NickCummings.com

If I learned anything from studying journalism as an undergrad, it was that a deadline is the best source of motivation to a writer. I wrote more stories in less time than I knew I was capable of. It was kind of exhilarating in a way — like cheating death, if death was just an angry professor/editor.

But as I’ve learned from attempting National Novel Writing Month again this year, fiction doesn’t work the same way at all; at least, not for me. Between school and blogging, I’ve grown so used to having a set of facts to gather and write about that the mere act of making something up is practically impossible. I’ll spend hours sitting in front of a blank document trying to get over myself and just start telling a story, but then my conscience will step in and shove the results in my face with a disapproving  tone. “‘Guy feels like he’s out of touch and longs for a girl he doesn’t deserve? Oh, and music plays a major role.’ Hmm. Congratulations, jackass! You just ripped off Nick Hornby.”

So now I’ve got eight days and change to write a brand-new 50,000-word novel. It’s my fifth concept for a novel so far this month, but I feel like this one’s going to write itself. It’s got two characters, a beginning and an end, and plenty of room to just make up whatever the hell I want in the middle. This experience hasn’t exactly turned out like I’d hoped (I would have loved to, just for once, not procrastinate until the last minute on just one thing in my life) but I know I need to finish it now, either way. After all the disheartening experiences I’ve had in the job market, I need to do something real and succeed at it to remind myself that I do have some practical use on this planet — even if it’s just making shit up.

So, funny story — I haven’t posted here in a month. And this is after I promised frequent updates, right?

Well, I have been blogging daily, believe it or not. Just not here.

For the last couple months, I’ve been pouring heart and soul (and carpal tunnel-ridden hands) into editing and writing for a gaming blog called Silicon Sasquatch. It’s a project I started with Aaron Thayer, a friend and fellow graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism, Communication and Terminal Unemployment. Our mission has been to deliver daily news, analysis and reviews on anything related to videogames and gaming culture with a definite emphasis on the Pacific Northwest.

Writing about games is something I’ve dreamed about doing for as long as I’ve been able to read, and while it’s not quite as lucrative as I’d imagined (we’re never going to make any money, ever) I’m having a blast maintaining and improving the site on a daily basis. I’ve become addicted to Twittering and Digging each story and tracking traffic to an obsessive degree.  I’ve got Photoshop macros built for resizing and downsampling images for the site, and I’m working on developing a watermark filter. I’m positively smitten by this fake little not-capable-of-profit business I’ve built for myself.

In this month alone, we’ve more than quintupled our page views: We’re now averaging more than 1,000 views per month, and the average continues to climb daily. We’ve also started receiving comments from real, actual people that we don’t know, which is exciting. But the most exciting thing was when Aaron’s review of an indie game called The Path was picked up by the game’s developer, Tale of Tales. They quoted Aaron and posted a link to our review from their site, which continues to give us exposure. It’s a minor nod, but to know that someone’s paying attention is pretty exhilarating.

I miss writing about other things, but between working full-time (for my dad, but hey, it’s work) and working on the gaming blog I just haven’t had time for anything else.

In any case, I hope you’ll check out the work we’re doing on the gaming blog, even if games aren’t your thing. Any and all feedback is totally appreciated.

Excerpt from Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

If you’re at all interested in how copyright law is evolving with technology, you really ought to pay close attention to The Pirate Bay’s trial. Currently underway in Sweden, the case pits the founders of the BitTorrent search engine against music industry representatives. This might seem like a clear-cut case in favor of the plaintiffs, but there’s a significant grey area: The Pirate Bay doesn’t actually host any of the files on its site, nor does it produce its own torrent links to copyright material. Instead, the site merely lets a user upload torrent files, which another user’s BitTorrent client of choice can use to connect to the host user’s computer to download the file directly.

The real beauty of BitTorrent, as you probably know, is that it pioneered the concept of distributed file sharing — that is, everyone who downloads from the host (a “leecher”) is also a “seeder” who actively hosts bits of the file to other downloaders. In this way, everyone’s computers collaborate to ensure that the more users there are downloading a file, the faster everyone obtains it. It also relieves the majority of bandwidth pressure from a host, and theoretically enables download speeds to increase exponentially as more users seek the same files.

It’s important to know how BitTorrent works because it may explain why, just one day into the trial, the prosecution has dropped half of its charges against The Pirate Bay. The site’s founders are no longer being accused of “assisting copyright infringement,” which leaves only the less sinister charge of “assisting making available copyright material.” While the site’s founders suggest this is indicative of the prosecution’s failure to understand the technology of the site, the prosecution countered by suggesting they were just simplifying the charges.

If you’re interested in following the case closely, I suggest you head over to TorrentFreak.com. They’ve established themselves as the definitive source for torrent-related news, and they’ve been following the case intently.

I’m not sure how I feel about The Pirate Bay’s position in this case. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I’d never torrented copyrighted material, but I can’t condone my actions as ethical. I think that The Pirate Bay’s best-case scenario is they’re found guilty of negligence by fostering a Web community where people connect to exchange copyrighted files without being stopped. But all the same, I think this is going to be a landmark case in shaping how people can interact and share information over the Internet.

What do you think? Should sites like The Pirate Bay be shuttered to protect copyright holders? Should BitTorrent use be regulated? Or should filesharing continue unimpeded?

Melissa and I are both graduates of the University of Oregon journalism program. So, as you might imagine, we’ve both spent a lot of time pondering what the hell we were thinking going into a dying industry at the precipice of the greatest economic upheaval in decades.

Living in Oregon, there’s not much in the way of mass media. There’s not much in the way of anything except for trees and grass, really. And after months of unsuccessful job hunting, the prospect of going back to grad school continues to rear its head. And because Melissa and I are both strong writers with a critical and argumentative mindset, law school continues to be recommended to us by our families and friends.

I don’t really want to go back to school. Seventeen contiguous years of education culminating in recitation, late nights and largely unsatisfying work will do that to you. But the reality of this market is even more imposing.

Realistically, my dream job would involve some pretty broad ideas:

• Music
• Culture
• Writing
• Design
• Communication

And I don’t really see a career in law lending itself to those qualities. At best, I’d be an outsider to the innovators and creators, and I’m not sure I want to attain my ideals in a purely vicarious sense.

Nevertheless, we stopped in at Borders to take a look at some practice tests and other supplemental materials on considering and applying to law school. But even for a standardized test, the LSAT is in a league of its own when it comes to condensed tedium (not from concentrate).

As a child I adored logic puzzles. Of all the worksheets and exercises I did in my younger years, logic tables – discerning whether Susie sold more lemonade than Jamal, or determining the birth order of the eleven children in a fictitious family by piecing together a series of bizarre facts – were my favorite. (So much so that at the end of third grade I requested as many xeroxes of additional logic puzzles to solve over the summer as I could obtain from my teacher. In hindsight, I think that may have been the moment where I first began to realize the full extent of my nerdiness.)

As for journalism? I guess I could keep trying for an internship at a publication, but I hear that’s more of a trust-fund thing now.

I heard that Facebook turned five years old yesterday, and I cringed. Really? I thought for sure I hadn’t squandered my entire college career on one Web site, but the facts are clear:

1. I joined Facebook in the summer of 2004, just months after its initial Harvard-only launch
2. I’ve accessed the site almost every single day since then
3. I can’t find a job, but I’m still using Facebook all the damn time

In other news, I’m pretty sure I’m the last person on the planet who hasn’t filled out his requisite “25 things about me” note to share with friends on Facebook. It’s nothing personal, really; I just don’t get much out of it. I mean, what’s the fun in doting over a 25-item list when I can pay lots of money to write whenever I want on my own little slice of life?

Melissa pointed out to me that even Time Magazine’s Claire Suddath is pissed off about it, with hilarious and pointed observation to justify her rancor. I feel like a crotchety old man for harrumphing in agreement with her, but there are just some things best kept private for one reason (author is boring) or another (author is a certifiable creeper).

Hey gang. I’m overhauling my website, and that includes this here blog. You’ll be seeing some changes in the near future (honest to gosh!) and perhaps chief among them is the name of this blog.

As of today, I’m retiring the title “Will Write 4 GP.” It wasn’t ever very clever, and it mostly just confused people. I don’t think GP has been currency in a video game since like 1995. It makes me look old.

This also means I won’t be restricted to writing only about video games. It turns out there are some other things I like, too! I think. I’ll keep you posted. But by no means am I finished writing about gaming; in fact, I hope to have something to announce on that subject soon.

I’m looking forward to writing again, and I hope you enjoy reading.

I’m back in scenic Seattle, Washington! This marks the fifth time I’ve attended the Penny Arcade Expo, an event steeped in such geeky fanfare and terrifying body odor that I’m a bit embarrassed to write about it — and this is from a guy who writes a blog exclusively about videogames.

In case you’ve never been to Seattle, there’s this odd phenomenon that has been documented and experienced almost universally. Seattleites are notorious for an outwardly warm disposition that masks a general aversion (maybe even disdain?) towards other people. Basically, everyone you meet in Seattle has the disposition of someone waiting in line at the DMV.

I’ve seen this kind of attitude in Portland as well, of course, but Seattle’s got it bad. What better place to host a convention for people who wear their pride on their gamertag?

Currently, I’m mapping out my 72-hour convention schedule. I’ll be sure to post some highlights and expectations before the expo begins, but for now I’m spending time with family. If anyone wants me to look for any specific games/developers/publishers/events/creepy cosplayers, let me know!

And if you’re heading up to PAX as well, get in touch with me. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.

…and I, for one, am mad as hell!

How dare the tyrants at Micro$oft charge me a 50% increase over the standard Xbox Live arcade game price? It’s ludicrous!

It’s not like I’m paying for an independent developer’s finely crafted product, painstakingly produced and hauntingly beautiful in its ambiance.

I can’t say it any better than this:

What’s that? Fifteen dollars is too much money to pay for a downloadable game? Fine. Whatever helps you sleep at night, you stingy bastard. More Braid for me.

I’ve found it difficult to come up with a consistent method for assigning a value for a game based on its cost. I’ve mentioned my year-long love affair with Picross DS on several occasions, a game that — at a mere twenty dollars — has sated my appetite for portable gaming single-handedly for hundreds of hours. At the other end of the spectrum is the spectacular Portal, now available as a standalone purchase for $20. Portal takes only a few hours to complete, but the innovative gameplay and mind-bending experiences surely contribute to the game’s lasting value.

It should probably be noted that Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1 cost $20, a price point that effectively raised the bar for how much a developer can charge for an Xbox Live Arcade game. But that was also $20 well spent in my opinion; the Penny Arcade team put together a petty damn creative game with hilarious scenarios and dialog and stylish artwork, and their endorsement of Braid seems more like a rallying of arms for creative game development than an attempt to justify PAA:OtR-SPoD:E1′s hefty price tag (and bafflingly long title).

I haven’t even talked about the moments in Braid that provoked a verbal “aha!” where the last cog in an untouched corner of my brain sprang to life, turning what was once a mind-numbing riddle into a clever puzzle unlike anything I’d solved before. I didn’t mention the brilliant, dark and distinct writing, or the myriad brilliant uses of the game’s core mechanic — time manipulation — and how it comes to a brilliant and heartbreaking crescendo in the game’s final, eponymous level.

I didn’t mention how important a game like Braid is to the medium as a whole. But I probably should.

Braid is one of those rare titles whose impact will be felt throughout game design for years to come. But more importantly, it’s a very heartfelt and personal story presented through a beautifully ethereal musical score and endearing hand-painted imagery. It’s unlike anything you’ve played before.

Facebook has been good to me over the years. Aside from enabling friends to stay connected, forge new bonds and check out pictures of that time Steven got wicked hammered and totally pissed on the drive-thru of the Dairy Queen in front of that five-year-old, the Facebook platform has opened its arms to thousands of application developers to create an environment where social links on an already passionate and active userbase can be adapted into popular applications.

Take Scrabble, for example. The classic game of word-on-word action made its way to the Facebook platform by way of Scrabulous, a fan-made, no-holds-barred arena for duels of the hyperliterate.

On Facebook, Scrabble was transformed into the online multiplayer arena called Scrabulous — the goddamn Thunderdome of word games. This game was hotter than Edward R. Murrow (who is classified as a “level-9 super-fine” stud) around the journalism school.

And then it was gone.

Hasbro most likely saw a potential threat to the Scrabble name and property in Scrabulous, and it brought on Electronic Arts to craft a Facebook-tailored version of Scrabble to replace Scrabulous in the United States and Canada. Scrabble can already be found online at EA’s Pogo website, but it costs money to play.  But EA’s Facebook Scrabble application would offer online play among friends, just like Scrabulous, only it would include the Scrabble branding. What could go wrong?

The answer: A whole hell of a lot. EA and Hasbro royally screwed themselves over with a hat trick of gaffes:

1. They had Scrabulous taken offline
2. Scrabulous users weren’t able to port their win/loss records over to Scrabble
3. The offical Scrabble app didn’t fucking work

In case you weren’t aware, this is serious business. BBC News reported it as one of the top stories on its main RSS feed, after all, and it was featured on the front page of CNN.com

But hey, this is the Internet! If you don’t like it, hack it into submission!  And that’s just what the fans did.

So, hey, Electronic Arts and Hasbro: Don’t jerk your fanbase around. People love Scrabble, and protecting your copyright is fair and the right thing to do, but when you’ve got 500,000 daily users (making it one of the most popular applications on Facebook) you can’t just leave them high and dry. Keep the Scrabulous engine, let the Scrabulous guys do their thing, and retain the rights to the game. Slap the word “Scrabble” on there and keep your half-baked substitute offline, and everybody wins.

So here’s the good news: I am now a college graduate!

Unfortunately, the bad news: My only directive in life is now obsolete.  The moment I printed and bound my thesis was when I signed away my academic career.  Now I’m faced with a whole mess of job listings on craigslist, Monster.com and JournalismJobs.com, none of which is particularly viable.

A few dozen job apps down and I still have yet to get any real feedback. You’ll forgive me if I’m beginning to sound a little jaded.

So in the meantime, I’m making money where I can (at least I’m not working the streets yet!) and taking this time to do what I do best as a writer: spew. I’m hoping to stick to a reasonable schedule with my blog and hopefully give the Internet something worth reading.

In actual gaming-related news, I’m attending the fifth Penny Arcade Expo in a month.  I’ve attended every year, and each year’s left me with a slew of ridiculous stories to tell.  Highlights have included:

• Playing Munchkin with MC Frontalot
• Sleeping on hotel room floors with eight other people
• Not really sleeping
• Being able to identify friends based on who’s actually wearing deodorant

Being at PAX is probably a little bit like having a baby.  It’s the rite of passage into a divine new light, a journey that could forever change your life; you just have to be ready for not eating or sleeping well, physical and sensory torment, and the occasional spontaneous bout of vomiting.

In the meantime, I’m examining my backlog of games and blazing through them ravenously.  Apparently I never beat Ico?  What the hell is wrong with me?

So that’s what’s up.