Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.:

I know of one gaming company in Los Angeles that had a stated goal of turning over 15 percent of its workforce every year. The reasoning behind such a policy was that productivity shoots up when you hire smart, hungry kids fresh out of school and work them to death. Attrition was inevitable under such conditions, but that was okay, because the company’s needs outweighed those of the worker. Did it work? Sure, maybe. To a point. But if you ask me, that kind of thinking is not just misguided, it is immoral. At Pixar, I have made it known that we must always have the flexibility to recognize and support the need for balance in all of our employees’ lives. While all of us believed in that principle—and had from the beginning—Toy Story 2 helped me see how those beliefs could get pushed aside in the face of immediate pressures.

Colin Campbell, Polygon:

Already, just playing a few minutes of Journey on PlayStation 4, I’m reminded that the moment-to-moment playing of the game is not as mystical as the memory of it as a complete thing. That the first time I meet another player in the game is never going to match the joyous original. The nice feeling of the wind is just an echo of that last section of the game, that wraps it all up so satisfactorily.

I often tell myself that I will take another trip through the work of art that is Journey. After all, the experience only lasts roughly one-and-a-half hours. However, every time I sit down to try, I’m unable to launch the game for the same reasons Campbell discusses. I do listen to Austin Wintory’s fantastic, Grammy-nominated soundtrack frequently and I think it is enough for me to relive the majesty and memory of Journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcEO77xw20I

The Verge:

It’s actually more fascinating to watch the way that different fighters’ complicated Ultra moves spread out, unobscured, across the stage. If you just want to see what the martial arts style of your favorite character looks like without the game’s normal careful cutting, you can click over to YouTube, where they’re separated out with bookmarks.

I was just telling a colleague how much I wish I had learned 3D modeling and animation. This video drives my longing home.

On the topic of Street Fighter, take a few minutes to enjoy Pete Holmes’ star-studded and hilarious Street Fighter: Red Tape. Kumail Nanjiani’s Dhalsim is tremendous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7KOA_k79yo

Colin Moriarty, IGN:

Graphically, the new treatment is most impressive with Journey, but maybe that’s because I only played through a brief portion of Swan’s black-and-white intro sequence. Journey was a looker on PS3; it’s somehow even more beautiful on PlayStation 4. The lighting effects, the sand, and the way your character’s robes move and sway make for an aesthetically impressive experience. Journey truly is an incredible, emotional game, and it seems that it’s set to remain so on next-gen hardware. I’m not so sure I actually want to play it again on PS4, but that’s because I promised myself I’d only play it once through on PS3. The game resonated with me so much that I’m afraid seeing it all again would ruin that experience.

John Siracusa must be excited.

Megan Farokhmanesh of Polygon, in conversation with Nate Fox of Sucker Punch, on the inclusion of Fetch as a playable character in Infamous: First Light:

Until now, Infamous has never given a female character a leading role. This was largely because of the assumption that “we thought that the demographic of game players were dudes and they identified with dudes,” Fox said. He pointed to BioWare’s Mass Effect series; in 2011, the developer said only 18 percent of players chose to play as a woman. That number was reiterated during a PAX East panel last year.

I love the admittance of assumption. Happy to see this message being spread throughout AAA Dev teams.