May 2009
1 post
Bitmob is LIVE →
Bitmob soft launched today. We are live! Please stop by!
And specifically, please check out:
Our welcome message explaining what the site is about.
Mobcast the podcast. (also on iTunes)
Cool interview we did with David Jaffe.
But there’s plenty more to check out on the main site.
And it’s not like I’ve been updating it lately, but this means Sore Thumbs Blog is at an end....
April 2009
3 posts
3 tags
Bitmob letters
Want a chance to be in our first or future mailbags? Shoot an e-mail to letters@bitmob.com. Send us your game-related questions, rants, raves, recommendations, or random thoughts, and the Bitmob crew will take a look and possibly feature and answer your e-mails each week! Just make it interesting if you really want us to care….
9 tags
Just stuff
By Shoe
Scary: Bitmob.com looks to be 1-2 weeks away from launch now. We’re nervous/excited/peeing our pants!
Sucks: I broke my thumb during a recent snowboard trip, had to go under and go under the knife for surgery, hurts a lot now, pain in the ass to type with a big cast on. But maybe it’s all worth it for all the “Sore Thumbs” jokes I’ve been getting?
Did you...
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Cut Scene on the web →
In case you don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can view our Cut Scene videos here…usually a little later, though (they’ll normally hit the “GCHD” iPhone app first). I know our videos are a bit silly and casual…that’s what they’re meant to be. Just a light-hearted chat about videogames….
March 2009
6 posts
4 tags
Cut Scene is live, Bitmob is not (yet)
By Shoe
Two updates:
“Cut Scene,” the low-key video series starring me and Raychul Moore from GameGirl.com (where we just sit around our apartment and talk about gaming stuff…very casual-like), is now live and ready for your portable viewing. Actually, it’s been up for a few days now, but I’ve been slow to everything because of GDC and my recently broken thumb and...
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Cool livecast from GDC right now →
It’s kinda late to tell you this, since it’s already started…but if you happen to be reading this RIGHT NOW…click on the link above to watch some big-name guests talk on USA Today’s Game Hunter livecast from GDC.
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Project P is now...Bitmob.com
By Shoe
What the headline said.
If you happened to have tuned in to the Big O and Dukes Show today, you might’ve heard the name of our new website, Bitmob.com (formerly known as “Project P”). You can go there now to see…not much at the moment. You can check out our logo, join our Facebook page or Twitter feed to get some updates, or sign up for our “Hi! We’re...
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Xfire Debate Club
By Shoe
This Wednesday, I will be moderating Xfire’s Debate Club. Subject: The Future of Call of Duty and how this series impacts our industry.
Stop by if you get a chance…if you look carefully enough, you may be able to see my stress through the words that I type. Kinda like if I were public speaking. Plus…I’ll be managing five chat windows at once, audience questions,...
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Congrats, Area 5! →
CO-OP, the new series from the makers of The 1UP Show, just got picked up by Revision 3. This is great news, and hopefully it means lots of heavy Hefty Cinch Sacks full of large-denomination cash for these talented guys at Area 5 (who unfortunately lost their jobs in the recent 1UP-UGO merger).
If you haven’t seen CO-OP yet, you’re missing out…it’s The 1UP Show 2.0....
Tell me your name!
By Crispin
No, I don’t care about your real name. I want to know the pseudonym you’ve used exclusively since the day you started gaming for your RPG elfkins, your Gamertag, your World of Warcraft gobloids, your forum blowhard personalities, your virtual petz—for any videogame-related activity that asks you, “Halt! Who games here?”
What do I care? I’m working...
February 2009
10 posts
8 tags
I heart X-Play. I hate Xbox customer service
By Shoe
First, Adam goes off on some fanboys. About time someone did this in a high-profile capacity!
Then, I get a funny shout-out from Morgan…in reference to this. Thanks a lot (for the bad memories)….
Speaking of…. I recently had another awesomely bad experience with Xbox customer service. Some buddies and I wanted to get back into Splinter Cell Chaos...
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A Ziff-trospective, part two →
Part two of former Official PlayStation Magazine editor Joe Rybicki’s Ziff-trospective series. In case you missed it, part one here. He recounts some hilarious, not-so-flattering stories from our past lives….
7 tags
A Cut Scene is delayed
By Shoe
The video show I’m doing with Game Cinema HD, Cut Scene, is delayed for a couple of weeks or so.
Funny story (well, not so much for the GCHD guys): A while back, they created an iPhone/iPod Touch app for Ford Motor Company. Then last week, when they submitted their new, completely separate gaming-content app (which Cut Scene is a part of), Apple released it under “Ford”...
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Reviews Symposium, part two →
Here is part two of Shawn Elliott’s “Reviews Symposium” series. A long read, but lots of interesting perspectives from many different industry writers/editors/critics.
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Dan Sock...found!
Thanks to Bill Mudron (of this fame) for the photos from Retro Game Challenge! I have to go out and get this game ASAP, even though Age of Empires: Mythology is currently superglued inside my DS….
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A Project P sneak peek! →
Not really. But this article is awesomeness nonetheless. Someone tell us how we can contact this writer to hire him/her/it.
Dan Sock?
By Shoe
People have been asking me if I’m the “Dan Sock” character in the recently released Retro Game Challenge (DS). Yup! They got my OK for that several months ago, but I haven’t bought the game yet to see for myself…mainly because I’m saving my dough for Project P…and maybe my current addictions to Fallout 3 (still) and Street Fighter IV have...
5 tags
It's been a little slow...
By Shoe
Hey everyone…posting here on Sore Thumbs has been a slow, sporadic thing lately, mainly because Crispin’s been busy with freelance (it pays the bills!) and I’ve rerouted what little brain electricity I have toward getting Project P launched. It ain’t easy!
Speaking of Project P….
1. We should have an update for you soon!
2. I might as well tell you the...
6 tags
Editing is a bitch →
By Shoe
I was going to write an article here about how the editing process worked at EGM — it can get pretty insane at times (writers -> section editors -> copy editors -> section editors -> editor-in-chief -> managing editor -> printer) — but Gus over at GameDaily Biz’s Media Coverage sorta beat me to it. I say “sorta” because he actually...
7 tags
Cut Scene
By Shoe
Please check out this new project that I’m working on with Game Cinema HD and my lady, Raychul: “Cut Scene” (please excuse my horribly lame “hot news” quote).
Note: This is a completely separate project from that other new project I’m working on with my ex-EGM/1UP buddies, “Project P,” which we project will launch in 2-4 weeks from now...
January 2009
13 posts
5 tags
Will Podcast for Food: the Dennyscast
By Crispin
It seems damn near foolhardy to launch a podcast these days, what with excellent shows like Robert Ashley’s A Life Well Wasted competing for that sliver of a life meter we all have left on our earbud-ravaged tympanic membranes. So that’s why we’re not gonna call the following 50 or so minutes of low-calorie conversation over high-calorie foodstuffs a podcast. Uh-uh....
11 tags
Why EGM Died, Part two
By Shoe Part one OK, I realized I’m beating a dead magazine at this point, so I’ll shut up about it after this. But so many people are still stunned over EGM shutting down, that I thought I’d pass along some more insider perspective…. In part one, I talked about how bad the magazine business is in general, and how that affected EGM’s revenues. Now, let’s look at...
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Why EGM Died, Part one
By Shoe In case you didn’t read it from me last time: EGM closed up shop because Ziff Davis Media was too busy managing a massive debt to manage its magazines properly. As far as I can tell, that’s why other magazines can still survive in this economy but ours couldn’t. But really, ZDM didn’t get any help whatsoever from the nature of the magazine business itself. Here are...
15 tags
Goodbye Sore Thumbs. Hello...?
By Shoe
If you listened to any of my recent blabbermouthing on the Drunken Gamers podcast or The Big O and Dukes Show, you may have gotten wind of a new project that I’m working on with some other ex-EGM/1UP guys. Well, here’s an official update for you:
I’m working on a new project with some other ex-EGM/1UP guys!
You may remember Demian Linn, former executive producer of The 1UP Show and...
30 tags
2008 Ex-EGM Awards: Hopes and Dreams for the New...
(Note: This is the last in a series of 2008 year-end awards as judged on by various ex-EGM editors…but sadly, not including those recently laid off because we started these now-unfortunately named awards before EGM’s untimely closing.) Opening ceremonies + meet the judges 2008: Games of the Year 2008: Most Overshadowed Games of the Year 2008: Biggest Disappointments of the Year 2008:...
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2008 Ex-EGM Awards: The Other Stuff
(Note: This is the fourth in a series of 2008 year-end awards as judged on by various ex-EGM editors…but unfortunately, not including those recently laid off because we started these before EGM’s untimely closing. Sadly, “Ex-EGM” has a different meaning now!)
Opening ceremonies + meet the judges 2008: Games of the Year 2008: Most Overshadowed Games of the Year 2008:...
4 tags
More goodbye EGMing...
By Shoe
Two links for you:
1. Drunken Gamers Radio: Trickman Terry, Ken “Sushi-X” Williams, and I talk about our days at EGM.
2. Die-Hard Gamer: Lots to read here, including an ongoing series looking back at EGM’s Top 100 Games of All Time, a retrospective of our 100th issue, and some upcoming interviews with different EGM editors. Look through the front page for the links and...
15 tags
Goodbye EGM
By Shoe and Crispin A quick time-out from the Ex-EGM Awards Ceremonies — a crapload of our buddies and former co-workers just got laid off this week because UGO took over the 1UP Network, and it didn’t seem right to be celebrating 2008 when 2009’s busy smacking our jaws with a lead pipe. We’ll finish up those awards in a bit…. Crispin and I are both extremely sorry to see these fine...
11 tags
2008 Ex-EGM Awards: The Biggest Disappointments of...
(Note: This is the third in a series of 2008 year-end awards as judged on by various ex-EGM editors)
Opening ceremonies + meet the judges 2008: Games of the Year 2008: Most Overshadowed Games of the Year 2008: Biggest Disappointments of the Year 2008: The Other Awards 2008: Hopes and Dreams for the New Year
2008: BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE YEAR Dan “Shoe” Hsu: Fable 2 and Mercenaries 2 “I...
12 tags
2008 Ex-EGM Awards: The Most Overshadowed Games of...
(Note: This is the second in a series of 2008 year-end awards as judged on by various ex-EGM editors)
Opening ceremonies + meet the judges 2008: Games of the Year 2008: Most Overshadowed Games of the Year 2008: Biggest Disappointments of the Year 2008: The Other Awards 2008: Hopes and Dreams for the New Year
2008: MOST OVERSHADOWED GAMES OF THE YEAR Dan “Shoe” Hsu: Saints Row 2 “I’m not sure...
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2008 Ex-EGM Awards: The Games of the Year
(Note: This is the first in a series of 2008 year-end awards as judged on by various ex-EGM editors)
Opening ceremonies + meet the judges 2008: Games of the Year 2008: Most Overshadowed Games of the Year 2008: Biggest Disappointments of the Year 2008: The Other Awards 2008: Hopes and Dreams for the New Year
2008: GAMES OF THE YEAR
Dan “Shoe” Hsu: Burnout Paradise “It’s like playing GTA4 with...
December 2008
9 posts
3 tags
2008 Ex-EGM Awards: An Introduction + Meet the...
By Shoe
Note: Because this entire feature is way too long for one post, and I can’t do multipage articles here on Tumblr, I’ll be breaking this up into separate stories over the next few days (then putting them all together into one massive atom bomb of a post at the end).
Game of the Year awards are 50% laziness (it’s easy content to produce), 50% vanity (readers want to know what...
Oh yeah...
Merry Christmas!
The Achievement Game →
EGM’s Michael Donahoe forwarded me this. Stupid? For sure…but I had to play it! (I’m a self-admitted Achievement whore). Got to 80% before I accidentally reset my game. Michael got 100%.
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Two links...one quick, one not so much
By Shoe
TechCrunch says “fuck you” to embargoes. (Thanks to Blake for the link.)
Former EGM and GFW/CGW editor (and now current associate producer at 2K Boston) Shawn Elliott and his reviews symposium…part one. I am a part of this discussion.
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Some quick thoughts on 2008-2009 (through X-Play)
By Shoe
Some thoughts on 2008 and 2009 from me and Kotaku’s Brian Crecente:
Also check out this eBay item. It’s a custom piece Todd McFarlane drew for X-Play that they’re auctioning off (in addition to a few other McFarlane and X-Play related goodies) for Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity. Go bid, you little Richie Riches!
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Inside EGM: rules are rules
By Shoe A lot of our editorial-integrity rules at EGM and the 1UP Network came from our parent company, Ziff Davis Media (we pay for our own flights/hotel, no accepting of gifts, etc.). But employee handbooks only cover the most obvious basics; we had to create new rules to cover specific situations as they came up. For example… 1. No discussing of review scores with other reviewers until...
11 tags
The trouble with game of the year awards
Are we electing the best games or the most popular ones?
By Blake Snow
(Note from Shoe: Blake’s a cool dude and an established freelancer who asked me if he could run this story on Sore Thumbs, and I said yes but that might’ve been because he bought me a grilled cheese sandwich. But do read on, because Blake provides an interesting inside look at how game of the year awards get...
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Life after gaming journalism: The top 6 career...
By Shoe A lot of people ask me a lot of different questions, but the funniest one to me is, “What are you going to do after this journalism thing?” As if this career of mine is just a stepping stone. This is what I want to do. I love writing, and I love editing and planning content even more. I don’t ask myself, “What’s next?” but honestly, this line of work...
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Reviews talk →
Ex-Ziffer pal Shawn Elliott (who’s now with 2K Boston) has a blog up that should be of interest to readers of Sore Thumbs. His first (and only, so far) post outlines his plans for a really smart and needed discussion on editorial reviews. We hope he sees it through someday!
November 2008
8 posts
9 tags
Hacked on Xbox 360: My story (plus 7 valuable tips... →
My Xbox Live account recently got hacked…here’s my story on IGN. Please pass it along — it includes 7 really important tips to help others avoid the same fate. Plus an inside look at what Microsoft’s doing about this problem….
By the way, the thing I was most happy about was not losing my Achievements. In fact, I would’ve gladly given up my lost money (about...
5 tags
Shit lit
By Crispin
Shoe and I get asked all the time for advice on breaking into the games media. (Short answer: Start a blog or small site where you can build a portfolio of reviews/articles, then pimp your stuff to progressively bigger sites until—boom!—you’re writing a trade-show preview of Cars Mater-National in a hotel room at 3 a.m. Congratulations—you have arrived!) But while so many of you ask...
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Halo Wars everywhere
Cheap update by Shoe
A couple more links for you guys…work I’ve done elsewhere (Crispy Gamer again to the rescue):
Halo Wars preview
Halo Wars interview
If you only have time to read one, read the latter. It was the saddest interview I’ve ever done, talking to smart, talented guys who know their studio’s gone after the game ships…. At least I made them laugh with...
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Hands-on with BioShock's DLC →
I got an early peek at the upcoming downloadable content pack for BioShock PS3…check out my story on Crispy Gamer!
This story kinda happened by accident. My girlfriend at GameGirl.com got invited to go preview it, and I was just tagging along for fun. But my press instincts took over — I couldn’t just sit and enjoy the demo without taking notes and such. Then somehow, I suckered...
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A letter to my former co-workers
By Shoe
It’s come to my attention — according to a couple of my friends and former co-workers — that some of my posts here have implied the integrity over at Ziff Davis Media should come into question now that I’m no longer there. I know I brought up one very specific incident that happened a while back that I wasn’t personally happy about, but I want to make this public apology...
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21 Things I Love About Saints Row 2
By Shoe
Gears of What? Barack O-Who? Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking about other, bigger things than a game that came out a couple of weeks ago, but last year, Games Radar did this neat little piece called 100 Little Things We Love About GTA IV, and I felt Saints Row 2 deserved the same kinda love. Except maybe not “100 things”-love, because that’s too much for me to write and for you to...
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A few random things
By Shoe
1. I think commenter “Jeffrey” was right about the Reader Perspectives thing (where I put up articles that you guys have written for us about the subject of gaming journalism)…it’s probably too much now. My original plan was to post five of these, mainly because there were so many awesome submissions, I had trouble narrowing them down. Five was my compromise from...