Welcome to your Sunday reservoir of interesting writing about video games. Grab your reading jacket, a cup of coffee and get ready to exercise the brain.
Critical Distance: Critical Compilation: Grand Theft Auto IV Michael Clarkson finds the common threads running through the wealth of – yes – critical writing about Rockstar’s return to Liberty City.
Experience Points: Dead Ends Jorge Albor reasons why we ought to pay attention when a game permanently kills off a playable character. Part two of the series can be found here.
Gamer Limit: In Defence of Grand Theft Auto IV James O’Connor examines the way Niko makes you feel guilt in this very personal response to GTA IV.
PopMatters: Asserting Femininity in Super Metroid LB Jeffries highlights how Super Metroid resonates with maternal metaphors and banishes any idea of Samus’ androgyny.
Red Kings Dream: Arkham Asylum and the space of traumatic memory Daniel Golding suggests there’s a moment in Arkham Asylum where Batman’s trauma becomes our own.
Cult hit or just plain weird, the PSP title Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman, What Did I Do to Deserve This? did not get a full retail release, going instead to PlayStation Network exclusive earlier this year. More »
This video discusses the backstory leading into Star Trek Online. In a nutshell, Romulans, Remans, Klingons and the Gorn are all assholes, and their inability to resolve their differences creates fertile opportunity for combat. That’s where you come in. More »
The next Xbox Live update will deliver Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm, but, Ron Popeil style, wait, there’s more! According to an email from Microsoft, anyway. Get ready for news headlines and dedicated music stores in the Xbox Live dashboard. More »
Konami’s PC port of Saw, which went out earlier this month for Xbox 360 and PS3, will hit Steam later this month. The site Big Download is reporting that the digital distributor is the only place to buy the game. More »
LAST DAY TO ENTER! Prove to us that you truly are the “King of Fighters” and win yourself one of eight figurine-tastic collectors editions of SNK’s King Of Fighters XII. More »
