It is, apparently, the weekend, so time to recap some of the week's top full-length features on Gamasutra, plus a few other notable news and opinion pieces from the site, and what we're up to on educational/student website Game Career Guide.

Some awesome stuff here: particularly Ian Bogost's editorial about Bushnell's Law, our feature on in-game achievements, the Pokemon interview, and rather more things besides.

Here are the top stories:

Gamasutra Features

The Art of Balance: Pokémon's Masuda on Complexity and Simplicity
"In a rare interview, Gamasutra talks to the key directors behind the 186 million unit-selling Pokemon series, talking about balancing and developing the massively popular Nintendo-backed series."

Persuasive Games: Familiarity, Habituation, and Catchiness
"In his latest 'Persuasive Games' column, author and game designer Ian Bogost looks at why we should repeal Bushnell's Law and move from 'addiction' to 'catchiness' in our framing of video games."

Unlocking Achievements: Rewarding Skill With Player Incentives
"Where did in-game achievement mania come from? Gamasutra talks to Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, EA, Turn 10 and more to find what works, and what doesn't in the world of player achievements."

Making Games Art: The Designers' Manifesto
"In a likely to be controversial manifesto, the veteran developers that cluster around the Project Horseshoe mini-conference have produced a list of problems -- and solutions -- for video games' continuing strides towards the pantheon of great art."

Data Alignment, Part 2: Objects on The Heap and The Stack
"Continuing his two-part article on data alignment, game programming veteran Llopis explains how to align objects on the heap, and use this effectively for game coding."

Book Excerpt: How Game Developers Choose Leaders
"In an extract from his new book, Team Leadership In The Game Industry, Firaxis veteran Seth Spaulding uses key examples to demonstrate how to pick leaders and discipline-specific leads within your own game development firm."

Gamasutra News

Nintendo's Road Ahead: Denise Kaigler Speaks
"In an extended interview, Nintendo VP Denise Kaigler sits down with Gamasutra to discuss the DSi, the Wii Balance Board, pleasing the core gamer and why... Shigeru Miyamoto is like Yao Ming?"

Reminder: Dr. Dobbs Challenge Deuce Game Competition Deadline On April 6
"The first deadline for Dr. Dobbs Challenge Deuce, a game competition from world-renowned Dr. Dobb's website for software developers, is April 6 -- details within."

Survey: Outsourcing In Game Industry Still On Increase
"A new Game Developer Research report has revealed that 86% of developers now outsource some in-game assets, with 50% of those not doing so planning to start in the future."

Interview: Screen Digest On Subscription MMO Growth, Blizzard's Next
by Simon Carless
"Screen Digest claims the subscription MMO market will reach $2 billion in the West by 2013 -- we quiz them on microtransactions, major launches and Blizzard's next MMO."

GameCareerGuide Features

Top Ten Tips: Artist
"In the final installment of Game Career Guide's "Top Ten Tips" feature series, Robert Chang lists his top tips for industry artists."

Top Ten Tips: Audio
"Game Career Guide continues its "Top Ten Tips" feature series with a list penned by freelance audio designer Rob Bridgett, who shares his top tips for up-and-coming audio designers."