[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's daily link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

Back to the GameSetLinks goodness, and a rare update from NGJ nexus Always Black targets Derek Yu's Spelunky and the very British game of cricket, uh, simultaneously. Hey, it's certainly an alternative playthrough method, write-up wise, so we heartily approve.

Also hanging out in here - discussion on games, fun, and pushing buttons, as well as 8-bit goodness, a fun visit to PopCap, Tim Rogers crazy Pokemon insanity yay time, and various other things besides.

De lish us:

www.alwaysblack.com » Spelunking the Cricket
'What’s best. Cricket or Spelunky? Or cricket AND Spelunky?' A fair question!

Zen of Design»Blog Archive » The Art of Fun
'Do games have to be fun to be successful? Almost certainly. Does this mean that every game needs to push the same emotional buttons? No.'

8bit today: LCP 2009 - THE HARVEST
Some really nice demo-scene tech on old gaming machine and computers, here.

Inside PopCap Games Article - Page 1 // PC /// Eurogamer
Why do so few consumer game sites do 'proper journalism'? Eurogamer stands out, again.

The Everything Disease: A Forensic Analysis of the Popularity of Pokemon - tim rogers - Kotaku
'Hello. I'm tim rogers. For the next six and a half hours, I'll be your guide to a near-incomprehensible wall of text in which I mention Pokemon two or three times.' Awesome.

Press Pause to Reflect: Reflections with Jason Rohrer
An interesting interview, with new revelations about a Majesco-published DS strategy game, too.