Carcassonne coming to DS

Just saw an article on Destructoid announcing Carcassonne for the Nintendo DS.

Catan has also been announced for the DS.




These two are the widely hailed "gateway games" for the hobby, so the question now is, how much further into designer gaming will Nintendo venture for DS titles? And...which board games would make for a good port over to this system?

What's going on

So when some time goes by without a blog post, one has to assume that either nothing is going, or...everything is going on. I assure you, it's the latter in this case.

Since my last blog post, the following has happened on the documentary front:

• Filmed a game day event, the day before the 2009 Spiel des Jahres award winners were announced. Congratulations to Dominion on that! The Intrigue expansion has just been released, that's gotta be nice timing for them. :)
• Started listening to possible music tracks to license for the film (including some songs that are actually about board games)
• Started formatting dialog notes into spreadsheet form (this will be important when I start cutting together segments, which should start SOON)
• Started posting more on BoardGameGeek. It's hard not to feel like an interloper, though I've lurked there for a long time
• Bought the plane ticket for Essen

Oh, and Going Cardboard got a mention on a Polish website called Games Fanatic. The blogger for Transparent Language's Polish Blog was kind enough to translate:

Lorien Green chose a different medium to popularize board games - she's making a movie titled "Going Cardboard." It's supposed to show the phenomenon of modern board games and its subculture. The film includes a game review, meetings with ordinary players, extraordinary designers and visits to the most important international events (Essen). The filmmaker takes her subject very seriously - you can visit the website of Going Cardboard and read the blog. The work on this film has been going on for 4 months already and it's scheduled to finish fall/winter 2009. The film should be available on DVD in winter 2010. It's a long time away, but it just goes to show you the scope of this project.

Some of the big impending to-dos include getting some images up from the interviews I've done, and possibly some teaser clips. Many more interviews yet to shoot before Essen rolls around. It's going to be one busy summer. Stay tuned. :)

Just not what I had in mind

Hollywood is banking on the idea that film versions of Monopoly, Candy Land will be box-office hits.

Reportedly, directors as notable as Ridley Scott and Peter Berg have respectively signed on to big-budget versions of Monopoly and Battleship, and there's even a version of Candy Land in the works. No word yet, though, on the Steven Spielberg adaptation of Chutes and Ladders....

I love the Tim Curry Clue adaptation, but not as having anything to do with the game, just as a fun whodunit comedy. I just don't see this working with Monopoly. Unless it's just their clever way of marketing Wall Street 2...and why not just do another cool submarine movie, like Das Boot? Why's everything gotta be "tied in" these days? Doesn't it virtually guarantee a mediocre movie?

This will be Super Mario Bros. all over again.

Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary

A documentary about makers of documentaries (thanks to Anthony Q. Artis for the heads-up!). How fourty filmmakers became filmmakers. Granted, I've got a huge bias going here, but this film sums up so eloquently why I couldn't resist making my own.





You can find a bigger version here.

TILT is now on Netflix and iTunes

(cross-post from keepingmycool)

I've waited for this day for a long time. TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball is one of my all-time favorite documentaries, but it hasn't been widely available. Until now! TILT can now be found on


AND



It doesn't matter if you are a pinball fan or not; I wasn't a big pinball person when I first saw the film. The story told by TILT has got everything a documentary is supposed to have; interesting facts and beautifully illustrated background history, interviews with key contributors (like the guy who invented putting flippers at the bottom of the play field), and a story with an endearing human element to tie everything together.

Trailer for "TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball" from Greg Maletic on Vimeo.

Also check out Greg's Vimeo channel, there are some very cool additional clips there.

If you use Netflix or iTunes, go check it out IMMEDIATELY, and don't forget to add the bonus DVD to your Netflix queue. It's got some really great extras. Just do it, have I ever steered you wrong before? Swing by here and let me know what you think afterwards, and if you'd like to buy a copy to own after that, you can get it on the official website.

Going Cardboard: A Board Game Documentary

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a website!

Oh, right, and...a title! Going Cardboard is the artist formerly known as board game doc. Of course you know this means I need a new order of business cards. :)

So check out www.boardgamemovie.com when you have a second. It's a work in progress, but I won't deny I'm stupidly excited.

Designing under a licensed IP

Last week, I had the good fortune of sitting down for a discussion with Corey Konieczka, a designer for Fantasy Flight Games. His latest work can be seen in the Battlestar Galactica board game (for which the Pegasus expansion was just announced), but he's also designed for a number of heavy-hitting licenses including Fantasy Flight's Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and Lord of the Rings board game titles.

Corey represents yet another point on the designer spectrum. He works with a team, and frequently with the interesting pros and cons that come with designing under an existing intellectual property license. This makes for yet another interesting angle on designing, and it was a great interview.

It was also the first real chance I've had to "dress the set." I was able to set up the Battlestar board game on the table, which makes for really nice context.

Next up? A board gaming barbecue weekend!