SleepyEgg

How do you look back on a year of gaming and try to find a common thread? I tried to look for something that connected the stories that are presented here as being some of the best—or most interesting—investigations into different aspects of gaming and the surrounding culture. Some stories were obvious, others were more obscure, and many were controversial. There is little connective tissue outside of the subject: video games. These days, those words encompass many subjects, disciplines, and businesses.

When a writer stayed up for two days to watch teams create a complete game under a crushing deadline, we didn't know what he would learn. When another writer began investigating the complex reality of game lengths, we learned a lot about how many people finish games and why shorter games may in fact be better... even if gamers don't want to admit it. We had no idea what it took to create an accurate Super Nintendo emulator until we read the findings of the creator of what may be the best Super Nintendo emulator. What's fun is that we had the time and resources to figure all this out, and present the stories to you.

The thing I love about these stories, and why I'm proud to have had a hand in them, is that each one began from a love of gaming, and a need to understand more about the art form. Let's take a look at our favorite gaming stories of 2011.