Episode 126: A Conversation Under the Shade Tree With André Brock. (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). In this episode we talk with André Brock (aka @DocDre). André is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan and is currently completing a […]
Monthly Archives: April 2016
20 posts
I’m taking a course right now in which we’re examining the dominant affects of modernist and postmodern literature, and as a result, I’ve been thinking a lot about the dominant affects of alienation and paranoia and how such ideas might be made manifest in the realm of video games. The […]
I’ve been busy lately, moving and working, and because of that, I haven’t had much time to play. So instead of sitting down to something longer, I’ve been trying out free-to-play games on Steam, playing two new releases in the last week and poking at a few others. The first, The […]
One of my favorite places on the internet is the LEGO Subreddit. Unlike some other subreddits, the one for LEGO fans is filled mostly with people who want to share and discuss their hobby. I’ve been following the LEGO subreddit for some time now, and I’ve found the space to […]
It’s no surprise that people generally think the internet has made our society more violent and toxic. Perhaps it’s not the internet as much as the anonymity it provides, but either way. Hate, misogyny, racism, homophobia, and all kinds of fear-based/difference-based abuse has always existed, of course. We didn’t need […]
Because I obviously enjoy being sad, depressed, and/or miserable, I’m going to continue this conversation regarding feminism and war in light of 11 bit studio’s most recent game – This War of Mine: The Little Ones. To have a better grasp of what I’m processing through and digging deeper to understand, […]
I recently revisited The Last of Us, and after (re)playing the game, I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of gendered labor and the manner in which such labor comes to be represented. Indeed, the game’s depiction of fatherhood has been discussed quite a bit, especially when the game was […]
This week we are revealing a new design for NYMG. The all-new and very apropos characterizations of the staff have been drawn by the wonderfully talented artist, Alyse Allred, so we thought this would also be a great opportunity to introduce the NYMG community to Alyse as well. You can find […]
When the LEGO Ideas Maze was first announced, I was initially ambivalent. The set seemed like a strange choice for a LEGO Ideas set, and I decided not to get it, and I mostly forgot about it. But, when it was released, I kept going back to the LEGO site […]
Episode 125: Speaking Light Into the Darkness: A Conversation with Nico D. (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, or TuneIn). In this episode we talk with Nico D. (aka@appleciderwitch) formerly of the Justice Points podcast. We had a fascinating conversation about internet shaming, Rust, and feminist game studies and […]
In Beyond Choices, Miguel Sicart addresses issues of moral and ethical choices and how games designed in such a way to draw players into ethical dilemmas, moral reflection, and immersive experiences. This War of Mine: The Little Ones (TWoM), by placing the player into unfamiliar territory and in an unfamiliar role, crafts […]
Recently I had to explain slut shaming to my 7 year old daughter. Not in those terms, but for the usual reasons. While traumatized by the whole event (me, not her) I did take some pride in the fact that it was not her doing the shaming, but other little […]
A new Tropes vs. Women in Video Games episode came out earlier this month, this one specifically on body language and the male gaze. In this episode, Sarkeesian focuses especially on the notion of movement as something that “can be a powerful thing” because movement can sometimes “tell us the most […]
Last Friday, Alex Layne explored legal definitions of terrorism, stalking, and cyberbullying to draw some conclusions about cyberterrorist acts, specifically in terms of online harassment against women tagged as “social justice warriors” by the GamerGate movement. Alex’s piece ignited a firestorm on Twitter, with responses ranging from mockery and downplay […]
Conditions, diseases, the law, careers, crimes. The list could possibly go on forever. What list? You ask. The list of things that mean less, carry less weight, and are taken less seriously when they happen to women than to men. One only needs to quickly peruse the history of medical […]
This semester, I’ve been working as much on game creation as on games criticism and exploration. I’m working on three different projects, one with a larger team and two others with fellow NYMG contributor Ashley, and while I’ve worked on a few small efforts from time to time in the […]