[Originally posted on PopMatters] I’ve saved a lot of worlds in over two decades of playing video games. It’s refreshing that modern games are more personal than ever and that they don’t have to lean on something as ostentatious as saving the world to get their point across. Still, I have to confess that I’m fond … Continue reading Natural Heroes: Inevitable Environmentalism in Games
[Originally posted on Medium Difficulty] Ever notice how most fiction treats a breakdown of identity as just about the worst thing that can happen? Oedipus’s tragedy stems from not knowing who he “really” is, Mad Men is all about characters creating and escaping their “real” selves, Philip K. Dick asked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? because … Continue reading I Am Many: Multiple Identities in Persona 3
[Originally posted on PopMatters] A man in a tuxedo is dropped into former Soviet Russia to destroy a chemical weapons plant. After infiltrating the plant through the ventilation system, he finds a grate leading into a stall in a public bathroom. Beneath him is a guard sitting on the toilet in a forest green trench coat. … Continue reading Killing Spree: The Inconsistency of Video Game Violence
I’d like to expand on some of what I’ve said in my article for The Border House on sexism in a scene of Breath of Fire 4 (“Sexism and Power Dynamics in Breath of Fire IV.” The Border House. Mar 13 2013). In the scene, a main character, Nina, must work for a minor character, … Continue reading Deconstructing Another Castle: How the Damsel in Distress Trope Fails to Move Plots
Most recently I’ve written on PopMatters about a very, very, very, very troubling game called Expeditions Conquistador (PopMatters. Feb 18 2013) (it’s wonderfully designed, but more about why it’s so troubling is somewhere in the pipeline, I have a feeling I’ll be writing about that game for a while) and a more general article about … Continue reading Women are not Objectives
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