Welcome to Spiffing Reads, a new section on A Most Agreeable Pastime where every Friday we list gaming articles that have caught our eye this week. We’re always on the lookout for interesting gaming sites, so if you’ve found a brilliant blog, or you’ve read something amazing this week, please share it in the comments. OK, here we go!

First Footage of the Football Game From the Man Who Knows Nothing About Football (Kotaku UK)

I love the idea behind Behold the Kickmen – it’s wonderfully silly. After you’ve watched the video in this link, make sure to click the first link and have a read of the original story – Dan Marshall’s responses to tweets are priceless.

How the internet was invented (The Guardian)

Despite the fact that I use the internet every day, I only had the vaguest of ideas of how it came to be. Well, this is how, as it turns out.

The Unexpected Joy of Repetition in Video Games (Kotaku UK)

Games are often criticised for lengthy grinding or repetition. But sometimes this is also why we play them.

10 Video Game Cartoons That You’ve Completely Forgotten About (Digitiser2000)

I fondly remember Captain N: The Game Master – essentially a massive advert for Nintendo, but fun nonetheless. It took me a long time to work out what game Mother Brain was from, having never heard of Metroid when I first watched it. And in those pre-Internet days, it took even longer to work out where the mysterious Eggplant Wizard hailed from.

Car crash trauma depicted in VR (BBC News)

The emergency services team in Leicestershire is doing their best to scare the crap out of young drivers with VR footage of car accidents.

Premium Early Access (Aidy’s Gaming Rambles)

Some well made points here in an incisive article. Why should gamers pay full price for games that are unfinished or light on features at launch? Perhaps we need an equivalent of Steam’s Early Access on consoles.

I’ve Had Enough of 90’s Gaming Nostalgia (OnlySP)

There’s something of a love affair with the 1990s in gaming at the moment, particularly with the launch of Mighty No. 9 and Pokémon Go. But is this a case of rose-tinted spectacles?

Actually, Pokémon Go isn’t really a Nintendo game (Eurogamer)

This article on Eurogamer took a fascinating look at who actually owns Pokémon Go and how Nintendo is involved in it all. I presumed that Nintendo was behind the game, but it’s not quite as simple as that…

And speaking of Pokémon Go, here’s a round up of the most interesting Pokémon stories I came across this week:

Can you learn anything playing Pokemon Go? (Videogamer.com)

Pokédex Battery Case is The Most Authentic Way to Play Pokémon Go (Kotaku UK)

Pokémon Go Is Bringing People Together (Kotaku UK)

The 7 stages of Pokemon Go addiction (VG24/7)

Finally, here are a couple of bits of Pokémon Go fan art that caught my eye. The first is a series of alternative loading screens from artist Magdalena Proszowska – click the link to see them all.

And finally, this brilliant Pokémon Go comic strip by Alex Law:

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Spiffing Reads is a regular feature where we pick out the best gaming articles of the week. If you’ve read anything interesting, please let us know in the comments.