On GAF we see games journalism get a lot of flack, whether in moaning over the quality of writing in juvenile reviews, complaining about the regularity of top 10 lists, bitching about poor, lazy and sensationalist reporting or even just hitting out because our favourite exclusive didn't get the 9+ score we wanted. However this is not a thread for that stuff, and i'd appreciate it if the first five posts weren't 'good games journalism :lol :lol', as this thread is about sharing and appreciating the good stuff that's out there and i know there is some. In the thread titled 'The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2' people seemed to praise the article and brought up related in depth articles by Geoff Keighly that were excellent and i hadn't seen before the thread, so it got me thinking about other good stuff out there as i do complain about games journalism because i'm genuinely interested in gaming and want to know more about some of the stories behind the great games. It doesn't necessarily have to be investigative stuff, it can be well thought out criticism too like in Jeremy Parish's Gamespite, or fascinating interviews like the New Yorker's one with Miyamoto, or in well produced radio looking at games culture like Robert Ashley's A Life Well Wasted, the criteria is really that is just has to be good.
Two explained examples of what i've liked to start off.
The Final Hours of Half-Life 2 by Geoff Keighly (Gamespot)
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6112889/index.html
I have no idea how he got such great access, but he did and it allowed him to talk to senior Valve people about the behind the scenes processes of following up the success of HL1, how some of the technology evolved as well as the game design, the development setbacks and all the trouble around that, right up to the studio feelings around the final release. Lots of good information from the horses mouths put together well into a single narrative that really gives you a good sense of the values of valve employees. If occasionally a little hyperbolically written, it more than makes up for it in content.
Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem by Clive Thompson (Wired)
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/
Everyone knows the joke of Duke Nukem Forever's long development, though it's a joke with a new ending now. But this is the sad story behind that development, about how ambition and the results of success thrown on people not suited for management led to the demise of a promising game that people worked hard on. Could be much better if the Wired guy hadn't been denied access to key players as so much comes from unamed sources in the company, but still very interesting.
Two explained examples of what i've liked to start off.
The Final Hours of Half-Life 2 by Geoff Keighly (Gamespot)
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6112889/index.html
I have no idea how he got such great access, but he did and it allowed him to talk to senior Valve people about the behind the scenes processes of following up the success of HL1, how some of the technology evolved as well as the game design, the development setbacks and all the trouble around that, right up to the studio feelings around the final release. Lots of good information from the horses mouths put together well into a single narrative that really gives you a good sense of the values of valve employees. If occasionally a little hyperbolically written, it more than makes up for it in content.
Learn to Let Go: How Success Killed Duke Nukem by Clive Thompson (Wired)
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/
Everyone knows the joke of Duke Nukem Forever's long development, though it's a joke with a new ending now. But this is the sad story behind that development, about how ambition and the results of success thrown on people not suited for management led to the demise of a promising game that people worked hard on. Could be much better if the Wired guy hadn't been denied access to key players as so much comes from unamed sources in the company, but still very interesting.
