This Week In Video Game Criticism: From Diablo addictiveness to hard boiled

[This week, our partnership with game criticism site Critical Distance brings us picks from Eric Swain on topics including why Diablo III is less addictive than Diablo II, hard boiling video games, and more.] Step right up, step right up! Solid Selling Swain here to show you the deal of a lifetime! You are not going to find any wares better than what you see here. I have testimonials a mile long that you'll find none better. For it is This Week In Video Game Criticism. But before I get to show you the new goods, I have heard the complaints and I am here to tell you about the recall from the manufacturer. Kill Screen has issued an apology for the lack of forethought that went into the previous week's piece by Michael Thomsen on the Hitman trailer. And for those still a little wary, let's get all the bad news out of the way up front: Chris Hornbostle of the Quarter to Three has published a full explanation of 'What happened to 38 Studios.' Good? Good. Now– Onto those great alchemists, Dylan Holmes and Tom Auxier of the Nightmare Mode, who have done it again with two new scrolls to help you understand your way through the troubled art of business and the serious business of art, first by showing you how the greatest FPS of this generation failed to find an audience and then how surrogate ruins the otherwise grand Diablo 3. Ah, no no. You want something more substantial, something more meaningful, something more political? You are in luck, madam! Thanks to a shipping error, I have an abundance of just such a thing from Medium Difficulty. I have a Kyle Carpenter unpacking of the polemics of Tentacle Bento and examining all of the unsaid assumptions of such a thing. Also, a certain Megan Townsend bit on where Harvest Moon goes wrong with female representation. But far more bombastic is this Adam Maresca piece on the violence on display at E3. You might call it a trip into the heart of darkness. He certainly does. No, wait come back. I have more. So if that doesn't interest you. Something fresh perhaps. The Ontological Geek has a new site and they have christened their new abode with two new spectacular works just this very week. Bill Coberly on the probably (read definitely) deserved nostalgia of Baldur's Gate the first and Hannah DuVoix's dive into the player's relation with the various PCs in games. I see you sirs and madams are coming around to this old barker. Then perhaps something a might more mainstream to further slake your eyes. A duo of Kotaku pieces may perhaps: Kate Cox's "E3 Makes Me Really Appreciate the PAX Ban on Booths Babes" and Patricia Hernandez's "Committing Genocide in Pokemon Helps Me Shape Who I Am." I believe the origin of such vintages speak for themselves. And let us not forget the ever faithful, ever constant producer that is PopMatters. For you consumers your weekly haul included G. Christopher Williams talking about 'Alan Wake's Women' from the newest installment of that franchise and Nick Dinicola closely examining the superior writing of Max Payne 3, by looking at what is largely missing from the dialogue. Writing for Gamasutra, editor Kris Graft gives up on writing an E3 puff piece and focuses on a single theme, the disillusionment with the AAA video game industry. Meanwhile, Julian "rabbit" Murdoch wrote for Gamers with Jobs about his experience with the ultra fun game of Johann Sebastian Joust. Finally, a great use for those Move controllers. I jest, I jest. (*cough*) Now, I know to all you fine customers out there that this may seem a little tiny itsy bitsy bit like nepotism and that's because it is, but NEVERTHELESS is what I present to you a supreme work by our very own Kris Ligman. My lady, do take a bow. It is a piece about game maps and game territory as formed by the environment and how it is shaped and enriched by other players. And over here, I have the esoteric, the cerebral, the theory analysis. Charles Wheeler knows The Rules on the Field as he does an East/West comparative analysis of the game show Ninja Warrior. In addition, Alex Curelea explains, scientifically, why Diablo 3 is less addictive than Diablo 2?. But, wait there's more. Get both of those, and I'll throw in Eric Schwarz's Critical Missive piece on the attempts to fix currency in games. Yes, good sir or madam. I see you've been eyeing this little bauble. That is a very rare Darius Kazemi write-up. You must have a poet's heart within you to seek it out. For it chronicles the strange journey he had undergone with his magical Metaphor-a-Minute. And let us not forget the every popular criticism of criticism. The Leveling Criticism of Craig Bamford is about a certain Gamespot interview on the new upcoming Medal of Honor game. The developer wanted it both ways, it's art and just a game. Mr. Bamford calls this out. And let us not forget my most exotic ware. I traveled beyond the horizon, you might say I had Gone to Strange Country just to bring back this piece, by the man known as Andre Lavigne. He writes about how the level design contributed to the racism and botching of the anti-colonial sentiment of Resident Evil 5. Be careful you read this once in only a thrice quarter green moon. But of course I save the showstopper for last. The most easily digestible. Extra Credits is back on their A game by looking at the concept of Hard Boiled in video games and it often goes so wrong. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your time and patience. I know something from my wares must have caught each and every one of your eyes. I accept all links, payable to our email or by our twitter. The lovely Kris or Ben will take your orders and…What's that officer? Yes. Yes, of course I have a peddler's license. I am a legitimate businessman. No I don't have it on me, I'm in the middle of a shtick. No I will not come with you, I have business…g-g-get your hands off of me. Run for it guys, the jig is up! (Hope you all had a lovely E3.)