The Garret Tree
Saturday, February 23, 2008
My microcareer in videogames
When you've got a book coming out you Google yourself a little more frequently just to see what's happening out there.
That's how I found out today that my very brief career in videogames actually resulted in a game called Maabus. Somehow the reference showed up in the second page of my Google search.
Back in the winter of 1993, I was freelancing, mainly as an underpaid casual writer at CTV News and so I was always on the lookout for other work. And that's how I came to be working for a CD duplicating company in Toronto called MicroForum that wanted to move from manufacturing into actual production.
I was hired to write a scenario for a game, where earth was threatened some mysterious force.
Here is the blurb and it is pretty close (as far as I remember) to what I wrote:
So I handed in the scenario, got paid and that was the last I heard about it, until today,more than 15 years later.
Now, thanks to Google, I find myself on a game review site called Moby Games, as a game developer!
(There's nothing there right, but I certainly intend to update it)
I never even got a copy of the game. (So I just bought a used copy on EBay.)
When PC Gamer reviewed the final product, it said:" On the box Maabus comes in, Microforum calls it both "the ultimate videogame" and "the ultimate adventure" - and that's a good clue to what's wrong with it. Maabus tries to be two things at once, and it succeeds at neither." The sort of thing you'd expect for a first effort (for both me and the company)
But it appears that the music is quite catchy and that's why the "Maabus Trailer" been posted on YouTube.
From the comments it appears that the song is much more popular than the game itself!
The credits say the music for the game was created by Maurizio Guarini and Steve Convery, but the trailer, according to the YouTube the credit for theTrailer for "Maabus" by Monolith Productions, taken from Softkey's "Game Empire" disc.
(It appears that it was an early effort by the Monolith Productions, now part of the Warner empire.)
So it's unclear where the song came from. I'll update when I get the CDs!
Technorati tags
writing, games, Maabus,
9:43 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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That's how I found out today that my very brief career in videogames actually resulted in a game called Maabus. Somehow the reference showed up in the second page of my Google search.Back in the winter of 1993, I was freelancing, mainly as an underpaid casual writer at CTV News and so I was always on the lookout for other work. And that's how I came to be working for a CD duplicating company in Toronto called MicroForum that wanted to move from manufacturing into actual production.
I was hired to write a scenario for a game, where earth was threatened some mysterious force.
Here is the blurb and it is pretty close (as far as I remember) to what I wrote:
The year is 1999.
A mysterious new form of radiation is threatening life as we know it on Earth.
... On a small tropical island, 1500 miles southwest of Hawaii in the Pacific, something sinister is going on...
Rumors abound: monstrous mutants, alien fiends, and inexplicable phenomena. Is this the malicious plot of a hostile country? Or does the threat originate from some extra-terrestrial power?
Many research teams have gone in... not a living soul has ever come out!
Now as the last hope, the military has turned to you to crack the mystery and save the world from impending devastation. Your mission is to explore the island with the aid of a highly advanced computerized robot and an arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons. You must investigate uncharted tropical terrain, examine and analyze clues to seek out and destroy the source of this Evil. It will take all of your courage, skills and wits. And remember...
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!
Now, thanks to Google, I find myself on a game review site called Moby Games, as a game developer!
(There's nothing there right, but I certainly intend to update it)
I never even got a copy of the game. (So I just bought a used copy on EBay.)
When PC Gamer reviewed the final product, it said:" On the box Maabus comes in, Microforum calls it both "the ultimate videogame" and "the ultimate adventure" - and that's a good clue to what's wrong with it. Maabus tries to be two things at once, and it succeeds at neither." The sort of thing you'd expect for a first effort (for both me and the company)
But it appears that the music is quite catchy and that's why the "Maabus Trailer" been posted on YouTube.
From the comments it appears that the song is much more popular than the game itself!
The credits say the music for the game was created by Maurizio Guarini and Steve Convery, but the trailer, according to the YouTube the credit for theTrailer for "Maabus" by Monolith Productions, taken from Softkey's "Game Empire" disc.
(It appears that it was an early effort by the Monolith Productions, now part of the Warner empire.)
So it's unclear where the song came from. I'll update when I get the CDs!
Technorati tags
writing, games, Maabus,
Labels: game, Maabus, Toronto, videogame, writing
9:43 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Monday, May 21, 2007
Shooting on the Leslie Street Spit
I took my annual spring fun photo shoot out along the Leslie St. Spit (also known as Tommy Thompson Park ) in Toronto Sunday.
The spit is 5 kilometres long from entrance to lighthouse. So the trek out can be between 10 kilometres (if you take the main road) and 11 to 12 kilometres (if you use side trails and alternate routes)
All photos are copyright © Robin Rowland 2007 All rights reserved.
Here is my favourite shot (so far) from the shoot.
(Click for larger image)
This year we were lucky, lots of wildlife, as well as the usual seagulls and Canada Geese, there were garter snakes, rabbits and lots of songbirds.
Red-winged blackbird
Warbler
Update
Marc Ferreira's shots from the Spit Shoot
Technorati tags
Toronto, photography, Leslie Street Spit
1:59 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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The spit is 5 kilometres long from entrance to lighthouse. So the trek out can be between 10 kilometres (if you take the main road) and 11 to 12 kilometres (if you use side trails and alternate routes)
All photos are copyright © Robin Rowland 2007 All rights reserved.
Here is my favourite shot (so far) from the shoot.
(Click for larger image)
This year we were lucky, lots of wildlife, as well as the usual seagulls and Canada Geese, there were garter snakes, rabbits and lots of songbirds.
Red-winged blackbird
Warbler
Update
Marc Ferreira's shots from the Spit Shoot
Technorati tags
Toronto, photography, Leslie Street Spit
Labels: hiking, Leslie St. Spit, photography, Toronto
1:59 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Alan Johnston rally at Simcoe Park
Hundreds of journalists and other supporters rallied at Toronto's Simcoe Park on Thursday May 10, 2007, to support kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who by that time had been held in Gaza for 60 days.
CBC Chief Correspondent Peter Mansbridge expresses his support for Alan Johnston and his family at the rally.
Host of CBC's The Current, Anna Maria Tremonti, a former Middle East correspondent, spoke about Alan Johnston's reporting from Gaza. Former BBC correspondent Daniel Lak who helped organize the rally is on the left.
CBC News story on the rally at Simcoe Park
CBC Editor-in-chief Tony Burman's letter calling for freedom for Alan Johnston
Sign the BBC Online petition
BBC "How You Can Help"
Toronto Star Canadian media protest kidnapping
Canadian Press story on Canoe
Daniel Lak's blog, Lakwords
Technorati tags
writing, journalism,
BBC,Alan Johnston, Gaza,CBC
9:35 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Photographs by Robin Rowland © 2007
Hundreds of journalists and other supporters rallied at Toronto's Simcoe Park on Thursday May 10, 2007, to support kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who by that time had been held in Gaza for 60 days.
CBC Chief Correspondent Peter Mansbridge expresses his support for Alan Johnston and his family at the rally.
Host of CBC's The Current, Anna Maria Tremonti, a former Middle East correspondent, spoke about Alan Johnston's reporting from Gaza. Former BBC correspondent Daniel Lak who helped organize the rally is on the left.
CBC News story on the rally at Simcoe Park
CBC Editor-in-chief Tony Burman's letter calling for freedom for Alan Johnston
Sign the BBC Online petition
BBC "How You Can Help"
Toronto Star Canadian media protest kidnapping
Canadian Press story on Canoe
Daniel Lak's blog, Lakwords
Technorati tags
writing, journalism,
BBC,Alan Johnston, Gaza,CBC
Labels: Alan Johnston, BBC, Canada, CBC, Gaza, photography, Toronto
9:35 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Toronto rally May 10 for BBC's Alan Johnston
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) have called on their members and all journalists to mark May 10, 2007, by attending a rally in Toronto in support of British journalist Alan Johnston. BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston was kidnapped by gunmen near his office in Gaza City on March 12, 2007. Thursday, May 10 marks his 60th day in captivity.
In Toronto at
Simcoe Park
200 Front Street West
(beside the CBC building)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
12:00 p.m. - 12:40p.m.
Speakers include:
Peter Mansbridge, CBC Television
Brian Stewart, CBC Television
Anna Maria Tremonti, CBC Radio
Rick MacInnes Rae, CBC Radio
Patrick Martin, The Globe and Mail
Sandro Contenta, Toronto Star
Click in the image link above or go to the BBC Editor's page on Alan Johnston.
Johnston, 44, is a veteran foreign correspondent. Before moving to Gaza in 2004, he ran BBC bureaus in Kabul and Tashkent. He is widely respected and liked by his peers. His reporting on events in Gaza has been widely acclaimed as balanced, insightful and courageous.
The BBC and media workers rights organizations around the world have been calling for Johnston's immediate and safe release from the day of his abduction. These appeals have taken on a new urgency as time goes on. His parents in Scotland, both in their 70s, have appeared on international television and radio to appeal to his kidnappers for their son's freedom.
Johnston is believed to be alive and in good health but there is no sign of his captors releasing him anytime soon. Why he's being held remains a matter for speculation.
A single media worker harmed or kidnapped is one too many. The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) reports dozens of instances of journalists taken hostage each year, many of them in Iraq and the Gaza strip. Fourteen journalists have been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip since 2005. Reporters, camera crew and producers need to know they can work safely in troubled areas like Gaza. If journalists are unable to report freely, the world will have lost vital access to information.
CBC News Editor in Chief, Tony Burman's Letter: Why BBC's kidnapped Alan Johnston needs to be freed.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism,
BBC,Alan Johnston, Gaza,CBC
8:31 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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In Toronto at
Simcoe Park
200 Front Street West
(beside the CBC building)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
12:00 p.m. - 12:40p.m.
Speakers include:
Peter Mansbridge, CBC Television
Brian Stewart, CBC Television
Anna Maria Tremonti, CBC Radio
Rick MacInnes Rae, CBC Radio
Patrick Martin, The Globe and Mail
Sandro Contenta, Toronto Star
Click in the image link above or go to the BBC Editor's page on Alan Johnston.
Johnston, 44, is a veteran foreign correspondent. Before moving to Gaza in 2004, he ran BBC bureaus in Kabul and Tashkent. He is widely respected and liked by his peers. His reporting on events in Gaza has been widely acclaimed as balanced, insightful and courageous.
The BBC and media workers rights organizations around the world have been calling for Johnston's immediate and safe release from the day of his abduction. These appeals have taken on a new urgency as time goes on. His parents in Scotland, both in their 70s, have appeared on international television and radio to appeal to his kidnappers for their son's freedom.
Johnston is believed to be alive and in good health but there is no sign of his captors releasing him anytime soon. Why he's being held remains a matter for speculation.
A single media worker harmed or kidnapped is one too many. The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) reports dozens of instances of journalists taken hostage each year, many of them in Iraq and the Gaza strip. Fourteen journalists have been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip since 2005. Reporters, camera crew and producers need to know they can work safely in troubled areas like Gaza. If journalists are unable to report freely, the world will have lost vital access to information.
CBC News Editor in Chief, Tony Burman's Letter: Why BBC's kidnapped Alan Johnston needs to be freed.
Technorati tags
writing, journalism,
BBC,Alan Johnston, Gaza,CBC
Labels: Alan Johnston, BBC, Canada, CBC, Gaza, Globe and Mail, news, Toronto, Toronto Star, writing
8:31 PM posted by Robin Rowland
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