The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for giving your fresh laundry a good sniff. Before you bring nose to cloth, let's read this week's best writing about games.

For PC Gamer, Rich Stanton spoke to chess legend Garry Kasparov about the game of kings in the computer age.

Often when we do these sessions with young players, they show the games, and they are being asked what do you think about this move or that move? They immediately give you an answer. And if I try to ask why, they stare at me like they don't understand the question: "What do you mean why? Because the machine said so!" [laughs] Yeah, I can also look at a screen. Now, what about you? Can you just tell me in human terms, without a machine to calculate it. What do you think about the movement, why the idea is good or not good.

Over on Eurogamer, Christian Donlan argues that the best thing a game can give you is a camera. The only photo mode I've got on with in games is in the later Yakuza games. I love taking fun selfies with the gang, or of Kiryu just having a good time in Kamurocho.

Let's try again. I'm thinking of all this because Pokémon Snap is back, and I have only just realised after all these years that Pokémon Snap is not snap in the sense of - Two aces! Snap! - but snap in the sense of the shutter firing. Pokémon abound and you take pictures of them. You have a camera in your hand. And this made me think, not just that there are a lot of games that give you a camera, but that I always tend to like those games. More than that, I like them for the same reasons. They feel more engrossing, more enfolding. Games with cameras tend to get me in a bear hug.

For Gamasutra, Joel Couture spoke to Welcome to Elk's director and co-writer Astrid Refstrup about how truth and fiction intertwine in its storytelling. This quick-hit is part of a series they're doing if you're interested in reading more.

We looked for stories from people you would not normally meet if you are from a privileged background in Copenhagen, Denmark. We wanted to show people that all humans have great stories, great humor, and great tragedies, and we all (or almost all - not Leeroy in the game ) are equally important to our world.

For The New Yorker, Jeff Maysh tells the strange story of Dagobert, the "Ducktales" bandit.

Funke grabbed the package and scampered to safety. When he opened it, he saw that only four thousand marks were real; the rest was Mickey Mouse money. He had threatened the store with another bomb if it didn’t pay up. Meanwhile, it didn’t take the police long to connect the two bombings: both involved voice changers, a treasure hunt, ingenious gadgets, and money thrown from a train. They were dealing with a serial bomber who appeared to take inspiration from the capers in comic books featuring Scrooge McDuck. From that moment on, they called him Dagobert.

Over on the Washington Post, Gene Park remembers Kentaro Miura, the legendary creator of the Berserk manga who inspired countless fantasy stories. Vice's Gita Jackson also wrote about how players in Final Fantasy XIV paid tribute to him by standing vigil. Finally, this Twitter thread by 4EyesAcademia rounds up his huge impact on pop culture.

I watched the Berserk Golden Arc anime series and was totally blow away it. I've heard the anime adaptations don't even come close to the quality of the manga, though, so I'm hoping to pick up my first copies of it soon.

The “Berserk” story is most famous for its Golden Age arc, the second story in the series. The arc is arguably the series peak, telling the origin of the complicated hero-villain relationship of Guts and Griffith, the beautiful and charismatic leader of mercenaries who eventually becomes obsessed with Guts. The name of the arc belies its dark nature. To this day, when artists and creators think of “dark fantasy,” they often think of the Eclipse moment within the Golden Age arc, which makes the red wedding sequence of “Game of Thrones” feel like a tea party by comparison. The Golden Age arc has been adapted into anime and a film trilogy.

Music this week is Birocratic's "Bob Ross Goes to Hollywood". It's funky and has a great title.

Also, before you go!

If you can, please consider donating to help those affected by the Israel-Gaza conflict.

That's me. Have a solid Sunday everyone!