The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for fighting a harrowing trans-dimensional war with an army of psychic aliens. Later: a roast dinner. Ah, lovely.

• Mike Rose writes about Andy Schatz and Monaco: "It's interesting, because it really made me sympathize with a guy like Peter Molyneux, who talks about his games in the way that he imagines they'll be like when they're done. If you're talking about a game in development, it's very difficult not to talk about them as you imagine them to be. You really should talk about them as they are, and not as you imagine them to be."
• On French gaming TV: "While other gaming channels are struggling to stay afloat financially, or have gone the way of Dot TV, Nolife can safely rely on the grassroots support of its pious viewers. By accepting subscriptions and donations, the producers are insulated from advertising money. In a sense, Nolife has brought Kickstarter to television screens. This model may sacrifice the certainty of monthly cheques, but it affords the very thing their forbearers sought: Démocratie et liberté."
• I meant to link to Unlimited Hyperbole last week, but forgot. Have a listen to this.
• I might have had something to day in Gamasutra's The State Of Crowd-funding article.
• The Five Stages Of Starseed Pilgrim (a parody): "That's when a bunch of spanners turn up in your cogs. You discover those mechanics you've become confident with are not constant in the wild. There is not just one mechanics universe but many, each one disrupting your burgeoning mastery of the game in violent ways. In each new mechanics universe you are a child again, humbled by a seemingly inconsequential perturbation that destroys everything. The butterfly effect of game design."
• Did I already link Quinns talking about boardgames? I forget. Anyway, watch.
• The secret hunters of Shadow Of The Colossus: "At first he was looking for canny ways to defeat colossi faster, but he soon discovered something far more mesmerising. The hidden garden at the top of the Shrine of Worship, glimpsed during Shadow of the Colossus' final cutscene, was accessible in-game. This is Shadow Of The Colossus' biggest Easter Egg, teased by the mossy growths, handholds and ledges that weave around the exterior of the structure, but not actually reachable until you've completed the game multiple times. The Secret Garden, as it became known, is a final reward for the most dedicated of colossi-hunters: one last challenge and a glimpse of verdant green beauty in a starkly austere land. But it wasn't enough for Ozzymandias and his fellow fans."
• George Kokoris writes about how the 3DS enables him to get past his stereoblindness: "As silly as it may seem to get an existential epiphany out of a $200 plastic gadget, the apparent solidity of the tiny simulacra on that screen made them seem almost more “real” than the world around me, which looked suddenly flat by comparison. It didn’t matter that they had three-digit polygon counts and textures that must have topped out at 512×512. I had never before perceived things as having volume, only a sort of surface area in terms of how much of my vision they took up. It was intoxicating. It was a glimpse into something that I immediately realized was part of everyone else’s normal experience. This is how other people see the world all the time. There’s nothing magical about the perception of depth."
• Imaginary Atlas is beautiful.
• A writer spends a year without internet.
• A fascinating article about how the battle for control of the internet is landing people in jail.
• Proof that RPS writers - even Craig - can change the world.

Music this week is the teaser for the new Boards Of Canada album. So good. I can't wait.