journalism
Critic: Rock Band, Guitar Hero Glorify Parents’ Overrated Rock
1:00PM Stephen Totilo | A music critic at a classy publication recently subjected himself to several dozen hours playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band and now recognises the insidious influence they might have on the youth of America. More »
German Mag Claims Ubi Demanded Positive Review On Assassin’s Creed II
12:00PM Owen Good | Computer Bild Spiele of Germany has, on its December cover, a blurb touting an “Assassin’s Creed 2 SKANDAL!” It alleges Ubisoft wanted a score of “very good” before it would turn over a review copy of the game. More »
Sunday Supplement: “a game about nothing, signifying nothing”
9:00AM David Wildgoose | 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.
EDGE: Brütal Legend: A Love Story
Chris Dahlen examines Double Fine’s deft characterisation of Ophelia as the emotional fulcrum of Brütal Legend.
Fidgit: Tim Schafer on the finer points of nudity, heavy metal, and Brütal Legend
Tom Chick chats in-depth with Tim Schafer. ‘Nuff said.
Flash of Steel: Decade Feature: 2000 – Sacrifice
Troy Goodfellow revisits the strange and uncomfortable strategy of Shiny’s excellent Sacrifice.
GameCritics: Sans ethics and damn fun? Sega’s Madworld and House of the Dead Overkill
Matthew Kaplan debates whether the “stupefying satisfaction” of a dumb action game can be as valuable as one that is worthy and enlightens.
Vorpal Bunny Ranch: Raydians: Persons of Color
Denis Farr reveals a parable of race relations at the heart of bright and breezy de Blob. 
Game Informer Magazine Launches Aussie Edition
10:00AM David Wildgoose | Game Informer is the world’s most read games magazine, with over three million subscribers in the US. Now it’s getting an Australian version. More » 
Sunday Supplement: “a kind of domestic reverie”
9:00AM David Wildgoose | 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.
Above 49: Instancing Emotion
Nels Anderson acknowleges the emotional pull that fosters camaraderie in Left 4 Dead and ensures its co-operative play works.
Gamasutra: Kill Polygon, Kill: Violence, Psychology, and Video Games
Michael Thomsen examines why we enjoy video game violence and the abstraction of war.
Groping The Elephant: The fallacy of choice
Justin Keverne asserts that the lack of player choice in Uncharted 2 is one of its chief strengths.
Magical Wasteland: The Way to a Man’s Heart
Matthew Burns chews upon the many ways in which food appears in games, as mechanic, metaphor and collectible.
RedKingsDream: IKEA, and the logic of videogame design
Daniel Golding discovers the link between furniture showroom layout and level design flow.
Famitsu Awards Bayonetta A Perfect Score
7:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Japanese game magazine Famitsu has four separate critics score games on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best score. The four scores are then tallied, and 40 is perfecto. More »
Sunday Supplement: “all-brawling and all-stealthing”
12:00PM David Wildgoose | 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.
Newspaper Predicts Bad Things From Modern Warfare 2 Goggle Users
11:40AM Stephen Totilo | Sourcing Internet forums, the UK’s Daily Star informed the world Sunday that the game you may be buying next month has been dubbed “Modern Warfare 2: Peeping Tom Edition”. More »
What Did Gabe Newell Think Of Aussie Modder’s Left 4 Dead Campaign?
9:00AM David Wildgoose | Valve’s Gabe Newell lost a bet with a 19-year-old Australian modder recently. As a result, Gabe jumped on a plane from Seattle to Sydney to check out Joe W-A’s Left 4 Dead campaign. More » 
