The Sunday Papers: A Week of Gaming Writing and Industry Reflections

The Sunday Papers returns with a curated selection of gaming journalism spanning multiple perspectives on the medium. This week's roundup includes deep dives into multiplayer exploration, remake philosophy, industry economics, and developer interviews.

Kotaku's Rebekah Valentine contributed a notable piece chronicling a search for a player named John Bigwalk within the game Big Walk. The narrative opens in the tutorial area, where Valentine describes hours spent on a yellow stool surrounded by the abandoned avatars of other players, waiting for a glimpse of the target player—described as arriving with "a glint of silver" and "a flash of red." The piece highlights the unusual experience of wandering and community interaction possible in online games, contrasting with more structured gameplay experiences.

Writer Barrett Courtney examined the growing wave of video game remakes through a theatrical lens, arguing that remakes should approach source material similarly to new stagings of classical plays. Courtney referenced a production of Taming of the Shrew that engaged critically with the original work's misogyny through witty performance choices, suggesting that the most memorable theatrical productions are those that have something substantive to say beyond surface-level interpretation. This framework applies similarly to video game remakes, according to Courtney's analysis.

Rob Fahey offered predictions for the gaming industry's next decade amid widespread concerns about a potential "Crash 2.0" comparable to the 1983 videogame crash. Fahey contextualized current industry turbulence against historical precedent: the 1983 crash represented a near-total collapse, with industry revenues falling from over $3 billion in 1983 to approximately $100 million by 1985. While Fahey does not dismiss current concerns entirely, he provides reasoning for why current conditions are unlikely to replicate that severity, though he acknowledges that not all predictions for the industry's future are optimistic.

Kirk McKeand traveled to Japan to interview Fromsoftware head Hidetaka Miyazaki about recurring visual motifs in the studio's games, particularly hands and feet. Miyazaki discussed hands as a recurring element across his work, appearing in Elden Ring as underground-burrowing creatures and as revered hand-like deities. When asked about online speculation regarding his visual preferences, Miyazaki stated: "It's not necessarily something I'm consistently aware of – maybe it's something subconscious coming through" and expressed his intent to "depict some side of human nature or the human existence that is difficult to describe." McKeand noted at least six barefoot female characters appearing across Fromsoftware titles.