Unwinnable

One of the best things about GDC is the chats you have with people – with other writers, with players, with developers. One of the worst things about GDC is losing those chats to the ether the moment they are over. I was really looking forward to talking to Walt Williams, the lead writer on 2K and Yager’s Spec Ops: The Line. Mostly, I just wanted to know how he felt about the book I wrote about the game he wrote. And, as it turned out, he wanted to talk to me. So after he gave his GDC presentation on how to build characters through violence, we sat down in a quiet corner of Moscone West and had a chat. We had a chat for over an hour that slipped and slid from one topic into another and back again, from Spec Ops to videogames to writing to criticism. (more…)

Here at Unwinnable, we’re always trying to bring you unique and fresh games writing.  But we also know that we’re not the only ones out there with the same goals in mind, and we love hearing about approaches we’d never have even considered. That’s why we’re all about Sneaky Bastards, an Australia-based website devoted to all things stealth that wants to change the way we read and write about games. (more…)

From the first line of the Genesis 1:3 to the radioactive arachnid bite that turned scrawny Peter Parker into a spider-man to the titular face-hugging creature in Alien, the greatest stories ever told all owe their beginnings to a single metaphorical light-bulb going off in someone’s head. (more…)

I’m just going to get this out of the way right now – Shaun Simon and I have been friends for a long time. We first met outside of John “Hambone” McGuire’s house circa 1998 or 1999. We smoked a lot of cigarettes and I found out he was a big fan of post hardcore band At The Drive-In. My first impression of him was that he spat a lot. He still does, actually, but his proclivities towards using the ground we all walk on as his personal spittoon is far from what encompasses Shaun Simon. (more…)

At NYCC 2012, IDW announced that Comic Book History of Comics and Archer & Armstrong scribe Fred Van Lente will be writing the flagship title of its G.I. Joe relaunch in February 2013. Van Lente was kind enough to speak with Ian Gonzales about the new series, and he answers the ultimate question: Is Snake Eyes a ninja or a commando? (more…)

I recently came across a Kickstarter campaign for a comic called Destiny’s Fate. It’s a mini-series about time travel, teen rebellion and ninja business. The creative team is made up of writer Devin Leigh Michaels, artist Mauricio Vargas-Martinez, colorist Rodrigo Tobias Eyzaguirre and letterer Taylor Esposito – all of whom have some impressive resumes and, as evidenced on their Kickstarter page, a love for comics.

Devin Leigh Michaels was kind enough to speak with me about the series. (more…)

On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I was chatting up It Came from the Radio host Mark Torres about comics, and he turned me on to an indie crossover event that he was involved in called War of the Independents.

The main book, written by Scott Lobdell and Dave Ryan, was published in 2011 by Red Anvil Comics. Based on their comic Penance, War of the Independents finds Lobdell and Ryan’s characters traveling to other universes trying to gather heroes to help save their Earth. War of the Independents features characters ranging from Milk & Cheese to Madman, with Torres’ character Sunburst getting in on the action as well. Now, Torres is a part of another crossover with RZG Comics and their character, Phazer. Here’s what he had to say about the projects. (more…)