Well, it happened sooner than I thought--I got a refurb Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) in late November 2007, completing the "next generation" console trifecta. With enough time passing now, I thought it would be a good time to provide some insight into my thoughts around this current generation of consoles and handhelds. I'll start in the order of consoles I purchased and then finish up with the handhelds.

I saw this blog posted on Digg and thought I'd put it up here for folks to wince at. It concerns a television show named "Life" that recently had a segment involving Prince of Persia.

I just came across this rant in the New York Times on a familiar topic--why are modern games so inspid?

Greetings, everyone. Now that we've officially entered the summer doldrums, I'm hoping that we can give the ol' Armchair a kick and get more people involved in our little community here. I doubt you'll find a group anywhere that has more interest and knowledge of classic computers and videogames, so there's plenty for us to talk about! What I'm thinking, though, is that it may be time to give folks a chance to introduce themselves, talk about their interests, and just try to get to know each other a little better. Let's swap stories!

The Secret of Monkey Island: A true classic?I recently was visiting the Adventure Classic Gaming site and enjoyed a review of The Secret of Monkey Island, Gilbert's 1990 classic point-and-click that, for many people, represents the very pinnacle of the genre. While I have played all of the Monkey Island games and enjoyed each one immensely, I sometimes wonder if people don't seem a little too enthusiastic. For the same reason that I'd be dubious of someone who claimed that The Princess Bride or The Pirates of the Caribbean was the best movie ever made, I'm a bit leery of people who make similar claims about Monkey Island. Fun, definitely. Well crafted, sure. Classic--I agree. But I find that my list of the best GAGs looks much different from most that I've found on the net, mostly because I think a truly great GAG has to do more than amuse you.

I have finally finished writing my history of Zork for GamaSutra. Despite some initial difficulties, I was able to secure interviews from a variety of important figures in the Zork and larger IF world, including Steve Meretzky, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Nick Montfort, and Howard Sherman.

As some of you may know, I've been a bit busy of late drafting a retrospective piece about Zork for GamaSutra. Although I initially had problems getting in touch with the famous "imps" (Zork programmers, short for "implementors"), I finally managed to hit the jackpot. I've got interview material with Marc Blank, Steve Meretzky, Nick Montfort, and hopefully Dave Lebling (waiting for response).