Reading List (February 2024) (Patreon)

Hey there! I am knee deep in game development right now, trying to get this darn game finished. But I still found some time to watch great YouTube videos and read fascinating game design and development articles. Here are 30+ I reckon you’ll like.

Design

[Read] What might the ultimate character creator look like? - "I was curious to find out more about the process of developing character creators, to understand the challenges developers have to overcome and how representation in video games can be improved"

[Watch | CC | 1 hour, 34 mins] Returning to Monkey Island - "We talk to the original creators of Monkey Island about the legacy of the franchise and how that impacted their journey to bring the series back in 2023."

[Watch | 14 mins] A Game Designer breaks down Diablo 4's character-building loop - "The way it works keeps you tinkering with your character for many, many hours. Learn how Diablo 4's designers pulled that off."

[Watch | CC | 24 mins] Alan Wake's Abandoned Survival Horror Open World - "Compromises saved the game from cancellation, but evolved this ‘interactive Twin Peaks’ into a less ambitious, linear 3rd-person shooter."

[Watch | CC | 14 mins] Was Dark Souls' Blighttown a Mistake? - Dark Souls’ most infamous area gets dissected in Second Wind’s Design Delve.

[Read] Prince of Persia and the High Price of Pants - "The hardest moment in Ubisoft’s brilliant Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is tucked away in a random, innocuous room."

The Yellow Paint Debate

[Watch | 16 mins] Gamers vs. YELLOW PAINT - "Devs keep slathering yellow and white paint all over their games so players know what to do. A helpful visual aid, or an unnecessary blight? Let us discuss".

[Read] It’s Not About Yellow Paint - "It's not about yellow paint, it's about the fact the modern AAA space has forgotten how to have a dialog with the player."

[Watch | CC | 5 mins] What's The Deal With Yellow Paint? - "Before you can even engage your brain, you’re struck by a familiar foe: social media discourse on the scourge of yellow paint."

Development

[Watch | 1 hour, 25 mins] How different Cultures Shape Videogames - Basically ‘around the world in 80 games’, this YouTube video finds a stand-out game from many different nations. You’ll likely recognise the games from Japan and the USA… but what about Peru, Iraq, and Serbia?

[Watch | CC | 29 mins] How a Deadly Disease Shaped an Award-Winning Video Game - ThatGuyGlen tells the story behind Hyper Light Drifter’s development.

[Watch | CC | 31 mins] The Turbulent Story of Skull and Bones - "Almost seven years since it was first revealed, Skull and Bones is ready to set sail. But this final version is very different to the game we first saw in 2017".

[Read] The making of Ukrainian RPG Stalker 2 – during wartime - "Based in Kyiv until the Russian invasion – and still mourning colleagues who went to the frontline – the makers of the long-awaited apocalyptic survival game describe how their lives began imitating their art".

[Read] Microsoft is Developing a AAAA Game… But What’s a AAA Game? - This blog delves into the past to find out where the strange term "Triple A game" came from.

[Read] Lateral thinking with withered technology - "[Gunpei] Yokoi's work has been on my mind, of late, because of the slow motion catastrophe that's been games and media over the last year."

Business

[Watch | 15 mins] Why 96% of Indie Games Fail - "Only about 4% of games turn a profit. So how do you succeed as an indie game developer?"

[Read] It Happened To Me: I Was A Daily Video Game Blogger - "Near the end, I cried at my desk about once a week—but I’m getting ahead of myself."

[Read] Piracy, preservation, and the devs who don't mind if you have to pirate their game - "The founder of the Video Game History Foundation and the devs of Slay The Princess on the place piracy has today"

[Read] The man who owes Nintendo $14m - Gary Bowser and gaming’s most infamous piracy case.

[Read] The Tremendous Yet Troubled State of Gaming in 2024 - "For those who worked in gaming, last year was brutal. A record 10,500 game developers, artists, testers, and other gaming employees were laid off in 2023".

[Read] Which games hit big in Steam's February Next Fest? - GameDiscoverCo breaks down the key details from Steam’s latest festival.

[Read] Game Developers Explain the Huge Layoffs Hitting Riot, Epic, and More - "While the details in each story vary, almost all of them painted a picture of the games industry as an increasingly volatile environment fraught with high costs, growing risks, and increasing volatility".

[Watch | 12 mins] Why Pokémon Can't Sue PalWorld - "How come Nintendo and The Pokemon Company don't just sue PalWorld for blatantly copying their art style and gameplay?"

Culture

[Watch | CC | 32 mins] The Murder Game Revolution That Has Gripped China - "China has a multi-billion dollar gaming scene that you may well know nothing about. Let's change that! It's time we all talked about Jubensha."

[Watch | 2 hours, 18 mins] Lies, Hate and the story of Emil Pagliarulo - A lot of the Starfield hate has landed on the shoulders of one specific guy at Bethesda. This video breaks down how the hate mob turned this guy into a target for their vitriol.

[Read] How Celeste became an icon of trans gaming - "There are subtle cues that reward people looking at Madeline’s portrayal through a trans lens".

Critique

[Read] Is it Alt to Like Call of Duty These Days? - "I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve reached the point where even a financial juggernaut like Call of Duty, with its intensely divided fanbase, never-ending vitriol and splintering creative focus . . . can be considered alternative."

[Read] Is Palworld actually any good? Of course not - "How do you break this down into its constituent problems when they're eclipsed by its very nature as a cynical, precision reverse-engineered machine, designed to bottle your attention and refine it into concentrated cash".

[Watch | CC | 19 mins] The Beautiful Illusion of Cozy Games - "Is the world of The Sims a utopia? Is Animal Crossing perfect? Are cozy games lying to us? Let's find out."

[Read] The Pokémon parody in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth innovates more than Scarlet and Violet did - "There’s so much more to Sujimon than a mere Pokémon parody".

Artistry

[Watch | 22 mins] How Games Get Reloads Right - "There are hundreds of unique reloads for thousands of different weapons in games, from the historically accurate, to the downright bizarre."

[Watch | 46 mins] Crazed Lunatic Illustrates Entire Elden Ring Play Through In 600 Page Sketchbook - "I decided to fill up an entire book with my Elden Ring play through. I will be making a video for all the major areas."

[Watch | CC | 31 mins] The Best Game Animation of 2023 - "2023 brought an abundance of fantastic game animation, and I'm going to see to it that you are aware of ALL OF IT."

[Watch | CC | 8 mins] The Rules of a Good Plot Twist - Yahtzee from Second Wind explains his favourite and least favourite twists in game stories. Spoilers ahoy!

History

[Watch | 14 mins] Half-Life on the PlayStation 2 is an incredible port. Here is why. - Modern Vintage Gamer looks at how Gearbox Software enhanced Half-Life for its stellar PS2 port.

Beyond Games

[Watch | CC | 12 mins] CD / Shutter Speed - Captain Disillusion uses his usual whip-fast editing to explain an unusual quirk of camera technology and history.

[Watch | 15 mins] The $150,000,000 Filler Episode - Austin McConnell explains the complicated contractual bind behind Sony’s terribad Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movies.