A Funny Thing Happened in 2010…
![Bad Company 2 Team [JOY]](http://www.david-hinkle.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bad-company-2.jpg "Bad Company 2 Team [JOY]")
I'm not an emotional guy. I don't find myself freaking out over a lot of things (only occasionally) and I don't plan my day based on my astrological sign or whatever. But, I gotta say, I love my [JOY] pals.
San Francisco Update: Busy Bee
Wow -- San Francisco, I'm never leaving.
This town is amazing, everything from the people to the mixture of cultures to the wealth of things to do. I'm sorry I haven't updated this little place of mine here, but boy have I been busy. The night beckons, sometimes for gaming-related stuff (see: work), but most nights just for socializing. And beer. California, you make a tasty brew. Many tasty brews, to be exact.
On the work front, I've done a ton of previews. I thought that I might have to hit some of these moving out here, but I wasn't prepared for the sheer quantity of what's in the Bay area. Within the span of a month, I've whipped these little pieces up for Joystiq:
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/goldeneye-007-ds-preview/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/14/goldeneye-007-wii-preview/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/medal-of-honor-preview/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/13/james-bond-007-blood-stone-preview/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/13/dead-space-2-multiplayer-preview/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/31/spider-man-shattered-dimensions-ds-preview-hand-not-held/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/31/pinball-fx-2-preview-the-pinball-youve-known-all-your-life/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/26/minervas-den-bioshock-2-dlc-preview-stomping-around-as-sigma/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/18/preview-xbox-live-on-windows-phone-7-and-launch-games/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/17/preview-nba-2k11s-jordan-challenge-mode/
Oh, and then there was PAX Prime 2010:
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/10/the-dishwasher-vampire-smile-preview-hobbyist-graduated/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/09/bit-trip-beat-ipad-preview-move-to-keep-the-beat/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/09/lilt-line-preview-stay-between-the-lines/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/09/slam-bolt-scrappers-preview-build-those-blocks-up/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/05/sonic-colors-preview-wisp-you-were-here/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/05/swarm-preview-strength-in-numbers/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/04/retro-city-rampage-preview-a-hodgepodge-of-homages/
- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/03/star-wars-the-force-unleashed-2-preview-force-majeure/
For my first 30 days in a strange city, it's quite the increase in work load -- in addition to these previews, I still have to write every day. It's a challenge, but one I welcome with open arms. I need to grow not only as a games journalist, but as a writer. I need this challenge and, slowly, I think I'm improving my craft. But not only that, I'm much happier. Have I told you how awesome this town is yet?
My only regret is that I haven't had more time for this here blog of mine. Hopefully I can find a way to produce some more content here. For more immediate happenings in my going ons, keep up with me on Twitter: @davehinkle
[Image: Union Square, San Francisco]
My Usual E3 Wrap-Up Post
It's been pretty quiet here. Excuse me while I clear out some of the cobwebs.
...
Ah, much better. Now, onto the business of content!
I've been pretty busy for the last couple weeks. Following a pre-E3 camping trip up to Wellsboro, PA, I had to deal with the hell that is the Electronic Entertainment Expo and a subsequent weekend vaykay in the wonderful San Francisco. The before- and after-show were fun, but I kinda have a love/hate relationship with E3 -- it's incredibly exhausting but, uh, helps keep the bills paid.
My Trip to Chicago
A little over a week ago, I went to Chicago to visit my sister and see the city. She lives in one of the close outlying burbs, so it was easy to get into the city and sample its unique flavors of fun. I ate tasty food, saw some cool sights and enjoyed many of the town's watering holes. Suffice to say, I had a blast. Here's a rundown of the fun (and a gallery of images at the bottom of the post).
I’ll Be A Guest On The Incredible Podcast Of Amazing Awesomeness This Sunday
I'm pretty new to this whole podcasting thing, but I think I've been very clear about my love for it. Even though it's a fresh medium for me to express myself, others have been rocking the mic and doing a great job at it. One such duo consists of Mike Schramm and The Turpster -- I was told that trying to find out the legal name of the latter would only result in physical pain, so I let sleeping dogs lie -- who produce The Incredible Podcast of Amazing Awesomeness.
It's a great show and I'm really pumped to go all Chatty Cathy on it. I'll be on their show this Sunday, 1pm PST (4pm ET) for the live chatting -- a first for me in podcasting. I'm pretty scared about that part, but I'm doing it anyway!
For all of the pertinent details (get down on this, guys!), you only need hit up this convenient link right here.
PAX East 2010: The Link Dump
So I went to Boston for PAX East as part of my gig at Joystiq and, man, it was super fun. Getting to meet some fans of the site (I'm floored anytime somebody knows who the hell I am) and, even better, fans of the X3F podcast and JPAG-ers (all super nice dudes, believe me) -- it's just crazy to me. Hugging strangers after the live Joystiq Podcast panel was one of the most pleasant experiences of my life. It's an affirmation that humanity may not be so doomed after all.
Of course, I can't neglect my Joystiq coworkers. To give you an idea of how close we all are, you can't escape seeing anyone from staff without a hug. This is the first job I've ever had like that, where I was not some number on a piece of paper but an actual person. God bless those dudes!
Anyway, I just wanted to put up this post as a thanks and also use it to dump links to Joystiq stuff I wrote and participated in over the last week. That's pretty much the underlying tone of this site 'O mine, after all.
My Skate 2 highlight reel
With the dearth of gaming news going on this week, I took an hour to slap together this quick highlight reel of my Skate 2 replays. Nothing amazing, but I'm pretty proud of that sick manual line across the lily pads, thank you very much!
Oh, and sorry for the crummy quality, but that's how EA's site spits 'em out. Oh, and stay tuned for my Halo 3 replays, if you care about that kind of thing. Oh!
Technical Difficulties – Please Stand By
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been having issues with the site recently. I'm trying to sort it out, so please bear with me!
Quick bio:Hi! I'm David Hinkle, Contributing Editor for Joystiq, former Lead of DS Fanboy and Wii Fanboy and co-host on the Xbox 360 Fancast. Basically, I write about games, talk about games and play games -- all the time.
This place is mainly a dumping ground for random thoughts, but you can also find links to all of my reviews and my contact info. Email me by clicking on this link.
Paying the Bills
twitter.com/DaveHinkle
Awesome stuff
- (The Customer Is) Not Always Right
- Bearleaguer
- High-Def Digest
- How To Beat Up Anything
- Joystiq
- Quarterplay
- RandomThink
- The Fightins
- Why the F*** do you have a kid?
- X3F Podcast