Oh, a weekend. Hmm. Links, am I right?

• On a recent session of Iwata Asks, a Nintendo-held conversation between the company’s president and several of its designers, there was an interesting part about the history of handheld Zelda games. Series co-creator Takashi Tezuka claims Link’s Awakening was inspired by Twin Peaks. As in, a game about a small number of characters in a small town, but where they were all suspicious types. As one of my favorite Zelda games, one I spent a lot of time with, it stands to reason. It was a Zelda game that subverted some of the series’ familiar tropes. There was no Princess Zelda. Certain characters completely broke the fourth wall. Kirby made a guest appearance as an enemy. The island was implied to be nothing more than a dream. There were screens typical of a platformer where Link would jump and stomp on Goombas. And so on. Worth a read for those who want to know just a bit more about the series and/or are not ridiculous hardcore types dedicated to bashing Nintendo (aka, the Eurogamerus Trollus Despicabilis species).

• At GameSetWatch, Fraser McMillan talks about Shenmue and suggests that the series polarized opinions because it was a “boring game”. As in, what made him care about Ryo was not character exposition but the elements that made up his daily existence – “buying cans of fizzy orange from vending machines, playing Space Harrier in the You Arcade, dialling phone numbers, checking Ryo’s diary, chatting to friends, shopping for groceries, feeding tuna to a kitten (…)”, etc. The mundane as element of immersion is an interesting perspective, and one that’s not very different from the reasons that convert many to games like Harvest Moon – the concept may or may not appeal to you, but everything in the game plays around it.
• Emily Short, interactive fiction writer known for games like Galatea, talks about her experience with Universal Studios’ theme parks. In particular, the way they try to elaborate a story in attractions like ghost trains and similar amusements, which leads her to think about the boundary between story and real life. “The “surprise” moments are the ones where what’s going on in the story somehow affect the rider physically, or the story is used as a bit of misdirection to distract from something scary that’s about to happen on the ride track”. Some notes on videogame design can be drawn from that.
• “QuestLine is about learning who can provide certain items and how you can use them to procure other, more interesting items. The goal is to find as many routes through the game as possible — even the ones that end in a gruesome death”. Try it.
• Just as interesting, Choice of the Dragon is a game based on the “Choose Your Own Adventure” framework. You play as a dragon, and each choice influences how the story builds up, even affecting the end result. Text only, but one which hides a good deal of complexity in its choices and consequences.
• Yet another Fallout game that never saw the light of day, Fallout Extreme (marketing assholes) was a canceled “squad-based first- and third-person tactical game for the Xbox, using the Unreal Engine and developed by Interplay’s 14 Degrees East division (co-developers of Fallout Tactics)”. Sounds like it was on its way to becoming the next X-Com: Enforcer. And if you have no idea what game I’m talking about, feel blessed.
• Can you imagine the concept of augmented reality applied to Sega’s Virtual On? No? Here’s a hint. DODGE DESTRUCTO-LASER!
• Jump. And then listen.
• For the real street fighter.
• Touch my goo.
• “My fellow cardoboard boxes, hear my words!“

Stage clear!