It’s December once again, which means we are opening the floor to recommendations for our annual end of year feature, This Year In Video Game Blogging.
In addition to my own efforts, sublimated this year by a select curators on staff, we are asking for your help. A year is a long time and we need the community to help fill the gaps. The general scope of what we are looking for are pieces that will help outline the character of 2015 in the critical sphere. This is a feature of reflection and, for those in the future looking back, a starting point to get a feel of what 2015 was all about. This is not a “best of” list, or at least not just a “best of” list. 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, 2015.
Now for the guidelines.
1. Any piece of writing that just remains memorable. Days, weeks, months later you remember this piece of writing. They are pieces that get cited to this day, even years later, 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)
–‘Gamers’ don’t have to be your audience. ‘Gamers’ are over. by Leigh Alexander (2014)
2. Any piece that is an excellent example of larger trends surrounding the most talked about games of the year. Like from last year — Shadow of Mordor, Alien: Isolation, P.T. and so on. We want example pieces that highlight the discussion around those games.
3. Any example piece from 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 for complicated affairs 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. They will be lost and/or ignored. 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. In addition, (and I can’t believe I have to specify this) please leave the links as URLs, no getting fancy by making them hypertext. All that does is make more work for me. I need to be able to identify the links at a glance.
The deadline for TYIVGB reader submissions is Midnight, December 22nd Eastern Standard Time.
We thank you for your time and hope you have a happy December. May my panic attack be short and of low intensity.