Kotaku publishes lots of stories, but we are not, as it turns out, the entire Internet. Itâs easy to miss some of the wonderful criticism, commentary, and observations about games and games culture thatâs put online every week. No more! Every Friday afternoon, Iâll be your guide.
It feels good to be back. This was one of my regular features at Giant Bomb, and one of my favorites, too. As part of my reporting, I follow lots of people in the industry all day. Many of these people say, write, and share interesting things. Worth Reading about sharing it with you
For a little while, I thought about renaming Worth Reading, but Iâm terrible at coming up with names. Looking for the best and most reliable information possible, I asked Twitter for help
https://twitter.com/embed/status/556167894489251840
HEY.
Fortunately, my former boss, Jeff Gerstmann, gave me permission to keep the name.
I didnât run those terms past everyone else at Kotaku. Too late now! A deal is a deal.
In any case, letâs get on with the show. Iâve been plucking various links since Worth Reading went offline at Giant Bomb, so this reflects some of my favorite stuff from the past month or so.
Hey, You Should Read These
âThe Packers of Catan: Green Bayâs Board Game Obsessionâ by Kevin Clark
I have no reason to like the Green Bay Packers, the notoriously (talented) rival to my (less talented) Chicago Bears. But itâs hard not to smile while reading Kevin Clarkâs account of the Super Bowl-winning team becoming obsessed with the board game Settlers of Catan. While thereâs a mild air of condescension towards the game throughout the piece, itâs full of amazing observations, especially when it comes to passing on the personality quirks of various players.
âBackup quarterback Matt Flynn said he was interested in the game because it was âa nonviolent version of Risk,â referring to Parker Brothersâ notoriously lengthy game of world domination. But Flynn said the players take it so seriously that when he stopped by to play for the first time after a win last month, he was shocked by what happened when he attempted to turn on some celebratory music.
âI was just trying to play some musicâsome Pearl Jam, and [Bakhtiari] wouldnât let me. He wanted to hear the players talk and strategize. He was very serious,â Flynn said. âThey take it to a different level.â
The competitive nature of the Green Bayâs Catan tradition is now legendary in the locker room. Two weeks ago, Linsley won the game, but Bakhtiari, who typically hosts the games at his house, had briefly gone outside to cook a chicken for the group. He furiously protested Linsleyâs victory because of this. âHe put an asterisk by it. I didnât,â Linsley said. Backup quarterback Scott Tolzien is famous for slamming the board in frustration when he loses.â
âGamingwhile black: Casual racism to cautious optimismâ by Jessica Conditt
The video game industryâs relationship with race isnât an easy topic to address, which probably goes a long way to explaining why the industry doesnât bring it up very much. That said, Jessica Conditt does a pretty great job speaking to a wide range of folks within gamesâacademics, designers, etc.âto outline where weâre currently at and how very far the industry has to go.
âGaming culture is a direct reflection of our society. The only reason racism and sexism run rampant in gaming is because racism and sexism run rampant in society. But in physical spaces, mostly, itâs not overt. Itâs subtle. Itâs covert. So, yes, these issues manifest in a similar manner in gaming, but I contend that they present themselves worse. Itâs not subtle. Itâs in-your-face racism. A black person may not be called a nigger to their face, but they can almost guarantee it will happen in virtuality.â
If You Click It, It Will Play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UwY0vyCXxg
These Crowdfunding Projects Look Pretty Cool
Anna Megill wants to show (and tell) you what itâs like to make a video game.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong only asked for $100K, but itâs weeeeeeeell over that by now.
Drift Stage might be the coolest-looking racing game Iâve seen in a while.
Tweets That Make You Go âHmmmmmmâ
Spectating Crota's End speed runs. #pentathlon pic.twitter.com/dcPc5HyTEk
â Bungie (@Bungie) January 16, 2015
DmC is like, when you're trying really hard to be punk and all the punks are like "what the fuck is wrong with you"
â FOCUSED ON DEV & ART | N.Excelsia / Charlene (@CHARLENEMAXIMUM) December 15, 2014
Kitchens can make pumpkin pie
â The Strange Log (@TheStrangeLog) January 13, 2015
Developing software has made it a lot more clear why our DNA is full of unused junk sequences
â Erin Robinson Swink (@Livelyivy) January 11, 2015
Oh, And This Other Stuff
Kieran Yatesexplored how some games are exploring politically-charged topics.
Nich Maragos tried to play Fantasy Life without resorting to violence.
Adrian Chmielarz disliked just about everything I enjoyed about The Talos Principle
Alex Wawrospoke with Swery 65 about trying to impute D4 with emotion.
Janine Hawkins tried to understand what âcontentâ means in todayâs open world games.
Matt Martin managed to hit rank 100 in GTA Online by being a total jerk.
Joshua Brustein profiled how GameStop is trying to survive the next decade.
Roy Graham reflected on gaming violence, in light of the recent CIA torture report.
Simon Parkinwrote about how gaming is especially prone to obsolescence.
Katherine Cross provided another perspective on the sexual agency of Bayonetta.
Mike Williams dove into the Internet Archive to find the worst of the worst.
Patrick Leeargued Mass Effectâs paragon choices tend to coddle players.
Thatâs it! Weâre back. The plan is to publish earlier on Fridays, by the way. Iâm also happy to accept reader submissions for this, whether itâs a cool story you came across or one you wrote!
Image credit to Kyle T. Webster.
You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @patrickklepek
