I asked on my local online mailing list if anyone had a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I could buy. I figured I would read it and then sell it after I read it. The net amount of money spent would be 0.
Then I found out that my son is getting it for a present next week, and two of my friends said I could borrow it after they finished reading it.
While I was waiting, someone sent me the "illegal" online version. I figured that while I was waiting, I may as well read the e-copy.
It was 655 pages long. One thing that struck me as a little strange was the incredible amount of sexual tension throughout the book. Every page or two was flirting, snogging, or banter. I thought, "whoa, she's really upped the minimum age level reader for the last book, huh."
Despite this, the book was well-written in the usual JKR style with excitement, flair, and charm. I wasn't happy with all of her plot decisions, but most things were wrapped up pretty well by the end.
Only, I just found out an hour ago, that the entire thing, all 655 pages, was a fraud. It was an elaborate piece of fan fiction, and had absolutely no relation to the real last book.
I got burned, baby. The funny thing was that it was an incredibly enjoyable read. What a task it must have been to write this!
Now I still get to read the real last book. OK, I was taken, but I feel like I'm getting twice the pleasure.
Yehuda
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Haveil Havalim: the Sex Edition
It was Tu Ba'av last week, our national holiday about sex. This week's Haveil Havalim is therefore all about sex, too. It's not my fault, of course; I just post what the submitters send to me. It's not like I'm obsessed with sex, or see sex where there isn't any, or anything like that.
Jewish
Discarded Lies describes God's sexual relationship with Israel, and more about Tu Ba'av.
Rafi G thinks we need to sex up our synagogues services to prevent people from using their cellphones.
Dixie Yid gives a lesson about having to "fall" to be rebuilt, an obvious reference to sex.
Hirhurim Musings describes Reb Shimon Shkop's early relation with YU, and something about secular studies, which may have something to do with sex, but I'm not entirely sure.
A Simply Jew writes about the song HaSimcha Tamid BaLev by Erez Levanon, and something about some part of his body overflowing with something whenever he hears it.
He then goes on about Steven Spielberg's Jewish ancestors from Sudilkov. Back then, they had lots of time and lots of children.
Soccer Dad tries to organize some Tu Ba'av amateur matchmaking on his site.
Cross Current describes the relationship between R. Akiva Eiger and Mendelssohn, two very different personalities. Also, very different types of people like sex.
Limmud, a conference for all types of Jewish learning in various different subjects, such as music, religion, sex, literature, and so on, will have a conference in South Africa, as It's Almost Supernatural reports.
Rabbi Fleischmann writes about how the external part of a human being is important, and I'm sure he's referring to sex.
Judeopundit questions why concern for ethics means revamping what kashrut means. Next someone will write about about kosher sex.
Friar Yid talks about various Rabbi's recent guilt trips about aliyah, and whether this means some people love more or less than other people.
There are no Feminists on a Sinking Ship cites a Jewish Press article about yeshivas and parents with differing hashkafot, and what this means for the child's eventual career and marriage.
Jewlicious talks about hot tznius girls swinging their arms.
Rabbi Without a Cause tells us to make people happy and smiling, which is good advice for you know what. Of course, he also says to leave them laughing, which is more of my experience with you know what.
Israel
Temunot posts an obviously allegorical description of the wet, surging, and rushing Dan River.
Psychotoddler relates an equally allegorical tale of a search for a sexy bank clerk names Rivka while frustratingly trying to change dollars into shekels.
Secular Blasphemy finds the nightlife (and daytime) sexy and fun in Jerusalem.
The Muqata welcomes home more Nefesh to Nefesh arrivals. Aliyah is a bit like sex, I think.
Even Yaruka talks about Orange (Freud, nudge nudge), a flirting sales rep, and the surprising things that go on when you get a house visitor while trying to buy a phone.
On the subject of Freud, Leon Feingold talks about bats and balls as the IBL season wraps up.
Me-ander takes pictures of Israel's airport, while carrying pouches that made her feel like a pregnant woman carrying twins.
Yael shares some sexy pictures of herself and some boys at the beach.
Israel's national blog now has a Youtube presence, home to millions of videos of people undressing (not that I would know).
Politics
The New Republic delicately avoids mentioning anything about sex while talking about how Jordan may need to be involved in the peace process. But if you take the first occurrences in the article of the letters "s", "e", and "x", they spell out the word "sex". Coincidence? I don't think so.
Elder of Ziyon notes that the IDF is simply miserable about hasbara, which doesn't surprise me considering the way that they handle sexual abuse cases.
Dry Bones offers up an old cartoon about Don Quixote, an old story about a man suffering from sexual fantasies about a farmgirl, while describing the need for common enemies in the peace process.
Simply Jews notes the Iranian arrests of alleged Pro-democracy Americans. Frankly, I think the antidisestablishmentarians in Iran don't get enough sex.
He goes on to talk about the over-zealous political coverage of Debbie Schlussel about a movie made in Hollywood, a town that is just drenched in smut and sin.
Five Spirited Zionists discusses the U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which brings to mind the old peace slogan: Make Love, Not War.
Dave Bender talks about an Israeli leadership mission to Columbus, GA, and posts a picture of Keren Barak, Likud Party Knesset member nominee, who's pretty sexy.
Daled Amos talks about the last eight Jews in Baghdad. With only eight Jews, it's probably pretty hard to get a date.
Eight Jews? That's luxury. Jewish Blogmeister reports that only one Jew lives in Afghanistan. Dating's out of the question.
Thoughts By Seawitch describes the poor treatment of Jews at the hands of the Ottomans before the creation of Israel, a period that was so difficult, it was hard to think about the joyful things in life such as sex.
Gateway Pundit gives us Hillel Halkin's opinion on how Israel used to use its suffering for hasbara purposes, and should still today, which would make life better for all of us and give us more time to ...
Yourish describes Syria's hostile overtures, and the illicit relationship between Syria and Iran.
View from a Height describes other relations, such as the upcoming Saudi participation in peace efforts.
Jewish Current Issues talks about yet another misguided attempt to put political handovers before resolving terror issues, which is like trying to have sex in the expectation that foreplay will follow.
Israellycool mocks a Hamas matyr, ending with a quip about his seventy-two virgins.
Seraphic Secret complains about repeating the same mistaken gestures and getting nothing in return, which reminds me a lot about my sex life as a teenager.
An Israeli man suggestively stuffs the barrel of his gun with ripe fruit in a protest against rocket attacks on Sderot.
Yid With Lid takes issue with the Reform movement's stand on a new JNF bill about leasing land to non-Jews, and undoubtedly would have issues with the Reform movement's stand on sexual issues, too. He also equates Olmert's quota plan regarding Sudanese refugees with the British white paper during WWII, which ultimately led to the deaths of untold thousands of Jews. Olmert should have more sex and stop making morally bad political decisions.
Random Thoughts discusses an interview in which a man from Hizbullah claims that they appreciated Olmert pulling out early, a feeling shared by many women about Olmert.
Barbara's Tchatzkahs talks about narcissism, abusive relationships, and other relationship troubles.
Israel Matzav writes that Olmert may now be letting a lot of Palestinian refugees back into Israel. There used to be fewer refugees, but there are a lot more now because the Palestinians, apparently, uh, you know.
Other
Temunot's post has absolutely nothing to do with sex, but is a heartfelt song from Malki, a 15 year old girl killed in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing. Others, such as Schvach and Israel Matzav also talk about Malki. Similarly, Elie's Expositions writes a poem about his son.
Rubicon3 mentions the new U.S. postal stamps featuring comic book superheroes, many of whom were created by (male geeky) Jewish talents, and all of whom had sexual hangups (big surprise).
Orthomom describes how a billboard with a lot of naked bottoms got a rise out of some church members. And goes on to talk about many other things naked. Such as using sex and sexual innuendo to attract people's attention, which I, of course, would never do.
Treppenwitz describes how we all feel special, but special people can make us feel special. Then he gets a lot of makeup put on his face by some cute young woman.
Life of Rubin describes the survival of a Jewish casualty of the Minneapolis bridge disaster, whose deep plunge into the dark waters of the Mississippi River caused him to act on his most basic instincts.
Sweet Rose has a fourth blogiversary, and she describes about how she has felt exposing herself over the last four years.
Little Frumhouse on the Prairie asks about blog addiction, and the trouble it may cause with one's spouse.
Shiloh Musings says that, after getting back from a trip to New York and New Jersey, nothing's new. Which is true about sex, too.
My Right Word writes about a sexy new perfume called Shiloh. And she goes to write about hot Jewish females and lots of talk about sex.
Everyone Needs Therapy talks about Intimate Opportunities, claiming that it's not what you think (yeah, right).
Rabbi Fleischmann posts a blog quiz, which is a lot like a sex quiz, except about blogs, not sex.
Random Thoughts talks about bedtime.
Ha'azina Tefilati writes a moving post about depression and being too close to the problem, something that even sex can't always help you with.
Ellie's Talk writes about "riding the bicycle" and different types of riders.
Baka Diary hates the breast stroke.
This Normal Life bemoaned the shabbat waiting for the release of the last Harry Potter book, which, by the way, was chock full of sexual tension.
Now go take a cold shower.
Yehuda
Jewish
Discarded Lies describes God's sexual relationship with Israel, and more about Tu Ba'av.
Rafi G thinks we need to sex up our synagogues services to prevent people from using their cellphones.
Dixie Yid gives a lesson about having to "fall" to be rebuilt, an obvious reference to sex.
Hirhurim Musings describes Reb Shimon Shkop's early relation with YU, and something about secular studies, which may have something to do with sex, but I'm not entirely sure.
A Simply Jew writes about the song HaSimcha Tamid BaLev by Erez Levanon, and something about some part of his body overflowing with something whenever he hears it.
He then goes on about Steven Spielberg's Jewish ancestors from Sudilkov. Back then, they had lots of time and lots of children.
Soccer Dad tries to organize some Tu Ba'av amateur matchmaking on his site.
Cross Current describes the relationship between R. Akiva Eiger and Mendelssohn, two very different personalities. Also, very different types of people like sex.
Limmud, a conference for all types of Jewish learning in various different subjects, such as music, religion, sex, literature, and so on, will have a conference in South Africa, as It's Almost Supernatural reports.
Rabbi Fleischmann writes about how the external part of a human being is important, and I'm sure he's referring to sex.
Judeopundit questions why concern for ethics means revamping what kashrut means. Next someone will write about about kosher sex.
Friar Yid talks about various Rabbi's recent guilt trips about aliyah, and whether this means some people love more or less than other people.
There are no Feminists on a Sinking Ship cites a Jewish Press article about yeshivas and parents with differing hashkafot, and what this means for the child's eventual career and marriage.
Jewlicious talks about hot tznius girls swinging their arms.
Rabbi Without a Cause tells us to make people happy and smiling, which is good advice for you know what. Of course, he also says to leave them laughing, which is more of my experience with you know what.
Israel
Temunot posts an obviously allegorical description of the wet, surging, and rushing Dan River.
Psychotoddler relates an equally allegorical tale of a search for a sexy bank clerk names Rivka while frustratingly trying to change dollars into shekels.
Secular Blasphemy finds the nightlife (and daytime) sexy and fun in Jerusalem.
The Muqata welcomes home more Nefesh to Nefesh arrivals. Aliyah is a bit like sex, I think.
Even Yaruka talks about Orange (Freud, nudge nudge), a flirting sales rep, and the surprising things that go on when you get a house visitor while trying to buy a phone.
On the subject of Freud, Leon Feingold talks about bats and balls as the IBL season wraps up.
Me-ander takes pictures of Israel's airport, while carrying pouches that made her feel like a pregnant woman carrying twins.
Yael shares some sexy pictures of herself and some boys at the beach.
Israel's national blog now has a Youtube presence, home to millions of videos of people undressing (not that I would know).
Politics
The New Republic delicately avoids mentioning anything about sex while talking about how Jordan may need to be involved in the peace process. But if you take the first occurrences in the article of the letters "s", "e", and "x", they spell out the word "sex". Coincidence? I don't think so.
Elder of Ziyon notes that the IDF is simply miserable about hasbara, which doesn't surprise me considering the way that they handle sexual abuse cases.
Dry Bones offers up an old cartoon about Don Quixote, an old story about a man suffering from sexual fantasies about a farmgirl, while describing the need for common enemies in the peace process.
Simply Jews notes the Iranian arrests of alleged Pro-democracy Americans. Frankly, I think the antidisestablishmentarians in Iran don't get enough sex.
He goes on to talk about the over-zealous political coverage of Debbie Schlussel about a movie made in Hollywood, a town that is just drenched in smut and sin.
Five Spirited Zionists discusses the U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which brings to mind the old peace slogan: Make Love, Not War.
Dave Bender talks about an Israeli leadership mission to Columbus, GA, and posts a picture of Keren Barak, Likud Party Knesset member nominee, who's pretty sexy.
Daled Amos talks about the last eight Jews in Baghdad. With only eight Jews, it's probably pretty hard to get a date.
Eight Jews? That's luxury. Jewish Blogmeister reports that only one Jew lives in Afghanistan. Dating's out of the question.
Thoughts By Seawitch describes the poor treatment of Jews at the hands of the Ottomans before the creation of Israel, a period that was so difficult, it was hard to think about the joyful things in life such as sex.
Gateway Pundit gives us Hillel Halkin's opinion on how Israel used to use its suffering for hasbara purposes, and should still today, which would make life better for all of us and give us more time to ...
Yourish describes Syria's hostile overtures, and the illicit relationship between Syria and Iran.
View from a Height describes other relations, such as the upcoming Saudi participation in peace efforts.
Jewish Current Issues talks about yet another misguided attempt to put political handovers before resolving terror issues, which is like trying to have sex in the expectation that foreplay will follow.
Israellycool mocks a Hamas matyr, ending with a quip about his seventy-two virgins.
Seraphic Secret complains about repeating the same mistaken gestures and getting nothing in return, which reminds me a lot about my sex life as a teenager.
An Israeli man suggestively stuffs the barrel of his gun with ripe fruit in a protest against rocket attacks on Sderot.
Yid With Lid takes issue with the Reform movement's stand on a new JNF bill about leasing land to non-Jews, and undoubtedly would have issues with the Reform movement's stand on sexual issues, too. He also equates Olmert's quota plan regarding Sudanese refugees with the British white paper during WWII, which ultimately led to the deaths of untold thousands of Jews. Olmert should have more sex and stop making morally bad political decisions.
Random Thoughts discusses an interview in which a man from Hizbullah claims that they appreciated Olmert pulling out early, a feeling shared by many women about Olmert.
Barbara's Tchatzkahs talks about narcissism, abusive relationships, and other relationship troubles.
Israel Matzav writes that Olmert may now be letting a lot of Palestinian refugees back into Israel. There used to be fewer refugees, but there are a lot more now because the Palestinians, apparently, uh, you know.
Other
Temunot's post has absolutely nothing to do with sex, but is a heartfelt song from Malki, a 15 year old girl killed in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing. Others, such as Schvach and Israel Matzav also talk about Malki. Similarly, Elie's Expositions writes a poem about his son.
Rubicon3 mentions the new U.S. postal stamps featuring comic book superheroes, many of whom were created by (male geeky) Jewish talents, and all of whom had sexual hangups (big surprise).
Orthomom describes how a billboard with a lot of naked bottoms got a rise out of some church members. And goes on to talk about many other things naked. Such as using sex and sexual innuendo to attract people's attention, which I, of course, would never do.
Treppenwitz describes how we all feel special, but special people can make us feel special. Then he gets a lot of makeup put on his face by some cute young woman.
Life of Rubin describes the survival of a Jewish casualty of the Minneapolis bridge disaster, whose deep plunge into the dark waters of the Mississippi River caused him to act on his most basic instincts.
Sweet Rose has a fourth blogiversary, and she describes about how she has felt exposing herself over the last four years.
Little Frumhouse on the Prairie asks about blog addiction, and the trouble it may cause with one's spouse.
Shiloh Musings says that, after getting back from a trip to New York and New Jersey, nothing's new. Which is true about sex, too.
My Right Word writes about a sexy new perfume called Shiloh. And she goes to write about hot Jewish females and lots of talk about sex.
Everyone Needs Therapy talks about Intimate Opportunities, claiming that it's not what you think (yeah, right).
Rabbi Fleischmann posts a blog quiz, which is a lot like a sex quiz, except about blogs, not sex.
Random Thoughts talks about bedtime.
Ha'azina Tefilati writes a moving post about depression and being too close to the problem, something that even sex can't always help you with.
Ellie's Talk writes about "riding the bicycle" and different types of riders.
Baka Diary hates the breast stroke.
This Normal Life bemoaned the shabbat waiting for the release of the last Harry Potter book, which, by the way, was chock full of sexual tension.
Now go take a cold shower.
Yehuda
Farewell For Now Games of Puerto Rico
Nadine is off to the states for a while, and Rachel will be leaving for Canada before she returns. Today we played our "farewell for now" games of Puerto Rico.
I chose the following set of buildings:
- Assembly Line (1/1) - All production buildings may hold an additional colonist.
- Small Fashion District (2/1) - Trade Indigo at +2.
- Forest House (2/1) - May take Forest during Settler. Pay -1/2/3 for buildings when owning 1/3/5 forests.
- Storehouse (3/1) - Store any three barrels.
- Irrigation (4/2) - Produce one additional barrel during Craftsman.
- Trading House (5/2) - Trade directly to supply.
- Commodity Harbor (5/2) - Ship Indigo/Sugar for additional +1 VP.
- Beachfront (6/2) - May take Forest during Settler. You have Wharf with a size equal to the number of Forests you own.
- Specialty Factory (7/3) - +1 doubloon for all barrels of one type of good produced (may not choose corn)
- Large Business (8/3) - Pay 1 less for buildings. Earn +1 VP for first shipment.
- Library (8/3) - Double each privilege.
- Private Boat (9/3) - Wharf for 4 barrels of any type.
- Cathedral (10/4) - +1 VP / 3 VP from red building VPs.
- Fairgrounds (10/4) - +0/1/2/3/5/7 VP for 1/2/3/4/5/6 types of plantations
- Custom's House
- Fortress
- City Hall
This set is an interesting set that allows for a number of different strategies.
In the first game, I was second position with no corn showing. I chose the Forest strategy. Rachel took Irrigation and was shipping up an early storm. Nadine also had Irrigation, but it didn't help her as she kept having to dump barrels. Yeah, I was slowly building my way towards cash, but I produced only 2 goods for most of the game.
Commodity Harbor helped make up he difference. Add Large Business to that, and I earned significant shipping points even from only 2 or 3 barrels. I ended up with one big building to Nadine's 2 and Rachel's 1. Nadine had more building points, and Rachel more shipping points, but I ended up winning by 6 points, anyway.
In the second game, I went first. This time I tried Small Fashion District and Library. Nadine and Rachel both went for Irrigation again. Nadine also did well with Assembly Line and Specialty Factory. Rachel did quite well with Private Boat. Again, I had no VPs for some time. Nevertheless, I won again by another reasonable margin.
So, two victories for me. Yay. And no more games for the three of us until Simchat Torah or beyond.
Affiliate Headline News reports that doctors in Hong Kong have found that Mah Jong can trigger epileptic seizure. It goes on to say that this is a result of having to make decisions, implying that other board games with decisions could cause epilepsy?
RSDancey has a long article about the CCG game industry, making predictions about current industry players.
Mariacristina talks about a dream interpretation workshop where dreams are turned into board games.
The Las Cruses Sun-News covers board games, old and new.
Yehuda
I chose the following set of buildings:
- Assembly Line (1/1) - All production buildings may hold an additional colonist.
- Small Fashion District (2/1) - Trade Indigo at +2.
- Forest House (2/1) - May take Forest during Settler. Pay -1/2/3 for buildings when owning 1/3/5 forests.
- Storehouse (3/1) - Store any three barrels.
- Irrigation (4/2) - Produce one additional barrel during Craftsman.
- Trading House (5/2) - Trade directly to supply.
- Commodity Harbor (5/2) - Ship Indigo/Sugar for additional +1 VP.
- Beachfront (6/2) - May take Forest during Settler. You have Wharf with a size equal to the number of Forests you own.
- Specialty Factory (7/3) - +1 doubloon for all barrels of one type of good produced (may not choose corn)
- Large Business (8/3) - Pay 1 less for buildings. Earn +1 VP for first shipment.
- Library (8/3) - Double each privilege.
- Private Boat (9/3) - Wharf for 4 barrels of any type.
- Cathedral (10/4) - +1 VP / 3 VP from red building VPs.
- Fairgrounds (10/4) - +0/1/2/3/5/7 VP for 1/2/3/4/5/6 types of plantations
- Custom's House
- Fortress
- City Hall
This set is an interesting set that allows for a number of different strategies.
In the first game, I was second position with no corn showing. I chose the Forest strategy. Rachel took Irrigation and was shipping up an early storm. Nadine also had Irrigation, but it didn't help her as she kept having to dump barrels. Yeah, I was slowly building my way towards cash, but I produced only 2 goods for most of the game.
Commodity Harbor helped make up he difference. Add Large Business to that, and I earned significant shipping points even from only 2 or 3 barrels. I ended up with one big building to Nadine's 2 and Rachel's 1. Nadine had more building points, and Rachel more shipping points, but I ended up winning by 6 points, anyway.
In the second game, I went first. This time I tried Small Fashion District and Library. Nadine and Rachel both went for Irrigation again. Nadine also did well with Assembly Line and Specialty Factory. Rachel did quite well with Private Boat. Again, I had no VPs for some time. Nevertheless, I won again by another reasonable margin.
So, two victories for me. Yay. And no more games for the three of us until Simchat Torah or beyond.
Affiliate Headline News reports that doctors in Hong Kong have found that Mah Jong can trigger epileptic seizure. It goes on to say that this is a result of having to make decisions, implying that other board games with decisions could cause epilepsy?
RSDancey has a long article about the CCG game industry, making predictions about current industry players.
Mariacristina talks about a dream interpretation workshop where dreams are turned into board games.
The Las Cruses Sun-News covers board games, old and new.
Yehuda
Friday, August 03, 2007
Reiner Knizia is Becoming an International Brand
Israel toy stores have an eclectic collection of specific older and modern games, which includes a growing number of decent games, mostly abstracts or card games.
Nowadays, just about every toy store will have: Blokus (several versions), Foxmind and Winning Moves games (from their European games catalog, which is somewhat different from the American catalog), a series of decent wooden abstracts such as Quarto and Batik, Ingenious, TransAmerica, and a few others.
I discovered yesterday that Reiner Knizia is now becoming an Israeli brand.
Only two designers have their names printed on the front of game boxes in Israel: Haim Shafir and Reiner Knizia. Shafir is Israel's best known game designer. His game Taki, which is a version of Crazy Eights/Uno, is practically a national card game for kids. Every game store has a rack of his card games under the banner "Shafir Games".
Knizia's first game with his name on it in Israel was Ingenious - in Israel it's called "MENSA Hiburim", which means Connections. Today I saw a number of his lighter games in the Winning Moves line, all with his name prominently on the cover.
I suspect that Knizia is the only designer whose contract with his publishers requires them to put his name on the cover of his games. By so doing, he's creating a brand of himself, assuming that a number of games become popular and people begin to make the connection.
This is by no means certain, of course. When I asked the sales lady for the English name of one of these games, in Hebrew called "Catchin' Dragons", she turned the box around a few times and finally pointed to Knizia's name - the only English on the box - and proudly told me that the game was called "Reiner Knizia".
In other words, the message still has to spread. I suspect that it will, eventually. In any case, it can't spread unless the branding is there.
Eventually, having the name Knizia on the box will be a reason for the average citizen to buy the game, just like certain publishers' names do. The store personnel won't be any smarter, of course. They'll just tell customers that they've heard the Knizia line of games are supposed to be good. That will be enough.
If you've seen the glassy eyed look of the women and men who come into toy stores looking for what to buy their kids - and almost invariably ending up with Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders due to name recognition - you'll know what I mean.
Yehuda
Nowadays, just about every toy store will have: Blokus (several versions), Foxmind and Winning Moves games (from their European games catalog, which is somewhat different from the American catalog), a series of decent wooden abstracts such as Quarto and Batik, Ingenious, TransAmerica, and a few others.
I discovered yesterday that Reiner Knizia is now becoming an Israeli brand.
Only two designers have their names printed on the front of game boxes in Israel: Haim Shafir and Reiner Knizia. Shafir is Israel's best known game designer. His game Taki, which is a version of Crazy Eights/Uno, is practically a national card game for kids. Every game store has a rack of his card games under the banner "Shafir Games".
Knizia's first game with his name on it in Israel was Ingenious - in Israel it's called "MENSA Hiburim", which means Connections. Today I saw a number of his lighter games in the Winning Moves line, all with his name prominently on the cover.
I suspect that Knizia is the only designer whose contract with his publishers requires them to put his name on the cover of his games. By so doing, he's creating a brand of himself, assuming that a number of games become popular and people begin to make the connection.
This is by no means certain, of course. When I asked the sales lady for the English name of one of these games, in Hebrew called "Catchin' Dragons", she turned the box around a few times and finally pointed to Knizia's name - the only English on the box - and proudly told me that the game was called "Reiner Knizia".
In other words, the message still has to spread. I suspect that it will, eventually. In any case, it can't spread unless the branding is there.
Eventually, having the name Knizia on the box will be a reason for the average citizen to buy the game, just like certain publishers' names do. The store personnel won't be any smarter, of course. They'll just tell customers that they've heard the Knizia line of games are supposed to be good. That will be enough.
If you've seen the glassy eyed look of the women and men who come into toy stores looking for what to buy their kids - and almost invariably ending up with Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders due to name recognition - you'll know what I mean.
Yehuda
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Session Report, in which we try Samurai
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: Samurai, El Grande, Lost Valley, Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Bridge.
We try Samurai for the first time. Binyamin decries the luck in Lost Valley. Ben and Yitzchak get into bidding wars in Power Grid.
The Clutter Diet tells you how to organize your board games.
Boylston Chess Club points us to an article on the all-too-common experience of getting shot while playing Chess. I think it's currently ranked only second in frequency to getting shot while playing cards.
The Athens Messenger tells us about a video game design summer camp. Using board games, of course.
The Escapist runs an article about the "old video games," namely pinball machines.
A nice article from King Lud IC, Flow and Phantasm, talks about things other than fun in the game experience.
Hyatt Hotel chains is partnering with Cranium to bring you the game experience in all of its hotels.
Abilene Reporter News tells everyone to go and play board games, giving Eric Arneson's list of popular board games as suggestions.
For gobs of money, you can buy boardgamemania.com.
Gnome Games is using board games for employee evaluation at companies.
Yehuda
We try Samurai for the first time. Binyamin decries the luck in Lost Valley. Ben and Yitzchak get into bidding wars in Power Grid.
The Clutter Diet tells you how to organize your board games.
Boylston Chess Club points us to an article on the all-too-common experience of getting shot while playing Chess. I think it's currently ranked only second in frequency to getting shot while playing cards.
The Athens Messenger tells us about a video game design summer camp. Using board games, of course.
The Escapist runs an article about the "old video games," namely pinball machines.
A nice article from King Lud IC, Flow and Phantasm, talks about things other than fun in the game experience.
Hyatt Hotel chains is partnering with Cranium to bring you the game experience in all of its hotels.
Abilene Reporter News tells everyone to go and play board games, giving Eric Arneson's list of popular board games as suggestions.
For gobs of money, you can buy boardgamemania.com.
Gnome Games is using board games for employee evaluation at companies.
Yehuda
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
How a Game Museum Would Work
Intro
Following my previous articles about games and art, as well as some short discussions with Greg Costik, the subject of an art museum for games came up.
Remember that when considering games, I'm considering all types of games, including:
Games as Art
I'm talking about a museum of interactive art. Games are, at heart, interactive experiences, whether the interaction is with the rule set or the components, or another player or AI through means of the rule set and components.
The only distinction I can really make about games and interactive art is that interactive art is akin to play - it is without specific rules. Games are a subset of interactive art where the experience is couched in terms of specific rules of interaction.
Note a number of things that I'm leaving out of the definition of games: winning, losing, and scores, which I don't think are required for games.
Many people will happily disagree with my terminology, but it doesn't really matter. We can argue the terms some other time. I'm concerned more with the structure of a game museum in this article.
Physical Game Museums
In my recent visit to the Tate Museum, I saw a number of videos that simply depicted a man falling down and getting up again. You could just as easily translate this into an experiential game. In the game, you push someone until he falls down, and then he gets up again.
The quality of the components is relevant to the finished piece, but not the essential aspect of the artistic message.
Or a game of Go set up with a difficult end-game move. You sit down and have to play a piece. After you play a piece, an opponent responds. Then the game is reset.
Or an RPG with a single quest: to fill a bucket of water. To do so, you have to first interact with five different characters from mythology.
A physical museum could be entirely full of interactive pieces like these.
Virtual Game Museums
A virtual online museum could feature pages of art games, either online games, or downloadable games. Each page could have the name of the creator, date of creation, and maybe a blurb about the artist and the work. You could add a forum or chat box for each work, if you like.
A video game: the game consists of beautifully rendered figures with different personalities: arrogance, pride, anger, and so on. You guide them around so that they interact in an art studio. When you give a set of items and tools to one or more of the characters, the character builds a sculpture that reflects his or her personality.
Another video game: You have as much time as you want to create a painting. As you make choices, certain brush, canvas, and paint resources become available to you. Your tools are constrained and guided by the interactivity of the program based on your choices. Think a civ building game, but you're building a palette.
The game ends after you've reached a certain quality of tool set. As a side result, you may have created a beautiful painting. The real creation of the game is the tool set that matches your needs as an artist - or, perhaps just the needs of a certain mood.
I don't know if these games are fun. The second one might be a little. But fun is besides the point. Like any other piece of interactive art, the object is not to sell it or own it, but to experience it, receive the artist's message, and perhaps be transformed by it.
If all these games sound like bad art, that's entirely because I'm not a game artist. I'm just a theorist. :-)
Yehuda
Following my previous articles about games and art, as well as some short discussions with Greg Costik, the subject of an art museum for games came up.
Remember that when considering games, I'm considering all types of games, including:
- table top games with physical components
- mental games with superfluous components (e.g. RPGs)
- electronic and video based games
- solo and multiplayer games
- possibly others
Games as Art
I'm talking about a museum of interactive art. Games are, at heart, interactive experiences, whether the interaction is with the rule set or the components, or another player or AI through means of the rule set and components.
The only distinction I can really make about games and interactive art is that interactive art is akin to play - it is without specific rules. Games are a subset of interactive art where the experience is couched in terms of specific rules of interaction.
Note a number of things that I'm leaving out of the definition of games: winning, losing, and scores, which I don't think are required for games.
Many people will happily disagree with my terminology, but it doesn't really matter. We can argue the terms some other time. I'm concerned more with the structure of a game museum in this article.
Physical Game Museums
In my recent visit to the Tate Museum, I saw a number of videos that simply depicted a man falling down and getting up again. You could just as easily translate this into an experiential game. In the game, you push someone until he falls down, and then he gets up again.
The quality of the components is relevant to the finished piece, but not the essential aspect of the artistic message.
Or a game of Go set up with a difficult end-game move. You sit down and have to play a piece. After you play a piece, an opponent responds. Then the game is reset.
Or an RPG with a single quest: to fill a bucket of water. To do so, you have to first interact with five different characters from mythology.
A physical museum could be entirely full of interactive pieces like these.
Virtual Game Museums
A virtual online museum could feature pages of art games, either online games, or downloadable games. Each page could have the name of the creator, date of creation, and maybe a blurb about the artist and the work. You could add a forum or chat box for each work, if you like.
A video game: the game consists of beautifully rendered figures with different personalities: arrogance, pride, anger, and so on. You guide them around so that they interact in an art studio. When you give a set of items and tools to one or more of the characters, the character builds a sculpture that reflects his or her personality.
Another video game: You have as much time as you want to create a painting. As you make choices, certain brush, canvas, and paint resources become available to you. Your tools are constrained and guided by the interactivity of the program based on your choices. Think a civ building game, but you're building a palette.
The game ends after you've reached a certain quality of tool set. As a side result, you may have created a beautiful painting. The real creation of the game is the tool set that matches your needs as an artist - or, perhaps just the needs of a certain mood.
I don't know if these games are fun. The second one might be a little. But fun is besides the point. Like any other piece of interactive art, the object is not to sell it or own it, but to experience it, receive the artist's message, and perhaps be transformed by it.
If all these games sound like bad art, that's entirely because I'm not a game artist. I'm just a theorist. :-)
Yehuda
July Gaming at the JSGC
These games were played in July at the Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club. As usual, this doesn't include games I personally played outside of the club.
Atlantic Star - New. Four of us played, and I was the only one who thought there was less luck than there appeared to be. I liked it. The others didn't, or weren't convinced.
Bridge x 2 - A staple filler game.
Caylus - Well loved by some of our members, but way too long and mechanical for me.
Chess - Rarely played.
Colosseum - New. A Big Fat Euro with lots of pieces. Kind of long. Playable enough.
Cosmic Encounter - A well loved classic.
Go - A perfect game, but not enough flair for some of the members.
It's Alive - New (sort of). It's nice to have the real live version of this game, finally, instead of only my prototypes.
Lost Valley x 2 - New. A game of exploration and resources. Again, some luck, but a pretty enjoyable game. Will play again.
Order of the Stick - New. Long American combat game based on the hysterical comic of the same name. Reading the rules and cards is fun, as is the playacting. Otherwise, plays something like Munchkin.
Power Grid x 2 - Seems to have become the standard game for much of the group. A bit long and overly mechanical for me, the game was vastly improved by a slight variant we introduced.
Princes of Florence - Another well loved game, but generally not two weeks in a row.
Queries and Theories - An induction game similar to Zendo, based on computer theory.
Settlers of Catan - A classic game for those who haven't played it over a thousand times (and sometimes for them, too).
Shadows Over Camelot - Well loved cooperative game by the group, with the added bonus that people can join and leave in the middle. I'm not so keen on it, but ok.
Shear Panic x 2 - New. Tried and found problematic in some places. Could still be that we're playing wrong.
Tower of Babel - New. I didn't play this.
Yehuda
Atlantic Star - New. Four of us played, and I was the only one who thought there was less luck than there appeared to be. I liked it. The others didn't, or weren't convinced.
Bridge x 2 - A staple filler game.
Caylus - Well loved by some of our members, but way too long and mechanical for me.
Chess - Rarely played.
Colosseum - New. A Big Fat Euro with lots of pieces. Kind of long. Playable enough.
Cosmic Encounter - A well loved classic.
Go - A perfect game, but not enough flair for some of the members.
It's Alive - New (sort of). It's nice to have the real live version of this game, finally, instead of only my prototypes.
Lost Valley x 2 - New. A game of exploration and resources. Again, some luck, but a pretty enjoyable game. Will play again.
Order of the Stick - New. Long American combat game based on the hysterical comic of the same name. Reading the rules and cards is fun, as is the playacting. Otherwise, plays something like Munchkin.
Power Grid x 2 - Seems to have become the standard game for much of the group. A bit long and overly mechanical for me, the game was vastly improved by a slight variant we introduced.
Princes of Florence - Another well loved game, but generally not two weeks in a row.
Queries and Theories - An induction game similar to Zendo, based on computer theory.
Settlers of Catan - A classic game for those who haven't played it over a thousand times (and sometimes for them, too).
Shadows Over Camelot - Well loved cooperative game by the group, with the added bonus that people can join and leave in the middle. I'm not so keen on it, but ok.
Shear Panic x 2 - New. Tried and found problematic in some places. Could still be that we're playing wrong.
Tower of Babel - New. I didn't play this.
Yehuda
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