The Sunday Papers

Returning from my favourite UK comic con of the year, there's one thing I really like to do. That's crash out and order takeaway food. Alas, I have to compile a list of our favourite thinky-head reading of the week for your delectation, while trying to avoid linking to the pop record which I destroyed my voice by screaming the key word when involved in mass indie comics dance-floor-ownage.

• Leigh Alexander writes about a phenomenon which is rarely talked about, but I suspect most of us recognise. Lengthy indecision at the character creation stage. While we all welcome the increased ability to customise our avatar, this is definitely the price.
• Contributing to the bloodbath of the World of Goo 82% Piracy Rate (ish) thread hasn't been Cliffski's only contribution to videogame letters this week. He's also written a postmortem of his experience in making Kudos 2, which is - as is Cliffski's general style - agreeably candid.
• Ooh - la,la (etc). Jim's feature about game audio is translated to French. In case we've got some non-English speakers reading or something.
• Waitasec.
• More DRM fisticuffs with two new class-action suit against EA about their DRM, in the Sims and Spore.
• Popmatters speaks about Games as a Language System. The concept of games literacy is one of my perennial things I want to thrash a piece about, but never get around to. This makes other people better than me. Man!
• Over at the Guardian, Naomi Alderman's writes about how her addiction with Diablo II helped her deal with the trauma of living in New York during 9-11. The utilitarian purpose of games is another those perennial things. At least I've written about that a few times. We do this for a reason, y'now?
• This is... well, interesting. Leigh Alexander (Who with two posts this week probably deserves some kind of prize) writes about issues of Style and Realism provoked by Kotaku's earlier post showing an edited version of Faith from Mirror's Edge tweaked to "Asian standards of beauty".
• Dave Perry interviews Gabe Newell about getting into the games industry. I just wish this was longer.
• Talking Head's Once In A Lifetime. The line in question being MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE! If you ever get me in a pub, ask me my theory on what that line's referencing and how it epitomises the Song's whole point.

Failed.