Watched the Vampire Lestat finale last night. It didn't end like I - or, I suspect, anyone - expected, but overall? What a magnificent adaptation. It took liberties but, like the best adaptations, it still reached to the heart of the material and sometimes elevated it. Such great performances, too.

Awesome to see that so many lovely people landed here. Really looking forward to hearing more about the Concierge!

North Mist Studios@northmiststudios.bsky.social · 3w ago

North Mist Studios is a collection of former BioWare video game developers, including senior narrative team members behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. Now, we're working on a brand new title: The Concierge, a story of Canadian Assassins in a Spy-Thriller Office Drama.

A lovely Canada Day to everyone back home! I still miss it, some days. I miss the cheese, the plentiful places to park, the bacon, the way people respect your personal space... but most of all I miss my friends. 50 years of Canadian life is never going to go away entirely. ❤️🫎

There are a few games (Star Citizen, mostly) which have been fully-funded by KS, but you're right in that, for most, the KS goal is a drop in the bucket. Mostly for visibility and to get the ball rolling. Yet many walk away with the idea that the goal is the entire budget... which is hardly ever so.

David Lindsey Pittman@dphrygian.com · last mo.

Low Kickstarter goals have skewed people's understanding of what it actually costs to make a game. No, maybe not every developer is going to be asking for a six figure salary, but generally you should consider NUMBER OF DEVS × AVERAGE SALARY × TIME IN DEVELOPMENT and realize how expensive games are.

Since I moved to Melbourne, every morning I'm greeted by the high-pitched warbling of birds outside. Indeed, their warble has come to represent mornings, to me. I always assumed it was some exotic Australian species, but I finally looked it up and... it's the magpies. 😅

"And he does, indeed, go on." When I start a rant, there's really no stopping me, and apparently I ranted enough during my chat about AI with @woodwould.bsky.social that he was able to write an entire other article about it. 😅

Austin Wood@woodwould.bsky.social · last mo.

I'm back at work! The latest in this series of gen AI-focused articles is Dragon Age and Summerfall's @davidgaider.bsky.social mincing no words www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/ge...

How weird. I *just* rewatched the original a few days ago and idly wondered why it never got a sequel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho10...

Practical Magic 2 | Official Trailer

YouTube video by Warner Bros.

youtube.com

The third episode of the Vampire Lestat is the best one yet, wow! The showrunners are really hitting their stride with the new tone, now. Toronto doesn't deserve to be the setting for it, mind you, but otherwise I'm really excited to see how the rest of the adaptation plays out.

Finished Esoteric Ebb. Think: Fantasy Disco Elysium using legit D&D rules, where your stats (Strength, Dex, etc) are your inner voices that talk to you. Tongue-in-cheek without being goofy, enjoyable story, liked it a lot more than I thought I would at the start. Worth your time.

I am frozen and curled up on the couch under three blankets and have never seen Legally Blonde. So… here we go.

Great article on generative AI in game dev by @woodwould.bsky.social, for which he interviewed me as well as many other devs. Give it a read! Real journalism! Whoo!

Austin Wood@woodwould.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I spent the last few months talking to over 30 game developers about generative AI. It began as a sort of interview survey but became a pretty comprehensive collection of arguments against the technology altogether. www.gamesradar.com/games/why-so...

Saw Disclosure Day. Went in knowing next to nothing, didn't even watch a trailer. It was... enjoyable. Felt about 20 years out of date, though, for an era where people still believed in news and not conspiracy theories. Spielberg has always been that optimistic, though, and it was still a fun watch.

Despite appearances, we had perhaps the best D&D heist game I've ever presided over. Perfect tension, interweaving of separate stories, chaotic exit - it was all *chef's kiss* (even if nobody died). www.tiktok.com/@ellalowgren...

DM David Gaider and his problem players who all partied then rocked up to the session on 4 hours of sleep. #dungeonsanddragons #dndtiktok #dndcrew #dndplayer #dndmeme @SlimothyJames @Mads Colvin @Swan...

TikTok video by Ella Lowgren

tiktok.com

Man, if you've read Anne Rice's books, you'll understand why the new Vampire Lestat show is SO different, stylistically, from Interview with the Vampire. They took a big swing and, for me, it connected... but I could see how someone might come into that from the first two seasons and be all WTAF. 😅

As someone who also once chided my fellow Melbournians over what they considered "cold", this is too real: www.tiktok.com/@alexandratu...

Australian winter suffering is so real #australia #aussiethings #lifeinaustralia #cultureshock

TikTok video by alexandratuohey

tiktok.com

As much as I didn't care for most of Euphoria's last season, and felt like I was watching a completely different show, I have to say that I actually enjoyed the conclusion. They somehow rescued a theme out of all that, didn't pull any punches, and stuck the landing. More or less.

The moment I saw that the next God of War stars a female character (Kratos' wife, and it's not a prequel, which is awesome), I could already sense the collective manosphere rising from its hole in the ground like a bubbling turd.

Finished watching the Boroughs. Was intrigued with the first 2/3 - solid premise, nice drip-feed and creepy suspense - only to have it kind of fall apart in the last 1/3 as it turned into a different kind of show, like it was written by someone else completely, and too many things left unexplained.

Catching up on the new season of Euphoria and I'm like "what even am I watching?" It's like a completely different show. They've all moved on from high school and now it's Donnie Brasco or something. I am kinda enjoying Nate getting the everloving shit kicked out of him every episode, mind you.

The discourse around Mixtape is really something. It's like "if a game receives a good score and it wasn't made for my personal tastes, CLEARLY something is amiss!" Game doesn't look like it's made for my personal tastes, either, but it looks crazy fun. If I were a millennial, I'd be all over it.

How funny to complain about wanting a way to reduce the God Mode percentage in Hades 2 only to discover they put exactly that into the last patch. Now THAT is a fast response! 😅

I really like the God Mode in Hades 2, as it advances slowly enough it reaches an equilibrium where it becomes *just* challenging enough for your personal skill level. The only problem is that the randomness (and the trials, which are hit-and-miss with difficulty) means you'll still die sometimes.

A lovely excerpt from @charlottereber.com's book on Dragon Age 2, talking about the Writers' Pit and the writing team. I'd completely forgotten about the "Days Since Last Discussion of Cannibalism" sign. 😅 aftermath.site/boss-fight-d...

Inside The Dragon Age II 'Writers' Pit'

“People who weren’t writers were very leery of going in there, because if they did, they wouldn’t leave for a while, because we would suck them into some conversation. […] It’s where productivity went...

aftermath.site

My afternoon flight got canceled, and Qantas bumped me to an early morning flight instead... in a middle seat, no less. Fine, I thought. It's just 90 min. I can endure. Yet nobody showed up for the other two seats. Entire row to myself! Is my flight karma *finally* restored? 🙏

Jaws. For many years after, I was scared of water. I feared sharks would come out of the swimming pool drains, even though I knew it was completely irrational to fear that.

My one big annoyance about this trip? Hades 2 released on consoles yesterday, which I'd been holding out for. I actually spent five whole minutes considering whether it'd be feasible to pack my PS5 and bring it with me.

Also, as a great start to this trip, I spent last night packing and fretting about every little thing only to realize just as the Uber was leaving that I'd forgotten my wallet. Could be worse, I suppose. Could have realized this upon arriving at the airport. Or Hobart. 😵‍💫

This is my first time using a boarding pass that only exists in my phone. I know, I know, but after 30-odd years of frequent flying there's something concrete and comforting about having a printed pass I can hold onto. I keep feeling like I've misplaced something. 😅

I'm heading to Hobart tomorrow to speak at Level Up Tasmania. Any suggestions regarding what I should do or see while I'm there? I hear a lot of things about Tas, but... most of them can't be true, surely.