The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for waking up in a friend's house, trying to decide whether you should feed the cat, and just before rushing off to clear out house find time to compile a shorter-than-usual selection of fine (mostly) games related reading I've come across this week, while trying to resist to link to awesome festival sci-fi shenanigans.

• I was smirking at McSweeny's Building Code Violations of Love Shack when I hit the totally Sunday Papers relevant Roland Barthes Reviews Pac-Man. Good work, Paul Krumholz.
• Joe Martin on trying to take his character through Dragon Age by role-playing a certain trait. As in, Atheism. He looks at the world and sees magic - which works - and gods - who appear to do nothing directly, generally speaking. As such, anything which is apparently caused by gods is actually just magic. Interesting thought that magic as much as science is a challenge to traditional religion.
• Beefjack on how the Government has let down the British Gaming Industry.
• Early Grey pointed me at IGN taking a serious look at why Booth Babes exist anyway.
• Gaming Daily do an interview about the forthcoming Wolfire. Example quote: "Imagine a giant, winged, antlered, rabbit-whale advancing on your position and tell me you wouldn’t be scared." This is very true.
• Resolution's Brendan Caldwell goes mad in the mountains of Red Dead Redemption, after trying to actually treat the Fauna of the game with some respect.
• Alisdair Stuart interviews me about "The War" over at The Escapist for their sorta Criticism centered issue. Illustrated with a truly ludicrous shot of yours truly at the San Diego Comicon two years back, where I shaved my beard in a particularly silly manner for a day for shits and giggles. I can only presume this is revenge from Escapist Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts for some manner of transgression on my part. I will have my revenge.
• Oh God. Let's Point/Counterpoint this. Brainy Gamer Lepine growls at the fall of "The War" and hails the rise of the New "The War". Brendan Caldwell thinks there's a need for less games-journalism-journalism. Which is a point which is hard to disagree with. And yes, I know.
• Matt Fraction interviewed by Comics Alliance about my-favourite-comic-series-of-the-late-00s Casanova coming back. And talking about comics I love, the first issue of the current Shake Kane/David Hine series, The Bulletproof Coffin is available to read online for free. Do so. Embrace your mentalist masters.
• I've always liked CB's short comic about dealing with artist portfolios at cons.
• Lobster Dogs!
• Some kind of geek crossover nirvana. At Glastonbury, Orbital's version of the Doctor Who theme is enlivened by the appearance of Matt Smith. Geronimo, etc.

Failed.