The Sunday Papers

An aftermath of a games journalist stag-do is never a pretty thing, clearly. So what's best to do is to sit down and compile a list of interesting bits and bobs of articles for RPS readers to read in a similarly leisurely fashion while trying to not include a passive-aggressive linking of a song as a direct message to another of the RPS-collective. And since that's best, that's exactly what I've done.

• Author and Futurist Bruce Sterling presented his thoughts about the future of games at the GDC in Austin. Phenomenally clever as Sterling is, we've got a few reservations - as Jim says, like many non-gamer Futurists are, they miss some crucial details about the form - but there's sections which are sheer poetry and there's one bit that had 3/4s of RPS ranting about its genius last night. But more on that anon.
• Man Vs Horse, two non-MMO guys, decide to go off and play three MMO's free trials to try and make some sense of this nonsense. They come back and write three articles: one about City of Heroes, one about World of Warcraft and one about Eve Online. It's interesting in as much they aren't completely new to the genre - they're entering the world with their preconceptions of the form, and it's quite fun to see how that directs their thought. It's fun evidence that once you are a gamer, it's hard to actually look with virginal eyes at anything - we've all heard stuff about almost any game that shapes our initial thoughts.
• Crytek Producer Bernd Diemer talks about what the company has learned since Crysis and how that feeds into Warhead. We'll try and do a Warhead Verdict next week at some point, as I believe most of us have played it.
• Auntie Pixelante (of Mighty Jill Off) interviews Jesse venbrux. In her words: "Jesse venbrux is one of the most important game designers working right now. he continually subverts player expectations, challenging player assumptions about games. his use of persistence between games has informed my own work, and remains fairly unique in the medium. in our two-and-a-half hour chat, jesse and i talked about game design school, his work, future projects, and the game he never made: GAME OVER FOREVER." Read it here.
• To Alec, as decided about 3am last night stumbling through the streets of Bath: Be Aggressive - Faith No More.

Failed.