The title sequence for this LEGO promotion video makes LEGO look like one of the most fun places to work on the planet. Then again...employees get paid to make and play with LEGOs and that almost by definition makes it one of the most fun places to work.
This video promotes the upcoming Tower of Orthanc set for their LORD OF THE RINGS line. Most of the line has been expensive but amazing and this set looks to continue the tradition.
Not only do you get the tower, which would make an awesome set piece for a game day, but an Ent!
History and Mystery aren't quite old enough for these huge LEGO kits, but I cannot wait until they are.
Friday, April 26, 2013
The Greatest Event In Television History
Jeff Probst, Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, and Adam Scott team up to do a send up of the "greatest event" specials of the 1980s. The key to getting this kind of parody correct is to have the parody be a good version of what is being made fun of and this is damn near perfect.
RIP Jon Hamm.
RIP Jon Hamm.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Jim Beaver (Supernatural) Discusses Buster Keaton's OUR HOSPITALITY
It's hard to describe in words the brilliance of the comedic stunt work of early Hollywood action-comedians like Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd. Their willingness to risk life and limb to entertain audiences -- even with the safety procedures they did use -- is mind boggling. The best way to use words to describe their endeavors are usually names, names of artists who have attempted similarly insane comedic stunts. You can tell a modern audience that many of Jackie Chan's stunts were inspired by the work of Keaton, and that does a pretty effective job. But for my generation, who encountered Jackie Chan as he entered the American Market with THE BIG BRAWL, a better comparison is Disney's character Goofy. Many of the animated stunt comedy shorts that feature Goofy are based on the comedic endeavors of Keaton and Lloyd.
Think about that for a minute. Animation, with its infinite ability to show the unreal, was used to tell stories inspired by the real world stunt work of real world comedians.
Actor Jim Beaver has a column over at IndieWire entitled "Beaver's Lodge," and in his most recent (and second) installment he discusses Buster Keaton's film OUR HOSPITALITY. Watch his discussion and tell me you don't want to watch this film.
Think about that for a minute. Animation, with its infinite ability to show the unreal, was used to tell stories inspired by the real world stunt work of real world comedians.
Actor Jim Beaver has a column over at IndieWire entitled "Beaver's Lodge," and in his most recent (and second) installment he discusses Buster Keaton's film OUR HOSPITALITY. Watch his discussion and tell me you don't want to watch this film.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
[From the Archives] SUPERCREW -- Quick and Easy Superhero Role Playing
Back in 2010, I wrote a review for a Swedish super hero roleplaying game called THE SUPERCREW. Some time has passed since that review, so given the obscurity of the game I thought that I would share the review again.
I have made some slight edits to update the review and provided information from an update I did a couple of months after the initial review. This is a rare game, but you should check it out.
Every now and then, there comes along a product that manages to simultaneously appeal to several of my obsessions. The Supercrew roleplaying game by Tobias Radesaeter is one of those products. The game combines my interest with the indie game movement with my obsessive need to own every superhero roleplaying game ever published. As numerous re-reads of Superhero 2044 prove to me time and time again, the targets of my obsession do not always lead to enjoyable (or even understandable in the case of 2044) experiences.
The superhero genre features characters of near unlimited potential, and who possess a vast array of capabilities. Any game designed to emulate the feel of the source material faces a daunting challenge. How does one design a game that can simulate an almost infinite collection of powers and abilities, yet is also as fast and exciting as the source material being emulated? It's not easy to do, and it is one of the reasons that some successful superhero systems are also successful "universal" systems. For a while, it seemed as if all decent superhero systems were also universal systems. The indie game movement, with games like Capes, proved that being universal wasn't a necessary condition of a superhero game and that games could be designed based on emulating the feel of comics without granularly emulating the physics of them.
Games like Capes are a part of the narrative focused game design that influences a lot of what is going on the indie gaming community. Design choices in these games focuses more on how a particular mechanic can help to create a collaborative "playing story" rather than a quantified gaming representation of "reality." To be reductive for a moment, these games have a narrative rather than a gamist focus.
Supercrew takes a fairly strong narrativist approach to the superhero genre in it design choices, and even makes one small quip regarding gamist style games, and even presents its rules in a narrative format.
Supercrew's thirty-page booklet presents the games rules in a comic-book panel format. The first game to attempt this approach was the unplayable He-Man and the Masters of the Universe RPG by FASA. It's a novel approach to introducing roleplaying concepts and mechanics, and in the case of Supercrew is done in an effective manner. The rules are presented in a logical and engaging manner. They are also very easy to understand, making this game a potentially great introductory roleplaying game -- in addition to its potential use as a narrative rpg for experienced gamers.
GAME CONCEPT
Supercrew begins with an interesting premise as a game within a game. The central conceit of Supercrew is that all of the superheroes designed by the players are their own alter-egos. As the game explains it, "The players play super-powered versions of themselves. Each adventure starts with them playing a role-playing game when they hear about some kind of emergency they have to stop." You read that right. The players are playing characters who are playing a roleplaying game that gets interrupted and needs their superheroic intervention. When I first read that the players play versions of themselves, I was reminded of the character design system for the revised edition of Villains and Vigilantes so I didn't think Supercrew's approach was too novel. Then I read the sentence where the rules describe it as a game where the "characters" have shown up to play an rpg, only to have it interrupted, and a number of wonderful uses for this game popped to mind -- this is before I read a single rule.
Every group has players who show up late, or cannot make it to a particular session. If your group is playing in a long term campaign, you often don't want to continue the adventure without the player as it could make the player feel left out as their characters don't earn as many experience points or miss out on key plot points. You also have to consider the feelings of those players who did show up. They are there to have a good time and to play a game. If your group agrees to use Supercrew as the backup campaign, it's central conceit is perfect for these occasions. Let's say Jim doesn't show up to your regular D&D campaign. You begin the session as normal, "when we last left our heroes," but somewhere in the middle of the first encounter you do your best radio static impression and blurt out "News Alert! Baron Ravenblood and Persecutus are holding the city hostage threatening to destroy the Gas Company building unless the mayor wires $1 billion into their bank account by 3pm." The players grab their Supercrew character sheets, and their "characters" excuse themselves from the D&D game to fight for great justice!
Sounds like fun, but does the system work?
GAME SYSTEM
Characters in Supercrew are constructed using three main abilities and three tricks which are particular uses of these abilities. The powers are ranked from 3 - 1 in order of power. Three is the most powerful ability, two is the most frequently used ability, and 1 is the least powerful ability. It doesn't sound like a lot of powers to give a character, but it actuality this is a pretty robust system.
For example:
The effects of powers are determined by the roll of ordinary six-sided dice. The player rolls a number of dice equal to the abilities rating. Those dice that have a result of 4 or greater are considered successes, lower results are considered failures. This is a system similar in basic structure to Burning Wheel or White Wolf's World of Darkness systems where pools of dice are rolled and successes counted based on the results of individual dice.
The game enforces the use of ineffective powers, and limits the usage of the most potent powers, by requiring that heroes spend "hero points" in order to activate the rank 3 power. The only way to acquire hero points is to either use your rank 1 power or to be knocked unconscious in a battle. Each of these gives the character a hero point that may be spent later to activate rank 3 powers. This is an elegant design choice that undermines overt power-gaming where players would minimize/maximize abilities to tweak a game system in their favor and hold more "power" than other gamers. In this system, that is relatively impossible. Even if the player chooses a broad ability descriptor, like Superior!, since how an ability is used is determined when the player's describe what they are doing the broad descriptor is no more useful than the narrow one. After all, the Shade Knight can apply his "Keen Intellect" descriptor just as broadly as Superior!'s Inert-Gas-ian Physique.
For any given task, the Game Master sets a success threshold. The individual character can only contribute toward passing that threshold, once per round -- or once per task for certain tasks. Teams must work together to succeed at fighting earthquakes and burning buildings.
In combat, and in other situations, the player first states what ability they wish to use. They do not describe how the power is used, or its effects, until the number of successes achieved is known. In a recent post discussing the Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin, I discussed how I liked how Dragon Age's stunt system allowed for more narrative combats. Supercrew's system is attempting a similar effect here, the benefits of "roll before you describe" are discussed at length at GamePlayWright. Once the player knows how many successes the character has achieved, and how many total successes are needed for an action, that player -- whether he completed the task or not -- describes what happens. This game is very much about the player, knowing the results, creating the narrative regarding how his/her character succeeded or failed. Typical of many modern narrative games, this player empowering approach can be disorienting or empowering depending on your group's preferred method of play.
The combat rules are an extension of the basic task resolution system, and the game provides some excellent examples of how they would represent villains, groups of thugs, or hazardous events like building fires.
The system looks like it works and it looks fun. Simple but able to simulate a broad array of activities, what designers often call "robust."
CRITICISMS OF THE GAME
I have two major, and one minor, criticisms of Supercrew.
While the game provides some examples of how they would represent villains, thugs, and hazards, the game provides not guidelines or benchmarks to help the game master. Experienced game masters may not technically need these in order to run a game, but they would be exceedingly helpful. This is an even larger flaw when considering the fledgling game master. The games rules and concepts are perfect for the new gamer, in addition to the experienced gamer, but the new gamer needs more assistance when creating opponents for their players. Some comments regarding balancing encounters, more than just the examples, would have been greatly appreciated.
The game also lacks any real online support, which is tragic as the game deserves more. The rule book says to visit the Kaleidoskop site for character sheets etc., but the majority of game aids are in Swedish. For example, their Hjältegalleri which features a number of characters created using the system is entirely in Swedish. It would be helpful to have English versions of the characters. While it isn't difficult to figure out what Gravitationskontroll or Noll Friktion are in English, Osynlighetskappa is another matter entirely. Thankfully, Christopher B at A Rust Monster Ate My Sword has designed an excellent character sheet for use in the game.
Lastly, and this is a minor quibble, the game's prose isn't quite funny enough. I would have liked more jokes. Given the entertaining cartoony art in the rulebook, some more jokes would have been appreciated. Maybe it's just the translation that lacks the humor, but I'd have liked more.
In conclusion, I think that this is an excellent game at a reasonable price. It isn't likely to replace Savage Worlds' Necessary Evil campaign in my game rotation any time soon, but I think I'll be trying to fit it in when some players don't show up for our regular sessions.
I wish some of the early professional efforts where as clearly explained and thought out as this gem.
I have made some slight edits to update the review and provided information from an update I did a couple of months after the initial review. This is a rare game, but you should check it out.
Every now and then, there comes along a product that manages to simultaneously appeal to several of my obsessions. The Supercrew roleplaying game by Tobias Radesaeter is one of those products. The game combines my interest with the indie game movement with my obsessive need to own every superhero roleplaying game ever published. As numerous re-reads of Superhero 2044 prove to me time and time again, the targets of my obsession do not always lead to enjoyable (or even understandable in the case of 2044) experiences.
The superhero genre features characters of near unlimited potential, and who possess a vast array of capabilities. Any game designed to emulate the feel of the source material faces a daunting challenge. How does one design a game that can simulate an almost infinite collection of powers and abilities, yet is also as fast and exciting as the source material being emulated? It's not easy to do, and it is one of the reasons that some successful superhero systems are also successful "universal" systems. For a while, it seemed as if all decent superhero systems were also universal systems. The indie game movement, with games like Capes, proved that being universal wasn't a necessary condition of a superhero game and that games could be designed based on emulating the feel of comics without granularly emulating the physics of them.
Games like Capes are a part of the narrative focused game design that influences a lot of what is going on the indie gaming community. Design choices in these games focuses more on how a particular mechanic can help to create a collaborative "playing story" rather than a quantified gaming representation of "reality." To be reductive for a moment, these games have a narrative rather than a gamist focus.
Supercrew takes a fairly strong narrativist approach to the superhero genre in it design choices, and even makes one small quip regarding gamist style games, and even presents its rules in a narrative format.
Supercrew's thirty-page booklet presents the games rules in a comic-book panel format. The first game to attempt this approach was the unplayable He-Man and the Masters of the Universe RPG by FASA. It's a novel approach to introducing roleplaying concepts and mechanics, and in the case of Supercrew is done in an effective manner. The rules are presented in a logical and engaging manner. They are also very easy to understand, making this game a potentially great introductory roleplaying game -- in addition to its potential use as a narrative rpg for experienced gamers.
GAME CONCEPT
Supercrew begins with an interesting premise as a game within a game. The central conceit of Supercrew is that all of the superheroes designed by the players are their own alter-egos. As the game explains it, "The players play super-powered versions of themselves. Each adventure starts with them playing a role-playing game when they hear about some kind of emergency they have to stop." You read that right. The players are playing characters who are playing a roleplaying game that gets interrupted and needs their superheroic intervention. When I first read that the players play versions of themselves, I was reminded of the character design system for the revised edition of Villains and Vigilantes so I didn't think Supercrew's approach was too novel. Then I read the sentence where the rules describe it as a game where the "characters" have shown up to play an rpg, only to have it interrupted, and a number of wonderful uses for this game popped to mind -- this is before I read a single rule.
Every group has players who show up late, or cannot make it to a particular session. If your group is playing in a long term campaign, you often don't want to continue the adventure without the player as it could make the player feel left out as their characters don't earn as many experience points or miss out on key plot points. You also have to consider the feelings of those players who did show up. They are there to have a good time and to play a game. If your group agrees to use Supercrew as the backup campaign, it's central conceit is perfect for these occasions. Let's say Jim doesn't show up to your regular D&D campaign. You begin the session as normal, "when we last left our heroes," but somewhere in the middle of the first encounter you do your best radio static impression and blurt out "News Alert! Baron Ravenblood and Persecutus are holding the city hostage threatening to destroy the Gas Company building unless the mayor wires $1 billion into their bank account by 3pm." The players grab their Supercrew character sheets, and their "characters" excuse themselves from the D&D game to fight for great justice!
Sounds like fun, but does the system work?
GAME SYSTEM
Characters in Supercrew are constructed using three main abilities and three tricks which are particular uses of these abilities. The powers are ranked from 3 - 1 in order of power. Three is the most powerful ability, two is the most frequently used ability, and 1 is the least powerful ability. It doesn't sound like a lot of powers to give a character, but it actuality this is a pretty robust system.
For example:
Christian wants to make a character based on everyone's favorite Flight, Invulnerability, and Super-Strength character. To avoid copyright attorneys suing his game group, he decides to name the character Superior! He give the character the following powers Heat Vision, Inert_Gas-ian Physique, and Flight. He states that Heat Vision is Superior!'s most potent ability (as is often described regarding our favoring FISS character, though rarely believed) at rating 3. Inert_Gas-ian Physique, Superior!'s most frequently used power, is given a rating of 2. Finally, Christian gives Flight a rating of 1.
Inert_Gas-ian Physique is a broad descriptor that encompasses super-strength, super-speed, x-ray vision, super-breath, and invulnerability. There is no reason to quantify each individual power, as would be done in more granular systems, since the broad descriptor's effectiveness is determined by the associated rating.
The effects of powers are determined by the roll of ordinary six-sided dice. The player rolls a number of dice equal to the abilities rating. Those dice that have a result of 4 or greater are considered successes, lower results are considered failures. This is a system similar in basic structure to Burning Wheel or White Wolf's World of Darkness systems where pools of dice are rolled and successes counted based on the results of individual dice.
The game enforces the use of ineffective powers, and limits the usage of the most potent powers, by requiring that heroes spend "hero points" in order to activate the rank 3 power. The only way to acquire hero points is to either use your rank 1 power or to be knocked unconscious in a battle. Each of these gives the character a hero point that may be spent later to activate rank 3 powers. This is an elegant design choice that undermines overt power-gaming where players would minimize/maximize abilities to tweak a game system in their favor and hold more "power" than other gamers. In this system, that is relatively impossible. Even if the player chooses a broad ability descriptor, like Superior!, since how an ability is used is determined when the player's describe what they are doing the broad descriptor is no more useful than the narrow one. After all, the Shade Knight can apply his "Keen Intellect" descriptor just as broadly as Superior!'s Inert-Gas-ian Physique.
For any given task, the Game Master sets a success threshold. The individual character can only contribute toward passing that threshold, once per round -- or once per task for certain tasks. Teams must work together to succeed at fighting earthquakes and burning buildings.
In combat, and in other situations, the player first states what ability they wish to use. They do not describe how the power is used, or its effects, until the number of successes achieved is known. In a recent post discussing the Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin, I discussed how I liked how Dragon Age's stunt system allowed for more narrative combats. Supercrew's system is attempting a similar effect here, the benefits of "roll before you describe" are discussed at length at GamePlayWright. Once the player knows how many successes the character has achieved, and how many total successes are needed for an action, that player -- whether he completed the task or not -- describes what happens. This game is very much about the player, knowing the results, creating the narrative regarding how his/her character succeeded or failed. Typical of many modern narrative games, this player empowering approach can be disorienting or empowering depending on your group's preferred method of play.
The combat rules are an extension of the basic task resolution system, and the game provides some excellent examples of how they would represent villains, groups of thugs, or hazardous events like building fires.
The system looks like it works and it looks fun. Simple but able to simulate a broad array of activities, what designers often call "robust."
CRITICISMS OF THE GAME
I have two major, and one minor, criticisms of Supercrew.
While the game provides some examples of how they would represent villains, thugs, and hazards, the game provides not guidelines or benchmarks to help the game master. Experienced game masters may not technically need these in order to run a game, but they would be exceedingly helpful. This is an even larger flaw when considering the fledgling game master. The games rules and concepts are perfect for the new gamer, in addition to the experienced gamer, but the new gamer needs more assistance when creating opponents for their players. Some comments regarding balancing encounters, more than just the examples, would have been greatly appreciated.
The game also lacks any real online support, which is tragic as the game deserves more. The rule book says to visit the Kaleidoskop site for character sheets etc., but the majority of game aids are in Swedish. For example, their Hjältegalleri which features a number of characters created using the system is entirely in Swedish. It would be helpful to have English versions of the characters. While it isn't difficult to figure out what Gravitationskontroll or Noll Friktion are in English, Osynlighetskappa is another matter entirely. Thankfully, Christopher B at A Rust Monster Ate My Sword has designed an excellent character sheet for use in the game.
Lastly, and this is a minor quibble, the game's prose isn't quite funny enough. I would have liked more jokes. Given the entertaining cartoony art in the rulebook, some more jokes would have been appreciated. Maybe it's just the translation that lacks the humor, but I'd have liked more.
In conclusion, I think that this is an excellent game at a reasonable price. It isn't likely to replace Savage Worlds' Necessary Evil campaign in my game rotation any time soon, but I think I'll be trying to fit it in when some players don't show up for our regular sessions.
I wish some of the early professional efforts where as clearly explained and thought out as this gem.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Watch THOR: THE DARK WORLD Trailer and Ask..."Hey, where's Drizz't?"
Looks pretty good to me.
Wouldn't it be great if Hasbro released a Heroscape based skirmish game for this film?
Monday, April 22, 2013
Heroes of Normandie: Bridging the Gap Between Euro, Rpg-er, and Grognard?
The vast majority of the gaming I participate in on a regular basis is role playing, Euro, or Ameri-treasure. I own a large number of role playing games, and I get to play many of them with my gaming group. I have a sizable Euro and Ameri-treasure collection and am often able to convince my regular gaming group to pause our campaigns to play a quick game of MUNCHKIN, GLOOM, or CATAN. This means I get to play a lot of wonderful games...and yet all this gaming doesn't sate my gaming appetite. You see, I am cursed with a voracious and insatiable ludographic desire to play games from all genre/classifications. In addition to the game genres above, I love miniatures gaming and microscopic chit based monster wargames. It's not hard to find people to play miniature games with, though they do have to be willing to tolerate my "primer gray" armies.
It is nigh impossible to find people who have the time and interest to play microscopic chit based wargames -- even of the less than monster variety.
This is why so many of the chit based wargames include a "solitaire" rating on the side of the box. A lot of us GMT, MMP, DECISION, and old AH and SPI gamers have to be willing to play many of these games ourselves. This is because the chit based wargame can be an intimidating beast. The games often focus heavily on simulation -- accurately portraying a historical event -- instead of playability and that can lead to some extremely complex rules. Check out the rule book for A WORLD AT WAR, which comes in at 192 pages, and you get a small glimpse of what I mean. Avalon Hill's ADVANCED SQUAD LEADER is similarly intimidating, but the old SQUAD LEADER -- with it's programmed learning system -- is less so.
The other disadvantage that some of these games have is that they are often not very graphically appealing. This has changed over the past decade, but a look at some of the classics of the simulation genre with their abstract unit notations can be off-putting as well.
These limitations led to the near death of the wargaming hobby in the early 90s, but innovations in graphic design and rules have led to growth in the field so that the hobby is now fairly stable. Stable, but for those of us who love it still to small. This is why "crossover" games are so important. These are games that fall within the wargame milieu, while also appealing to other gamers. Games like MEMOIR '44 and BATTLELORE (both using the Command & Colors system) are great examples of this kind of game. These two games have simpler rules that appeal to the Eurogamer, while still having customizeability, expandability, and rich enough mechanics to satisfy the wargamer itch. There are other games that cross the Eurogamer/Wargamer line, and there are those that cross the RPG/Wargamer line. Games like DUST TACTICS have some appeal to RPG gamers and incorporate wargame elements -- though they push players over more toward miniatures gaming than wargaming. If one views DESCENT by FFG as a skirmish game -- which I do -- it too has some crossover appeal.
There aren't many games that try to have Euro/RPG/Wargamer appeal, and it looks like the French Designers at Devil Pig Games are trying to do exactly that with their current Kickstarter campaign "Heroes of Normandie." The game looks like a simple to play Euro/Wargame crossover, and the addition of the ACHTUNG CTHULHU! inspired Cthulhu expansion "Shadows Over Normandy" it looks like they are trying to get the whole trifecta involved.
I'm not surprised that it is a French company that would be among the first to try to come up with a game that crosses all three genre. The French wargame seen is huge and the wargame magazine BATTLES is one of the best in the business. There is a strong French RPG industry that has seen some of its games, like IN NOMINE, imported to the United States -- though I'm still waiting for C.O.P.S. to find its way to our shores. And Eurogames are exploding in France as they are in the rest of the world.
The Devil Pigs Games crew seem to be leveraging all of the attributes that contribute to the robust wargaming industry in France and bringing them over to an internationally distributed game. One look at one of the insert wargames in BATTLES magazine, or at the games advertised in the magazine, and you can see that the French gaming industry is doing some amazing things graphically and thematically with their games. HEROES OF NORMANDIE looks to be no exception. Have a look at these game play videos to see what I mean. The graphics on the pieces are wonderful, and the statistics on the pieces appear to be easy to understand. This looks to be a wonderful game.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Ron Howard's RUSH: Will It Be One of the Rare Breed?
For as popular as motorsport is domestically and internationally, one would expect there to be a long list of quality motion pictures depicting the excitement that brings fans to watch race after race. Sadly, this is not the case. The vast majority of films about motorsport are poor at best, and sometimes downright awful. It seems that too often directors get caught up in trying to have exciting crashes and forget that the most important thing that a film can do is tell a compelling story. The Sylvester Stallone vehicle DRIVEN is the perfect example of this flawed approach to the subject. To much time and money was spent depicting cars launching from the race track in spectacular ways, and too little was spent on telling a plausible tale.
When I heard that Oscar Award winning director Ron Howard would be directing a film about Formula 1 entitled RUSH, I was filled with excitement and dread. Howard is a truly talented film maker who has directed films in many genre with a human touch. The interviews with Howard about the process hinted that he was taking his subject seriously, but in the back of my mind -- as an F1 fan -- there was the underlying fear that this would be yet another spectacle film and not one that focused on story. F1 is filled with compelling stories, and I thought it would be a shame if a modern F1 film failed to capture some of the sport's magnificent history.
Then I saw the first trailer for RUSH...and all my fears melted away.
RUSH focuses on the 1976 rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Lauda had been World Champion in 1975, and would win the title two more times before his retirement, but 1976 was a year of struggle and a near fatal accident. Niki's story alone would make for a compelling film, but add to the seriousness of Lauda's season the playfulness of James Hunt and you have a combination of elements that could make for a wonderful film. Hunt's party boy attitude is legendary and when one of my favorite drivers -- Kimi Raikkonen -- wants to race incognito in non-F1 events he has been known to use James Hunt as his nom-d'fun.
You can see the real footage of Lauda's accident in this short piece:
And you can catch a glimpse of Hunt's wild personality here:
If you are wondering what racing films are worth watching, here is my list of 6 or so racing films that are worth your time (in no particular order).
When I heard that Oscar Award winning director Ron Howard would be directing a film about Formula 1 entitled RUSH, I was filled with excitement and dread. Howard is a truly talented film maker who has directed films in many genre with a human touch. The interviews with Howard about the process hinted that he was taking his subject seriously, but in the back of my mind -- as an F1 fan -- there was the underlying fear that this would be yet another spectacle film and not one that focused on story. F1 is filled with compelling stories, and I thought it would be a shame if a modern F1 film failed to capture some of the sport's magnificent history.
Then I saw the first trailer for RUSH...and all my fears melted away.
RUSH focuses on the 1976 rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Lauda had been World Champion in 1975, and would win the title two more times before his retirement, but 1976 was a year of struggle and a near fatal accident. Niki's story alone would make for a compelling film, but add to the seriousness of Lauda's season the playfulness of James Hunt and you have a combination of elements that could make for a wonderful film. Hunt's party boy attitude is legendary and when one of my favorite drivers -- Kimi Raikkonen -- wants to race incognito in non-F1 events he has been known to use James Hunt as his nom-d'fun.
You can see the real footage of Lauda's accident in this short piece:
And you can catch a glimpse of Hunt's wild personality here:
If you are wondering what racing films are worth watching, here is my list of 6 or so racing films that are worth your time (in no particular order).
- GRAND PRIX
- THE LAST AMERICAN HERO
- TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
- HEART LIKE A WHEEL
- CARS
- SPEED RACER
- SENNA
- GRAND PRIX: THE KILLER YEARS
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Dark Minions: Amazon Steps into the On Demand Marketplace
I'd like to thank The Big Bang Theory's David Goetsch for pointing this show out to me. DARK MINIONS looks entertaining and the space ship design (straight out of THE BLACK HOLE) really appeals to me.
Watch it at IMDB here.
Watch it at IMDB here.
Pat Robertson: Still Getting D&D Wrong After All These Years
One aspect of some people's Christian faith has always baffled me. It's what I term the "magical world view," where one believes that the world is filled with witchcraft and sorcery -- and Satan stands in every shadow trying to tempt the faithful away from the righteous path. My use of the term "magical world view" may lead many to think that I am an agnostic or an atheist. While there are many gamers who are atheists -- possibly due to the negative association with religion that the "AntiD&D" wars of the 80s presented -- I am not. My wife and I attend mass at a local Roman Catholic church and take our duty to raise our children in our faith very seriously. I consider myself a little more Positivist Materialist than most of those I attend mass with, but I have a pretty strong faith.
The purpose of this post isn't to discuss my faith, or lack thereof, rather it is to examine how living in fear the way that those with a "magical world view" often do can lead to some pretty ridiculous assumptions with regard to what can be highly beneficial past-times. The reading of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the playing of role-playing games, feeds young minds. It helps the imagination to grow, fosters creativity, teaches critical thinking, and is a great educational tool. Needless fear that these things contain witchcraft, and should thus be avoided, undermines those very benefits.
Over the years, one of the chief opponents and demonizers (pun intended) of the role playing hobby has been the 700 Club's host Pat Robertson. He is probably second to only Jack Chick in his hatred and misunderstanding of roleplaying games.
Since I was a child, Robertson has been cursing D&D for its evil influence and for its anti-Christian worldview. With the 80s far behind us, one might think that Robertson might have reconsidered his earlier views given the numerous examples of well adjusted citizens who grew up playing role playing games. Alas, this is not the case. Recently, Robertson stated -- in a video much shared on Facebook -- that D&D has "literally destroyed lives."
For all that Robertson and his ilk claim that D&D is a sinister game leading children to the demonic darkness of Satanism...a game created by evil secular humanists...it should be noted that one of the creators of the game -- Gary Gygax -- was a practicing Christian himself. Gary briefly discusses the controversy in this video from Icosahedraphilia: (check out 4:21 for a quote regarding why Gary hadn't discussed this more)
As early as 1969, Gygax was sharing with his friends why as good Christians his family didn't celebrate the Christmas holiday.
According to the Christian Gamers Guild, David Arneson was also a practicing Christian.
The particular argument about Christmas above is one often seen in practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, so it is possible that Gygax was one in 1969. Given the fundamentalism of that faith, it is unlikely that Gygax would willfully attempt to bring young people to Satan through the creation of a game. I think it would take someone with a paranoid magical world view would believe that the devil secretly whispered game design ideas into the ears of the faithful to create a game that propagates witchcraft.
From personal experience, I can tell you that reading about Paladins -- the looking up their mythical roots -- did more for my faith than the time when I was 10 years old and asked the 700 Club to pray for me when I was scared. The research on Paladins led me to the discovery of the writings of St. Augustine and the reading of many Arthurian tales. The call to the 700 Club led to me being asked how much I was willing to donate. Let's just say that the bold faced money grubbing to a 10 year-old is far more damaging to faith than telling stories about noble warriors fighting against demons.
So...Pat...how much did you ask the questioner you told D&D was demonic to donate before taking the time to answer the question?
The purpose of this post isn't to discuss my faith, or lack thereof, rather it is to examine how living in fear the way that those with a "magical world view" often do can lead to some pretty ridiculous assumptions with regard to what can be highly beneficial past-times. The reading of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the playing of role-playing games, feeds young minds. It helps the imagination to grow, fosters creativity, teaches critical thinking, and is a great educational tool. Needless fear that these things contain witchcraft, and should thus be avoided, undermines those very benefits.
Over the years, one of the chief opponents and demonizers (pun intended) of the role playing hobby has been the 700 Club's host Pat Robertson. He is probably second to only Jack Chick in his hatred and misunderstanding of roleplaying games.
Since I was a child, Robertson has been cursing D&D for its evil influence and for its anti-Christian worldview. With the 80s far behind us, one might think that Robertson might have reconsidered his earlier views given the numerous examples of well adjusted citizens who grew up playing role playing games. Alas, this is not the case. Recently, Robertson stated -- in a video much shared on Facebook -- that D&D has "literally destroyed lives."
For all that Robertson and his ilk claim that D&D is a sinister game leading children to the demonic darkness of Satanism...a game created by evil secular humanists...it should be noted that one of the creators of the game -- Gary Gygax -- was a practicing Christian himself. Gary briefly discusses the controversy in this video from Icosahedraphilia: (check out 4:21 for a quote regarding why Gary hadn't discussed this more)
As early as 1969, Gygax was sharing with his friends why as good Christians his family didn't celebrate the Christmas holiday.
 |
| Image from Playing at the World |
The particular argument about Christmas above is one often seen in practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, so it is possible that Gygax was one in 1969. Given the fundamentalism of that faith, it is unlikely that Gygax would willfully attempt to bring young people to Satan through the creation of a game. I think it would take someone with a paranoid magical world view would believe that the devil secretly whispered game design ideas into the ears of the faithful to create a game that propagates witchcraft.
From personal experience, I can tell you that reading about Paladins -- the looking up their mythical roots -- did more for my faith than the time when I was 10 years old and asked the 700 Club to pray for me when I was scared. The research on Paladins led me to the discovery of the writings of St. Augustine and the reading of many Arthurian tales. The call to the 700 Club led to me being asked how much I was willing to donate. Let's just say that the bold faced money grubbing to a 10 year-old is far more damaging to faith than telling stories about noble warriors fighting against demons.
So...Pat...how much did you ask the questioner you told D&D was demonic to donate before taking the time to answer the question?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Batman Doesn't Kill...Or Does He? Patton Oswalt's Penguin Addresses the Issue
I don't think they had to make Batman so dense to make their point, but this is a pretty amusing video regardless. I also think they should have added a moment where Batman feels betrayed by Alfred when he figures out what's going on.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Man of Steel: Still Looking Good
While there are still to many shots "taken" from Richard Donner's two excellent Superman movies in this trailer, there is enough here for me to think that MAN OF STEEL looks promising. Any Superman film has the difficult task of choosing which version of Superman to use -- Gold/Silver/Bronze/Tin/Byrne -- and Snyder seems to have leaned a little in the Byrne direction. This can be a good thing, but it can also backfire. Too many directors -- I'm looking at you Andrew Stanton -- think that "modern audiences" can't handle white knight characters unless they have a shade of grey. Thing is, authors have been making that mistake for generations. It isn't having "troubled" or "grey" heroes that audiences find compelling. It's having heroes who experience conflict and for whom there are stakes. Donner got that with his Superman, and Burroughs understood that with his John Carter. I hope that Snyder gets it.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Iain Banks Has Cancer -- Ugh!
Iain Banks is, quite simply, my favorite science fiction author. His Culture novels combine compelling SF-nal content with extraordinary writing talent. It is too soon to mourn his loss or write obituaries, but I would like to share this brief BBC report.
Latest Wil Wheaton TABLETOP: FORMULA D
I don't normally post episodes of Wil Wheaton's GEEK & SUNDRY series TABLETOP. Basically, I figure if you already watch the show -- like me -- you already know about the episode, and if you don't then it's likely not something that would fall within your normal wheelhouse.
I decided to share this one because it features on of my favorite games FORMULA D, and given that TABLETOP games quickly become available at Target I thought this would be a good time to promote one of my favorite games.
I have only two minor quibbles with the episode.
First, the players are playing a bit too much to the camera and trying too hard to be funny. This is a more minor complaint than it sounds as a video watching a group playing a boardgame that wasn't playing to the camera would be terrible. Oh...and comedy is hard.
Second, Wheaton calls the game FORMULA Dé (DAY), and this is the new version FORMULA D (Dee). Yes, the game is produced by a French Company, but they have decided to market it distinctly from the earlier edition.
The original version features racing solely based on Formula 1 and the De stands for "dice," while the new version features both Formula 1 style racing and Formula Drift racing as well. The newer version has classic F1 tracks and adds some street races better suited to drifting as well. The original is a collector's item, the new one is something you should just go out and buy.
As usual, though I am somehow compelled to watch and read many things Wheaton, this video does nothing to mitigate my Sheldon-esque rage.
I decided to share this one because it features on of my favorite games FORMULA D, and given that TABLETOP games quickly become available at Target I thought this would be a good time to promote one of my favorite games.
First, the players are playing a bit too much to the camera and trying too hard to be funny. This is a more minor complaint than it sounds as a video watching a group playing a boardgame that wasn't playing to the camera would be terrible. Oh...and comedy is hard.
Second, Wheaton calls the game FORMULA Dé (DAY), and this is the new version FORMULA D (Dee). Yes, the game is produced by a French Company, but they have decided to market it distinctly from the earlier edition.
Formula Dé
Formula D
As usual, though I am somehow compelled to watch and read many things Wheaton, this video does nothing to mitigate my Sheldon-esque rage.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Tim Kask: A Tale of Two Magazines
Back in July of 1981 Tim Kask launched the first issue of ADVENTURE GAMING magazine. It was a magazine dedicated to the entire gaming hobby. The magazine launched just as two of the largest "Industry Magazines" (DRAGON and WHITE DWARF) were beginning their slow migration from magazines that covered the entire hobby and into house magazines that covered primarily the products offered by the company publishing the magazine. Tim Kask had been the editor of DRAGON for the first 34 issues of the magazine, so if anyone was qualified to launch a new magazine for the growing hobby he was certainly on that list. Unlike the two previously mentioned magazines, and magazines like Space Gamer, Tim's new venture wouldn't limit what kinds of games it covered. To quote Tim from his "Off the Wall" editorial:
The words that Tim wrote in 1981 were true, but they weren't sufficiently true for him to launch a successful magazine that lasted years. ADVENTURE GAMING published only 13 issues. As a fan of the hobby as a whole, I find this to be a great loss. Magazines are one of the best ways for modern fans to learn the history of the hobby. They are the primary way we can cut through the "common knowledge" and assumptions about the history of the hobby we so often encounter in conversations across fandom. If you read the article in FIRE & MOVEMENT magazine about the TSR/SPI merger you get quite a different picture than what you hear from former SPI employees. That merger doesn't look to be a clean merger from either side, and one wonders if TSR's attempt to acquire IP while avoiding debt obligations that would have been demanded during bankruptcy wasn't poorly communicated. It certainly created bad blood, and TSR may have been being too "creative" for their own good. Add to that the state of nature-esque competitiveness of that growing market, and modern gaming historians are poorer for the fact that magazines like ADVENTURE GAMING, SPACE GAMER, and DIFFERENT WORLDS didn't do better outside their regional spheres of influence.Do you really plan to cover it all? You betcha, Buffalo Bob! The lines that used to separate the types of gamers are becoming more blurred. The amount of crossover interest and participation has never been greater. There can be no disputing the fantasy phenomenon erased a number of those lines, as well as gave the industry an incredible boost in interest in sales. Fantasy remains the dominant force in the industry today, but all areas are showing increased interest and sales. We plan to accurately reflect the hobby whatever direction it may take.
Let's just have a look at what ADVENTURE GAMING #1 had to offer:
- Scepter & Starship -- A Traveller Variant article. Note that Traveller recently had a very successful Kickstarter over 20 years after this issues publication.
- Starting Over: Some Points to Consider Concerning New FRPG Campaigns -- A good how to start a campaign article.
- The Joys of Napoleonic Wargaming -- Here you begin to see the breadth of the magazine's coverage.
- Reflections -- A "Gamer POV" article about the hobby.
- The Adventures of space Trader Vic -- One of the obligatory cartoons.
- Campanile -- A column by Kathleen Pettigrew that was a gamer opinion column.
- CIVILIZATION: A Game Review -- What it says.
- What Makes a Player Good? A DM's View -- An article that looks at a topic that is often under evaluated, that of what players can do to make a better game experience.
- Heroic Combat in DIVINE RIGHT -- A cool variant rules article by one of the designers of the game.
- Away to the Wars! -- A variant for the KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT game.
- Cangames 81 and Canadian Gaming by John Hill -- Yes, that John Hill of SQUAD LEADER fame.
- NPCs are People Too! -- An article on how to give more personality to NPCs.
- On Being a Gamemaster -- A GM advice column.
- Any News of the Questing Beast? -- An overview of KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT
- Whither Boardgames -- A column dedicated to the discussion of boardgaming and about how RPGs are hurting boardgame sales and how boardgaming still has value.
We've go material that reaches back to some of the earliest role-playing games, and some of the absolutely newest. Virtual tabletops, fantasy miniatures rules for toddlers, complicated mathematical answers to simple questions, even a city in a swamp...we've got it all here. If there's one question that's come up more than any other while we were making this magazine, it's been "what are you going to write about?" From here on out, we would like to direct a similar question at our readers. What would you like to read? Drop us a line and let us know. With your help, we want to see tabletop gaming thrive and expand.While the wording is more "marketing" oriented than the older editorial, the message can be said to be very similar to the older quote, "We plan to accurately reflect the hobby whatever direction it may take." The first issue of GYGAX features the following:
- The Cosmology of Role-Playing Games -- An incomplete but interesting look at the role-playing game hobby as a cosmology. It has a lot of important games, but it misses a few games I would consider highly influential. Not to mention that it just ignores 4e completely.
- Still Playing After All These Years -- An editorial by Kask. A very good one.
- Leomunds Secure Shelter -- An article by Lenard Lakofka, of Bone Hill fame, that looks at the math of AD&D.
- The Ecology of the BANSHEE -- With the demise of Kobold Quarterly, it's nice to see an ecology article.
- Bridging Generations -- An article by Luke Gygax discussing the continuation of the hobby.
- Gaming with a Virtual Tabletop -- What it says.
- Keeping Magic Magical -- An article by Dennis Sustare the designer of SWORDBEARER a game that very much kept magic magical.
- Playing It the Science Ficiton Way -- A discussion of METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA and its origins.
- DMing for Your Toddler -- Cory Doctorow's less useful version of Highmoon Games RPG KIDS. Do yourself a favor and buy RPG Kids.
- Greate Power for ICONS -- Steve Kenson article for the supers RPG.
- The Future of Tabletop Gaming by Ethan Gilsdorf -- The second "celebrity" article. It's a good article, but I'm wondering if Shannon Applecline couldn't have done a better job.
- The Gygax Family Storyteller -- What you might imagine, in the best possible way.
- Talents OFF the Front Line -- An article for GODLIKE by Dennis Detwiller.
- D&D past, now, and Next by Michael Tresca -- A good article that none the less falsely states that 4e is the "first edition to explicitly require an objective environment." No, that would be 3e and both Line of Sight rules and Flanking rules.
- Gnatdamp -- A city in a swamp. Good article.
- The Kobold's Cavern -- Wolfgang Baur!
- Magical Miscellany -- Support for Green Ronin's AGE.
- An AGE of Great Inventions -- More support for Green Ronin's AGE, which is a wondrous thing.
- Scaling Combat Feats for PATHFINDER -- A good article by someone who wants to address the "feat taxes" of 3.x and PATHFINDER. Insert my snarky remark about how PATHFINDER is already amped up, so why does it need to be turned up to 11. Answer with "because it's a game and there is no wrong way to play" response.
- Marvin the Mage -- Obligatory Cartoon.
- What's New -- Obligatory Cartoon.
- Order of the Stick -- Obligatory Cartoon.
Will GYGAX be the next ADVENTURE GAMING or will it be the first of a new breed of hobby based magazines? Only time will tell. It wasn't for lack of quality that ADVENTURE GAMING failed.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
All Too Rare Geekerati Podcast Update
I post surprisingly few updates about the Geekerati podcast that Shawna Benson and I do on a fairly regular basis. I think that it is time for a change on that front. Shawna and I have been doing the podcast, along with a couple of other co-hosts like Bill Cunningham, since 2007 and will be live streaming our 126th episode this evening. We average 2,400 downloads an episode with most falling between 1,000 and 5,000 depending on who we have as a guest in a given week. We have had one or two episodes with over 40,000 downloads, but those were with guests who had very large followings and who heavily promoted their appearance on our humble show.
We live stream the show on Wednesdays at 8:30pm Pacific, although this has changed over the years to match our busy lives, and episodes are available for download on the website or on iTunes immediately after the show finishes airing. We recommend listening to the show on the website and putting up with the advertisement at the beginning of the show, as this helps us recoup some of the costs of hosting the show with Blog Talk Radio. The live streaming format has certain advantages for time crushed people like Shawna and me, but it does come with the requisite risks of technical glitches. We have certainly had our share of those. If you want to hear how throttled bandwidth affects Skype audio, check out our conversation with Stephanie Thorpe about the Elfquest Anniversary.
Over the years Shawna and I have had some fantastic guests, including:
We live stream the show on Wednesdays at 8:30pm Pacific, although this has changed over the years to match our busy lives, and episodes are available for download on the website or on iTunes immediately after the show finishes airing. We recommend listening to the show on the website and putting up with the advertisement at the beginning of the show, as this helps us recoup some of the costs of hosting the show with Blog Talk Radio. The live streaming format has certain advantages for time crushed people like Shawna and me, but it does come with the requisite risks of technical glitches. We have certainly had our share of those. If you want to hear how throttled bandwidth affects Skype audio, check out our conversation with Stephanie Thorpe about the Elfquest Anniversary.
Over the years Shawna and I have had some fantastic guests, including:
- Matt Forbeck (Game Designer) -- Matt's actually been our most frequent guest, with Shelly Mazzanoble coming in at second. This makes them our favorite guests.
- John Rogers (Leverage, The Core)
- James Lowder (Game Designer and Editor)
- Marc Bernardin (Alphas)
- Susan Palwick (SF Author)
- Tim Minear (Firefly)
- David Goetsch (Big Bang Theory)-- Back in 2008 even.
- Aaron Ginsburg (Thrilling Adventure Hour)
- Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Thursday, March 14, 2013
School of Thrones: Game of Thrones Goes to High School
Mash ups can be a wonderful thing, as can taking a story in one setting and translating it into another setting. Take the film CLUELESS as an example. It transferred Jane Austen's wonderful tale EMMA and placed it in a modern Beverly Hills high school. The result was a genuinely entertaining film that captured much of what made Austen's tale so endearing, while managing to add a little of its own flair.
On March 10th, a brave band of Web Series creators released the first episode of a similar venture. This time they took George R.R. Martin's popular fantasy series A Song of Ice & Fire, the basis for the HBO series Game of Thrones, and like CLUELESS placed the tale in a modern high school.
There are parts of the translation that work well. There are parts of the production that are remarkable -- the title sequence is pretty neat. Then there are the wigs. What is up with the wigs? Then there is the acting...
I'm on the fence on this one. This could be very good. It could be very bad. And if it's only mediocre -- which it is looking like it might be -- it will be worse than if it were very bad.
Worst comes to worst, I can always break out my copy of the Green Ronin RPG and run a couple of sessions...or...you know...watch the HBO series.
On March 10th, a brave band of Web Series creators released the first episode of a similar venture. This time they took George R.R. Martin's popular fantasy series A Song of Ice & Fire, the basis for the HBO series Game of Thrones, and like CLUELESS placed the tale in a modern high school.
There are parts of the translation that work well. There are parts of the production that are remarkable -- the title sequence is pretty neat. Then there are the wigs. What is up with the wigs? Then there is the acting...
I'm on the fence on this one. This could be very good. It could be very bad. And if it's only mediocre -- which it is looking like it might be -- it will be worse than if it were very bad.
Worst comes to worst, I can always break out my copy of the Green Ronin RPG and run a couple of sessions...or...you know...watch the HBO series.
Game of Thrones Title Sequence Circa 1995
Do you remember the classic Sword and Sorcery television shows of the 1990s?
Does your heart flutter fondly when you think of Xena, Hercules, and Young Hercules?
Are you a Lucy Lawless fan for life?
If you answered yes to any one of those questions, then this "fan trailer" for Game of Thrones is for you.
Does your heart flutter fondly when you think of Xena, Hercules, and Young Hercules?
Are you a Lucy Lawless fan for life?
If you answered yes to any one of those questions, then this "fan trailer" for Game of Thrones is for you.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A Glimpse at Wargames Past
Back in that annals of time before I played my first session of D&D, there was a wargaming company called SPI. That company was eventually -- and some would argue tragically -- purchased by TSR the roleplaying game giant before that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast...and so on. The company produced a number of classic wargames and was renowned for its tremendous output and for the overall quality of its games. You can still buy many updated copies of their games from Decision Games and find many of their lost classics on eBay, some at a reasonable price.
Non-miniature wargaming is an interesting hobby. It can be exciting, but it can also be daunting to try to attempt a new player to join in the joy of Kriegsspiel. Perusing the internet this evening, I found this old short video by SPI promoting the hobby. Check out the game around 1:10. How can you look at that set up and not think to yourself the following? "Man! Damn casuals don't know what they are missing!"
Non-miniature wargaming is an interesting hobby. It can be exciting, but it can also be daunting to try to attempt a new player to join in the joy of Kriegsspiel. Perusing the internet this evening, I found this old short video by SPI promoting the hobby. Check out the game around 1:10. How can you look at that set up and not think to yourself the following? "Man! Damn casuals don't know what they are missing!"
All I know is that I cannot wait until History and Mystery are old enough to give these great old games a try. Maybe I'll start with Strike Force One. It's recommended at the end of the video, is still available from Victory Point Games, and I own a copy.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day to All!
To commemorate the day, I'll share two cartoons from my talented wife Jody Lindke.
Saturday, February 02, 2013
A Glimpse at the Downton Abbey SNES Game
To this day I'm still a big fan of the old style "adventure" games where your avatar is sent on a variety of often meaningless quests in order to complete a grand narrative. Every now and then, I'll reinstall one on my PC or download an updated version for my smart phone. They are quite fun.
Someone took the time to imagine what one of these games would look like if it were based on the popular brit-soap Downton Abbey. The show is quite wonderful, and I think I'd like this game as well.
Now if only I could find an Eric Goldberg/Greg Costikyan designed "Paragraph Based" boardgame version of Downton Abbey to go along with my old Star Trek one and my copy of Tales of the Arabian Nights.
And before you ask, the answer is yes. I do own a copy of SPI's ill fated Dallas roleplaying game. Would you like to come over an play a game some time? We could film it and submit it to Geek and Sundry.
Someone took the time to imagine what one of these games would look like if it were based on the popular brit-soap Downton Abbey. The show is quite wonderful, and I think I'd like this game as well.
Now if only I could find an Eric Goldberg/Greg Costikyan designed "Paragraph Based" boardgame version of Downton Abbey to go along with my old Star Trek one and my copy of Tales of the Arabian Nights.
And before you ask, the answer is yes. I do own a copy of SPI's ill fated Dallas roleplaying game. Would you like to come over an play a game some time? We could film it and submit it to Geek and Sundry.
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