Monday, June 22, 2009

Hibernation time


Like the mighty bear during the winter months, I have burrowed deep into my cave for the summer. Man, I wish I had a cave. It sounds like that would be so cool and shady. Bit by bit, I’ve turned my office into a cave-like replica, though. It’s cooler if I don’t have the sun blazing in all day, so the shades are drawn. Megan brings me berries and pads the floor with straw. It’s nice enough that I rarely go outside because I’ll either melt or run into someone who insists on asking, “Hot enough for ya?” I would have to kill that person.

Despite being really busy (STILL working on draft 2, but almost done) I’ve had some time for gaming. First of all, Ghostbusters is freaking GREAT! I was grinning like an idiot the first time I heard the siren of Ecto-1B (yes, 1B because Ecto 1 was in the first movie and Ecto-1A was in the second.) Stupid details like that really make this game sing. For the first several minutes, I just wandered around the firehouse looking at all the stuff on the tables and scattered throughout the building. The strainer hat Louis wore in GB 1 is on a table. The Vigo painting is in the garage. There’s even stains on the sheets from that one VERY friendly ghost from that montage in 1. Ok, so maybe they left that detail out, but a lot of others are in there. You use the PKE meter and of course you use the proton pack. Oh my lord, the proton pack! They nail it from every sound (turning it on, firing the stream, cutting off the stream) to the rotating lights on the back. Next to a lightsaber, this is the piece of sci-fi equipment I’ve always wanted and this game gets pretty damn close to burning someone’s face off. Speaking of lightsabers, there’s still no good saber game on the Wii. And speaking of the Wii, I got to try Ghostbusters on the Wii. Now, the graphics aren’t as good, but they purposely went for the cartoon-version on this one. While they’re not the dudes from the Real Ghostbusters cartoon (which I watched religiously back in the day and yes, I was probably too old for it even back then), the Wii game has a great feel to it. The proton pack is aimed using the Wiimote, but I really got a kick out of throwing out the traps which you roll out with the same motion used by the pros (sort of a bowling motion). Megan liked this version better because of the split-screen co-op mode.

Another awesome game that just came out was Magic: The Gathering on Xbox Live Arcade. I got heavily into the card game for a few years around the release of the 7th Edition. It’s fun and pretty much the geek equivalent of smoking crack. Once you get a taste, you gotta have MORE, no matter how much you got to steal or who you gotta scam to get them cards. Was I a tournament-level player? No. Was I close? Ehhhh, maybe on my best days, but it was still fun to play with friends. Plus, it was during the time in St. Louis when I had a great D&D group going. Those were some expensive trips to the comic book shop every week. Pick up the new comics, maybe get a new monster sourcebook and top it off with some Magic booster packs. Megan actually stayed with me through those times. That’s love. Anyway, the Magic game on Live is as accurate as you can get on a console. Even better, you can unlock decks and cards by just playing the game instead of buying each one for an additional fee. I’m sure there’ll be downloadable content, but it’s nice to have so much variety for $10 (about the price of 1 real deck). Am I a lot better at the game now that I’m older and wiser? Hell no. I played a few games in the general population of Live and got annihilated. Still, the AI opponents are fun and (better yet) I got Webmaster Steve hooked so I have an opponent. It’ll probably be about a week or two before I get beat every game, but it’s still a good time.

Despite all this video game talk, I honestly haven’t had as much time as I would like to play. It’s been more of a welcome distraction from the self-imposed isolation / slave driving of editing. I need to force myself to come up for air lately and when I do it feels like a vacation. You know the look on that kid’s face from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Indy frees him from that mine? That’s how I feel after taking a break to bust some ghosts or flip some cards around. Then that big dude with the whip and beard shows up to force me back to my editing. There’s no real dude like that, but it feels like it. Or is there a real guy? I don’t know anymore. Maybe I should stop working until 4AM.

This is what happens without editors

I'm Marcus Pelegrimas, author of the SKINNERS series. Here you'll find various ramblings about movies, video games, TV, and...oh yeah...those books I write. If there's anything you'd like to discuss, just let me know. I try to update whenever the mood strikes me, so feel free to leave comments. There may be some occasional foul language, but anyone who's too easily offended probably doesn't read my stuff anyway.

Free Stuff

Here's how it goes. As usual, I've got my truckload of promo covers from EOS Books. I'll be going to some conventions, so I hope to see you there and I'll gladly sign your books. If you can't make it to a con, just email me your name, address and any inscription so I can send you a signed cover.


BONUS ---> If you would be so kind as to write up a review for any or all Skinners books and publish it on a site like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, or any other major review site, I can send you something extra. I made up some bookmarks (which I'll sign) and I've even put together some Shimmy's VIP passes (which I'll also sign). Can't guarantee the passes will get you into a real strip club, but I think they look pretty cool. Send me a link to your review along with your name, address and inscription, and I'll get these out to you as well.