Today's Spotlight is unintentionally Alex-centric. We'll be hearing from Alex Beech on his experiences with Tale of Tales' games, Alexandr Beran and his adorable piece from the perspective of the boy in A Boy and His Blob, and from Alex R. Cronk-Young with his challenge to developers to produce a finer ostrich-based game than Joust.

Notable no-Alexs include: John Michael's dream quest to meet Tim Schafer, Daniel Feit finally explaining why people often mention BioShock and Ayn Rand's philosophy, and the latest installment in A.J. Minotti's Defending Imagination series.

Tale of Tales
By Alex Beech
Alex left the world of hardcore gaming as his interests ventured toward experiencing worlds rather than charging through them. His interests led him to the developer Tale of Tales, creators of a few trudging but beautiful games that could appear stilted to the run and shoot type of gamer. His experience with Tale of Tales' body of work was at first uninspiring until the true objective hit him.

Tim Schafer Stalks My Dreams
By John Michael
We've probably all had some pretty freaky dreams, but John's dream takes the cake for now. He spent one night seeking-out Tim Schafer to have him sign his Psychonauts-themed shoes. Dreams never quite go how you want them to, as John experiences.

Me and My Blob
By Alexandr Beran
A Boy and His Blob may be the most unapologetically adorable game ever created. Alexandr manages to make the whole situation three times cuter as he writes from the perspective of the boy.  Beware the cute overload that is bound to occur from reading more.

Gamer Book Report: Looking for Rapture in the Fountainhead
By Daniel Feit
The smug philosophers and literati of the gaming community often speak of the Randian imagery contained in BioShock. Daniel shuts us up and finally makes the point clear for people who have never slugged through Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. If you had the sense and good fortune to avoid reading Rand as required course work, Daniel's got you covered.

Defending Imagination: Movement in the First Person
By A.J. Minotti
The latest installment in A.J.'s series on Defending Imagination has him focusing on the movement of characters in the first person. Faith in Mirror's Edge is animated smoothly to emphasize her grace, and the realism of jumping into the body of someone leaping from roof top to roof top is completed with flourishes the programmers gave her. A.J. feels movement in the first person is not entirely design-based and relies more on the player's ability to imagine.

A Rallying Cry for More Ostrich-Based Video Games
By Alex R. Cronk-Young
The most epic mount in gaming is not fiery or likely to eat you as soon as let you ride it. To Alex, it is the ostrich. Joust is the pinnacle for Ostrich-based game play. Alex challenges the game development world to attempt to tap into the unexhausted potential of ostrich games.