The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on August 24, 2008.

It’s Sunday. So, as usual, here’s your chance to relax with a selection of things to read and think about from the last few (er) weeks which we’ve compiled for you while striving to avoid linking to a Noise-band who are making a lot of sense today. Yes.

• Last week the Sunday Papers document really was overloaded, so some of these are slightly older than usual. For example, here’s Alex Litel over at Game Set Watch defending the Marc Ecko’s Getting It Up: “Getting Up’s closest contemporary is not the kinetic kitsch of Jet Set Radio, but the French fantasia of Beyond Good & Evil.” Conversely, our own Quinns - no stranger to the strange - thought it was rubbish.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on August 17, 2008.

As evening closes in on a Sunday, when all should be heading to bed, I find it an ideal time to sit back and reason some of the week’s more… yeah, I’m late in pulling the list together. But, as always, it’s a list of interesting thought pieces and stories from across the week gathered by the faithful RPS word-poachers which I compile, while trying to resist linking to some music that’s been having me dance around my house for the last seven days. Let’s go!

• Brainygamer has been amusing RPS this week. First, he talks about his recent experiences with new media and old media, and makes a fairly strong point that the oft-assumed snobbish superiority of the old-media isn’t quite as clear as they’d like you to think. Secondly, and more importantly, he coins a narrative manifesto. Which is always dangerous, but it’s not actually his flag he’s flying. He’s noticed a strong trend in practitioners philosophy, and is excited about where it’s going. As am I.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on August 10, 2008.

Sunday’s an ideal time to take stock of the week’s events. So go and do that, if you fancy - anyone who stays can peruse the list of left-of-field and unusual stories we collected across these seven days, and now present to you while trying really, very, very hard to avoid linking to a Betty Boo video.

• Normally this is a must read thing. This is… well, something like that. Old comrade Tim “Maugeter” Fletcher made me look at Gamasutra’s “Emotion Engineering: A Scientific Approach For Understanding Game Appeal” piece. It’s a piece on formalising design laws and has - er - some of the best graphs I’ve seen in my life. I always rate games on graphicability, playabilityityity and shame.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on August 3, 2008.

Been away for a couple of weeks, but thankfully the Sunday Papers RPS-document is ever-filling (at least when people remember to cut and paste something into it). That means I can take you on a leisurely Sunday Afternoon stroll through the more cerebral - or, at least, charmingly distracting - writing from across the web, while trying to avoid leading you down that seedy alleyway where I either link to a song that’s been stuck in my head for three days straight and/or one of my comic things. Man, let’s hope I can avoid that. It’d be really embarrassing otherwise.

• Critical Gaming on Organic and Inorganic design, specifically about game fiction versus game logic. At Develop I found myself in a fairly serious topic on the question, so it’s on my mind. Example quote, which is hard to disagree with: “It’s a shame when a game works hard to establish a fiction and a form only to take away from it by arranging levels that don’t make sense according to that fiction”. What’s interesting to me is games which take this admirable stance, and push it arguably too far - the best recent example would be Assassin’s Creed.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on July 20, 2008.

As I return from Jim’s 30th, just in time to actually get my bags together to go to San Diego Comic Con next week - and if you’re there, do pop to say hello at the Image booth where I’ll be most of the time - and… well, do the Sunday Papers, of course. What’s the Sunday Papers? Well, it’s our regular list of reading for a Sunday Afternoon, where I compile smart pieces of commentary which caught my eye this week while trying to avoid linking to two obliquely videogame-related songs.

• I don’t follow the Gold Farmer market, but this report interested me. In obvious relations to the law of supply and demand, the recent mass-banning by Blizzard has caused the market Gold Price to rocket. Lots of analysis here.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on July 13, 2008.

This Saturday night was all about browsing online shops and resisting dark urges that must be suppressed, or else my lady will truly leave me for someone who doesn’t stink of resin and glue. But Sunday is a joyous time. For today is the time I compile a list of fine pieces of reading to distract you this afternoon, while resisting the urge to link to old Austin-based SY-influenced indie-rock singles for no bloody discernible reason.

• About once a year PC Gamer’s Tom Francis takes a swing at something really fun and hits it out of the park - which is about the home-run rate my favourite writers on games manage. Last year was his GalCiv2 diary. This years, I suspect, will be his cheerily stalkerish attempt to find a girlfriend while playing MMOs. You’ll laugh! You’ll wince! You’ll never let any of your womenfolk anywhere near him!

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on July 6, 2008.

Sunday hits, accompanied by the Papers, as compiled by the good-ship RPS. The idea is that we publish a list of things we consider worth sitting back and reading, while avoiding linking to classic early noughties summer-pop-glories. No, really.

• Lara Crigger over at 1UP writes about videogame story - and specifically related to the - er - somewhat novel choices for the WGA best writing of 2008 awards. Why (and, indeed, what?) Dead Head Fred and no Portal or Bioshock? Apparently you have to be part of the WGA new media caucus. Relevant quote from Ken Levine. “I’d never even heard of it…I don’t even know where to start to get involved.”
• Leigh Alexander takes the “It’s only a game!” argument to task over at Kotaku. Leigh does show it’s a particularly hypocritic stance from anyone who has ever expressed any indignation about how games are perceived in pop culture. And talking about outright hypocrisy…

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on June 22, 2008.

Ah, Sunday. As anyone who follows my twitter will know, I’m battling through a hangover. And while for normal men, a Sunday hangover involves bacon, tea and similar, mine also involves compiling a list of interesting semi-cereberal links for you to lead and resist linking to some music thing. Probably. Anyway - Sunday Papers: ACTIVATE!

• How much do you know about the musician behind Portal megahit Jonathan Coulton? Not enough, I dare say. In which case, I point you in the direction of the AV Club’s recent fun interview. You won’t know much more, but you’ll know some random stuff on his ipod. Go read.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on June 15, 2008.

We’ve had relatively small Sunday Papers the last two weeks. This one’s a bit heftier. The idea, as always, is to present a list of some reading to absorb on this lovely Sunday afternoon, and to definitely NOT link to some piece of indie nonsense that caught my eye this week. Onwards.

• Firstly, congrats to the Darling Brothers for their CBE. The founders of Codemasters, which has come a long way since their Advanced FILLINHERE Simulator days. Alas, the old Amiga Power running joke of Sir Geoff Crammond is still a way off. And thanks to the many people who mailed us about this ton too.
• Erin Hoffman writes about Audition Online for the Escapist. I’ve played a little of this MMO rhythm action game, and went away a tad depressed, but Erin goes completely native in an entertaining fashion. I’m probably alone in my wish for an actual game-of-the-film Audition though, in a kirri-kirri-kirri kind of way.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on June 8, 2008.

The Sun is outside. But not us. We’re inside, hiding from the evil gold sphere in the sky and the pain it creates in our hungover bodies. Instead, we read intelligent commentary on games gathered throughout the week. While we do so, we compile it into a list for your benefit and try not to just create a random selection of highlights from the club night 3 RPS-ites were dancing stupidly in last night. Yes.

• The fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons has arrived, apparently. This is actually relevant to PC gaming for a load of reasons, not least the fact its got a PC client and that it’s the rule-set we’ll be playing in any future D&D games. And, if history teaches us anyway, games which aren’t D&D too. Tying into it, a couple of things. Famous opportunity-attack rules-lawyer Dave Taurus takes a gamer’s eye look at it over at Eurogamer. Secondly, Lara Crigger at 1UP does a short history of the RPG. Its shortness may excuse its American-centricism a bit.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on May 25, 2008.

What do you do on Saturday? Well, if you’re me, you pull on a suit and go and sell comics to people dressed as Wonder-Woman. But Sunday is a very different time. Sunday is a time for assembling bookshelves and/or lists of interesting reading from the world of games in a handy list while trying to resist linking to old Bob Mould records. Join me.

• Vince D Weller takes first prize on the reading matter this week, compiling a mass talking shop of RPG luminaries about World, Character and Story design. Everyone from Chris Avellone and loads of other Obsidian staff and… oh, more RPG sorts than you’d imagine would submit to this stuff, let alone turn out genuinely interesting stuff. Go read. Worth it for Avellone talking about how KOTOR2 was a game inspired by thinking the Force sucked a bit. And - y’know - he has a point.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on May 18, 2008.

There are many things to love about Sunday. Not having to go to work, unless you’ve got a horrible job which you have my sympathy for. Keep fighting, punks. Lying around. Not doing much. Compiling a list of thoughtful pieces from the grist of the games journalism mill and trying not to include a video link of my favourite indie-lust object at a dog show. Well… the compiling thing is just me, but you can read it. Go eye-readings!

• This is fun. Bill Harris does a two part interview with Vic Davis about Armageddon Empire’s post-release sales curve and similar. While Vic avoids the actual hard figures, reading what percentage of his total sales were achieved at which points is… well, it’s illuminating. And seeing the uptick on a graph after my Eurogamer review makes me feel as if this games critic thing isn’t totally useless, y’know. Part one here. Part two here.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on May 11, 2008.

Crashing in from a gathering of sequential narrative fans, what I like to do is sit down and have a read of some lovely thoughtful pieces on games. But what I have to do is pack up my life, so this will be a shorter-than-usual Sunday Papers. As always, the idea is that I hammer out a list of things that caught my eye this week in the world of games writing while resisting linking to some completely irrelevant record on Youtube.

• Strategy specialist Troy S Goodfellow has been blogging about the history of Ancients videogames - Romans and chums! - and has now reached the end of his list. From Legionnaire in 1982 to Rome: Total War in 2004, it’s comprehensive and thought provoking series of retrospectives. Offer unto Ceaser clicks.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on April 27, 2008.

Normally I’d fill in a joke about being hungover here. Alas, it’s no joke, especially for my poor poisoned body. But still, a good time to do what we always do with the Sunday Papers - that is, compile a list of some thoughtful pieces of commentary I’ve happened upon this week and present them to you, and try really hard not to link to a record which sounds a lot like I feel.

• The Big Idea series over at Newsweek have all had their merits, but I was particularly taken with “A Brief Look Inside the Mind of the Monogamous Gamer–And a Plea to Developers to Cater to His or Her Needs”. Opening with the entertainment-per-hour argument is a weak one (Whenever anyone comes up with that, I find myself suspecting they wouldn’t get their round in in the pub due to the low ratio of booze-price/booze consumption or something), it quickly moves into more interesting terrain. How much fidelity characterises you as a gamer? As a perpetual mayfly, I’m just a big dirty slut.

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The Sunday Papers

Written by Kieron Gillen on April 20, 2008.

The day is almost over, so a relatively truncated version of the Sunday Papers today. The idea of this RPS-regular - in fact, THE RPS regular, as it’s the most regular thing we do - is that we link to some more of the extended thinky-pieces to chew over on Sunday, and do so in such a rush before we link to an old post rock record featuring lyrics about bodily fluids in hair.

• Interesting column from James Lantz at Game Set Watch about how Starcraft’s clarity and precision makes it better competitive game than Relic’s Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, with the implication that Relic and THQ should follow in that direction. I really couldn’t disagree more, and suspect Starcraft 2’s biggest problem is going to be trying to balance the desires of their enormous Korean audience who have a national sport based around precision control and the mainstream western audience who now quite like games trying to minimise the Obsessive-compulsive part of play. The debate is also picked up internally here, at a previous RPS thread. Oh, man, we’ve gone meta

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