It’s possible to love a video game. To be devoted to it, to value what it does for you, and how it makes you feel. To want the best for it. Not in the same way you love a person — or at least, I hope not. But take a look at any major fan convention for video games, movies, TV, or almost anything that develops a subculture, and you can see this love is real, active, and powerful. And of course, profitable. And if it’s possible to love a video game, then of course it’s possible to fall out of love. To feel disconnected from what first drew you to it. To realize that it isn’t giving you everything it once did, and you can’t give it what it needs from you. Especially if what it needs is regular digital purchases in order to get a competitive advantage in gameplay. I loved Overwatch once. I don’t anymore. How that happened is, I think, worth examining. This Dear John letter is a broad history of the game Overwatch itself, and its relationship with both its own players and the company that made it. The honeymoon phase In 2016, Overwatch was a big deal. A Team Fortress 2-style team shooter, made by the people who brought us Starcraft and Diablo, with incredible character designs that looked like Pixar had decided to reboot G.I. Joe? Players couldn’t get enough of it. And indeed, for the first couple of years Overwatch was a 600-pound Winston of the gaming landscape, dominating game coverage, showing up constantly on Let’s Plays, and causing an excited... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2022-11-01 15:51:22 UTC ]
How many have you read? Test yourself by seeing if you can match first lines to the titles of the Monitor's favorite novels (and one collection of short stories) from 2015. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Stuart Evers recently collaborated with U.K. folk trio Daughter, writing three short stories that provide the visuals for three music videos promoting Daughter's second album. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tech giant that pioneered online bookselling is going old school. Amazon unveiled its first bricks-and-mortar bookstore, Amazon Books, in Seattle’s upscale University Village shopping mall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the French city of Grenoble, there are unusual vending machines that don't dispense soda or snacks -- they print out short stories that look like paper receipts instead. These machines were built by a publishing company called Short Éditi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A little time alone can go a long way in spurring your creative thinking and strengthening relationships.I recently got back from a week of solitude in a house off Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. I was there to focus on finishing my book of short stories without distraction, conversations,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram has seen its share of photo essays, profiles and short stories. But no one has used the image-sharing network to publish an entire novel - at least not until Matilda and Harry. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When sickly Bostonian Edward J. O'Brien put together the first "Best American Short Stories" anthology in 1915, short stories were considered junky pop culture. He was hoping that his project would elevate the short-story form. He had no idea he was launching a series that would last a century... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer Jane Gardam is to be awarded the Charles-Chichester Award for a Lifetime's Excellence in Short Fiction at a special event held at this year's Charleston Small Wonder Short Story Festival. Gardam, who is the author of short stories as well as novels including the Old Filth trilogy, will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welsh writer Carys Davies [pictured] has won the €25,000 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for her collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, published by the independent Salt Publishing. The award is the single most lucrative prize in the world for a collection of short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tech giant is targeting YouTube's clients with a new ad revenue sharing program for video publishers.Facebook has just made another change to its burgeoning video advertising business. Effective today, Facebook is testing out sharing video ad revenue with video partners. The move is similar... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short stories are gaining ground in the UK, but authors working within the format are finding it more difficult to break into the public consciousness than novelists, writers have told The Bookseller. Awards that cover all forms of fiction such as The Folio Prize, won in 2014 by George... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scott Pack has announced his latest acquisition for Aardvark Bureau. Self & I (May 2016) is a memoir by Will Self’s former personal assistant, novelist Matthew De Abaitua. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Serpent's Tail has signed two books from Orange Prize-winner Valerie Martin, a novel and a collection of short stories. Commissioning editor Rebecca Gray signed UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Peter Straus at RCW, on behalf of Molly Friedrich at the Friedrich Agency. Short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired a book of short stories by Daisy Johnson at auction. Editorial director Alex Bowler signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two books by Johnson from Jack Ramm at Eve White Literary Agency. Johnson is a 24-year-old prizewinning graduate of Oxford University’s Fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood's first stand-alone novel in 15 years will be published in September, alongside a new collection of short stories. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catherine Aird has been awarded the Crime Writer’s Association Diamond Dagger award. The Diamond Dagger winner is chosen by the CWA committee from a shortlist of writers judged worthy by their peers. Shortlisted authors must have sustained excellence in their careers and made a significant... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Granta Books editor Anne Meadows has acquired a “darkly funny, whip-smart” novel and a collection of short stories from Catherine Lacey, whose debut novel Nobody is Ever Missing will be published - also by Granta - this week. Meadows acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including Australia New... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is to publish a collection of short stories by television and radio presenter Sir Terry Wogan. Editorial director Trisha Jackson acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights from Luigi Bonomi at LBA. Jackson said: “I’ve been a huge fan of Terry’s for many years and these incredibly... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALM, formerly known as American Lawyer Media, is the largest B2B publisher in the legal market, but it's branching out with its latest acquisition. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booktrust and the BBC have launched a short story competition for teenagers. The ‘BBC Young Writers’ Award with Booktrust’ is for teen writers (aged 14-18) of short stories, on any topic, of up to a 1,000 words. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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