TLF North By Northeast: The SXSW Harassment-in-Gaming Debacle
3
Nov
So as last week’s SXSW “scandal” unfolded, I had a few thoughts about it. As it kept unfolding, I had a few more. They’re over on TLF.
Category Archives: Violence
We Just Can’t Let It Die: Videogames and “Aggression”
18
Aug
It’s 2015. Two years ago, Chris Ferguson spearheaded a movement among game developers and academics calling for the APA (that’s the American Psychological Association) to review its statement (from 2000) that violent videogames were a cause of increased aggression in … Read More »
TLF: “Jade for Beauty: Positive Female Characters in Video Games,” ep. 2
2
Jun
My TLF review of Anita Sarkeesian’s second video in the Positive Female Characters in Video Games series (on Jade from Beyond Good & Evil). A lot of my frustrations with this episode are less to do with the specifics about … Read More »
Braaaaaaains: The New “Threat” of Videogames to our Minds
20
May
So today’s example of scare-mongering “science” comes to us from Canada (via the Telegraph in the UK), where someone has apparently “proven” that “Call of Duty increases risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” according to the headline. When added to a recent … Read More »
Perspective Shift: Talking Games in the Midst of Violence
29
Apr
Today a friend asked a very good question, and one that I think is valuable to try to answer for cultural critics and academics the world over. What am I even gonna tell my students today. “Well I know everything … Read More »
TLF: Ripped from the Headlines (SVU)
16
Feb
There was enough anger left in me to have more to say about the most recent Law & Order SVU episode on GamerGate. Here it is. The TLF post contains a much more detailed breakdown of what went wrong in … Read More »
SVU Does GG
12
Feb
So this week one of the many things flying about on the feminist internet is the fact that Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has more or less decided to feature internet harassment against Anita Sarkeesian (with a little Zoe … Read More »
Get Rid of the Black Marker: A Post Against Censorship
3
Feb
A recent conversation has reiterated one of the components of recent internet discussions of games – particularly those containing overt misogyny – that bothers me more than most of the others. It’s the conflation amongst many online of “criticism” with … Read More »
[Redacted] – Games, Censorship, and Sexual Violence
15
Jan
One of the big news stories in gaming at the moment is about Australia’s refusal to issue classification to Devolver’s Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number due to sexual violence (link to Kotaku Australia). In Australia, media that “depict, express or … Read More »
Being Heard
19
Nov
So a few weeks back, the University’s PR firm inquired about taking a post from this blog and pushing it out – with minor modifications – to the world at large. This was, first and foremost, a minor source of … Read More »
TLF: Out of the Background: Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, Women as Background II
26
Aug
Yesterday, Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency released a new Tropes vs. Women in Video Games video – part two of “Women as Background Decoration.” As per usual, people seem to either love it or hate it (and I’m pretty sure … Read More »
Threat of Followers
6
Jan
So today Anita Sarkeesian tweeted about an article by Pacific Standard journalist Amanda Hess, “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet.” Although I usually reserve this blog for posts about games and the gaming community, there’s something significant about Hess’s … Read More »
TLF: Life Outside the Sandbox
27
Oct
Unlike most of the gaming world, I will not be playing Grand Theft Auto V: I explain why over on TLF. It’s a long and involved explanation, so you’ll have to go read it over there.
Games Are Not Weapons
17
Sep
Yesterday’s tragic events in DC – near somewhere I go on a weekly basis where people I know and care about work – once again have people in the US considering the problems of violence in our society, its causes, … Read More »
“Girl” on Top
6
Jul
Today Gamers Against Bigotry shared a story by a male gamer about what it was like to log in to his wife’s multiplayer account. It contains most of what you’d expect – the male players identified the gamertag as female, … Read More »