"Where is all the good writing about games?"
Hello and happy spring to all you lovely readers of Critical Distance. For those keeping score at home, I’ve been a touch discombobulated in the last few months, or as I like to describe myself: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” In any case, I am thankful…
There’s a little event called E3 going on this week, and with it comes plenty of new games and rapid-fire discourse. Yet we stand firm in our mission to curate the internet’s most intriguing critical writing and challenging media. This week you’ll…
I feel like the world asked a lot of us this past month. Responsibilities come in all sorts, and sometimes they can catch us when we’re least prepared for them. All the same, we soldier on as best we can. This past…
This week we take a look at how we shape our personal worlds, and how games are shaped by us. Not just from a design standpoint, but by the way we explore our worlds and how that world informs the games we…
How can game creators design for specific flavours of fear? This question is a big theme of writing this week, in what has turned out to be a particularly good selection of critical writing on games. I’m excited to hit “publish” on this…
Worried about the future? Pull up a chair! This week features writing on fear and the economy in games such as Night in the Woods and Prey. The thrill of reaching an audience The Personal-Essay Boom Is Over – The New Yorker…
Direct Download With this interview, we move away from YouTube and delve into independent film, to talk with Philip Jones, the director of the 2015 documentary Gaming in Color. The documentary started with an intent to focus on the then-new Gaymer X…
I’m currently researching a literature review for my Computer Games Design Course, looking at trans representation in media[…] I was hoping you could give me some advice on possible academic texts or writings I can use within my dissertation. Thanks so much…
Sound, size, and space are all discussed this week as critics work out what makes games affect us more deeply. Speaking First, an investigative piece about paying people to chat and play with you, and then a reflection on the voices of…
On your own in an unfamiliar place, where nothing is real, and powerful structures overshadow everything? Games critics this week venture out alone. Technical limitations Narrative-focused games are encouraging increasingly nuanced analyses of inaction, peace, and pacing. Gamasutra: M. Joshua Cauller’s Blog –…