Violence, The Last of Us Part II, and Who Holds the Weapon

Violence, The Last of Us Part II, and Who Holds the Weapon

I’m not a big fan of video game violence. It’s a tired, overused method of engagement, whether it’s abstract pixels shooting one another or lovingly rendered, 4K HD blood and guts. Games can and should do more, do better. (more…)

I Got Into Competitive Card Games Through Fanfic

Some of the best fanfiction in the world is the kind that explores an author’s Very Special Interest. I’ve read novel-length fanfiction that puts characters in competitive whitewater kayaking communities, hyper-realistic coffee shops, real-life academic programs, localized bike repair shops, and more. The level of detail put into these stories is truly staggering, and, for some, it’s too much.

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Try Again: Good Game and the Difficulty of Flawed Characters

While promoting Good Game, a YouTubeRed sitcom, co-executive producer Michele Morrow promised its prospective paying audience that the stories of its female characters would reflect her own experience being a woman in the gaming world. It’s a promise that, in the long run, turned up hollow, even when delivering female characters that dare to be as flawed as their male counterparts.

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Survive Your Real-Life Holiday Madness RPG-Style

Survive Your Real-Life Holiday Madness RPG-Style

The holidays can toss you out of your comfort zone, but have no fear! Attack them like the quests they are with our four handy RPG-style character sheets. Gain the experience and collect the holiday spoils!

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Heated Gaming Moments: What’s Acceptable? (Not Racism)

Felix Kjellberg once again has said something racist. In a livestream last week he used a racist slur. Noted buffoon Ian Miles Cheong chose to mischaracterise this as understandable; as Kjellberg, also known as PewDiePie, let loose the term whilst in a “heated gaming moment”–angry because he was momentarily losing at a game–Cheong suggested that both the phrase and its use were meaningless. In fact, of course, what a person has allowed themselves to become comfortable proclaiming (internally or externally) is what will come out of their mouth when they are excited and cross. If Kjellberg is comfortable with racist language, that is what he will say. And he did. This is why people call him “racist.” It’s very simple mathematics.

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