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[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

As we stumble into Thanksgiving week here in the States, time to rumble happily through a few more highlighted GameSetLinks, starting out with a note that Cory Doctorow's next book seems to stray into game-related areas in perhaps entertainingly meta ways - looking forward to the results.

Also in here - a chat with the Trials folks in Finland, an XBLIG game that sounds extremely intriguing, sleep challenges as games, the Pinball Hall of Fame moves to bigger digs in Vegas, and lots more besides.

So much closer:

Doctorow's Next Book is For the Win, Literally | Game Culture
Cool, Cory Doctorow's next book is set among Asian gold farmers, or similar.

Experience Points: Layton's Linearity and Halo's Heuristics
'Both Halo and Layton follow largely in the tradition of author-controlled narratives. However, Halo offers the opportunity to stray off that well-warn path, thereby opening up the possibilities for unique challenges and unexpected lessons.'

The Trials of Trials Article | Xbox 360 | Eurogamer
A nice look at the relatively obscure Finnish developer who hit it out of the park with Trials HD.

Xbox Indie Game: The Headsman - The Gameshelf
Hadn't heard of this, and it looks really interesting.

Pinball Hall of Fame’s new home. | driph.com/words
I've been to the old location, this looks even more expanded and a must-visit when in Las Vegas.

BriceMorrison.com » How to Defeat the Alarm: My 30 Day Sleep Challenge
Interesting to discuss games that involve... life.

Exoriare: Exploring the Darknet | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network
Smoking Gun Interactive are trying something clever here for their big original IP console game, ARG and obscurity-wise - good luck to 'em.

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

As Tuesday rolls around, here's the latest set of links - an above average amount, even - from GSW's last set of RSS trawling, and there's some things you might not have seen from around the Web here hopefully -- starting off with how Ikea and game design might relate to each other.

Also in this linkenfesten - Farmville as Orwellian nightmare, a neat UK history of video games with horror in them, a fuel newsgame discussed, Smoking Gun's ARG beginnings for their new game, and more things besides.

An amazing race:

IKEA, and the logic of videogame design | RedKingsDream
'The design of an IKEA store itself is a lesson in functional design, and a lesson in videogame design.'

Orwellian uprising on Farmville « Play as Life
'But I am getting ahead of myself. Perhaps this started even further back. Yes, yes! It all began the day Zynga told me that the animals could move.'

Original Sound Version » Blog Archive » Musical Awesomeness Generator: Neil Baldwin Interview
'I still remember the excitement of new releases from Rob and Martin Galway. For me, their musical works transcended the games they were written for.'

The History Of Videogame Nasties: Part 2 | NowGamer
'We continue our lookback at history's best and worst videogame/horror movie tie-ins' - from RetroGamer, Part 1 is good too.

A Platform for Engagement? - News Games: Georgia Tech Journalism & Games Project
'You be the Reporter: Ethanol as Fuel! was developed by the Institute for New Media Studies (INMS) at the University of Minnesota by Nora Paul and Kathleen Hansen.'

ABC.net.au: Libel tourism - The Law Report - 10 November 2009
Evony vs. Bruce Everiss gets a full airing on this Australian legal radio show, click 'transcript' to read, it's most interesting - 'libel tourism', indeed.

Press Pass: Building a Better Aggregator > Kyle Orland > 11/10/2009 9:04 AM | Crispy Gamer
Intriguing attempt at a Metacritic competitor, with some different weightings on board.

Elder Game: MMO game development » Two Kinds of Developer Relations
'There seem to be two main ways that MMO developers interact with players. These two ways have serious pros and cons, but too often the choice isn’t made consciously. Instead, the choice comes from the culture and situation the team finds itself in.'

X marks the future of game narrative? | Technology | guardian.co.uk
'A new 'alternative reality' game from Canadian studio Smoking Gun may just show the way to the future of videogame story telling...'