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	<title>Cruise Elroy</title>
	<link>http://cruiseelroy.net</link>
	<description>Intelligent discussion of video games</description>
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		<title>Syncopation in the Super Mario Bros. theme</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You know what? It&#8217;s been too long since we looked at any music around here.
Here&#8217;s an excerpt of the Super Mario Bros. theme, composed by Koji Kondo:
[See post to listen to audio]
And here&#8217;s an excerpt of &#8220;Super Mario Bros.: Ground Theme,&#8221; a new arrangement from Kondo that appears on the Super Smash Bros. Brawl soundtrack:
[See [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Frictionless failure</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Imagine that you&#8217;re a game designer putting the finishing touches on your new platformer. You&#8217;re too close to the project to have any perspective, so you bring in someone to playtest it with fresh eyes. In one level, he misses a tough jump ten times in a row and slams the keyboard in frustration. You [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Morrigan disapproves</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This post contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins.
Mages are vitally important in Dragon Age. At Ostagar, Duncan chastises Alistair for his snarky behavior towards them, claiming they can&#8217;t afford to antagonize such powerful allies. If, later in the game, you express your concern to Irving over the losses at the Tower, he&#8217;ll argue that even [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Leliana</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This post contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins.
I was initially interested in Leliana because I wanted to know more about the Chantry. Ever since I attempted to unravel the tangled theology of Morrowind, I&#8217;ve been fascinated by the way fantasy worlds treat religion; gods may walk the earth and meddle in human affairs, but the [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Favorite games of the decade</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Rather than consider my overall favorites, I thought it might be fun to name a favorite game for each year of the 2000s. Following are my choices:

2000 &#8212; Shenmue
Shenmue&#8217;s meticulous attention to detail makes for an evocative experience which, frankly, I&#8217;m surprised I haven&#8217;t written more about. The whole game exudes a lovable quirkiness; everything [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Fellowship in Ferelden</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In most RPGs, I either fall in love with the narrative elements (the story, the characters, the plot) or the mechanical elements (the classes, the combat, the strategizing). Even in games where the two are particularly well-integrated, the dichotomy still exists in my head and I invariably like one better. I then alter my playing [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Transferable skill and genre</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Econ professor Jeff Ely has a fascinating post about the economics of pinball on the blog Cheap Talk. Here&#8217;s an excerpt:
Pinball skill is transferrable. If you can pass, stall, nudge, and aim on one machine you can do it on any machine. This is both a blessing and a curse for pinball developers. The blessing [...]]]></description>
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		<title>A Boy and His Blob</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Wow, did I ever need the A Boy and His Blob remake.
Even though I spend the majority of my waking hours reading about, discussing, analyzing and testing video games, I&#8217;ve had little interest in actually playing them lately (perhaps you&#8217;ve noticed). A Boy and His Blob, for whatever reason, shook me from my listlessness; I [...]]]></description>
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		<title>The Beatles: Rock Band</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of my work at Harmonix concerns the weekly Rock Band DLC. I&#8217;m unfamiliar with a lot of the songs we do, and though I get to know them pretty well during the testing process, I rarely have a chance to get sick of them thanks to our relentless schedule. So when faced with a [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Hit Self-Destruct</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hit Self-Destruct was probably the best video games blog I&#8217;ve ever read. A unique mix of fiction, biography, history, and analysis, it put the rest of us to shame with its depth, breadth, and well-crafted prose. To call it ahead of its time would be an enormous understatement.
The most astounding thing about Hit Self-Destruct, though, [...]]]></description>
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