Today's Community Spotlight takes a moment to focus on the cost of games in the current economic recession. This brings up a serious question for me: How long do we let a recession go on before calling it an outright depression? It feels depressiony to me right now.

1992 Game Boy Ad: Have You Had Your Fun Today?
By Jon Irwin
Buried in this unassuming original Game Boy ad is a glimpse at Tetris' dark past. This peculiar piece of history comes from a 1992 issue of Rolling Stone; not the usual place for ads that aren't targeted at a wide audience of potential gamers.

The Asking Price: A Look At Video Game Pricing
By Michael Brown
The price of a game at retail directly reflects the development cost. Michael would like to see developers take a more budget-friendly approach to sales and production, much like Capcom did with Super Street Fighter 4.

In Defense of Cheap Bastardry
by Sarah Kelly
Sarah continues the theme Michael introduced with a look at the psychology behind waiting to buy games. As the U.S. economy continues to nosedive into depression, people have less money to spend frivolously. The game industry isn't immune to the recession -- lashing out at gamers who buy used product over new doesn't help anybody.

Video Game Narratives: The Happy Ending
By Chris Winters
Chris is tired of the branching narratives vs. linear narratives debate. A game can be memorable -- and perhaps more impactful -- if the story stays on target, rather than letting the player roam around and inadvertently miss several key points. What's the solution here?

The Trouble with Genres
By AJ Hurst
Pushing games into genres is a safe way to liken them to other titles without really committing to anything. Anyone who has ever reviewed a game has likely done this, and it is a viable way of getting a point across. But what happens when the game defies the most typical categories? Do you try and force it into an existing list or create a new one?