Hachette v. Amazon

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Meg

I became interested in Gil McNeil’s A Good Year For The Roses because it’s set in a small British village, and that’s all it took to interest me. Also gardening. But I bumped it to the top of my NetGalley queue (that is a bit like a Netflix queue, for those of us who read all day) when I read about how Amazon is punishing publisher Hachette for publishing a book criticizing Amazon.

Look, I usually love Amazon, and when Amazon started offering indie games, I wrote about how great this would be for indie devs and for gaming bloggers, because it enables developers to sell their games without being forced to work with a publisher. And it enables gaming bloggers to offer those indie games for sale as Amazon affiliates, helping reviewers make money, too. I read plenty of editorials about how disruptive this model is, about how sales and distribution have opened for indies, allowing a good product to get straight to interested customers, and about the irrelevance of publishers. I think I even wrote a couple of these…

But Amazon’s unexplained delays and unavailability for Hachette titles is some serious evil-empire activity. Sure, if you’re determined to read a Hachette book, there’s nothing stopping you from going to another bookstore and ordering it. But authors writing for an imprint or publisher on the Amazon naughty list are going to lose a lot of sales from Amazon recommendations, one-click Kindle readers, and Prime customers. Plus, book bloggers won’t be able to use Amazon affiliate links (Or sidebar widgets. Or any other the other ways bloggers can use Amazon to make their reviews profitable.), making a serious disincentive to review Hachette titles.  I’ve been writing on indie games and indie writers for several years now, but as I think about the affected authors, I find myself, bizarrely, sympathizing with the publisher. That’s a new one for me.

So that’s how I ended up reading and reviewing the Hachette novel, A Good Year For The Roses.

In the beginning of Gil McNeil’s novel A Good Year For The Roses, Molly inherits her Aunt Helena’s ancient bed-and-breakfast, and brings her three sons from London to a small village full of delightful characters.

See… I told you it was about a British village… it just took me a little while to get around to that part.

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The Silent Age

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Meg

the_silent_age

The Silent Age is a point-and-click (I mean, point-and-tap) iOs adventure from House on Fire, a small game studio in Denmark. Joe is a janitor on an average day in 1972, cleaning up on in a high-security government lab when he’s summoned by the big boss, to be assigned more duties with no raise.  The setting is established immediately, with jumpsuited janitor Joe passing a photo of Nixon (Honest Richard! Joe says unironically), a massive American flag, a chainsmoking secretary, a high-security cardreader, and, is that the capital dome outside the window? Joe is extremely vague and unconcerned about any work that doesn’t involve pushing a broom, but it’s clear to players that all the locked laboratories, mysterious chemicals, and high-tech equipment are pretty shady.  What is our hapless hero in for?

While cleaning the labs, Joe follows a trail of blood to a mysterious time-traveler, who’s been injured on a mission to stop whatever actually goes on in that building. He gives Joe a solar-powered mini time-machine and an important mission to find his younger self. Joe realizes just how much the future lies in his hands the first time he transports into the future, and discovers a desolate, destroyed world.

I mean, yes, I wanted to find the mysterious time-traveler and I wanted to know why Joe’s picture was labelled a person of interest, but I also wanted to see what would happen if I asked Joe to stick this paperclip in the hornet’s nest.

To help Joe on his mission, players solve puzzles by exploring, pocketing everything that’s not nailed down, and using items creatively. I remember discovering that some of the “wrong” combination in point-and-click adventures like Monkey Island were funnier than the combinations that actually advanced the game. The Silent Age tells a darker story, but still has room for ridiculous flavor text. I mean, yes, I wanted to find the mysterious time-traveler and I wanted to know why Joe’s picture was labelled a person of interest, but I also wanted to see what would happen if I asked Joe to stick this paperclip in the hornet’s nest. So I did.

The flavortext is so good, I found myself screenshotting scene after scene, and actually giggling aloud over some of Joe’s remarks. But the mechanics are interesting too. Joe is able to pop between 1972, present day for our polyester-loving hero, and a desolate future with a mysterious device. Using the point-and-click system, Joe can change the past to change the future. Destroy a poison ivy seedling in 1972, and avoid a poison ivy outbreak in the future.

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Throughout the game, Joe shifts between campy, disco 1970s and desolate post-apocalyptic future, and both time periods work. When Joe time-travels, players can see the very same locations, once with  geometric wallpaper, seventies ‘staches and other retro style, and then destroyed and abandoned in the future. The Silent Age manages to be hilariously campy, and still full of dramatic tension.

The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, with Episode Two in the works, and I can’t wait to help Joe save the world.

This is the first of my gaming posts shared over at Game Industry News. Thanks to the GiN team for sharing my work!

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You Win or You Drive

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Meg

My coworker SuperDan lent me his Game of Thrones audiobook to listen to on my long commute to the studio.  It’s just great, and has really helped me deal with the drive. My team are all massive fans of the show, and I read the first couple books in college, although I don’t remember too much of the story anymore. I know I read it in my dorm room in Cambridge, because as I listen to the book now, I’ll remember my reading chair by the window in my room in St. Catherine’s, or arch at the gate, or the wall of cubbies where porters sorted our mail by room, and the blue calligraphy addresses on letters from Eric, or just random other images from that dorm. Sometimes, too, I’ll remember event as they’re being read, and almost cry out to the characters not to trust that person!

It’s a lot better than my usual drive, which involves me crying out to other drivers to use a turn signal or hang up their phones.


Related:
In Yangzhou, I only wished winter was coming.
A spoiler-free discussion in Boston.

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The Gesalt of Saturn Veiled

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Meg

 

photo(12)Played The Silent Age for this Friday’s game on. Here’s janitor Joe viewing art.

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Responsible Adult

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Meg

After a pretty endless slog, Harold got some good career news yesterday, and so I stopped on the way home to buy a nice bottle for a toast, like adults do.  Anyway, I picked out a nice prosecco for Harold, and they also had a sweet red wine that makes a good sangria, and a moscato on sale, and you know what? I’m not going to explain myself. Wine is sold in cases, people have entire wine cellars, I don’t have to explain why I was buying multiple bottles of wine. I’m an adult and I can do what I like.

I should probably mention here that I look a great deal younger than I am, and I get carded fairly regularly, and every so often, the person checking my ID will take it all very seriously, carefully scrutinizing my license and sometimes calling for a manager. The most annoying part is that in North Carolina, a round of slow and predictable smalltalk is required here. I smile agreeably each time while an unhurried cashier comes to the inevitable conclusion that I certainly do look younger than my age and it must be so nice to look so young. (I miss New York,  where people assume that other people have places to be.)

So anyway, I was in the midst of convincing the cashier that I’m totally an adult and to please sell me lots of wine when I heard someone call my name, and there was one of my little students, excited to run into me and say hi.

Role model for the children, that’s me.

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Tappy To Flappy

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Meg

Tappy to flappySometimes it’s awkward to be both a writer and a developer, but reading what my GrabIt colleagues wrote about what my Epic colleagues made isn’t one of those times.

… Known for driving blockbuster console titles like Gears of War and BioShock, Epic obviously believed it needed to prove the engine’s worth to the little guys. So, it has released a clone of popular game Flappy Bird to showcase how the engine can be used  to create simple, effective and retro-inspired games. Tappy Chicken is nothing special, but demonstrates the practical use of their engine no matter how low the requirements.

Epic Games’ message is specifically targeted to inexperienced or small-scale developers, showing them they should not be intimidated or afraid of using Unreal Engine 4 for their projects.

via Indie Game News | Grab It – The Game Discovery App – MaxJoseph.

So many internet reactions to Tappy Chicken are either reactionary fanboying over the Epic logo, or reactionary trashing the Flappy Bird craze, and so it’s extra nice to read a post from a author who sees a cute proof of concept. My gamemaking friends know how to make games, and my writer friends tell it like it is.

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#Shelfie

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Meg

I’m really proud of building these myself. Putting up my own furniture is pretty new for me, but also really satisfying and fun.

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Traffic Control Algebra

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Meg

sponsored

traffic control algebraEdupup’s Traffic Control Algebra asks players to review their algebra skills, while keeping crazy drivers from crashing into each other.

I was assigned to review any educational game on eduXtive, and I was really happy to find this one, and others like it, because in my experience edu minigames tend to be variations on flashcards. (Don’t get me wrong, when I was teaching ESL, I was always happy to use a flashcard game in class, and I created some of my own vocab matching games. But it’s always good to find an edu game that’s more than matching-plus-graphics.)

Do a math problem to turn on a green light and allow the cars coming from that direction to drive, and then do another problem to turn it red. The object is to try to get as many cars as possible through the intersection, without letting them crash. Apparently none of the drivers are paying attention.

traffic control algebra gameplay

The math starts out easy while players are still getting the hang of the drivers’ paths, but becomes more challenging as the game goes on, making it a good way to review middle-school math. Back in my day, we would have worksheets of simple algebra problems, and fifth-grade me would have preferred playing this game.

The game is more forgiving of math errors than car crashes. Players have up to 5 mathematical mistakes before the game ends.

You can be a little evil and just leave some drivers sitting at one corner while traffic backs up, but once there’s no place for a new car to go, the game is over. (You can also give green light in all four directions and let cars drive however they want. This play mode, inspired by drivers in the leftmost lane on 40 who suddenly realize they’re going to miss their exit, results in a big wreck. I’m just saying.)

eduxtive logoThis post was sponsored by eduXtive. The game was chosen and played by me, and obviously reactions and comments on the game are my own.

sponsored

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I Like Boats: ‘The Girls at the Kingfisher Club’

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Meg

Genevieve Valentine’s The Girls At The Kingfisher Club is out today! I wrote about it over at Yahoo, where, unfortunately, my original title “I like boats” was not as funny to others as it was for me, and I had to change it to something more professional. Good thing I have my own blog where I can title things whatever I want.

The Girls At the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine blends Prohibition nightclubs and the Twelve Dancing Princesses for a tale about sisterhood, loyalty, and happy endings.

In 1920s Manhattan, twelve sisters are kept trapped in the attic by their father, recalling Twelve Dancing Princesses, and highlighting their position as sidelined and powerless women. Jo, the oldest sister, is the General, the boss of eleven younger sisters, and the organizer of their midnight adventures. The girls all learn to dance and love sneaking out to Prohibition era nightclubs. For readers, it starts out impossible to keep track of all the princesses, but in a surprisingly short time, their personalities separate and it’s impossible to get the sisters confused.

Valentine is particularly good at blending the mundane and the fabulous, and The Girls At The Kingfisher Club is a wonderful magical realism adventure through the roaring twenties. A delightful period piece / fairy tale blend would be quite enough, but then rumors of twelve dancing sisters reach the Hamilton father, who decides to marry them off as quickly as possible to avoid any more embarrassing rumors. Jo takes desperate measures to protect the sisters from being married off and ending up in twelve different attics.

Each sister’s storyline is satisfying, true to their different personalities, as they try to find different forms of safety between the nightclubs the girls have known and a daytime New Manhattan they’ve never seen. Jo’s arc combines Prohibition bootlegging, sisterly love, and a bittersweet letting go of her General ways. A fairy tale ends with living happily ever after, and The Girls At The Kingfisher Club explores how one could possibly live happily, after growing up trapped in an attic.

Overall, a vibrant, magical story of Manhattan, dancing, and building a family in The Girls At The Kingfisher Club.

via The Twelve Dancing Jazz Age Princesses in ‘The Girls at the Kingfisher Club’ – Yahoo.

Other Reviews:

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Hey, You Guys, Sleep Is Pretty Great

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Meg

So I’ve had a bit of a problem that’s made it hard to sleep, but now that problem is sorted, and I’m sleeping properly, and, you guys, sleep is the best! Did you know it’s completely amazing? And makes you feel great?

Now I don’t wake up every morning already exhausted, so I’m not strained every single day because I’m so tired. I also don’t spend every night lying awake thinking about the terrible things that only come to mind in the middle of the night. (That stupid thing I said three months ago. What if tomorrow my boss fires us all and closes the company?) Getting enough sleep has dramatically improved my life!

I think I’ll go tell everyone know how nice it is to sleep and how awesome it is to feel rested. Sleeping! It’s good for you!

It was only recently, after all, that I noticed the relationship between eating and my mood. I almost never feel hungry, which sounds good because diet guides always talk about becoming thin by showing you how to curb your hunger, right? If left alone, I’ll get caught up in what I’m doing, until midafternoon when everything I’m doing becomes very difficult and everyone around me becomes extremely annoying.  When I worked with Chip, around this point one of us would go find the other one and ask, sheepishly, “Did you remember to eat today? Because I forgot again.” After I have a meal, everyone stops being such annoying jerks.

Eating, you guys! It’s really good! It keeps everyone around me from becoming an insufferable jerk! Like magic!

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