Monday, February 23, 2015

Gaming Round-Up: February 23, 2015

Video Games Are Blitzing the World

"Video Games Are Blitzing the World"
Time Magazine Cover from January 18, 1982


News: Fulham Broadway's Vue in London is to set to be transformed into the UK's first-ever esports arena next month.  The "Gfinity Arena" will accommodate some 600 spectators for an array of live competitions that will be streamed across the world.

News: The Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, New York, has announced details of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.  The objective of the initiative, much like other halls of fame from music to toys, is to "recognize individual electronic games of all types... that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted an influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general."  There are four criteria that games are measured against, for potential inclusion: icon status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence. You can put forward suggestions at the World Video Game Hall of Fame website.

Review: George Weidman enthuses over the Resident Evil REmake and analyzes what makes it such an excellent addition to the franchise.

99 Percent Invisible chronicles the demise of EA’s misbegotten Sims Online

I was surprised to discover that The Space's list of Games for people who don't play games is completely devoid of the classic titles that I usually consider to be "gateway games."  In a closely related article, the Guardian offers this helpful guide: How do I start playing video games? A beginner's guide.

If raiding guilds were actually honest: pretty sure I’ve run into this guild a few times.

In 2004, the EA Spouse controversy exposed a culture of unpaid overtime throughout the games industry.  Now the Guardian's Ian Williams looks back and asks has the games industry really stopped exploiting its workforce?

Leigh Harrison attempts to pin down what has made Far Cry 2 a classic

On Kill Screen, Will Partin explores Dragon Age’s post-racial (high) fantasy, delving into BioWare’s failure to engage with (human) race issues.

Paste's Austin Walker bemoans the lazy design behind horror game "sanity meters." Walker also looks at more recent titles like Darkest Dungeon to consider how they might offer a more sensitive representation of mental illness.

PBS Game/Show host Jamin Warren tackles the issue of race representation in games, arguing that people of color are still dramatically underrepresented in games and that the representation does exist often falls into stereotypes.

At Play the Past, Gilles Roy praises the strong Greek mythological aesthetic of Apotheon and the way it perfectly suits the title's gameplay.

Polygon takes a look at A game so hipster, even the player hasn't played it

PopMatters Moving Pixels wonders why death, such a mainstay of the Game of Thrones television show, is treated so inflexibly in Telltale’s video game adaptation.

Responding to a Kotaku roundtable on the shortcomings of black representation in games, Not Your Mama’s Gamer’s Samantha Blackmon reflects on her recent experience playing Life is Strange and how her experience as a black woman subconsciously inflected how she treated the game’s authority figures.

Robert Rath explores the difference between "realism" and "truth" in war games, then laments how little war games seem to have to say about warfare.

Sega has released a trailer for the forthcoming freemium Sonic mobile game, Sonic Runners, which has fans of the gaming icon begging Sega to put Sonic out of his misery.  The Guardian's Keith Stuart takes a look at the long, winding road that has brought the blue speedster to this sad point.

Vice's Mike Diver wonders What Can Be Done About Gaming’s Culture of Distrust?


1 comment:

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