Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Going down the list of what each agent wants, every single one seems to want something different. Three chapters here, five chapters there. Bio, no bio, brief bio. Some are looking for great new clients, some will take referrals only, and some specialize in self-help but they'll do other genres on the side for the right book.  Honestly, my head's starting to spin trying to keep all this stuff straight. 

Today was errands and two Fishing Master tourneys with my little boy, but tomorrow I'll be assembling some packages and getting things in order for some more submissions. 

Games-wise, I started the Half-Life 2 portion of the Orange Box on 360.  Valve really knows how to tell a story based on what I've seen so far. Their approach to dramatics make a lot of developers out there look like rank amateurs. On the other hand, the physics still have that off-kilter loosey-goosey feeling that I primarily associate with PC games. Sometimes it's totally clear what to do, and at other times, it seems like the only way to make progress is to fudge my way through some weird physics glitch and just thank my lucky stars I was able to keep going. 

I may be exaggerating a bit, but there's always been a noticeable shortfall in the polish I expect of games and what I've traditionally gotten in the past from PC games, and this kind of stuff is one reason why I've never felt comfortable committing to anything not (originally) on a console. I'm always paranoid that there will be a weird bug or glitch that will just kill an experience for me, and sometimes my brain doesn't seem wired to get in to the groove of what PC devs expect of their fans. It's not like all console games are perfect, but in general, things seem more stable and a wee bit more trustworthy, at least in the days before console games could be patched.

Not sure I'm explaining this clearly, but I know what I mean in my own head and it's late, so forgive the lack of clarity if it seems like I'm aimlessly whining.  ; )