"Where is all the good writing about games?"
…on new platforms.
“On a page in Nukapedia’s forum collecting criticisms of the new videos, the community at large indicates that they just feel like Fandom doesn’t know, or care, about the wiki they’ve built and the standards they hold themselves to. The community had specific problems with each of the videos, from grainy video quality, to inaccurate and inconsistent information, to the monotone voice of the…
…Plug: there’s a new Keywords In Play episode, this time with Emilie Reed. I’m looking forward to having a listen once I’ve posted this.
This Month in Videogame Vlogging is a roundup highlighting the most important critical videos about videogames from the previous calendar month.
The ways certain videogame narratives depict, predict and reflect on our contemporary predicaments was a key topic for three compelling videos this month.
Leon Thomas explores how modern police forces uphold
…
Welcome back, readers. Take a deep breath. Give yourself some space to be still, to practice gentleness, if you can. I’m going to go ahead and throw up a Content Notification here, as I’m about to work my way through some upsetting and potentially triggering news headlines from the last week related both to the recent mass shootings in the US as well as gaming’s own evergreen toxic elements.
It’s been a difficult and discouraging week, and by now you surely don’t need me to tell you that. That mood isn’t just limited to the gut-wrenching shit that
…
Critical Distance is proud to present the first in its 2020 series of Critical Compilations: Ice-Pick Lodge’s cult classic Pathologic and its sequel, Pathologic 2. This compilation is curated by Andrew Bailey, a Ph.D. candidate within the Art History and Visual Culture program at York University in Toronto. He can be found on Twitter at @andrew_r_bailey.
Introduction
When Pathologic was first released in Russia in 2005 it went on to quickly receive a number of prestigious awards and accolades from a variety of Russian games conferences, websites, and magazines. A year later the game was localized into English
…
…are often derided by mainstream gamers, but as Jenna Stoeber discusses, these games might be just what you need to take a load or two off.
…games made during the preceding month. We’ve been away for a while, so we’re going to start fresh.
Since this is our first post in a hot minute, we’re bound not to see the entire breadth and scope of great Videoessays über Videospiele that came out. If you’re like, “hey you missed this great video by X creator,” please feel free to join our Discord (link here) and make your suggestions known!
These videos approach a specific game or games from the perspective of engaging with their most interesting—or frustrating—mechanics, sometimes from moment to moment…
…any favourite pieces from this year you think should be considered (including videos (if there’s a transcript attached)) for the much-heralded annual This Year In VideoGame Blogging roundup, get them in while the submission window is open.
This Month In Videogame Vlogging highlights the most compelling critical videos about videogames from the previous calendar month.
In this trio of videos, we cast our gaze back to the 1980s to explore the non-linear and messy processes of design evolution.
…
…– Sarah Z (1:45:01)
This essay is largely about fiction fandoms, but (pertinently for us) from 1:30:51 Sarah Z discusses how the recent Boyfriend Dungeon reactions controversy exemplifies the growing tendency of online discourse to quickly fall into oppositional camps. (Manual captions) [Contains embedded advertising]
The following trio of videos look at the effects of delivering story to players through shifting subjectivities and unreliable narrators.
Kat explores how What Remains of Edith Finch represents the fallibility of memory
…
…year, Myers also held a talk at AlterCon about the myth of “objectivity” and the need for Gonzo Journalism.
Daniel Joseph argued that we must Let The Enthusiast Press Die for its stagnation, while Javy Gwaltney pointed out that while we may laugh at some of the coverage on mainstream game news sites, we should take it seriously for how it comes to represent games journalism to the rest of society.
Tadhg Kelly explored the brave new world of Patreonomics, in which more and more creators are turning to Patreon and other crowdfunding sites to make their livelihood….
…Led Zeppelin the hardscrabble underdogs vs. the Bee Gees? That’s as ridiculous as saying Call of Duty fans are oppressed compared to people who like indie text games about what it’s like to have depression.)
Gamergate reached the front page of The New York Times this week, due largely to a school shooting threat called in over a scheduled appearance by Anita Sarkeesian. With the NYT coverage, many game news outlets have come forward officially denouncing Gamergate. However, just ahead of this development, Jetta Rae DoubleCakes published this strongly-worded editorial at Ravishly which urges news writers to properly…