With hundreds of links flowing through the fast stream of social media every day, it’s understandable if you haven’t got the time to take a step back and enjoy a long read. For me, that’s where the weekend comes in to catch up with everything bookmarked over the last few days thanks to the gorgeous app Pocket (also known as Read It Later) – and here’s four of my favourite articles I’ve read this week.
Jade’s Empire
“I don’t know when we decided as an industry that in order to sell five million copies of a game you have to make a Michael Bay film. There are other options.”
Ubisoft’s Jade Raymond is known best for her work on Assassin’s Creed, but in this feature interview she talks about how it’s time for the industry to “grow up” and how games can take more creative risks and have more deeper meanings – but also the risks that involves.
Read it at Eurogamer
MACHINE POLITICS: The man who started the hacker wars.
From being the first person to unlock the iPhone to jailbreaking the Playstation 3, this profiles the story of the notorious hacker GeoHotz and the court case that followed. Your mileage may vary with how linked the hacks that followed on the Playstation Network and the work of Lulzsec are, but it’s a very interesting read.
Read it at The New Yorker
Exams, Demand, and a Short Lesson in Controlling Public Discourse
It may be becoming as predictable to hear people make predictions about journalists saying exams are getting easier as it is them actually saying that, but it’s still a common criticism that deserves a second look. Daniel Hemmens looks at the truth behind some recent claims in the news, as well as asking if it even matters if they really are. An interesting new take on this regular complaint.
Read it at Ferretbrain
Why Publishers Don’t Like Apps
The mantra of businesses disrupted by the internet is “adapt or die”. While tablets and apps are sometimes considered the future of journalism, they’re not without their growing pains – as Jason Pontin looks at the difficulties publishers have faced with news apps and the new direction some are taking.
Read it at Technology Review
If you found any of these articles interesting, let me know on Twitter and I’ll put together more picks in the future…