The Sunday Papers

Time for another lazy afternoon's worth of chin-stroking articles, gathered at great effort from across the expanse of the internet. They take the form of a cheery list, which we rush through in an attempt to do so before I end up name-checking whichever minor indie-band I caught in a seedy hole this week.

• Over at Edge - no, not the if-only-you-could-talk-to-the-monsters-one - Geoffrey Miller posits an explanation to the Fermi Paradox (i.e. Why isn't ET phoning from home). It involves runaway capitalism and everyone really getting into World of Warcraft, or local equivalents. He's probably right.
• The answer's in. Videogames are art... well, in France at least. Gamasutra tags along with the French Culture Minister in the wake of the news that games are going to get tax credits in the same way as other culturally meaningful forms. Interesting - though from my understanding, the French Government and business has always had a more progressive approach to videogames than the British. Which is one reason why they still have more than one publisher.
• For those who need an extra dose of Vince D. Weller after his internet-searing interview, he explains his beliefs of what makes a game an RPG over at his forum. But what about orcs? Surely it's got to have orcs.
• MMO designer Jeff Freeman explains why there's only ever been one MMO, and it's World of Warcraft. We approve of his Swiftean flourishes. Also, passing through Jeff's blog, we hit Ex-Asheron Call 2's Eric Heimberg talking about the five-stages of MMO designer.
• Meanwhile, Introversion's Mark Morris explains about the joys of Independence over at Bit-tech.
• Bill Harris, after talking about how wonderful we and Vic Davis are, moves onto his theory of inkblot design, exemplified by Mount & Blade, Armageddon Empires and Dwarf Fortress.
• Point/counterpoint (Paraphrased). NPR: There's a generation of Child-men who should grow the fuck up. Filefront: Sling your hook.
• Henry Jenkins talks about what he learned in a recent trip to Shanghai and the international games and learning forum, specifically about social responsibility and addiction in China.
• This one's old now, but I found myself re-reading it this week and still think it's one of the better examinations of the fall of a videogame company I've ever read. James Sherrett over at TTLG, examining actually why Looking Glass Software shattered. When people disseminate false-information on the topic to the very day, the piece is clear, fair and remains essential.
• God, Slow Club were awesome at Moles this week. Any band that uses a chair as percussion is fine by me.

Failed.