Time to start the week with some more GameSetLink-age, and one of the higlighted neatnesses is Tim Rogers' signature verbose review of Rock Band, which, of course, he has some pretty strong opinions on.

I did like his point, though - with Rogers a self-avowed messy guitar player, that playing real instruments can allow you to be caught in the act of "Not Doing It Right, and feeling good anyway" - something that the 'fail' mechanics of Rock Band don't let you do.

I have a feeling that the next iteration of Rock Band will do something about that, though - both from the creation and freeform angles - and I'm looking forward to it. And in the mean time, I'm actually very happy to be the rat in the drooling Pavlovian button press cage, to mix a few too many metaphors.

Anyhow, lots more in here - dig in, won't you?

Game-Ism: 'The Ludonarrative Process'
'Ludonarrative is what makes games unique. They have both a gameplay element and a story element, to one degree or another.'

press the ACTION BUTTON!!: Rock Band review
Tim Rogers let loose on virtual rock music, with phrase-shredding solo-ing - also see GTA IV review fun.

The Escapist : Jason Rohrer's Game Design Sketchbook: 'Police Brutality'
Downloadable indie game sketch fun: 'Police Brutality is a game about fear, collective motivation, ad hoc organizing, self-sacrifice, and non-violence. First and foremost, though, it's a game about shouting.'

Crispy Gamer: 'Thought/Process: Building Better Wor(l)ds'
'So far, playing Grand Theft Auto IV reminds me of a lucid dream' - Crispy Gamer gets all meta.

YouTube - Melon Dezign - Human Target (1992)
Going back over the best DemoDVD Amiga demos for an upcoming mini-demo party - seriously, how far ahead were Melon to do this awesome design/code combo, in real-time, in 1992?

Looney Tunes: Cartoon Concerto: Eidos Kikizo Interview, April 2008
'Some will make comparisons with Elite Beat and Osu, based on the visuals alone, but once you play the game you'll see how the mechanics of input are quite different from those games.' Via Packratshow.

Surfer Girl Reviewed Star Wars: Dernier
The mysterious Surfer Girl signs off for the last time, apparently.

the-inbetween.com [ Crystal Castles vs Creative Commons ]
Hip Toronto chiptune band doing lots of sample/image borrowing without permission, sigh.

YouTube - ROCK BAND... hates me
Probably an audio/video sync issue, as a commenter says, but also some kind of larger message, obviously! Via Waxy.

Play This Thing! | Game Studies Is Good For You
More Escapist 'game academics suck' fallout, this time from Costik.