I’ve got some cool news to share! I’m now a published writer on The Escapist, a big video games site that I’ve been dreaming of submitting to for years.
For my first contributed piece for them, I interviewed Jenova Chen, the creative director of the hit game Journey, and Trent Oster, the director of business development at Beamdog (which is distributing the Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for PC, Mac, and mobile this November).
In the article, I try to answer whether the length of a game matters and whether trends are leaning toward more short or long games in the future.
I’ve read great responses to the article in the site’s forums so far. You’re more than welcome to join the discussion if you’re a big gaming nerd like me. :) Or just let me know what you think!
In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve played Journey (great little game on the PlayStation Network), and yes, I’m excited for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. I’ve never played the originals. I’m hoping to get an iPad mini for this … even though it’s $329 when I was hoping for $250.
I seem to have a bad habit of dooming myself when it comes to playing role-playing games, though — I never have enough time for them. Getting to review Torchlight II last month was a welcome opportunity because when I play games for review, I finish them — and in a hundredth of the time it takes me to play anything else. :D Anyway, I fully intend to give the first Torchlight a shot sometime, too; either that, or replay the second with my boyfriend if he ever gets around to paying $20 for a copy.
In the meantime, I’m splitting my time between Deadly Premonition (a campy cult favorite among survival-horror fans), Paladin’s Quest (a Super Nintendo game that I wanted after learning that it was made by some of the people who worked on Legend of Legaia, my favorite RPG), and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies … which, OK, I haven’t gotten back to in a while.
And reading books. Brave Story is next on my list of books to review here on the blog.
Misprinted Pages 
congrats, stephanie! i heard someone else talking about journey recently. sounds intriguing (and for someone who totally sucks at first person shooter games i may actually be able to play it well).
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Thanks, Valerie! Journey is an amazing game and a really great pick for people who don’t normally play video games. It’s very minimal as far as controls go, which means it’s easy to pick up and play. I definitely recommend it. Not a first-person shooter at all! :)
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very cool. i should be able to play it without embarrassing myself then.
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Haha, definitely :)
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Congratulations Stephanie!!
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Thank you, Sarah! :)
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Congratulations!
Btw, i loved Deadly Premonition.
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Thank you!
I’m loving Deadly Premonition, too. :) Great moments. I think I like just watching this game unfold more than the combat moments, though, oddly enough!
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Yeah, unfortunately it was the same with me. Also loved listening to him when driving the car.
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The car conversations with Zach are the best! :D
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Neat! I’ve not heard of The Escapist before, but I’m glad to have found my way onto the site. I do love me some video games.
The Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate seems pretty neat. I played a few Baldur’s Gate games on the Playstation, but it looks like I won’t have a way to play the Enhanced Edition. This makes me a sad panda :(
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Do you play on PC or Mac at all, Jackie? Even if you don’t normally, you should look into it for the Enhanced Edition! If your computer is relatively new, chances are it’s up to spec. No need for a mobile device for this one. :)
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