- The insistent ramblings of creative writer and game industry veteran Joe Houston.Learn more...
writing Archive
-
Published Elsewhere: Dishonored Dev Joe Houston On Violence In Games
Posted on January 14, 2013 | Posted In: The Game Industry | No CommentsA piece about game violence I wrote for Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Among other things it talks about Dishonored, video game violence, and the social responsibilities of games with choice. Check it out: Dishonored Dev Joe Houston On Violence In Games … -
Now Entering the Independent Space
Posted on November 1, 2012 | Posted In: The Game Industry | No CommentsA more detailed explanation of my thoughts and feelings are to follow soon, but in short I’ve decided to go out on my own for a while. To that end my last day at Arkane Studios is tomorrow. I can say that I’m excited about the transition, and that I… -
Trivial Pursuit
Posted on August 5, 2012 | Posted In: The Stuff | 1 CommentSomehow I’ve been labeled a connoisseur of useless trivia. It doesn’t much matter that I find the TV stereotype of the know-it-all know-nothing beyond insufferable, and I’ll admit that they’re only partly to blame. When they close up the opening scene of CSI with a quip about the mating habits… -
Internet Culture Cuisine
Posted on June 15, 2011 | Posted In: The Stuff | 1 CommentThe trick to destroying soup, one has been advised, is to invite additional cooks into your kitchen. Last night, up with a baby flirting with the notion of sleeping through the night, I found myself confronted with one of many parenting blogs. The author had helpfully compiled the well-reasoned arguments… -
Timepieces
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | 1 CommentDigital clocks are too quiet
For my silence
Which is currently pervasive
And Elusive
Drawn out on thick currents of breath whisping like tides
From my lips.
I need clocks that tick and measure
That loft explanations into the air
And strike its surface like a tuning fork. My analog… -
Green Thumb
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsWhen he spoke to you that way
The way that made your eyelashes curl inward
Pinching in like the rigid splayed legs of a crushed lady bug
He plucked a bright seed from within you
And pinched it tightly between his thumb and forefinger.
It was absent minded, but his… -
Unconditional
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsUnconditional… The taste of her mouth
Sipped along the smooth edge of
Imminent anticipatory
Promises of water.
When the first drop pointedly struck
The back of my neck,
I knew from the drowsy shriek
Of odor seeping into the base of my eyes
That she smelled like rain. And the -
The Ballad of Mother Eve
Posted on January 17, 2011 | Posted In: Poems | No CommentsThe Ballad of Mother Eve…
There was a garden and a boy
Both awash in verdant joy
But only one with tousled hair
And only one with Cacky Bear.
Cacky Bear with glassy eyes
Reflected all the cloudy skies
As seen mirrored somewhat true
In the boy’s own eyes