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Sonic the Hedgehog

…explore their identity. As Zolani Stewart states, “Sonic as a media object is fluid.” Or as I once put it, Sonic is an apparatus.

There have always been many different perceived Sonics. And because Sonic is not just a game series, but a front-line, long-lasting, mascot game series, the fervor for purity is constantly at the front of critical discussion. When Sonic is written about, it is either in clarifying retrospect of what came before, or it is infatuated with it.

The Sonic (Blue)print – The Original

Sonic was originally the product of Sega struggling to respond to…

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February 25th

This special edition of This Week in Videogame Blogging is curated by Zolani Stewart.

The fallacy of Black History Month is that its existence negates the need for a extensive discussion of what it means to be black. I find my voice boxed in a cell whose locks are controlled by the temporal forces of white boredom and guilt. I find my signature on a social contract whose paper my hand has not touched. I find the white man, with his property documents and his contracts, towering over me:

“You have your month, we have our status-quo.”

Episode 27 – Review Comes For The Arcade

Joining us on this month’s podcast is Zolani Stewart, fellow Critical Distance contributor and founding editor of The Arcade Review.

Coming up on its first year anniversary, Arcade Review is a publication that situates itself as an arts magazine first and a games magazine second. Wishing to break away from the stagnant circles of what is traditionally considered games writing, Zolani, with some help, has created a space where he can foster the type of writing he and others would like to see. In our podcast, we discuss how the magazine has sharpened its focus over time, in

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December 6th

Hello Everyone, this is Zolani taking over for Kris on This Week in Videogame Blogging. Let’s get to it!

Big Box

Aevee Bee wrote two stellar pieces of writing on Destiny this week, one of them is a series of mini-reviews on the game’s flavour text, the other a longer piece on what makes Destiny curious and interesting as a massive budget title.

Over at Kotaku, Patricia Hernandez does well articulating Fallout 4’s struggle between its role-playing roots and its streamlining towards action-game systems. At the Mary Sue, Bryan Cebulski makes recommendations of literature for Fallout

This Year In Videogame Blogging: 2017

…Means To Reach It | No Coast Gaming – Emma Anderson Emma Anderson asserts that Bogost’s assertion is sort of irrelevant, as storytelling has evolved beyond simple engagement with plot. A work’s most important aspect may not be the series of chronological events.

  • In The Shadow of the Holodeck | Medium – Charles J Pratt Instead of outright denouncing Bogost’s assertion, Charles Pratt explains the context in which much of his piece are written; a ‘debate that never happened’ over a decade ago.
  • Bad At Images?

    • Are Videogames Bad at Images? | Medium – Zolani

    This Year In Videogame Blogging: 2013

    The Extra Credits crew closely reads a single line in The Walking Dead and its wider significance in the work.

    Martin at Oh No! Video Games has a short piece on the thematic reading of episode 4 of The Walking Dead.

    Austin C Howe explores the postmodernism nature of Metal Gear Solid. James Clinton Howell looks at MGS4 and how it calls attention to how we become indifferent to human life by its own indifference to human life.

    Zolani Stewart looks at how Mortal Kombat 4 is different from its fighting game brethren. Mark Filipowich expands

    January 12th

    …difficulties in writing interactive fiction.

    Mark Filipowich wrote some of his thoughts on games writing and community involvement with links to quite a few other writers’ pieces and their responses to the current situation from Patreon to creating new games writing outlets.

    Zolani Stewert launched the first issue of the Arcade Review, a digital magazine focusing on criticism of experimental games. It includes pieces by Line Hollis, Lana Polansky, Alex Pieschel and Zolani Stewart himself. Also, Objective Game Reviews launched while we were away. Finally, a site that gives nothing but truly objective reviews of video games.

    October 12

    …us, in the blogging community, stand with you, and are dedicated to your well being, and your right to practice your craft safely and reasonably. You deserve better than what this industry gives you.

    (Zolani’s sentiments are echoed by all of us here at Critical Distance. It has not been said often enough: we would not contribute to this site if we were not squarely focused on promoting the voices of the disenfranchised and creating safer spaces for everyone in games writing and discourse. We denounce harassment in all its forms. –KL)

    So with that, let’s start on…

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    This Year in Videogame Blogging: 2014

    …criticism dedicated to droqen’s Starseed Pilgrim, founded by Richard “KirbyKid” Terrell and Daniel Johnson.

    Chay Close at Kill Screen reasoned every videogame is a comedy, but only a very few are in on the joke. Writing for Kotaku’s UK branch, our own Zolani Stewart advanced the concept of Sonic Studies in order to isolate where, exactly, the little blue hedgehog started to go so wrong.

    Austin Walker reviewed The Crew for Paste, seeing the America within as a postcard of the nation. He found some delight in the abstraction of the country, but soon it became apparent to…

    July 10th

    Hello there! Zolani Stewart here. While Zoya is away, I’ll be taking over this week in videogame blogging, and listing some of the great writing that’s published this first full week of July.

    Looking Back

    There was a lot of writing this week that acted as retrospectives of older games:

    • What Made System Shock So Special | Kotaku Heather Alexandra made a video on System Shock series; what made the games and their successors special and their common weaknesses.
    • The Sonic series’ high point is not a game | Polygon Allegra Frank writes on