XBLA Ratings and Band of Bugs

I was recently privileged to participate in a Q&A interview with XBLA Ratings about Band of Bugs.  It's been a while since the game received any press, and it was encouraging to see continued interest. 

 

In related news, Jeffry Wiggins has started posting character model renders from the game to his blog.  

Why I Won't Be Getting Spore

Spore looks like a really cool game.  Despite some slight disappointments I had with the Creature Creator,  I still had a good deal of fun.  I was very much looking forward to raising my very own civilizations of cosmic horrors from beyond the rim - those or Care Bears. Sadly, due to the draconian DRM scheme EA decided to shackle the product with, I will not be sending my money their way.  You see, Spore requires an internet activation to use.  As if that weren’t bad enough, you are limited to three installs… ever.  The notion that the game I legitimately purchased will become unplayable due to any number of inevitable reasons is horrific enough for me that I will wait until it is either changed, or he Rapture.  In the event of the latter, I figure I will have bigger things to worry about than whether I can play a PC game or not.  

This whole thing just serves to remind me of one of the many reasons I shy away from PC games these days, sticking to consoles for my entertainment.  At least I have Dawn of War to keep my PC from feeling neglected, and Dawn of War II when it comes out… 

…Unless it has DRM.

D&D Character Sketch

This is a sketch I was working on for one of my D&D characters while trying to get used to my new computer setup.  We were actually gaming at the time, so I couldn't pay much attention to it.  I doubt I'll return to this piece, but I figure it succeeded in helping convey the basic concept of the character's physical nature, and that's a win for me.