Reading List (November 2021) (Patreon)

Hello!

The nights are getting in and the temperature’s dropping - it’s time to stay inside with a cup of cocoa and a list of great articles and videos. Unless you’re Australian, in which case you’re probably chucking snags on the barbie or something. Absolute bizarro world. Makes no sense.

Anyway! Reading list!

The Design of Games

[Read] The Immersive Nature of Tedium - “I believe that monotony helps it all feel more grounded in reality, and if I want to play a sim, then the more grounded it feels the better.”

[Read] Dishonored’s Chaos System Was Never Punishing You - “For players who wanted to lean into the ‘toybox’ of immersive sims, this system felt like a punishment, discouraging them from engaging with the mechanics in front of them.”

[Watch | 57 mins] Kingdom Hearts Review - The Gaming Brit takes a thorough look at the first ever Kingdom Hearts game. Come for the analysis, stay for the crisp PS2 visuals!

[Watch | 1 hour] Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission Playthrough w/Dev Commentary - Missing On the Level? Story Mode’s got a similar series, starting with Mass Effect 2’s excellent ending.

The Business of Games

[Read] This massive ‘collection’ of game delay posts is pure art - PCGamesN wrote an article about my tweet thread, lol.

[Read | Long Read] How Xbox outgrew the console: inside Phil Spencer’s multi-billion dollar gamble - A huge interview with the dude leading Xbox, and making the big decisions right now.

The Development of Games

[Watch | CC | 16 mins] Exploring Palestine's Game Development Scene - Miziziziz has a new series, looking at dev scenes around the world. He starts in Palestine.

[Watch | CC | 15 mins] How PlayStation 5 Was Built - “Mark [Cerny] talks about the steps Sony takes when developing a video game console, from early brainstorming sessions to picking out what parts to use in the final product.”

[Read] How to make your own game engine (and why) - “Lets start with the absolute first question you should be asking yourself if you want to make your own game engine: Why?”

[Watch | CC | 22 mins] Rockstar's Quest for the Ultimate Videogame Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 - “Horses are great, but they're pretty difficult to get right in video games. Let's take a look at the monumental efforts of Rockstar Games as they made arguably one of the best horses in video games”.

[Watch | CC | 10 mins] A guide to the first 15 seconds of every game - “When you switch on a video game, you see a bunch of logos and stuff you might not recognize. Welcome to the exciting world of middleware!”

[Watch |3  mins] How To Make A Horror Game In Two Days - This dev diary shows the thought process of making a horror game for a 48 hour jam.

[Watch | CC | 32 mins] I Tried Creating a Game Using Real-world Geographic Data - “A little experimental game I've been working on recently, where you fly around a tiny version of the world and deliver packages to various cities.”

The Playing of Games

[Read] How does Samus Aran turn into a ball? An investigation - “How can this muscle-bound Amazonian woman contract herself into such a tiny sphere?”

[Read] For a legally blind player, Far Cry 6’s accessibility options are empowering - “The Far Cry series may appear stagnant to many observers, but to me, it’s a standout in the landscape of games pushing inclusive accessibility options. And in this regard, Far Cry 6 is the best installment yet.”

The Art of Games

[Watch | CC | 11 mins] Why Assassin’s Creed Unity can’t rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral - “After the disastrous 2019 fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, many hoped that Ubisoft's incredibly detailed models of the cathedral used in Assassin's Creed Unity could help save the day. Well, Polygon's Simone is here to tell you that... no.”

[Watch | CC | 25 mins] Samus Aran Origins: Metroid's Influences Beyond Alien - “Everyone knows Metroid was inspired by the movie Alien, but what about its other influences?”

[Watch | 21 mins] Architectural Designer Creates a Pixel Art Bathhouse - The developer of chef RPG shows his intricate process of building architecturally sound buildings in top down pixel art.

The History of Games

[Read | Long Read] GameCube at 20: Nintendo insiders on the failed console that changed the industry - “GameCube’s biggest flaw, according to one man who helped create the console hardware, was that it didn’t offer a meaningful enough differentiator from its competitors.”

[Watch | 20 mins] Rez20 | Looking Back At 20 Years of Rez and Synesthesia - Various developers and journalists recount the launch of Sega’s groundbreaking rhythm shmup Rez.

[Watch | CC | 6 mins] Why Do Controllers Have Select Buttons? - “Have you ever wondered why even new video game controllers include this oft-unused second Start Button?”. I have!

[Watch | CC | 51 mins] The Sequels To Tetris: Improving Perfection - “This is a look at the games that have since come in its wake, looking to succeed the original Tetris.”

[Read] The Mother of all fishing games - “To see a game slam on life’s brakes and say so strongly and so clearly ‘No, you’re fishing now, and fishing is not something you should rush’ is as shocking as it is welcome.”

Beyond Games

[Watch | 6 mins] Why I had to quit youtube for 5 months - A very relatable cautionary tale about the addictive nature of YouTube (and other social media).

[Read] NFTs Weren’t Supposed to End Like This - “When we invented non-fungible tokens, we were trying to protect artists. But tech-world opportunism has struck again.”