February 16th

Welcome back readers.

We’ve got a nice compact issue for this week. Think of it as a little CD snack (curator’s note: please do not attempt to snack on CDs. They’re quite jagged, probably made with toxic chemicals, and above all, inedible).

Also, don’t forget our Patreon! We’d really appreciate having enough of a cushion to grow our operation and sock a little bit of money away for a rainy day (or a snowy day. Where I live, winter is back, folks).

This Week in Videogame Blogging is a roundup highlighting the most important critical writing on games from the past seven days.

Developing Stories

Our opening section this week is all about game dev, be it mission statements, jam debriefs, or interviews with creators.

• How Global Game Jam unites Tokyo’s international development scene | scrmbl
  Alicia Haddick reports back from one of dev culture’s finest community rituals (Further Reading: Alicia Haddick’s own words on the Global Game Jam from last year!).
• Wool, clay, and elbow grease: bringing stop-motion games to life | The Verge
  Diego Nicolás Argüello talks to developers with a more material approach to the craft (Further Reading: Stephanie Harkin on textile crafts, games, and storytelling).
• A Sportslike Manifesto | Grapefruit Games
  The devs at Grapefruit Games go out of bounds in the genre to find a new approach to sports and sportspeople (Further Reading: Cat Manning on Blaseball).

“You don’t have to recreate an entire sport. Only make what you need to think. Sometimes what you need is none. Or sometimes you need a whole new sport.”

On Deck

Here are a couple of recent plays from frequently-featured writers.

• Baku Touhou Gensokyo Detonate on Sound (Trial Edition): Bomb the bullet | Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster
  Kimimi has a great time with a (checks notes) doujin Bomberman-like demo disc???
• of the Devil – Episode 1 Review – Gamesline
  Rose checks in on a cyberpunk mystery that commits to its speculative worldbuilding.

“When of the Devil talks about a concept, like laws that exist to anonymize the wealthy, or even something as simple as the fight for right to repair continuing unsuccessfully, they’re contextualized in events, in slopes and time. These aren’t bits created just to demonstrate capitalism’s chokehold in a vacuum, they’re given excuses, the same way it’s happened since time immemorial, and continues to happen right now.”

Cultural Production

Now let’s look at intersections of games and culture, including gaming culture, industry culture, and language culture.

• Language Roots | Unwinnable
  Jay Castello breaks down how Chants of Sennaar‘s language and cultural relations are deeply informed by real world sociolinguistics (Further Reading: Jeremy Signor on translinguistic community in Chants of Sennaar).
• What does it actually mean for a video game to be “horny”? | AV Club
  Grace Benfell surveys popular games and finds mostly incomplete treatments of sex and sexuality in an industry caught between binary attitudes (Further Reading: The Adult Analysis Anthology – I’ve linked the store landing page for the complete volumes but individual Cohost posts can also be found in our archives).
• Lay Down Your Sword, There’s Nothing to Fight Here | Inner Spiral
  Alli cuts through gaming’s culture of apathetic cynicism.

“Gaming isn’t broken. The way people engage with it is, but that can change. You just have to be willing to let go of the safety net of cynicism. You have to be willing to care. Because, in the end, that’s the real rebellion. Caring when the world wants you to be in perpetual fear.”

Critical Chaser

Somebody pass Saulden a blunt. And maybe a hug.

• Best Smoke Spots in Gaming | Backloggd
  Thank u LordDarias.

“Majula, specifically the little terrace on the second floor of the mansion, you need to get the key from Cale but its worth it for the view. Chillin with some friends or by yourself, listening to the music and eternal sunset of the place, its just peaceful and nice enough to mellow out”