Here’s a collection of links to some of the most interesting articles of last week. The overall theme is video games, what they do, how they do them, and how you can get into building them. Check out some very good articles below.
- “Games as Language Systems ” – Moving Pixels has a very interesting article up comparing the design of video games to the design of languages. This article aims to help you understand that there are many elements through which a player expresses themselves in a game and how they come together.
- “Steal from Fable II! Using actors and writers in games ” – The ever excellent Sande Chen & Anne Toole look at Fable II’s use of actors. The Writers Cabal tells you how and why it matters.
- “Interactive Journalism ” – Hit Self-Destruct carries this article wondering what the hell happened to in-depth journalism. This article focuses on game journalists and what they’ve missed.
- “Interview: Daniel James on Three Rings’ Whirled ” – Meet the man behind Whirled a… something … that is “everything from a Flash game creation tool to a virtual world where people can hang out in rooms and stuff.” Is Whirled looking to become ‘the social’ for gamers, or is it something else entirely?
- “Little Big Mess ” – Oh, Sean Sands, sometimes you out and out insult me and sometimes you write a damn good editorial. This is one of those good times. Sands’ article on The Escapist asks an important question: For a game built on community content, why is Sony failing to communicate with it’s Little Big Planet users?
- “Decision Paralysis, Or Why I Can’t Get Out Of Vault 101 ” – Leigh Alexander always writes interesting articles, and this is no exception. Sexy Videogameland takes a look at decision making in video games and what happens when the options increase for “choice in games.” Also, this article is the reason I am know about to boot up Fallout 3.
