knockknock.biz luggage tags. Photo courtesy of justinph. I guess it's finally time for me to level up. It was the summer of '99 when I convinced my then editor to send me on a tour of the U.S. videogame industry. When I finally returned three weeks later, my head was still spinning. I felt as though I'd seen the future of entertainment. It ...

  Anyone who's been a faithful reader of Level Up knows we have some pet themes to which we keep returning. Among them: games are not a fundamentally narrative medium; we all ''see'' games with our hands; we videogame journalists need to develop a critical vocabulary that will enable us to better explain the unique qualities of this art ...

 Rodin's ''The Thinker.'' Courtesy of innoxiuss; edited by Level Up The Idea: Who is this Adam Maxwell guy, and why the f--- is he saying that writers don't matter in videogames? The Thinker: Zach Schiff-Abrams The Source: The Cut Scene The Quote: As a film producer I have drawn and quartered many a writer so usually I leap at the ...

 Rodin's ''The Thinker.'' Courtesy of innoxiuss; edited by Level UpThe Idea: It's time to destroy the ''cult'' of gamers--starting with the term ''gamer'' The Thinker: Douglas Wilson, game developer The Source: GameSetWatch The Quote: The Church of Gamers is not only morally problematic; it also ends up working against innovation in the ...

Rodin's ''The Thinker.'' Courtesy of innoxiuss, edited by Level Up (green)

Rodin's ''The Thinker.'' Courtesy of innoxiuss, edited by Level Up (yellow)

Rodin's ''The Thinker.'' Courtesy of innoxiuss, edited by Level Up (red)

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 01

 A cover for the comic book ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,'' written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'NeillIn Part I of our critique of level designer and blogger Steve Gaynor's assertion that ''video games will never become a significant form of cultural discourse the way that novels and film have,'' we talked about how ...

 A cover of the acclaimed comic book ''Planetary.'' Written by Warren Ellis; illustrated by John Cassaday The babe in his cradle is closing his eyesThe blossom embraces the beeBut soon says a whisper, arise, ariseTomorrow belongs to me--''Tomorrow Belongs to Me'' from the musical ''Cabaret,'' music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred EbbA bet ...