Last weekend I finally made it to the theater (with Alisha–she was brave) to see Jordan Peele’s film Get Out (2017). I’ve wanted to see it for a while, but I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to see the film alone. Miraculously I had avoided spoilers in the […]
There has been a lot of discussion over the past week about Ian Bogost’s recent article in The Atlantic entitled, “Video Games are Better Without Stories,” an article in which Bogost argues, ultimately, exactly what his title says–that is, that the idea of games seeking to tell stories is an […]
Episode 150: On Recognition, Representation, and Revolution: A Conversation with TreaAndrea Russworm (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week in the podcast we had an amazing conversation with TreaAndrea Russworm (@ProfessorTMR) is an associate professor at UMass Amhearst, author of Blackness is Burning: […]
The Sexy Brutale is a puzzle adventure game from Tequila Works (2017) and is available on Xbox One, PS4, and Steam. It only seemed fitting that the kids were fascinated with the idea of playing Clue during the same week that I was set to play The Sexy Brutale (Xbox One) […]
As I write this post I have two weeks left in my first year as a PhD student. I have a daunting pile of assignments waiting for me after I finish this post, all due at various points before my summer can begin, and the boss fight finals week feeling […]
Last week, Austin Walker wrote about endings over at Waypoint, focusing not only on literal game endings, but also on letting go. Preparing to return to the world can be a challenge, certainly; I’ve never come back from Trumbull Valley, for instance. But sometimes it’s all too easy to leave […]
I have to admit that in the last year or so I have played several games that have really made me question the existence of a time sucking black hole…but not in a bad way. These games have made me lose track of time as I got sucked into their […]
I spent a lot of time looking at diversity in State of Decay and its re-release, from actually counting and coding bodies to considering the feeling of a game driven by the kinds of characters who don’t normally lead stories. Results were mixed; the game, while much stronger than many […]
Episode 149: Now You See Me: On Streaming Games and Representation (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week in the podcast that was cursed (aka the cursedcast) we talk about streaming, streamers, and representation as an part of our ongoing series […]
Trigger Warning: Mentions of Rape, Sexual Assault During my last year of college, I took a film course while getting my English minor. The course itself was pretty fun: an in depth analysis of “bad” film and what made it so bad. The instructor, however, was horrible. While I have […]
I am exactly three weeks away from the end of my Spring semester. Each year I, like most academics, come up with a rigid summer schedule. I’m going to do all the things; I’m going to read all the books; I’m going to play all the games; I’m going to […]
Last night I completed my first playthrough of Mass Effect: Andromeda. This post isn’t particularly about that, my thoughts on that game still need some processing, but as I watched the end credits roll after a difficult but satisfying end-boss encounter, I found myself reflecting on the other game that’s […]
It is no small secret that television isn’t really my thing. I watch a couple of choice (my choice and likely no one else’s) shows and that’s about it. I subscribe to HBO Now for the duration of the Game of Thrones season, I wait anxiously for new Marvel series […]
We got an e-mail last week about good games with troubling elements — so, basically, all games. But the question was: how do we choose the right way to handle games with problems? We have to play the games to understand them, and we want to support devs who are […]
A few months ago, I wrote a couple posts connecting feminist science fiction and feminist SF criticism to the field of feminist game studies as a way of thinking through the ways feminist game studies might draw from the practices enacted in the field of feminist science fiction in order […]
Episode 148: It’s All Fun and Games: On Childhood, Play, and Video Games (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week are joined by early childhood education specialist Heather Bernt (@ece_nerd) of the Cause An Effect podcast and Lauren Woolbright, Assistant Professor of […]