wpt followup, games of our lives, GATORWATCH!!1, galactica

I wrote a follow-up article to my story about the controversy between the World Poker Tour and some top tournament pros:

The
recent controversy between the World Poker Tour
and several top tournament pros doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all, despite an open letter to the poker community
from WPT Co-founder Steve Lipscomb.

To briefly recap: The World Poker Tour requires all tournament players
to grant rights to the WPT to use their image and likeness in pretty much any way the WPT chooses, without ever
compensating the players for that use. Several top tournament pros aren’t happy with the agreement, including WSOP
Champion Chris Ferguson, who told me that he is unable to play in WPT events, because the release he is required to
sign would cause him to be in breach of at least one of his existing contracts.

[. . .]

Steve Lipscomb says, "The latest hot button issue seems to be the filming release we require players to sign
before they play in World Poker Tour events. The release we utilize is a standard filming release that all production
companies must have signed by everyone they film – or the television broadcaster will refuse to air our material.
Filming releases are always broadly drafted to protect against frivolous law suits. The language is clear. The
production company can use all the footage it shoots and the person’s image in all media.

But, the story
does not end there. The World Poker Tour is a business. We value our relationship with WPT players and have always
acted with great care and deference when using player images. The few players now trying to stir up controversy around
player releases are lost in hypotheticals – not reality."

[. . .]

[I]f the WPT is not interested in using some of the rights they’re demanding, why
are they making the demands in the first place? Anyone with any business savvy will have a very hard time accepting
"Just trust me" in this case. In fact, a top player, speaking to me on condition of anynomity said, "[Steve Lipscomb] says he needs the releases to be as they are to protect WPT, but
players have offered to sign a release like the WSOP and they refused. In response to complaints about their video game
rights, they did modify their agreement to explicity rule out making avatars of the players without their consent.
However, that was the only limitation.  By only excluding that, they could use clips of you in the game, or even
put your face on the box, with no compensation!  In fact, because they reserve these rights, a player can NOT
grant exclusive rights to any video game company, because WPT already reserves certain rights. That’s just one
example."


Yeah! Check me out! I get anonymous sources! Woo! Anyway, if you’re interested in the drama, check out the full post at CardSquad, which includes comments from Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu.

This week’s Games of our Lives follows that advice I indirectly took from Joel Hodgson and goes for some jokes that are really funny to me, but may be lost on part of the audience:

Gameplay: You play a little handy guy with cute feet and a
jaunty hat. Your enemies are also little handy guys, but they’re green
(the universal color of evil) and have frowny faces to go with their
cute little feet. Your goal is to clear all the dots in a maze, while
the other little handy guys try to stop you. What sets Got-Ya apart from all the other Pac-Man
knockoffs is the addition of RoShamBo. You and your enemies represent
Rock, Paper, or Scissors, and when you hit each other, you’ll live or
die based on the classic rules of RoShamBo. Scattered around the maze
are dollar signs, and when you pick one up, you can change into
whichever form you want. But beware! The other little handy guys will
also change form randomly.

Could be mistaken for: Ms. Pac-Man, The Hand, a trip report from the Tiltboys

Kids today may not like it because: There is no bonus level where they get to "Circle" their opponents.

Kids today may like it because: When they complete a level,
their little handy guy is magically transformed into something that
looks an awful lot like the Kool-Aid Man. Oh yeah!

Finally, the latest installment of GATORWATCH!!!11! is up at blogging.la:

As 2005 draws to a close, I look back on the year, and ask myself a
lot of questions: Is it worth living here, with the traffic, and the
overcrowding, and the high cost of living? Why didn’t I hike up to
Mount Wilson this year? Will the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles
make another exciting run at third place in 2006?

But the biggest question, the one that’s kept me up at night, is: What the hell happened to GATORWATCH!!!!!111!?!!??
I mean, for days, we had reporters camped out on the shores of Machado
Lake! There was scandal, and intrigue, and drama, and the Crocodile
Hunter was coming to town to save us all from Reggie the Killer
Alligator. Then, as quickly as the GATORWATCH!!!!!111! started, it stopped.

Until yesterday, baby, when GATORWATCH!!!!!111! was back in full effect, when two jerkass dirtbags were arrested and charged with dumping Reggie the Killer Alligator

And with that, I think I can take a break from the computer. I’ve written so much in the last 48 hours, it’s hard to figure out where my desk ends, and I begin.

In fact, yesterday, Nolan came into my office and asked me if I could take a break so we could go do something together.

"What did you have in mind?" I said.

"I don’t know," he said, "anything, really. I’m getting kind of bored."

"When I’m finished with this piece, we’ll go out for a bite to eat," I said.

"Okay," he said, "I guess it’s back to my Galactica-a-thon."

"Your what?" I said.

"Oh, I’m just having a Galatica day while you’re working," he said. "You were right, it’s awesome!"

I was so excited, I called Anne, and told her that I’d successfully introduced Nolan to the greatest Sci-Fi series in history.

"Oh man, you’re totally corrupting my children," she said.

"They are totally 42% nerd, now," I said.

I waited for a moment, but the reference was lost on her, as she’s only 8% nerd.

"I gotta get back to work," she said.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. Nerd."

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24 thoughts on “wpt followup, games of our lives, GATORWATCH!!1, galactica”

  1. Im pretty much only posting cos i noticed ill be first..hopefully.
    Im 64% nerd, but its rising since i started writing for an internet gaming site 🙂

  2. Yeah, my nerd percentage has greatly increased since reading your blog and starting my own. That’s ok, though. Power to the nerds!
    Shauna

  3. Anyone with any business savvy will have a very hard time accepting “Just trust me” in this case.
    Oh am I living this little corner of hell due to lack of business savviness.

  4. I don’t know what else to do, so i’m posting this here.
    1. I don’t like being forced to use IE for any reason. I tried posting a different comment with Netscape 8, and TypeKey always put me in an endless loop with a “registration required” error, even though I was logged in.
    2. I noticed the “Subscribe to my Podcast” link, but when I investigated it seemed to just be a duplicate of the main page. Have you continued with the Radio Free Burrito episodes? If so, I feel very left out, because I have no way of accessing them other than the way you posted the first 3 episodes. I have not been able to get RSS to work at all, and iTunes (or any other Apple technology) is totally out of the question.

  5. “Greatest sci-fi series in history”
    Hello? Babylon-5. Well, actually ST:TNG, but in this case I’m thinking of shows with a long continuous story line (B5, Galactica, um, um, well, have there any others?)

  6. “Greatest sci-fi series in history”
    That just needed to be said again.
    Only one more week until new episodes. I am twitching from the withdrawl.
    Dude. You should so go to the Galacticon in Burbank next year.
    /already have my ticket
    //front row
    ///huge geek

  7. Nerds max out at 42% nerd….can’t get any higher. If you don’t get the reference then you can’t play.
    Babylon 5 was good, but IMO even those characters were a little bit too stiffly-heroic. TNG (and star trek in general) needed to have characters with more flaws.
    THAT’s what I love about Galactica. All of the characters are complete screw-ups! Yes, Wil, I’m definitely in that boat. BSG is teh sh1t.

  9. Galactica is wonderful and all, but I still mourn the end of Firefly. Wish that could get back on TV…
    And oh how I loved me some B5. Only the series though; the movies bite the big one.
    /geekgirl

  10. I LOVE the idea of a Galatica-a-thon! I gave hubby the original series for Christmas so we’ve been having a bit of a Galatica-a-thon ourselves!
    I’ve read with interest your output over the last 48 hours, but getting away from the desk sounds like a good plan to me! 🙂
    Rachael, Canberra, Australia.

  11. Nerds rock! I used to be embarrassed about being one, but I like being me and doing things that make me happy. So, I don’t care! I like being a nerd and being an individual. Heck, when I get around to it, I watch ST:TNG reruns on Spike TV.

  13. I gotta go with B5 as teh greatest sci-fi show ever in the history of the Universe. JMS is a freakin’ genius.
    BUT I’M STUNNING IN PURPLE!

  14. Which version of Galactica is he watching?
    I would assume the original, as the new BSG can be a little, erm, adult shall we say 🙂

  17. I hope its the old Battlestar and not the new one. Your prolific writing this weekend has been great for your audience even if it bummed out your family.
    For Christmas my mom got me Just a Geek and Barefoot Dancing. Those two plus your daily stuff is helping me get through an awful flu this weekend. Thanks!

  19. I guess it might be on purpose, and maybe you’re supposed to be all reporter-like and objective when you write for Card Squad. But I, for one, would like to hear what Wil Wheaton thinks about the WPT “standard” release. Anonymous sources are cool, but I think …well I want some commentary from Uncle Willie.

  22. YEESSSS!!!! I’ve also been doing the obssession with Galactica, and recently had a group over to catch up on Tivo’d season 2 prior to the premiere. Good man.

  23. Galactica Rules! At the end of the 1st season, I did some downloading of the HDTV torrents of Battlestar. Ohmy God were they spectacular. I had to watch the whole season over again to see them in HD.
    The 1st half of season 2 is beginning in HD now on UniversalHD channel, so I will have two episodes a week to watch for a while.
    Wil, it was great seeing you at the WPBT. It was a blast.

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