Actually, there’s not much to be concerned about just yet; so far there’s just been an intense amount of rain, since the brunt of the hurricane won’t hit for a few more hours yet. I’m pretty safe where I am, but I’m kind of a disaster fetishist — check out my Thought Catalog piece on thoughts about the hurricane.

Since the last time I’ve updated, kind of a lot has happened; I went to MA to visit some video game developers (and my parents!), so here’s interview 1, 2 and 3 from my trip to Irrational. The main reason I went to MA will soon be unveiled!

I’ve done a couple of editorials at Gamasutra, too. I’m ambivalent in the truest sense of the word about the extent to which I’ve been sucked into Facebook games. Initially I meant to do some research for my monthly Edge column — by the way, the current print issue features a piece I wrote on what I perceive to be a disconnect between games critics and the average players, and thanks to those of you who’ve shot some feedback my way on Twitter about that.

But anyway, yeah, I decided to play some Facebook games, and gradually my wall and my notifications list are being overtaken by game spam. It’s driving me crazy, and yet I’m still logging into the stupid things every day. I had thought The Sims Social might be a little different, or a little smarter, but it’s kind of the worst offender yet. You can read my Gamasutra analysis for details.

If you are of an industry mind, I’ve got a couple of things for you: Fellow Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris feels the “revolving door”, in his words, of executives at Atari is concerning, and I spoke to the company’s latest mobile and digital executive hires about their hopes for the future of the venerated brand. Second, what’s former Microsoft Games Studios VP Shane Kim doing these days? You got questions, I got answers!

Some of y’all might be playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but of my favorite things I’m doing these days is continuing my letter series with my pal Kirk Hamilton (fairly-newly of Kotaku staff!) about the original Deus Ex. I assume all core PC gamers will have a coronary when I say my persistent impression of it is “eh, it’s not Metal Gear Solid.” But if you pay even a little attention to this blog, you know I’m almost irrationally fangirlish in regards to MGS, so hopefully you can forgive me.

More seriously, I get why everyone loved Deus Ex so much. It’s so, so smart, and I’m having a lot of fun with it. If you aren’t up-ons, please enjoy The Deus Ex letters part one, two and three.

When Kirk and I did The FF7 Letters at Paste, one of the conclusions at which we mutually arrived is that sometimes stylization is more immersive than what’s passing for “realism” these days. Now that it’s au courant to do remakes, HD re-releases and the like of beloved games, I’ve thought about how pushing for lifelike graphics and “realism” can actually make some games ultimately alienating because they don’t age well.

If you happen to be a NYLON Guys subscriber, or to see one on the newsstand, please take a look — I edit the games section, and have kinda quietly been doing so for the better part of 2011. I just finished assembling NYLON Guys’ October/November issue. Uh… did you realize how many major, major games are coming out around then? Here’s a fun game: Count how many of them are third in their series.

I went to Capcom’s Fight Club in New York, where I hung with Hip Hop Gamer and saw ladies dressed as Phoenix and Felicia. Vs. Tekken plays so, so well, for someone like me who’s hardly hardcore about fighters. People take fighting games quite seriously, you realize. There was a line around the block to attend the event; a pair of limo drivers on the next corner asked me what all of those men were waiting for. Because it was in the Chelsea neighborhood, they thought it was a gay lifestyle event and approached me to find out what a woman could possibly be doing there. Wince.

Next week, I’ll be at Call of Duty XP. I’ve never been to such a large-scale event around a single franchise. It should be exciting. Shout out if you’re going too, and say hi if you see me! You know the world of the FPS isn’t my natural habitat, so I’ve no idea what to expect.

You can imagine I’m a little tired. I’m half-hoping the power goes out this weekend so I can tell everybody I owe Monday deadlines to that I simply couldn’t. Maybe I shouldn’t say that in public. Oops.

Finally, thanks to Allan Offal for making an MP3 of DBZ’s Launch saying “WELL HELLO“, as I’d hoped someone would in my last post.

[Today’s Good Song: ‘Marquee Moon,’ Television (my fave storm jam!)]