It’s that time of the year again here at Critical Distance! We are opening the floodgates to reader submissions for our annual end of year feature, This Year In Video Game Blogging.
In addition to my own efforts and the work of our staff curators, we are asking you the community to help fill the gaps. In general, we are looking for pieces that will help outline 2014 as a year. This is a feature of reflection and, in the future, a starting point to give a general idea of what 2014 was all about. Below are a list of general guidelines of the type of things we are looking for to give anyone who may need it a starting point. The only hard rule we have for submission (other than our general content policy) is that any suggestions must be from this year, 2014.
Now for the guidelines.
1. Any piece of writing that just sticks out in your mind. Days, weeks, months later you remember this piece of writing. Pieces that get cited to this day are would fall under this category. Examples from previous years:
–The New Games Journalism by Kieron Gillen (2005)
–The Lester Bangs of Video Games by Chuck Klosterman (2006)
–Ludonarrative Dissonance by Clint Hocking (2007)
–Taxonomy of Gamers by Mitch Krapta (2008)
–Permanent Death by Ben Abraham (2009)
–Video games can never be art by Roger Ebert (2010)
–The Pratfall of Penny Arcade – A Timeline (aka Debacle Timeline) by Unknown (2011)
–Killing is Harmless: A Critical Reading of Spec Ops: The Line by Brendan Keogh (2012)
–Tropes vs. Women in Video Games by Anita Sarkeesian (2013 to present)
2. Any pieces that are an excellent example of larger trends surrounding the most talked about games of the year. Like from last year — BioShock Infinite, The Last of Us, Gone Home and so on. We want example pieces that highlight the discussion that took place around those games.
3. Any example pieces from the important voices and platforms (critics and sites) that stood out this year. These are the pieces that best highlight or represent the critics’ writing and work throughout the year.
4. Any pieces pertaining to gaming culture that highlight a conversation from this year. Large compilation pieces are preferred should they exist or pieces that otherwise capture the scope and variety of the conversation.
5. Any pieces that is simply an exceptional piece of meritorious writing about games.
6. Yes, you can nominate your own work.
Please email all links with “This Year in Videogame Blogging” in the subject line. DO NOT use Twitter for TYIVGB submissions. EMAIL ONLY.
Also, please keep emails brief. No long lists of 50 links with an essay praising each one. If you forget a link, go ahead and send another email.
The deadline for TYIVGB reader submissions is Midnight, December 24th Eastern Standard Time.
We thank you for your time and hope you have a happy December. My hair is going white already!