The Nukezilla Sunday Supplement – August 21st 2011

Every Sunday we’re going to post links to articles we think are interesting from the last week. Sundays are usually very quiet around here, so this seems like the best day to do it. We’re going to link to articles on range of subjects, including videogames, technology, movies, geek culture and much, much more.

Videogames

Five Minutes of… Portal 2 – Gamasutra. “Five minutes of… is a series of video game investigations by Margaret Robertson, former Edge magazine editor-in-chief and current development director of social game studio Hide&Seek. Here, she explores what five minutes of play reveals about a particular video game, this time focusing on the tension between gameplay and narrative in Valve’s Portal 2″

Gaming Unboxed – GamesIndustry.biz “The transition away from boxed goods has taken a great leap forward – but are consumers totally on board?” A great article arguing that care is needed in the transition to digital distribution only.

Technology

It didn’t have to end this way: what HP should have done with webOS – Ars Technica. In a move that marks the height of stupidity, after buying Palm for $1.2 billion, HP went ahead a cancelled the best bit of the deal: webOS  tablets and phones (just 49 days after release!) This articles speculates about what HP should have done instead.

Internet

Roger Ailes and the Rise of Fox News – The Guardian. Even Rupert Murdoch is afraid of Roger Ailes, the paranoid boss of Fox News. But ‘the Chairman’ is using his power to make Americans more rightwing, more ignorant and ever more terrified.”

Why are restaurant websites so horrifically bad? – Slate. A question I’ve never really asked, but it is true. Most restaurant websites do indeed suck. Is there a reason? Or is it just chance?

History and Politics

A life in writing: Ian Kershaw – The Guardian. This is a great article about historian Ian Kershaw – the foremost biographer of Hiter, It delves into his life, his work and various other topics. Very interesting.

The public must challenge news coverage – Al Jazerra. A great article examining the flawed media reporting surrounding various news stories that we’ve seen this summer. From Rupert Murdoch’s parliamentary committee hearing to the terrible atrocities in Norway.