Don't Expect A Gay Video Game Star Any Time Soon
It's tough enough getting women and dudes who aren't white into a starring role in a video game. So imagine how impossible it is to try and get a gay or lesbian character in the spotlight.
Watch These People Swap Genders Using Virtual Reality
A lot of the most interesting applications of VR have less to do with gaming, and more to do with perceptions of self. What's it like to see outside of your own subjective experience of body and self?
Gaming's Greatest Unsung Heroine
It would be a real shame to forget about Cate Archer.
An RPG/Shooter/Puzzle Game. With Nazis & Drag Queen Flirting.
Dead Century is something...different. Set in the 1930s, with Nazi Germany on the rise and interested in all things occult, you control "a small team of archaeologists as they try to stay one step ahead of Third Reich scientists in piecing together an ancient mystery from the dawn of human civilization."
GTA V and Dead Island Called Out For Depiction of Women
When you look at the success of stuff like The Hunger Games, Gravity and Orange Is The New Black, it's safe to say this was a pretty good year for the depiction of women in media. Just the same, though, it hasn't all been peachy this year.
Where does the myth that only boys play video games come from? Polygon investigates in a fascinating report about video game history and the way games are marketed. Definitely worth a read! (Image via Polygon)
Designer Apologizes for Reply to Question About Oversexed Characters
The game director for Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming Heroes of the Storm has apologized for his treatment of a question about how characters are designed—specifically how multiplayer online battle arena games, of which Heroes is one, tend to hyper-sexualize female avatars.
New Anita Sarkeesian Video Looks At Gaming's 'Ms. Male' Trope
Feminist Frequency continues its 'Tropes vs Women in Games' series, this time spending some time analyzing female characters who are kind of copy and paste versions of the male lead—only with added stereotypical stuff like the color pink, bows, interest in shopping, amongst other things.
Yup, The Stuff In Games Can Hurt Men, Too
The unfortunate reality is that society has a certain impossible if not destructive ideal of masculinity that affects both men and women alike. PBS Game/Show here takes the time to talk about what some hurtful and problematic stereotypes video games present of men, and it's stuff that is definitely worth keeping in…
YouTube Reacts Hilariously To Video of Geeky Women
Last month, we wrote about a song that featured women who take issue with the idea of a "fake geek girl." Naturally, these women feel that they shouldn't have to prove their geek cred. Since that sentiment was expressed via YouTube video, people left comments—and these comments could sometimes be ridiculous.
Indie Games Are Full Of Helpless Women But Critic Finds Some To Praise
Feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian has good things to say about a bunch of games in the third part of her analysis of the rampant use of "damsels in distress" in video games. She spends a lot of this one checking in on how indie games and modders handle things.
These Women Are Lifelong Geeks With Nothing To Prove
Ah, the "fake geek girl." A label that's both needlessly parochial and wholly counterproductive, and yet still it's trotted out most every day.
Game Gets Gay Marriage, Because Kickstarter
Double Fine's strategy game Massive Chalice will let you get married, and make babies. But wait a minute. What if two dudes/ladies want to get married?
Artist Elizabeth Simins has completed the final chapter of her wonderful four-part series Manic Pixel Dream Girl, in which she takes a long look back at her life growing up as a girl who plays video games. I recommend reading the whole thing from the top, and you can read the final chapter on its own here.
New Anita Sarkeesian Video Calls Out Gaming's 'Women in Refrigerators'
Feminist Frequency blogger/video host Anita Sarkeesian is back with the second in her "Tropes vs. Women in Games" series, in which she analyzes sexist tropes in video games. The first video in the series looked back at the origins of the "Damsel in Distress" trope, focusing mostly on Nintendo games. The new video puts…
How A Poster Of A Sexy Dude Helped One Game Developer Make A Point
An employee at Hawken developer Meteor Entertainment had only one real gripe about her job: Their office featured a poster of a scantily-clad lady mechanic, and it bugged her to death. She says her boss, Meteor CEO Mark Long, loved the poster. She did not.
Aussie games writer Alanah Pearce spent a month cataloguing the sexist abuse she receives just for doing her job. Then published it. It's sad reading.
The Real Problem With That Controversial, Sexy Video Game Sorceress…
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article that criticized one of the characters in the upcoming game Dragon's Crown. Today, the man behind that character has responded to that article.
The fantastic #1ReasonToBe Game Developers Conference panel is now available to watch for free online. Brenda Romero, Robin Hunicke, Elizabeth Sampat, Mattie Brice, Leigh Alexander and Kim McAuliffe each shared stories of working as women in the video game industry in a galvanizing, often emotional panel that was…
If Video Games Are Going to Grow Up, Then the Bullying Needs to Stop
Disclaimer: I was a key creative in what is often considered one of the more "dudebro" franchises out there, Gears of War. I'd also like to remind everyone out there that I went out of my way in working with our team, the writers, and Epic's artists to make sure that female characters are represented well in that…