As this week's cartoon illustrates, good ideas are hard to come by. I've spent so much time trying to come up with game designs that match an existing movie or TV Show, that I'd almost forgotten how to come up with something that could stand on its own.

Actually, good ideas are all around us. The trick is not to rely on our memory to retain those ideas for future times when you need one. I cannot stress enough the handiness of having a pad of paper nearby for jotting these ideas down. Then the trick is remembering where you put the pad. And don't use it in the shower, even if it is where you get all of your best ideas.

See you next week.

The problem with publishing a weekly cartoon is that it doesn't allow me to deal with topical events in a timely manner. With that in mind, let me present to you what is probably the last Dick Cheney Hunting Cartoon.

When I worked at Dynamix, one of the titles we produced was Trophy Buck, which was an attempt to capitalize on the trend started by Deer Hunter and a slew of other games. Drawing on our experience with the successful Trophy Bass series, a great amount of attention was paid to recreating popular hunting locations. What I think really set the game apart from the competition was the fact that we also used our experience with 3D war games to make the experience truly immersive. Which just goes to show, you never know when or how your experience is going to be useful.

There's an error in this week's cartoon. See if you can spot it before I get a chance to fix it. (Too late - I fixed it. Thanks for playing!) Originally, I was going to do a cartoon about management, but I decided it would be more appropriate for a future Working Daze. Deal with it. So many games, not enough time. See you next week!

BREAKING NEWS

I've been a hopless fan of Star Trek, so you can guess my excitement when I found out that there's an upcoming game based on the Star Trek universe for portable platforms (DS and PSP) due out the end of this summer. It looks great on paper, but I can tell you how often the grand plans at the beginning of a project get dashed by deadlines and other problems. But I'm certainly looking forward to controlling my starship via the LCARS display on my DS touchscreen. Throw in WiFi support and I'm in heaven!

Ah, the glamorous life of a game designer. Frankly, I've been so busy that I haven't even been able to think of a commentary for this week. I did find the time to pick up a couple of new games over the weekend. The first was Carcassonne, an interesting game where players create the land that they're trying to control by placing tiles. The other was Bohnanza, a card game where players trade, plant and harvest beans to try and earn the most money. They look like fun. I hope I get the chance to play them soon!

I was all set to join the international community of Animal Crossing using the WiFi connection on my DS when I discovered one little stumbling block: you can only go into the communities of folks you know. Unfortunately, no one in my local circle of friends has Animal Crossing, so no exploring for me. You can probably see where this is going. If you happen to own Animal Crossing and you would like to have me visit, send me your friend code and I'll drop on by. Of course, this means you'll get to visit the lovely Frostbite Falls, shop at the newly remodled Nook 'n' Go and sample the delicious peaches. Who can say no? Drop me a line!