The Escapist makes some fantastic videos about game design. This one caught my eye: TheEscapist.com. Their vids are a great mix of custom art, story telling, and simple design. This one is an easy to follow explanation of how Operant Conditioning works in games.
The six recommended attributes of game design:
Mystery
Mastery
Mental challenge
Narrative
Novelty
Flow
I agree that these are important aesthetics, but of games? They seem equally if not more pertinent to books, movies, paintings, plays.
