The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for getting dangerously into No Man’s Sky again. Before I go floating in a tin can, let’s read this week’s best writing about games (and game related things!)

I must admit, I had a visceral reaction to Polygon’s headline ‘Watching a video game is basically playing it’, but I enjoyed reading this perspective.

So I’d discuss it as if I had played it, because my knowledge of the game matched that of its most dedicated players. I know I’m not the only one who does this. Many of my friends — most of them women — would rather fixedly watch someone else play games than play them themselves. There are many reasons why a person would prefer this. Accessibility options, for one, are slowly broadening, but still lacking. AAA video games’ now standard $70 price tag places them among luxuries, like exfoliating skincare and Marc Jacobs keychains, and not everyone can afford the indulgence. Historically maligned gamers, including women like me, might also find that viewing someone else’s gaming offers a wide-open gateway into the subject. Or, most simply, it’s entertaining to watch someone perform a task with skill or conviction you might not have.

More Unwinnable good Godzilla-related content? Oh yes.

Despite having few memories or opinions of Mothra beyond loosely knowing her as a counterpoint to Godzilla’s hostility and an erstwhile and symbiotic ally of his, I was awe-struck. Mothra’s humanoid form showcases crimson silk and lace-edged robes, evoking her original silk moth form. This aspect is especially apparent in the ivory bodice which is exoskeletal and recalls the thorax and abdomen of the insect. Her hairstyle is vaguely reminiscent, in conjunction with the sumptuousness of her gown, of a Tayu–a figure that in Japan is often erroneously conflated with the high class courtesan Oiran. Tayu were figures more akin to the Geisha tradition. Tayu were so highly respected at one point in Japanese history that they were allowed to be present in the emperor’s presence at court. Tayu were also responsible for keeping many artistic traditions alive and often apprentice two young understudies, known as Kamuro.

For Imaginary Engine Review, Amr Al-Aaser wrote about Tomorrow Won’t Come For Those Without.

We tell stories to entertain. We tell stories to survive. We create stories to cope with uncomfortable realities, to give our actions purpose. Tomorrow Won’t Come for Those Without is about those stories we construct to rationalize our contradictions, the narratives that we tell to justify the violence inflicted to obtain peace.

As told by the epilogue, Tomorrow Won’t Come for Those Without takes place in a future where humanity is plagued by external psychodiseases, and in response has given up privacy and personal interpretations for “absolute narratives'' that present an objective record of events--the future given up for the security of the now.

For 404 Media, Samantha Cole "Tried To Vape The Internet".

Setting up the SWYPE was kind of clumsy. It involved downloading an app called WearinOS, by XiZi (Shenzen) Communication Technology Co, Ltd, and connected to my phone through Bluetooth. The app itself is in translated English, and seems to be made for connecting to smartwatches. On the app from my phone, I can set different wallpapers for the vape screen, see my workout progress, check the weather and altitude, and tweak basic settings like notifications.

On the vape itself, I can play two games—a Space Invaders-style shooter and the puzzle game 2048, which shows a gray grid and doesn’t work. There’s also a calculator, a weather app, and a “find my phone” option that sends a ring to my phone. I can dial a number to make calls, which transfers to my phone.

PC Gamer chronicled some very powerful posting. Saira Mueller for Polygon proves that our society is deeply sick compared to that of the Sims, where mastery of ‘grilled cheese’ is a perfectly acceptable aspiration for someone to have. A wild Alice Bell returned to us for a Flock review. Babish sated my love of inane food content by eating loads of crisps. This a great old Gene Wolfe interview - thank you various commenters for turning me on to Book Of The New Sun. I’m obsessed with the bit where Severian references medieval animal science by musing on how a wounded dog he finds could have licked itself a new leg, were it a bear. Zullie the Witch finally answered my burning questions about Elden Ring’s ghost worms. This is deeply fucked and you should be angry about it. Music this week is Freakish by Saves The Day, for no other reason than it's been in my head lately. The war stories my shower could tell you about me trying to hit that falsetto. Have a great weekend!