links for 2010-03-09

Adrian Hon takes a long hard look at the potential of persuasive games for saving the world. What sticks with ne the most is his concern that the focus on reward mechanisms prevents people from pursuing activities for the sheer joy of doing them, which I’ve always felt is the essence of play.

Dan C waxes lyrically about an indie strategy game and in the process talks about indie fan culture: “The only people that we, as fans, can claim with 100% certainty are worthy of our appreciation are small teams of independent developers.”