So you’ve had all the family togetherness, awkward dates, spoiled sports stars and overrated high-brow writing you can take this weekend? We’ve compiled The Favs, some of the best connected entertainment stories from this past week. It’s all that you need to feed for intellectual growth — short of going back to work tomorrow morning. Some of it is original reporting, and some of it is the work of others.

[divider] Xbox / Gaming [/divider]

Developing games isn’t easy

Another week and another fine piece of long form writing from the folks at Polygon. This week the writing team that Vox Media built goes behind the scenes to reveal how much of a hellish nightmare it can be to plan and develop independent games. From Magicka To Helldivers: The Sharp Pain of Crunch

[divider] Windows Phone [/divider]

What is a BlackBerry?

After new reports indicated that BlackBerry’s BlackBerry 10 operating system was more user friendly than Windows Phone it was only a matter of time before an enterprising Windows Phone journalist examined the claims in detail. All About Windows Phone hits all the right tunes in their piece on the subject. Proverbial shots are fired. Is BlackBerry’s BB10 really ‘Best in Class’ when compared to Windows Phone?

[divider] Windows [/divider]

Don’t blow our high

With Microsoft finally distributing the free Windows 8.1 update to users who already have Windows 8 installed on their PCs, clearly the next logical step is to re-examine the things Microsoft has yet to talk about. LiveSide’s Kip Kniskern throws cold water on everyone’s euphoria over the update finally delivering the changes Windows needs to grow outside of its traditional laptop and desktop mold. I joke, but he’s right about there being things we still don’t know, or don’t know that we don’t know. You know, known unknowns and all that jazz. Now that Windows 8.1 is here, what we still don’t know

 

Have any good reads of your own? Drop them in the comments to share with everyone.