The fourth episode of Life is Strange, a critically acclaimed interactive drama series developed by Dontnod Entertainment, released this week. This second-to-last installment is something fans have been perhaps not-so-patiently waiting for, for some time. But despite the ten week long gap between the release of the third episode and […]
Monthly Archives: July 2015
34 posts
As you may know, we are currently seeking funding in support of our project Invisibility Blues, a critical video series exploring race and representation in games, and with just over a week to go in the Kickstarter campaign, we have created a teaser video showcasing some of the type of […]
I’ve often written about how I would like to see more original games, games that move away from (what is to me) the tired genre of First-Person Shooters (FPSes). It’s not that I always dislike FPSes, but I do want more from a game than just running around and shooting. […]
I’ve played about an hour and a half of The Magic Circle, and, to be completely honest, I haven’t yet figured out whether or not I like it. I think I do. But I’m not sure. I’m mainly confused, but not really in a way that makes me annoyed or irritated […]
It’s no secret that Journey is one of my all time favorite games, having extensively written about its brilliant use of silence and its characterization of landscapes. Though it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I find the entire experience to be relaxing and fulfilling. Whether it’s the cool blues of […]
This post is a write-up of a talk I gave recently at the Games+Learning+Society conference in Madison, WI. Enjoy! The GamerGate explosion in 2014 had far reaching implications that spidered across many areas: industry workplace practices, how gaming communities function, and how people view video games and gamers. Scholars have […]
“For girls” has always been somewhat of a cringe-inducing term for me. When combined together, these two seemingly innocuous words form a concept that is loaded with a long history of stereotypically gendered marketing and the perpetuation of gender norms. It dredges up the distinct childhood divide between the “boys” […]
Episode 107: A Conversation with Dr. Kishonna Gray (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes or Stitcher). We don’t always get to sit down with other academics who care as much about games as we do, but when we do, we talk for hours… and that’s […]
Recently I have found myself having lots of heated discussions about racial representation in video games and the importance of paying attention to the history behind these representations (*cough* Cuphead *cough*) and in some cases it has been a bit of an uphill battle, but it’s not new. It’s the […]
Right now and for the next few weeks, I’m under a self-imposed ban on LEGO building. I’m moving, so instead of building, I’m dismantling my LEGO models. It’s horrible. Not that I mind the dismantling process, it’s still gives me something to do while watching TV, but dismantling does not […]
“Outspoken women, especially non-white women like Pao, are instant targets if they publicly acknowledge the existence of prejudice, worse still if they purport to do something about it.” –Katherine Cross Ellen Pao, now titled as the *former* CEO of Reddit, has faced it all. Death threats, harassment, abuse– oh wait, […]
This past week, I’ve been catching up on reading Adrienne Shaw’s book Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture, and a series of questions that Shaw asks in the second chapter (entitled “Does Anyone Really Identify with Lara Croft?: Unpacking Identification in Video Games”) […]
In the last month or so there has been lots of discussion going on about and around the confederate flag here in the United States. Ultimately, the flag has been removed from most state government buildings and is no longer being sold in a number of big box and online […]
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the cliché of the grizzled, brown-haired hero, wondering just what it is that keeps them at the top of the game-protagonist heap, and what encourages designers to keep on designing them. I’ve been thinking about these men, so similar, and about Lee Everett […]
Episode 106: This Ashly Burch Interview Is Strange (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes or Stitcher). Or maybe it’s just awesome! Who knows, really? What we do know is this: we talked Life Is Strange, Adventure Time, voice acting, writing, mental illness, and we even got to […]
Back in May Electronic Arts announced that it would feature female soccer players in its popular FIFA game series, starting with the upcoming FIFA 16. According to the release statement, the game will feature 12 international woman’s teams. Many were also excited to learn that the women would not be […]