[Originally posted on PopMatters] In light of the fast approach of the release of Anita Sarkesian’s “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games,” series, concern about sexism in video games is a sleepless dog ready to get back to barking soon. In recent years, there has been an increasing outcry against the sexual harassment that inundates the … Continue reading Searching for the Other Castle: Women As Objectives
[Originally posted on PopMatters] After naming and allocating the attributes of the protagonist in Expeditions Conquistador the player is greeted with the following paragraph that sets up the game: The year is 1518—a year before Hernán Cortés would be elected captain of the third expedition to the South American mainland, where he would overthrow the Aztec … Continue reading Review: Expeditions Conquistadors
Challenge is a very interesting and divisive feature of game design and criticism. As I’ve argued before in the last handful of months, I think that difficulty is a great way to make a player invested in the game’s events (“Challenge is Conflict: How Difficulty Makes Game Narratives Work.” Medium Difficulty. Nov 6 2012; “How Agnes Taught … Continue reading Further Thoughts on Challenge
[Originally posted on PopMatters] A former professor of mine once told me that for a story to be a story, it must consist of a character being changed by events. Stories may be layered and make use of a gamut of literary devices and tropes, but everything is built on the foundation of a character being … Continue reading Situation as Story: Games and Atmospheric Narrative
The video games I love most, I love for their stories. I studied Literature in university and I have worked at two different movie theaters. I’ve been an arts and entertainment journalist/critic for five years now and counting. I’ve previewed and reviewed novels, short story collections, poetry, albums, films, concerts, ballets, graphic novels, plays, concerts, … Continue reading The Case for Characters
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