So far, the support I’ve gotten for putting Life Flashes By up on Kickstarter has been impressive and overwhelming. At this point in time, I have $595 pledged from 26 backers, and I simply can’t express how much it means to me that there are actually people out there who would pay money to see me make a new game. Thank you all so much!

Those of you who have backed the project and/or follow me on Twitter have likely already seen this, but in case you haven’t, I’ve started posting Exclusive Video Updates™ on the Kickstarter project page, as a means to let people know how the game’s progressing and what’s going on behind the scenes. I’ve never done project updates in anything other than text form before, so this is rather new territory for me, but I thought it might be fun to experiment with this more personal approach, particularly in this age where watching videos online has become ubiquitous. So, if you’re interested in hearing a little bit about the thought processes that went into the creation of Life Flashes By, getting a sneak peek at what the game looks like so far, or simply want to make fun of my Canadian accent, do check out the video! [1]

Finally, my friend Corvus just wrote a lovely blog post of his own about my project and his thoughts on indie game patronage in general, which I suspect accounts for the slight spike in backers I received early this morning. He’s got some great things to say about the subject and how we as consumers can make an impact in creating more of the games that we want to play, rather than what huge, monolithic corporations with ad campaigns tell us we want to play. Definitely a sentiment I can get behind, and not just because I’m trying to fund a game this way myself.

There’s been a lot of talk these past couple days about a certain promotional video for a certain upcoming video game that uses certain derogatory slurs towards women and gay men for a certain comedic effect on a certain predominantly young male audience. I won’t talk about it in detail here, because quite a few people have already done so, and to be honest, there are a lot of games these days that are being marketed in a similar way — a lot of media in general, even. However, what I do have a few choice words for is the overarching trend for “edginess” that’s altogether too prevalent in today’s society. You know what I’m talking about: the excuse that “we’re saying it to be ironic; nobody’s REALLY sexist/racist/homophobic anymore”, where people perceive that progressives — or what they call the “PC police” — have “taken things too far” with “limiting free speech”, meaning that if anyone’s in the least bit outraged by what one has to say, it’s become some kind of a badge of honour. It’s a view so prevalent, in fact, that marketing executives apparently think they’ll sell more copies of whatever it is they’re peddling if they appeal to it.

Of course, the problem is, no one’s really being edgy. Edginess is biting social commentary. It’s supposed to change the way we think about the world, make us feel uncomfortable, turn us into better, more informed people in the process. What I describe above does nothing of the sort — the people who are made uncomfortable are those of groups the slurs in question are directed towards: slurs that, regardless of what we want to believe, still have power to harm and ostracise and even lead to violence. The only ones laughing are those with the luxury of never having experienced anything remotely similar. No one is experiencing any kind of paradigm shift or seeing the world from a new vantage point. Instead, everyone gets to continue holding their ground, staying in a place that’s easy and familiar. That’s not edgy to me. It’s the status quo.

As for irony? Well, let’s just say that if the people you’re purportedly mocking are able to laugh at your joke and continue to inflict pain on others with a clear conscience, then you’ve pretty much failed to convey your message.

In all the time I’ve been making my own games, I’ve never really felt inclined to charge money for them. Oh, sure, I’ve often thought about it — it’s always nice to be compensated for hard work, even when it’s a labour of love — but it’s never been a plan that I’ve put into action, save for maybe a short-lived donations button that appeared on an earlier incarnation of this blog. At first it was because I was a relative beginner at game development, and didn’t feel comfortable competing with the “big boys”; today, it’s because I already have paid work in the game industry, so the projects I work on in my spare time tend to be chosen for personal self-expression rather than commercial viability — and as we very well know, it’s very, very difficult to have both when you’re as iconoclastic as I am.

Then, this new site called Kickstarter went live, which I discovered after a handful of indie game development teams started using it for fundraising. I found myself really liking that the site focusses specifically on quirky, personal art projects and encourages a general atmosphere of creativity and personalisation, so I figured it might just be the perfect home for a project like Life Flashes By. A couple of weeks ago, I asked my friend Vince Twelve, whose game Resonance [1] is on the site, if he had any invite codes to spare, and as luck would have it, he had exactly one left. So, I grabbed it, and after spending a good chunk of time tinkering around, my project page is now up! [2]

But wait! There’s more…

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a Blogs of the Round Table post. This month’s topic is dénouements:

How can the denouement be incorporated into gameplay? In literary forms, it is most often the events that take place after the plot’s climax that form your lasting opinion of the story. A well constructed denouement acts almost as a payoff, where protagonists and antagonists alike realize and adjust to the consequences of their actions. Serial media often ignored the denouement in favor of the cliffhanger, in order to entice viewers to return. Television has further diluted the denouement by turning it into a quick resolution that tidily fits into the time after the final commercial break.

But the denouement is most neglected in video games where it is often relegated to a short congratulatory cut scene, or at most–a slide show of consequences. This month’s topic challenges you to explore how the denouement can be expressed as gameplay.

Now, as many of you no doubt know, I’m a big proponent of interactively exploring the consequences of one’s actions. I’ve even written an entire game around that subject! That said, the mention of a lack of a dénouement was what piqued my interest about this topic the most; in fact, it reminded me of a post I wrote two years ago on unresolved endings, particularly as they pertain to slice-of-life stories.

But wait! There’s more…

The last month’s been more than a little crazy for me, so I haven’t really had the time or inclination to blog for quite some time. I’d like to try and rectify that; while Twitter and Facebook have provided convenient avenues for broadcasting bite-sized glimpses into what goes on in my head, sometimes it really is true that 140 characters just isn’t enough.

I also notice that I haven’t really written much in the way of “what I’m working on” posts in quite some time. I write about things I’ve already finished, sure, but as I’ve intimated before, I sometimes feel like I’m treading into sales pitches, which tends to make me feel uncomfortable and out of my element. In an ideal world, the games I write would speak for themselves and I could happily rely on other people to write about them so I wouldn’t have to feel sleazy. But I digress. I think the reason I feel a little better about writing about works in progress is because it feels more open and earnest, like I’m inviting you behind the scenes to show you how and why I’m doing what I’m doing, and allowing you, in a way, to collaborate with me in some small form. Creating projects of this nature is a very solitary pursuit for me, which has its blessings — if I weren’t your textbook introvert, I wouldn’t be doing this at all — but too much isolation can easily cause me to lose touch with reality. You could say I’m seeking a balance of sorts.

But wait! There’s more…

I’ve been home sick for the past several days, fighting off some sort of rather nasty convention plague. I have, for the time being, been fortunate enough to manage avoiding the dreaded H1N1 that appears to have reached over a hundred fellow con-goers, which is a small consolation, I suppose. (EDIT: turns out I was indeed one of the H1N1 sufferers, but fortunately, the worst is over!) As I intimated on Twitter, I have reason to believe that EA’s Dante’s Inferno marketing campaign probably has something to do with this particular outbreak. After all, no other company is both rich and foolhardy enough to hire the services of Pestilence himself, right?

Anyway, now that I’m at least coherent enough to make it through a blog post, I figured I’d give all you folks watching at home that PAX recap I promised earlier. Suffice to say, if there’s anything out there that’s worth getting this sick over, this year’s PAX was definitely it, at least for me. I came carrying several months of anger at the video game industry and frustration about the future of my career, and left feeling newly invigorated and hopeful about where life will take me next. Not an easy effect to have on me, I tell you.

But wait! There’s more…

This weekend, I’m going to be making my annual pilgrimage to the Penny Arcade Expo taking place in the magical land of Seattle. Of course, as I alluded in an earlier post, I’m attending for the first time ever as a speaker, talking about fun things like ladybusiness [1] and sax ‘n violins in games. If you happen to be making an appearance at the expo as well, you’ll be able to find me at the following times:

Saturday, 10:30am – 11:30am, Unicorn Theatre
Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry

Sunday, 1:00pm – 2:00pm, Serpent Theatre
Murder, Sex & Drugs

You’ll also be able to find me intermittently at the Hothead Games booth, where we’ll be previewing plenty of DeathSpank goodies in our continued attempts to convince you to buy the game when it comes out so I can still keep on having a day job.

Also, for those of you who aren’t able to attend PAX, or who are and just can’t get enough of the dulcet tones of my voice, I recorded a podcast over the weekend for the Gamers Confab, run by Michael Abbot of Brainy Gamer and also featuring Corvus Elrod and Matthew Gallant. In it, we talk about a couple of recent game industry controversies — mainly, those surrounding the Dante’s Inferno Sin to Win contest and Orson Scott Card’s involvement in Shadow Complex — as well as about the growing landscape of indie games and how we hope they’ll combat such silliness. Give it a listen!