Between seeing personal projects go downhill and writing some nifty things for Smash! magazine, it’s been a busy week and it’s going to spill into the next ones. For now, free time is dedicated to… Well, I don’t have free time. Erm. So, here are the the week’s links.

• You can’t argue the fact that IGN is one of the most popular news aggregators of our time. What you can argue is whether their information is interesting or even intelligent. This article by Greg Miller, wherein he compares Mass Effect 2 with Uncharted 2, is certainly more than enough reason to question IGN’s value. Miller claims both games are different, that they appeal to different players and that they can’t really be compared. Only to draw the conclusion that Mass Effect 2 is totally better than Uncharted 2. This might be a good time to remember a 2009 article by Sean Malstrom, which demonstrates the stupidity and prejudice running wild at IGN. The topic is about a podcast where Nintendo is attacked by the most ridiculous reasons one can imagine. To quote one of the highlights: “Turning on my Wii is a very lonely experience because Wii doesn’t have a system like Xbox Live”. Absolute cancer.

• Activision decided to go off on a hate campaign these last few days. First we have news that they fired Jason West and Vince Zampella, ex-Infinity Ward head honchos, over a legal entaglement that shows no signs of being solved. Activision accused West and Zampella with not keeping up with contractual obligations, West and Zampella accuse Activision of not having being paid their dues. Result: West and Zampella decide to sue Activision and fight against them for control over the Modern Warfare brand. Yet, the most harrowing newsbit – one which led the always brilliant John Walker over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun to comment – is that Activision decided to come down hard on a group of fans working on a game that pays homage to King’s Quest. For those not in the know, Activision controls Sierra, who in turn had control over the King’s Quest intellectual property. Result: some corporate suit came to the conclusion that a name, a brand, that has not been used for 12 YEARS would bring them harm if a group of fans made a non-commercial project, one which had already adopted The Silver Lining as a name to avoid legal problems. Kotick’s Empire knows no limits. And those who keep financing it don’t care either. The “cultural suicide” Walker predicts is becoming a terrifying reality with each new day.
• And now for some “I TOLD YOU!” news: SkidRow, a “cracker” group, claims to have circumvented Ubisoft’s DRM. Ubisoft has already said otherwise. Ever since I’ve read this I’ve had a stupid smile on my face. The next few days should bring more information, with a pirated version already making the rounds over the internet. Note that there are two versions: one of the game itself, and one with an update created by SkidRow themselves right after Ubisoft released their own update. Whoever wins, the legitimate costumer loses.
• “Anime used to answer the questions of kids’ dreams: “How  awesome would it be to be a world-class assassin / kung-fu master / robot pilot / baseball hero?” Now it’s just a bunch of shit pandering to perverts and pedophiles.” Tim Rogers delivers the goods once again at Kotaku, perhaps with the biggest wall of text I ever seen coming from him, but perhaps one of the best. It’s funny how all those who claim Japan to have this wonderful culture never mention any of the stuff he brings up, and he lives there. Some of the answers coming from those who saw Japan as a place of fairies and unicorns are hilarious.
• Movie narrative charts. “Lord of the Rings” as a tree, “Primer” as a meaningless doodle. Genius.
• A letter from the videogame boss president.
• Fries and the skull of regret.
• The cake might be a lie but it has feelings.
• “How do we determine “truth” and “fact” when we can manufacture either?”
• So much money spent in trying to make videogames seem more realistic and they still haven’t come close to creating something as real and beautiful as this.
• Sound effects looking for context to build solid relationship.
• I like to imagine this is Amaterasu taking a nap.

(☼_☼)?!