So this is it, the year 2013 is officially over and 2014 has begun. For me, this has been a year of learning and growing up as I ventured into the “real world,” began a new position at the bank where I work, bought a new car, and, sadly, lost a lot of people close to me in my family. While 2013 was an interesting year for me personally, it certainly was a very exciting year for video games and feminism as well.
With the releases of the PS4 and Xbox One, Microsoft and Sony ushered in the future of gaming; high resolution graphics, amazing new mechanics due to new engines and more processing power, and social media elements imbedded right into your machine (to name just a few!).
A lot of great games came out, listen to our GOTY podcast to learn our top picks, but my personal favorites were (in no particular order): Pokemon X/Y, Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, and Grand Theft Auto V.
Feminism also had a “good year” and, while I definitely do not fully agree with the sentiment, many people called 2013 the year of the feminist. While there are still huge strides that need to be made there were plenty of baby steps this year, some of which are included on this list from PolicyMic. Anita Sarkeesian published videos from her Kickstarter project “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games” and little girls everywhere were encouraged to become engineers through GoldieBlox. Malala Yousafzai wowed the world on many different occasions with her feminist words, but this interview with John Stewart is my favorite. Facebook publicly acknowledged the need for them to take action against “pro-rape” groups forming amongst members and GM chose Mary Barra to be their CEO (the first female Chief for Automakers). All in all there were a lot of steps in the right direction, these are only a few, and I hope it continues on to 2014.
Happy New Year everyone! The ladies here at Not Your Mama’s Gamer hope that 2013 was all you wanted and more. Here’s to another year of kicking down barriers and making the world a more equal place for all races, genders, and ethnicities.
