Roundup of Unusual Size: It’s FRIDAY, FRIDAY, gettin’ down o– oh.

Nightmare Mode is republishing Dire Critic’s ‘Roundup of Unusual Size’, a collection of links put together by site friend, Kris Ligman. It’s like Critical Distance, except we post on the six days of the week that Ben Abraham doesn’t, and there are usually more non-game-related articles… So I guess we’re actually more like Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s Sunday Papers, except less British. You can send Kris recommendations for the roundups via Twitter or email!

…*clears throat* As you were.

Videogames

We start off tonight with an oldie but goodie. Reacting to my remarks yesterday for articles concerning games, violence and imperialism, Zach Alexander linked me this sobering piece written around the time of the Arizona shooting.

Moving on to related tidbits, an analysis over on Gamasutra asks why we’re still waiting on the US Supreme Court’s decision on Schwarzenegger v. EMA.

We’re getting a lot of Duke Nukem articles this week, obviously, and I’ve chosen to spare you the brunt of them. Not for lack of entertainment value (I don’t know about you but I get a certain schadenfreude-laden glee from reading all the negative reviews), but rather that I trust you know where to find them on your own if you’re into that thing. That said, I’d like to single out a trio noteworthy pieces.

The first is a guest editorial on Kotaku from Lydia Heitman about the boy’s space of Duke. The second comes from Joystick Division regarding the cult fervor that has surrounded Duke Nukem Forever for the last 12 years. And the last one (surprisingly) comes from Destructoid*, dismantling the fanboy defense of but it’s just a satire! by pointing out that, no, it isn’t. And it’s not a parody either. It’s just crass and tasteless and unfunny, and not in a good way.

*Yes, this is the first and probably the last time I link will favorably to any of Jim Sterling’s work on this blog.

Ready to drool and curse Valve’s name in the same breath? There is a brilliant new Portal 2 DLC on the way… but it requires a specific PC controller. The fact that the new levels sound amazing makes their exclusivity even more painful.

Fandom

…But that’s not even a sponge!

Curios

It’s worse than you know. A new study suggests that in a panopticon culture, we do indeed take on the state’s morals as our own when judging others.

Impending Armageddon or not, NOAA notes that 2011 has been one hell of a weird year for weather.

Lastly, a twofer from Gizmodo about LulzSec and what a watershed moment this might be for internet security: a bit of commentary on LulzSec’s recently released manifesto and some speculation on the future of passwords.