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April 14th

…his town in the new SimCity to diagnose its traffic problem. Observing the bugs in the new SimCity’s traffic modeling, he went back to SimCity 2000 to see how it handled the same problem.

On Quarter to Three, the eternally engaging Tom Chick presents us with a pretty unsettling depiction of how SimCity’s systems (inadvertently?) model contemporary malaise.

BIOSHOCK INFINITY AND BEYOND

(A general content warning, once again, for spoilers in most of the following links.)

On Gamer Theories, Ben Meakin has written a bit on how we can look at BioShock Infinite through the lens…

May 26th

…which capitalism is a part. As capital facilitates the mass production of games, themselves cultural artifacts, these forms of entertainment that were previously limited to the shared ‘public’ sphere become absorbed and encapsulated in ‘private’ spheres by the rise of a new type of cultural actor; the gamer. The gamer, in turn, sees in games a way to cultivate a utility and beauty, but only if the the uncultivated others, located in the ‘public’ sphere of activity, can be successfully distinguished from the die Wissenden (gamers). This is facilitated by a creation of the ‘private’ garden of games.

…

January 17th

…the new religious right?”

At Houston Press, Jef Rouner argues that yes, gamers are the religious right of today, stating:

The gamer right has its moral crusade, now. It wants gaming to be orthodox and traditional and easy to swallow without thinking too much about it.

In response, Damion Schubert posits a counterargument on Zen of Design: “So don’t call these people you refer to as ‘gamers’. That’s a term for good people. Go with ‘fuckwads’.” While his response was fairly concise, I also recommend checking out the discussion in the comments!

Party Like It’s the…

June 5th

…or something else — are more than just our pastimes of choice. They form a small, but vital part of who we are. If we lose that, who have we become?”

Wounds opened

Looking more closely at that darker side of how we respond to gaming’s endorphin loops, these pieces address addiction, violent obsession, and sexual assault.

  • Gaming, Gamers, and Health – Not Your Mama’s Gamer Alex Layne considers health and addiction in connection with gaming.
  • Dangerous Obsession and Gaming – Not Your Mama’s Gamer Alex Layne brings mental health to bear in making…

September 25th

…

  • Gambling dens and gamer monks: Asia’s offbeat videogame subcultures | ZAM – The Largest Collection of Online Gaming Information Robert Rath shares stories from his game-hunting adventures in Asia, giving us insights into the diverse gaming cultures and economies that have developed under different historical conditions.
  • Gamasutra: John Szczepaniak’s Blog – Dark Side of the Sun John Szczepaniak shares his findings on crunch culture in Japan
  • The Determination of China’s Independent Game Scene – Kill Screen An excellent feature on Killscreen examines the current state of the Chinese indie game developers’ scene, with some surprising observations

…

Kill Screen archive

…porn stars and mexican wrestling kill screens indiecade superlatives

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  • how mlb show tricked me hating my favorite team
  • eurogamer expo making games accessible disabled gamers
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  • former footballer who makes fifa…
    • Abstract image evoking bird silhouette

    July 5th

    …that these “hardcore” games are superior and that gamers who play them are not only operating at a higher level but that it is worth aspiring to such a level. Hey girls, enjoy your make-up and cooking games, but really you’ve only made it as a gamer when you’ve learned to headshot and become one of the boys… Why does it need to be this way? How is your mum’s Peggle addiction any less legitimate a gaming experience as your Call of Duty 4 addiction? Aren’t we just talking about different gaming experiences?

    While we’re on the subject…

    November 28th

    …it’s half the length it should be similarly reflected in the price:

    Asking players to modify their standards and expectations makes sense, but that’s only half the battle. Where’s the compromise on the part of the publisher?

    Tom Francis is playing Minecraft in a perma-death style [dead link, no mirror available], where he deletes each world after dying, for the PC Gamer blog. He’s up to ‘Day 4 – The Cove’ [dead link, no mirror available].

    Dan Apczynski at Gamer Melodico considers the difficulty he had in connecting with the characters of Final Fantasy XIII…

    February 20th

    …of Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2:

    Yuna manages to be a strong, well-rounded character who never loses sight of herself or her ideals. And maybe best of all, she manages to save the day and rescue the prince instead of being the damsel in distress.

    The Critical Missive blog turns its critical eye to the Smithsonian’s “Art of Videogames” exhibition in ‘Close, but not 1-UP’ [dead link, no mirror available].

    While the efforts of the Smithsonian are undoubtedly appreciated by gamers worldwide (and I am certainly one such gamer), after a closer look at

    …

    March 20th

    …shakes her head angrily and points again. This time my Sackboy gets it right, and Sackgirl grins and gives a thumb up.

    The Border House + Able Gamers + Gay Gamer + Pax East = a nearly one hour video of the Pax East talk entitled ‘One of us’. It’s all about what it can be like at times for an all-too-often excluded minority within the already decidedly minority that is the life-long, serious, quote-unquote “hardcore” gamer.

    The author of the Quiet Babylon blog writes this week about videogame architecture and how it,

    …focuses on…