While we at Kill Screen love to bring you our own crop of game critique and perspective, there are many articles on games, technology, and art around the web that are worth reading and sharing. So that is why this weekly reading list exists, bringing light to some of the articles that have captured our attention, and should also capture yours.
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The Story of Fumito Ueda, The style of game
Originally published in 2005, but recently translated into English, this candid interview with Fumito Ueda draws the vivid creative and commercial lineage to classics like Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005). People like those games! A lot!
The Case Against Reality, Amanda Gefter, The Atlantic
You know that old stoner adage that we might not all see colors the same way and how crunchy and mind-blowing that is? Well that’s the tip of the crunchy mind-blowing iceberg. Our perception of everything could be a big lie, and who is committing that lie is a conundrum that’s left everyone from biologists to physicists combing for the truths of all truths. Amanda Gefter speaks with Prof. Donald D. Hoffman about how we came to fool ourselves about reality.
Uncanny Valley, Anna Wiener, n+1
The office is two places. It is a human place, a building full of people who give and receive emotional impact. It is an inhuman place, where business takes precedence and goals, milestones, and invisible metrics weigh upon interaction. It is a strange place, and Anna Wiener writes a series of strange moments amid one of the many tech offices that wall our world.
Jennifer Murphy, Gold and Black Circles. 2007. Clint Roenisch Gallery.
When Bitcoin Grows Up, John Lanchester, London Review of Books
Sure, Bitcoin is its own punchline right now, but that doesn’t make its rollercoaster lifespan as worthless as investing in it at any given minute. The digitally deconstructed currency had a precedent, and John Lanchester writes an extensive history about money and its value.
Do you want poptimism? Or do you want the truth?, Chris Richards, The Washington Post
When poptimism first emerged, it had a noble purpose. Address the hierarchy of music criticism, and tear down the notion that only people who play guitar were worth a critic’s time. The era of indie rock and obscurity cred fell and the age of pop music getting its fair shake began. But now it’s ended up full-circle, and Chris Richards elaborates on how music criticism has merely repeated itself.