Earlier this month, Ian Bogost wrote an article eulogizing Maxis, the innovative studio behind SimCity and The Sims. It’s a thoughtful piece, definitely worth a read, especially if (like me) you have a soft spot for sandbox/system games. Saying goodbye to a loved studio wasn’t Bogost’s only focus, though. Amid […]
Jennifer Justice
22 posts
This week, over 3,000 academics gathered in sunny, warm Tampa, Florida to talk about writing and language and consume every bit of coffee the unprepared Mariott hotel had to offer. It was the 66th meeting of the Conference of College Composition and Communication (affectionately known as Cs), a hub for […]
The term “serious games” is problematic. We play for fun and enjoyment, yes, but the idea behind serious games is that they are somehow more impactful…more real…than other games. But these games also try to fill a void that is lacking in the world of AAA titles and platformers. Serious […]
Here is my confession for the day. I play Farmville on my phone…and I like it. It’s an all too familiar trope, by now. Core gamers play “real” games like Halo, Warcraft, Dark Souls, or League of Legends. Girl “gamers” play Candy Crush. I’ve written before about gaming identity and […]
At Sunday’s Oscars, John Legend and Common performed their amazing song, “Glory,” from Selma before ultimately winning the Oscar for Best Original Song. If you haven’t seen the performance yet, it’s a must: But as powerful as the song is, it’s the acceptance speech (starting at 6:05) that captured my […]
The internet is for porn The internet is for porn Why you think the net was born? Porn, porn, porn. ~”The Internet is For Porn,” Avenue Q I like innuendo. Sex jokes. Swear words. “Romantic” scenes in books and movies. Dark humor. I’m also Ms. Prim-and-Proper on the surface. It’s […]
I’m lucky. My love of computers and technology has been supported since childhood. I’ve gone to schools that were, if not exactly rich, still plenty wealthy enough to afford multiple computer labs (I played Oregon Trail on both Macs and PCs). Now, I study and teach at Purdue, where even […]
A few weeks ago I made the mistake (as I often do) of getting into a debate about feminism on Facebook. I’m not sure why I do this. By now, I surely should have learned. But when it starts, I’m like a moth drawn to flame. I just can’t stay […]
It’s Halloween (well, close enough) and my Facebook news feed is full of articles and videos about objectification. From the viral video of the woman walking around NYC to Buzzfeed lists of inappropriate tween getups and this gem of a costume, everyone is talking about bodies and how people should […]
Why Games? I have a soft spot in my heart for slam poetry. I love words and I love music, and slam seems to find the balance between them. I’m also a huge nerd, so I was particularly happy when I found this gem by Rachel Rostad: The thing about […]
Grief is a funny thing. Caught up in the throes of loss, every day can feel like you’re living through Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. When we lose something precious, it’s not just an emotional blow. It’s a physical and mental attack that […]
Last week, the world went to the birds. Or, at least, the world of dating simulators. Hatoful Boyfriend is a visual novel developed by Moa Hato and PigeoNation. The protagonist is a female barbarian/cave dweller who is the only human student attending St. PigeoNation’s Institute—an elite, all-bird school. Your goal […]
Game critic Anita Sarkeesian and her family were driven from their house earlier this week after she received a series of extremely violent sexual threats towards her and her parents. The week before that, game developer Zoe Quinn (creator of Depression Quest) had her personal life (both real and imaginary) […]
When it comes to “good” writing, we’re told to avoid tropes and clichés. The given reason is that they are over-done, flat, or ineffective, but that’s not really a fair picture. The reason that tropes and clichés have become tropes and clichés is that they are effective…when they are complicated […]
I’ve been watching a lot of Mortal Kombat this week. Watching, because I never really played fighting games, growing up (I’ve always been more of an RPG kind of girl), and because I have a mild aversion to my boyfriend’s XBox (because it’s an XBox. Not because it’s his…I prefer […]
Audio books can be a disappointing experience. When the rich expanses of your imagination can people entire worlds, it can be disheartening to hear that all distilled into a single voice. Or, if a publisher is feeling particularly generous, two: one for either gender. But I still remember when a […]