a very "big group of friends" feel to it.

At the end of October we’ll be heading out to BlizzCon. As you can imagine we are super fucking jazzed for this event. The details are still kind of sketchy but it’s safe to say we’ll probably sit in on a couple panels and there may even be some kind of PvP vs. PA exhibition match played. We’ll also have a booth there with a bunch of our shirts and stuff. In fact we even made some new shirts just for BlizzCon. Here’s a peek at one of the new designs you’ll be able to pick up at the show.

So that’s our con schedule. I hope you’ll be able to come out and say hello and one of these events.

-Gabe out

We’ve got a new comic project starting today over on the Far Cry Instincts page. Once again we’ve decided to deal with the shocking events of Jack’s life in a slightly more humorous way than the actual game. Our Jack is a regular guy whose eternal optimism is put to the test when what started as a perfectly good day goes to shit. I hope you guys like it.

-Gabe out

Today is little Gabe’s Birthday as well as the anniversary of the launch of the Dreamcast. Coincidence? I think not. He’s one year old today and that completely blows me away. It seems like it was just a couple days ago that I was writing this post about his birth.

Happy birthday buddy.

-Gabe out