Search Results for “bodies” – Page 10

November 25th

…video game conceit and as an embodied concept, and studies how What Remains of Edith Finch moves thoughtfully past that divide (content notification: references to suicide).

“In What Remains, the escapism is representative of the allure of romanticising death, but the commentary of the game acknowledges that escapism for what it is, reminding us that fetishising death is us stepping away from reality instead of engaging it.”

Body Paragraphs

There was lots of great writing this week about bodies of all kinds: how they are included, excluded, policed, queered, and more in games. These

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December 23rd

…intimate, familiar terms used by synthetics to describe their own bodies.”

Play by Feel

Three powerful articles this week examine how games make sense of messy human feelings–and how we use them to make sense of our own.

World of Warcraft is my home from home at Christmas • Eurogamer.net Jennifer Allen reflects on WoW as a comfort against a tide of change and holiday stress.
*Mute and Suicide – ZEAL – Medium Sinclair August talks through autonomy and suicide via the work of Christine Love (content notification: suicide).
Florence finds emotional power…

…feels strong, and I play it, without trying to calculate everything. And then I look at the post-game evaluation, and the computer tells me that yes, that was a strong move. And I feel happy, and my day goes on.”

Bodies of Work

Different players with different embodied experiences are always going to bring new and inspired critical perspectives to games. The more perspectives we read, the more complete a critical picture of a game becomes. This is why reading diversely is so important! This week’s three selections highlight embodied perspectives situated in trans identity, body diversity,…

June 16th

…parts, makes for a stronger whole.”

Seedy Projects

Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the Big Games at E3 this year, and given CD Projekt’s troubled history with trans issues, lots of players are understandably concerned about how the final game will represent trans characters and trans bodies. That being said, what the company says and does in the present matters just as much, and two authors this week have a lot to say about some of the current promotional material for the game.

Transphobic Ad in ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Represents Cyberpunk at Its Worst | Daily…

August 4th

…to what extent has public discourse kept pace, or failed to keep pace? Further, what kinds of queer identification can we uncover in yesterday’s games? Two authors this week unpack these questions.

Gaming’s Fickle Relationship With Porn Is Holding Back Adult Content | Daily Dot Ana Valens interrogates a disconnect between the upswing in the production and availability of porn games and a lack of corresponding coverage from gaming media, and profiles some of the web-spaces presently filling the gap.
Transforming Bodies | Unwinnable Jeremy Signor reflects on antropomorphization, transformation, and queer kinship in retro games and

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August 11th

…discusses how Fire Emblem has (slowly) expanded the number of its queer romance options without actually making space for them.

One of Judgment’s Biggest Enemies is Male Entitlement | Videodame Aimee Hart positions Judgment as a mostly-well-intentioned game that nonetheless fails to address its own privilege.

“While Yagami is a fantastic character who often goes out of his way to protect the women in Judgment, the lack of female voice to take control of the conversation about harassment and entitlement to women’s bodies was one of the most uncomfortable aspects of the game.”

Storied…

September 29th

…nonconforming people can and do use sleeves, too, although it’s unclear if the Virtual Mate was even tested on trans users. The entire Virtual Mate intimacy system prioritizes straight cisgender men’s desires, with the “female-user version” mentioned as an afterthought “in development.” The system assumes cis men and cis women’s bodies are default, and it prioritizes cis men’s desires over any other gender.”

Social Studies

Two rad authors this week examine the relationship-building experiences in and around games.

Laura K Plays 14: Digimon World/Partnership – ZEAL – Medium Laura Knetzger reflects on the lessons and…

November 17th

…where the physical presence of objects is more than a number we have to worry about getting too high (though it is also that). Why is that so important? Because Death Stranding is also about the strain the world places on our bodies.”

Cut, Scene

A pair of really interesting articles this week zero in on games as they are understood not firsthand, but through the lens of cinema and film.

HBO’s Watchmen Is Better At Lore Than Most Games | Kotaku Joshua Rivera positions the new series’ revelatory approach to discuss some of the…

February 16th

…dehumanizing trauma-to-antagonist pipeline.

“When there’s nothing left about their bodies or minds to burn away, they get tossed, their usefulness spent. There’s no ending where their anger catches up to them, or they are granted redemptions, because they are never given enough time or sympathy for this to happen. At best they will be recycled for Heroes of the Storm, doomed to live in the purgatory that is a MOBA.”

Critical Chaser

Finally–an article with a little something to antagonize everybody.

What Your Least Favorite Final Fantasy Says About You | Kotaku…

April 12th

…back.

Sim Games Do Not Make Me Feel Good About My Gender – Uppercut Caitlin Galiz-Rowe documents how opening up the customization options only gets you so far when all the choices draw from the pool of the gender binary.

Why Final Fantasy VII’s Trans Story Resonates – Uppercut Grace Benfell looks beyond the surface, beyond the dress, at what Final Fantasy VII actually has to say about identity transformation.

“Cisnormative culture wants both trans and cis people to believe that their bodies are not their own, that every person must conform to the whims…