The Sunday Papers

Are you hungover? I'm hungover. So, as I try and relax into the all-too-bright afternoon, I find I like to listen to one of the Afghan Whigs startling cover versions of I Only Had A Heart and read through some of the more provoking pieces of writing on games the week has produced. And you can join me, because in the Sunday Papers I collate a list of such things and present them for your delectation, in a rush before I find myself trying to give a little context to the week's Kate Bush Audiosurf Drama.

• I wake up to Greg Costikyan's typically provocative piece. He decries the conflation of criticism and reviews. To be honest, I've got a degree of sympathy for him - I tend to grate when someone describes me as a critic, as occasionally happens, because 96% of what I write about games simply isn't. But the real trick with criticism is to find someone willing to pay for it. Perhaps there's some irony that Costikyan's critical piece notes a problem without really considering the most important critical question: "Why?". And it isn't because those drudges called reviewers are soulless drudges.
• We haven't linked to anything from Crispygamer yet. Let's put that failing right - here's an interview they've done with Eidos CEO Bill Gardner. While a CEO-eyes view is a rare thing to see, it's most interesting to see him talk about the Gerstmann-gate issue...
• Also widely discussed, Massively ran a column arguing why there's so much anti-games coverage in the media. Tateru Nino thinks it's because they're scared of us taking over. There's nothing like a good conspiracy theory.
• Following on from our interview with Soren Johnson this week, Gamasutra ran a long feature with gaming's other Soren, Neil Sorens, where he talks about stories in non-traditional narrative games. Gamasutra obviously had a load of excellent GDC coverage, but my eyes were particularly caught by an interview with Cryptic's Jack Emmert, talking about the failings and successes of their City of Heroes. For those wondering the direction of Champions, it's well worth picking over.
• Okay, the thing with Bush is... well, you're in England. It's the late seventies. There's no real venues for pop videos, and basically Top of the Pops presents pop to the world. And then, this appears on your screen. Just ridiculously remarkable. As Alec put it, it's a miracle they didn't storm the stage and burn her as some manner of witch.

Failed.