As part of my videogame analysis and criticism course, this week’s readings focused on violence, racism, and sex in video games. Two of the readings, which focus on violence and sex, were mostly from the mouths of game developers; they can be found here. Although these three issues are clearly contentious and controversial in gaming – from all perspectives, including that of the player, creator, and parent of the player – none of the readings, and indeed almost none of the readings I’ve done in this field, actually relate to how these games view women. Predominantly, I’m finding, as sexual objects, often devoid of the personality found in their male counterparts in the same game.
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Cross-posted from a Videogame Analysis & Criticism class piece.
I’m of the opinion that, if we’re going to use a scoring method for game reviews, then there should be some level of consistency among them. Whether this consistency occurs in the writings of an individual over the course of several pieces, or if it’s adopted by a group of us is something that I think is up to individual consideration. So then, some thoughts:
Introductory post for class – gone as soon as credit is received.
Here are some things that I want to explore over the semester:
1: Can narrative be an actual game mechanic? 1a: how, exactly, is a game mechanic defined? Is this a flexible or rigid definition, or has it even been solidly established yet?