Not a huge amount has caught my Spiffing Reads eye over the past couple of weeks, hence the thin selection below. We’re well into the season of end-of-year lists, gift guides and reviews of AAA games, none of which makes for particularly thrilling reading – unless a hugely anticipated game gets a critical mauling, of course. But so far, this year’s Christmas games seem to be a pretty good crop, with the only real news being relatively poor sales of some long-awaited titles.

Anyhoo, we’ll be farting out some end-of year lists of our own in due course, but in the meantime, cast your peepers over these beauties.

Where did all the strategy go? (Eurogamer)

I have fond memories of playing through Hidden & Dangerous on the Dreamcast, a game where every move was fraught with danger, and the tension was stretched so tight you could cut it with a blunt spoon. The one fly in its camouflage ointment was that your team mates’ AI was terrible – they couldn’t be trusted with grenades, for example, as they blew themselves up with alarming regularity. Still, I miss strategic war games like this one, especially as bombastic FPSs like Call of Duty hold little appeal now my reactions are withering with age.

The Colossus That Casts No Shadow (Kotaku UK)

This is a superbly written article by @SamMGreer (check out her work at http://sammgreer.tumblr.com, she’s definitely one to watch). It manages to sum up everything that makes Shadow of the Colossus work so well, and laments how few games have managed – or attempted – to copy the formula. A spiffing read, indeed.

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.