This is the second in a series about how and why reactions to events in the gaming community, such as the attacks on Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn are so problematic. It is based on conversations I’ve had with people who I really respect who have a hard time seeing […]
Monthly Archives: September 2014
24 posts
A Narrative By Any Other Name: On the Importance of Narrative in Games (“Save As” to download or head over to iTunes to subscribe) In this episode we talk about the importance of narrative in games and just what narrative is.
So often, when anyone calls for greater diversity in video games, their requests are met with one very common answer: “You want something different? Make it yourself.” These days, we’re told, anyone can make a game. It’s so easy. The tech requirements have been reduced to almost nothing; with a […]
Earlier today as I was watching my favorite nostalgic fan stream, I was hit with one of those nagging, persistent questions that weigh on your mind until you discover the answer. A show I didn’t recognize had come on; it was a live-action comedy show called Taina that had aired on […]
Follow us live tonight for episode 86 at https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c3lkf75lv4fpk3mtnr4vgrudkh8
We’ve talked a lot over the past few weeks about #gamergate, Anita Sarkeesian, and Zoe Quinn. Recently, they were accused of lying about the threats they were receiving, and of course we have all been accused of trying to kill the entire gaming industry. Zoe and Anita have had to […]
The FPS is not my favorite genre of game and that’s for two reasons. First, I love narrative in my games. I want to know the characters in my game. So when a new FPS comes out I usually only rent them and play through the single player campaign since […]
While we realize the current connotation of the phrase Social Justice Warrior, some of us have decided that fighting (and gaming) for social justice is not a bad thing. While people may be reductive in their perception of what we, and other feminists, around the interwebs do in our critique […]
I have a love-hate relationship with Harvest Moon DS Cute. For those who are (perhaps blissfully) unaware, Harvest Moon is a series of farming simulation games that incorporate elements and tasks of real, and even ordinary, life. In addition to planting and tending crops, collecting wild plants, fishing, digging, and […]
Last week, I was accused of making fun of people who play The Sims. I don’t know if this was in jest or not, but I took it to heart, either way. (And perhaps “accused” is too strong a work, but I can’t find a better one.) It’s true that […]
Recent conversations on our blog, with my friends, in the gaming community, and generally spread throughout my daily life, have lead me to start thinking about what my personal “demands” for the future of gaming are. I put demands in intentional scare quotes- obviously I’m not really in a position […]
**I’ve peppered in real threats women have gotten playing video games, for those who don’t believe it’s a problem** “u act like ur good u down syndrome cunt ill rip ur ovaries out n make u eat em u mother fuckin spawn killin pathetic whore.” Today marks my first installment […]
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 […]
Games bring people together. This is something that many of our ilk (gamers) seem to have forgotten. When I was a kid in the 70s we came together over handheld games with little blips playing various kinds of sportsball games. We came together to show each other what we could […]
It was only just a few days ago that I watched NFL athlete and Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice attack his wife in a brutal case of physical domestic violence. I’d heard about the incident in passing but it wasn’t until someone told me about it in detail that […]
Episode 85: Down the Rabbit Hole and Back Again: More on “Gamergate” and Women in the Gaming Community (“Save As” to download or head over to iTunes to subscribe) In this episode we talk about “gamergate” and community building among diverse gamer populations.