The Music Machine delivers an experience that’s uncharacteristic of most horror games. There are no monsters chasing after you, despite the fact that they’d be right at home on the abandoned island where the game is set. There are no jump scares waiting for you around the corner (at least […]
Yearly Archives: 2015
379 posts
Last week saw the disbanding of the Frag Dolls, a group of female professional gamers that was formed in 2004 to demo and promote Ubisoft games as well as to participate in professional competitions (they became the first all-female clan to win a pro circuit tournament–CPL–in 2006). The first team […]
Moms have it rough, man. I’m talking socially, of course, considering the fact that the United States is only one of two countries in the world that doesn’t provide paid time off for new mothers. (Get it together, United States.) But I’m also talking representationally, and it is this particular […]
As a kid I was always a huge fan of X-Men, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four comics so it really only makes sense that my own kid would enjoy some of the same things in her own comic world. She snuggles up with her own stuffed Spiderman, Hulk, and Wolverine dolls every […]
Downloadable content in theory is a lovely idea. It means that games we love will never be static, and we can continue playing them and exploring new content and loving them for much longer than if they had remained as they were at launch. Lately, though, I wonder if that’s […]
I have been anxious to see Splatoon up close and personal since it was first announced in a Nintendo Direct conference. First off the game was going to release with amiibo. Little Inkling amiibo with funky little hairdos and super soaker type paint sprayers. And if the collectible gods smiled down on […]
When I was a kid, I wanted to be Han Solo, or Princess Leia, or some sort of princess hybrid of the two. They were my heroes. Sometimes I wanted to be a female Robin Hood instead, or Laura Ingalls or a character from a fairy tale, but whatever the […]
I have always been a huge advocate of ethical reflection and thoughtfulness in the classroom. I believe that regardless of what you teach about or what you teach with, you should be cognizant of the possible ramifications for your students. For example, I gave a talk in 2011 about how […]
A few weeks ago, Polygon editor Arthur Gies published his review on The Witcher 3, an action-based role-playing game developed by CD Projekt RED and based on the Polish fantasy novel of the same name. Though Gies’ review was largely positive and although he still admitted that The Witcher 3 […]
It’s June 1, which means E3 is only two weeks away. The floodgates are opening, releasing a deluge of pre-E3 announcements. Check out a quick roundup below. Microsoft Rise of the Tomb Raider gets a new trailer two weeks ahead of E3. Check out its box art. Respawn Entertainment will not unveil […]
Bloom, by Caelyn Sandel, presents the interactive story of a someone discovering a new identity and wholeness later in life than most. As Sandel puts it, “I started writing Bloom because there are some wonderful stories out there for trans women coming out in their teens and twenties, but few good […]
After writing about Among the Sleep a few weeks ago, I have found myself continually thinking about the idea of children as protagonists. Indeed, I have been working to understand just what it is about the embodiment of childhood that is at work in such figures. In other words, what […]
Though there have been some great strides in the presentation of empowered female characters in videogames, developers still have a long way to go. In a recent dialogue with Samantha Blackmon and Alisha Karabinus about female characters who fall short of their potential, we found ourselves asking why narratives and […]
I get a lot of people asking me how the writing that I do here on the site connects back to the academic writing that is expected in the job that I do that keeps the lights on around here. Well, today I presented a piece (along with Alex Layne […]
Episode 102: Elfroot, Bells, and Potato Crops, or Pick, Plant, Repeat Forever: Tedium in Games (Right click and save as to download, or hit us up on iTunes or Stitcher) Long title, for extra tedium. In this episode, featuring special guest Tanya D., AKA @cypheroftyr, AKA “the spawn point of […]
Back in early April, we announced our Patreon campaign, which yielded much-needed money for expenses for our first month of activity, and we’re looking forward to month two. We’re so grateful to our supporters. But as we learn more about this platform, and figure out how best to use it, […]