Weekly 5 – 4/12/13

Hi Ho, here’s another selection of Weekly 5 links from across the interwebs.

1. Bioshock Infinite Critique – Philip

Leigh Alexander wrote an excellent critique of Bioshock Infinite. It is a great example of what we might call “New Games Criticism” and it is really well written. She even compares the game to the famous “Carousel of Progress” at Disney World — definitely go give it a read.

2. QUILTBAG Jam Games – Todd

Last week the lab hosted the QUILTBAG Jam. You can read about the jam here, but more importantly, follow the link above and play the games. There’s some awesome stuff that came out of the event, so you should definitely take some time to go check the games out.

 3. Anna Anthropy and the Twine Revolution – Rik

Guardian profile of Anna Anthropy and her work in evangelizing diversity and inclusion in video games by making the development of video games more open and accessible. Here’s a quote from the article:

…if you can write a story, you can make a Twine game. A lot of people have been making all this weird amazing stuff. Someone made a Twine game, In Memoriam, for his dead brother. Someone made a Twine game about what it’s like to come out as bi in a lesbian community and be re-closeted. Someone made a game about what it’s like to sacrifice to the devil and receive a strange new pneumatic body with which you take over the world. Twine is this amazing queer and woman-orientated game-making community that didn’t even exist a year ago.

 4. Metacritic Impact – Drew

Here’s a good story on Kotaku about the very real, material impact Metacritic aggregated scores can have on game studios and employees. It’s an important reminder to pay close attention to how we establish the value of things. Here’s a quote:

for years now, video game publishers have been using Metacritic as a tool to negotiate with developers. And for years now, observers have been criticizing the practice. But it still happens.

Misogyny in Games Culture – Owen

Reflecting on recent overtly and covertly sexist content in the gaming and tech media, as well as the #1ReasonToBe panel and Anita Sarkeesian’s talk “Equality, or GTFO” at GDC, John Walker discusses the importance of speaking up against misogyny, particularly as an ally, and identifies common tactics used on online forums to derail discussion of sexism.