"Where is all the good writing about games?"
How can interactive systems subvert the way we normally think things are supposed to be done? This week’s roundup features a number of articles on designing games for different ways of being, as well as examinations of how visual design can make…
This week, critics discussed topics such as trans representation and the politics of the undead in horror and strategy games. This week’s roundup starts, however, with writers bearing witness to excellent visual artists. Image The passing of a celebrated artist prompts some…
Critics enumerate videogames’ hyper-quantified powers, whisper their unspeakable horrors, and dig through the catacombs of their less-known histories. This roundup brings you the week’s most insightful and original writing on games from around the web. Overcoming demons First, a quick look at…
Games history went off the beaten track this week, with pieces of writing and video on alternative and even unsanctioned aspects of the medium’s heritage. Meanwhile, genre-bending analyses and challenging calls for better artistic dialogue abound, as writers unpick the critical issues…
This week brings us a bunch of pieces of great critical writing on games, that put the medium into conversation with philosophy, history, and spirituality. First, this roundup starts with some reflections on old technologies seen in a new light. A new…
This week’s critical writing on games sheds light on the different cultural contexts that influence how games are received – from the problems that arise when showing art games in commercial environments, to how we can process our painful history through interactive…
Sometimes I get nostalgic for the era of “personal writing on games”, “confessional critical essays”, or “gonzo games journalism”. A few years ago, it seemed like the best way to start writing critically about games was to tell personal stories about how…
A critical game, a video essay with limited narration, and in-depth interview pieces – this was a week of experimentation in games criticism, and this week’s roundup is all the richer for it. Burning We start with two pieces of criticism that…
From the question of what’s wrong with games criticism, to critical writing on games that ask what’s wrong with us, this week brings us a bumper crop of original, inventive work. It’s not easy to keep up with it all, but we…
People often say that games give us a chance to try out being somebody else. But I think a great strength of this week’s writing was the pieces challenging us to be more aware of who we already are. Appropriation This week…