- Aha, the ever-present GameSetLink-age bus is trundling up to the WWW stop again, headed by another of those well-researched MSNBC.com articles that don't often get noticed by game sites - this time, on social network gaming.

Also wandering around in here, the (pictured) super-cute Shooting Historica Vol.2 classic shmup figurines, as well as a review of Billy Mitchell's family restaurant, a disturbing Rooster Teeth cartoon, Cliffski on talking to pirates (in case you hadn't seen), and plenty more.

Go go gooooo:

Social networks get friendly with games - Citizen Gamer- msnbc.com
Another good piece from MSBNC - monetization is still somewhat iffy on this type of stuff, but it's darn popular.

NCSX Import Video Games & Toys: Shooting Game Historica Vol. 2 - New Import, In Stock
'Japanese toy manufacturer Yujin launches the second volume of Shooting Game Historica gashapon which features starships from another six shooting games.'

Hidden Gems - Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor - The Quixotic Engineer
'For a licensed DS title, Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor has a surprising amount of polish and depth. If you’re a fan of rhythm games, especially Elite Beat Agents, I highly recommend checking it out.'

Crispy Gamer - Feature: The Crispy Gourmand: Rickey's World Famous Restaurant
Billy 'King Of Kong' Mitchell's family restaurant, reviewed amusingly - via RPS.

mentisworks: You're My Guitar Hero
Metaphorical, and ever so slightly video game-ish?

I'm Playing Soul Calibur IV and I Don't Know Why - Nerd World - Lev Grossman - Technology - TIME
Influential Time mag tech columnist is digging SCIV and can't explain it - maybe '...partly because the environments and the characters just look so unbelievably beautiful.'

Positech: 'Talking To Pirates'
Kudos/Democracy creator Cliffski: 'A few days ago I posted a simple question on my blog. "Why do people pirate my games?".'

NDS Homebrew Bounty! - GBAtemp.net
'We at GBAtemp are proud to announce the creation of a Monthly Homebrew Bounty, a bounty (fund-raising using donations from organizations and people) that will reward, each month, the author of the best homebrew. For now, this only goes for Nintendo DS homebrew but we might extend it to other platforms later.'

Rooster Teeth · 'Double D Vision'
An Aberrant Gamer-friendly cartoon: 'I don't know if you've played Soul Calibur IV yet... but let's just say that there are assets in the game that are a little...ridiculous.'

Sirlin.net — Your source of shocking insights on game design » Blog Archive » Evolution 2008 Results and Stories
Great retelling of his path through the EVO championship by the SFII HD Remix re-designer.