Works in Progress III: Video Crossroads

The writing continues apace. I haven’t had another burst of words like last Monday night, but I’m still close to finishing another chapter of Lighthouse. I’ve been commissioned to write a Pathfinder adventure of 8-10k words, which I’m chipping away at with the hope of having something to deliver by the end of the week. Even an introduction would show I’m being diligent about the assignment. With Up arriving today from Netflix, I’ll have two movies to write up reviews for in addition to recording audio. Plus there’s the day job, gaming and spending time with my wife as well as doing chores and preparing for trips to Allentown and Charlottesville. That’s Thanksgiving and my cousin’s wedding, respectively.

However, the deadline of the Escapist Video Contest looms and I’m continuing to struggle with my concept. Or rather concepts. I have two of them now, solid ones I can execute on my own with a minimum of fuss & effort, and there are pros & cons to each concept. Like the Scissor Sisters, however, I can’t decide.

Powerless

The original idea I’d mostly settled upon before my muse fondled me the other day was this: every video there’s a reason the power’s out. It could be a down power line, a water main break shorting out a substation, a flood, zombies, nuclear holocaust, etc. Anyway, without power to run any major gaming console, I’d need to find another way to amuse myself, right? Right. So I’d talk about tabletop games and the like: how Chrononauts works, why all the versions of D&D are still valid, the awesomeness of Arkham Horror, etc. I know Alex Macris would dig it.

I just don’t know how long I could keep coming up with contrived excuses for the lights being out.

Spoiler Warning

So we have Zero Punctuation talking about games in general and Unskippable MST3King every intro cutscene in sight. But nobody so far seems to cover the endings of games, how utterly contrived they can be or how blatantly they expect a sequel to come next. This is something I could do, pointing out little things like bad characterization or stupid plot twists in a John Madden-like fashion, but without the extra 200 pounds.

I don’t think it’s as strong an idea as Powerless, but it might last longer since new games are always coming out. I’d try to give a game a few months before I skewer its ending, of course.

Lock the doors & close the blinds, we’re going for a ride.

If you have any thoughts either way, please share. I’d like to get some/most of the work on one of these out of the way this weekend so I have time to tune it up before the deadline.