Yes, your boss is evil. The fritzy coffee machine and the copier are evil. The guy in your department who says, “long lunch today?” is pure evil. There’s probably a sub-cavern in hell with extra bubbly lava reserved for people who say “taskforce,” “mindshare,” “workflow,” “ping,” “team player,” “value add” or “pro-active.” ...

When the hero's mistakes end the world instead of saving it. ...

For too long, political correctness has choked expression much like smoking might choke someone’s lungs. Back in the good old days, it was common for prominent pillars of society to be seen smoking: baseball players, gangsters, Popeye. Now it’s incredibly frowned upon, because “smoking may slowly kill you,” if you believe “proven medical facts.” ...

People like to see good triumph over evil. It's the reason Superman always wins despite getting stabbed in the face with shards of Kryptonite. Why John McClane beats a skyscraper full of heavily-armed terrorists with nothing but a string vest. And why those pesky S.T.A.R.S. agents always get the better of the T-virus. Sometimes, though, there are games brave enough to spit in the face of convention and let their no gooders go ...

The secrets of their success in their own words. ...

We are all guilty of taking game development for granted. Yes, even you, the guy who plays Call of Duty 4 and wonders why co-op wasn’t implemented. As most of us know, development is less magical and more rigorous – terrible deadlines, limited resources and limited manpower – all factor in to creating what we play for the holiday season. ...