The only problem with checking the gigantic GameSetLinks RSS list twice a week or so is that it takes until Wednesday or Thursday to unspool the links from the previous weekend - and then some of those are from two or three days before that.

Fortunately, most of the stuff we're linking only ripens with age, like a fine wine or a brown banana. Also, it gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite random pictures, above - from my visit to Shanghai in 2006, where WoW-mania was in full effect. So here goes:

In Defense of the Meaningless Video Game (Magical Wasteland)
'World of Warcraft means something (to millions of people) because it provides the framework for meaningful occurrences, not because it, itself, contains and delivers meaning.'

Eludamos video game academic journal Vol 2, No 1 (2008)
Some worthwhile stuff in here - via RockPaperShotballs.

Siliconera » Brainstorming: Interview with LUMINES composer Takayuki Nakamura
Neat piece, Japanese composers don't get interviewed enough.

TIGSource's new Video Game Name Generator Competition
'First, open up the Video Game Name Generator... Next, find a name for the game that you want to make... finally, MAKE THAT GAME.'

MTV Multiplayer » Microsoft Forced Removal of Online Level Sharing in ‘N+’ — ‘We Were Devastated,’ Says Co-Creator
I wondered why that was missing when it was clearly possible - there's still _some_ sharing func in there but very buried via multiplayer joins.

Moogle.net » Blog Archive » Justifying “Camera Waggle”
'There is still a solid argument to be made for interactivity in cutscenes.'

John Davison: The Problem with Games Journalism is All of Us
'The media produced about video games is a direct reflection of the audience it’s produced for.'

IndieGames.com - The Weblog - Trailer: Noitu Love 2
Just insanely beautiful sprite work from the IGF Grand Prize finalist - here's the YouTube version.

DESTRUCTOID: Full list of links to GDC Experimental Gameplay Sessions playable games
Or the ones available online, anyhow - useful, since Gamasutra doesn't have a detailed EGS write-up this year - we'll see if we can do an audio transcriptor something eventually.

The Independent Gaming Source on The Mighty Jill Off
A BDSM-themed 2D platformer? ...odd!