Author Archives: geoffreylong

Geoffrey Long is a media analyst, scholar, and storyteller exploring transmedia experiences, emerging entertainment platforms and the future of entertainment as the Lead Narrative Producer for the Narrative Design Team at Microsoft Studios. He is an alum of the MIT Comparative Media Studies program, a FoE Fellow with the Futures of Entertainment community, and a co-editor of the Playful Thinking book series from the MIT Press. His personal site can be found at geoffreylong.com.

Nerdfest.

That’s it, it’s official – my THESIS is far and away the nerdiest thing I’ve ever written. My most recent draft includes Barthes, Genette, Lévy, Umberto Eco, Edgar Allan Poe, John Keats, Indiana Jones, Hellboy, Neil Gaiman, the Muppets, Stephen King, Batman, Superman, Stargate, Final Fantasy, Star Wars, and, as of this morning, the Battle […]

Birthing Athena.

I’m in a very weird place with my THESIS. On Thursday night I got 3,000 words’ worth of feedback from my thesis committee chair that pretty much eviscerated most of what I’d given him – or at least that’s how it felt. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t only not that bad, but it […]

Putting a price on transmedia.

Ever wonder what a good transmedia, or at least cross-media, brand is worth? According to the 2005 Forbes.com piece Star Wars’ Galactic Dollars, the pricetag on that little story by George Lucas breaks down as follows: $700M in books and other publishing $1.5B in games $2.8B in home video sales $9B toys (holy crap, no […]

My THESIS advisor hates me.

I thought Henry liked me. The man’s my mentor, my fearless leader, my department head and my thesis advisor. He’s also currently the bane of my existence. Anyone who says, “You know, you really should read Roland Barthes” as input on one’s THESIS clearly has it in for you. I didn’t like Barthes when all […]

Amazon Prime is a waste of money.

If you’re considering ponying up for Amazon Prime, don’t. It’s a waste of money and a complete rip-off. Early yesterday morning I ordered two textbooks that I needed immediately for my thesis research and ponied up the extra $4.95 a book for Saturday delivery. Today I get an email saying that they shipped today and […]

The lecture tour continues!

I have just received word that I will apparently be appearing on a panel at Future Play 2007 this November in Toronto, Canada. Boo-yah!

Links list: 04-18-07.

Hellboy: The Companion. Man, this would have been crazy useful for my thesis. 36 Hours in Portland, Oregon. I miss Powell’s. TUAW on Xbox 360 + Mac. Some very useful links here. Harry Potter in HD? No region codes on DVD-HDs? Really? Starbucks Nation. Or, “The Virtues of Homogeneity. Adobe Media Player. Interrrresting. Jared on […]

Congratulations, Martin!

Wow – Martin Espada, the poet who taught one of the Governor’s summer workshops I attended in high school and who had a lasting impact on my writing poems at all, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, nominated for his newest collection The Republic of Poetry. Wow. Wow.

Going for the gold?

After finishing my taxes this afternoon, I was feeling relaxed and positive about life in general, so I swung by the mall near campus to take a stroll. While there, I paused at LensCrafters to look into getting some badly-needed new glasses. After having the same silver frames since 2001, I’m now considering these Brooks […]

This is patriotic?

For those of you living outside the Bay State, today is Patriot’s Day, a holiday here in Massachusetts. This means that all classes are cancelled, and I supposedly have the day off. It also means that poor Laura had to report to work today at 7AM, since apparently these quasi-holidays have a way of becoming […]