Industrial Toys and Me
Posted on April 27, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 24 Comments
So, here’s a bit of secret news that I can now share with you: I’m part of the team at Industrial Toys, a new video game company that’s going to be bringing some jaw-droppingly awesome games into the mobile space. I can’t tell you what precisely I’m working on there at the moment (except to say, hey, remember when I said “jaw-droppingly awesome”? Yeah, that), but I can say I’m working on the story and… other things.
Here’s the announcement in the Industrial Toys newsletter (sign up for it! Enjoy it!). More details about the work I’m doing with IT coming up when it comes up. I can promise, however, you won’t be disappointed.
Does it involve undead magic unicorns? That would be jaw-droppingly awesome.
Coming soon, “Redshirts: the MMORGP”.
I don’t suppose they need testers? Or writers for more mundane kinds of writing (functional specs and the like)? ‘Cuz I can do those things and need a job. :-)
Seriously, that website is distinctly stubby. Right now it has their logo and two links, one to the newsletter (which link you’ve thoughtfully provided) and Contact Us, which is a mail-to. Gonna go Google to find more about them.
I’m probably not enough of a gamer to test the end product, but I know some other experienced testers who are…I’m not just talking about gamers who’d love to playtest (those are a dime a million) but experienced QA people who are also video game fans.
Um, congratulations! Can’t wait to see it.
That really should have come first.
Well we will just have to see what you guys come up with. Won’t we, Mr. Tells a Story Really Really Well Man?
Congrats.
Let me be the first to ask: so when will “The Shadow War of the Night Dragon: Book 1: The Dead City: The RPG” be available? *grin*
Let me guess, the first game involves shooting bacon at cats.
Clearly, I’ve been on the Internet too long. When I saw “Industrial Toys and Me,” I expected something WAY different.
Jason @ 1:49 : Same here. My ‘Industrial Toy’ is a 7 ton Backhoe to play in the yard..
Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing Scalzi’s influence in this new direction.
Congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing what you help them come up with.
‘Redshirts: the FPS’, where you’re the First Person to be Shot.
Another popular storyline in the mobile space involves cut scenes of pigs frying eggs. Perhaps the time is right to introduce a bacon-driven story line. It seems more likely that the same brain that brought us bacon cat, night dragons, authoritative yoghurt, and Android’s Dream will bring us something way cool that doesn’t involve any of these things.
Awesome! I was reminded of this blog post:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/11/13/
Hopefully this comes next….
Authoritative Yogurt
Snort…
When you were in Toronto last fall you showed some art from a video game that did not go. Does Industrial Toys have anything to do with those pictures? Will that game now get a chance to move forward?
Just wondering…
Nifty. You and I don’t seem to have much overlap in game taste, but maybe I can prevail on someone else to do the playing for me if it’s a shooter. Though watching someone else play a game on a mobile device is rather crowded. An RPG, on the other hand, would be all mine.
Garrick C:
If I showed off any art for a previous game I might have been working on, it would have been on the understanding that the exhibition of that art was confidential and would not have been brought up, say, on a Web site that was readily accessible to the public, even if the Web site was my own.
Which I hope answers your question sufficiently.
Xopher, if you haven’t already found it, they are (or at least were) looking for more help:
http://twitter.com/#!/IndustrialToys/statuses/172955023427387392
Congratulations, John. I’m sure it will have your trademark style all over it.
In Scalzi I trust — to make games that are interesting, thoughtful, and hopefully at least a little bit funny!
Does this have anything to do with The Spank Chronicles Book I: The Spankening?
An OMW universe mutli-player for iPad? Oh my… I think I just died and went to Heaven. Any approximate timeline?
Ah, a tech start-up in this economy. Good luck with that.
At least you have a day job.
ONLY on mobiles? Why can’t I have a scalzi game for my 2000″ HD-TV?