Category: Read
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Spider-Man Problems: NYPD, Break-Ups, and Triad Gangs
Spider-Man has had a such huge impact in the half a week its been out, its inspired pretty much every hot take going. Many of these have upset one side of the spectrum or the other. Quite a few have been ridiculous, like discussion over the World trade Centre Tribute or the absent Trump Tower. Others…
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Is Dead Cells’ Hero Secretly a Gamergater?
Upon its release into 1.0 last month, Motion Twin’s Dead Cells took the gaming world by storm, finding commercial and critical success. And what’s not to love? With satisfying hack-and-slash gameplay, a grimly colorful neon world and a compelling upgrade system, Dead Cells is a compulsively playable, aesthetically pleasing and accomplished “roguevania.” But, one thing…
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Our 5 Favourite Richard Nixon Gaming Memories
We all have our favourite Nixon themed Video Games. Developers have long embraced the one thing, no matter our political affiliation, we can all agree on – that Richard Nixon’s inclusion makes for a good game. The Republican President’s appearances help to break the liberal stronghold over gaming culture. We each have our favourite Nixon…
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Women in Gaming: Dona Bailey, Co-Creator of Centipede
Centipede is a classic arcade title in video game history, a critical hit for Atari that helped bring video games even further into the mainstream. But its female co-creator, Dona Bailey, isn’t talked about nearly as often. Before Atari Bailey picked up programming at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and as she told…
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Capitalism Eats Itself with The Simpsons Tapped Out Nostalgia Betrayal
Fans of The Simpsons are no strangers to the franchise developing in uncomfortable ways. The heavy drop off in quality leading to the current show is well analysed and documented. One side effect of The Simpsons going from sitcom to merchandise franchise, seems to have been the birth of the Tapped Out style game. It’s an example…
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Valve’s New Stance on Gamedev Trolls : Censorship, or Step Forward?
In a new blog post released on Steam, Valve have vowed to cut down the numbers of ‘troll’ games. This most likely refers to games such as Active Shooter, AKA Standoff, a school shooter simulator and one of the most controversial and downright distasteful games to ever be released. Free speech dictates that these developers…
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An Interview with Radical Leftist Dev Colestia
Colestia presents as a monolith. The profile picture that the Canberra-based dev uses for Twitter and Itch.io is a multifaceted stone pillar against a white background; imposing and mysterious. But, in reality, Colestia is just a dude. He’s a hard working one, though. A recent college graduate and Australian, David Cribb, the man-behind-the-monolith has spent the…
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Ninja Streaming With Only Male Gamers, Online Prejudice Or Societal Pressures?
While progress is slowly occurring in the gaming industry for inclusivity, women are still being disregarded or shunned away. Gaming has almost always has been an all-boys-club. From the dev teams who made the games to the players who played them, they are predominately male on both sides. When one of the most viewed streamers…
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What Video Games Teach us About Grief
Video games are an escape for many people from their daily lives. Anxiety, frustration, stress – all these can disappear if just for a moment when playing a great game. Grief is another emotion we often want to scrub away. The Complexities of Grief We are taught that grieving happens in stages. The Kubler-Ross model…
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The Best of the Worst Accents in Gaming History
Voice acting, like many aspects of a video game, can go horribly wrong. Since the days of PC adventure games right through to today’s big budget AAA games, developers have sometimes skimped on voice actors to save money. These are some of the most entertainingly terrible accents ever let out of the recording studio. Spoilers…
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Prepare to Die: Gaming with ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a common behavioural disorder that is often overlooked. It is usually noticed at a young age, between 6 and 12 years old. The symptoms come in two main categories, ‘inattentiveness’ and ‘hyperactivity and impulsiveness’. Inattentiveness includes symptoms such as having a short attention span, making careless mistakes, being…
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Publishers Need to Do More to Fight Gaming Disorder
Gaming Disorder has recently been recognised as a medical condition, and in many countries can now be treated as such. The news has had varied reactions. Most outlets just used it as an excuse to film some kids who play Fortnite a lot. Recognition of digital services as exploiting human tendencies for addiction has been…
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Fortnite is a Libertarian Fantasy
Fortnite. It’s the biggest game in the world right now, and a fitting analogy for Libertarianism; complete with its flaws and misinterpretation. As the latest development in the online shooter genre, Fortnite says more about the taste’s of those communities than most would admit. It reflects the development of toxic masculinity in these communities, while it’s…
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The Games of Radical Leftist Game Dev Colestia
Since their arrival on the indie scene in the summer of 2015, Australian developer, Colestia, has released a dozen short, free games to their Itch.io page. Sediment, a floating-and-digging sim with a pounding, leftist heart, debuted last week. We liked it quite a bit. So much so, in fact, that we decided to take a…
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Art as an Evocative Tool: A Talk with Lucah Developer melessthanthree
On Tuesday, August 21st, indie game developer melessthanthree released their new title, Lucah: Born of a Dream. A Kickstarter funded action-adventure game that combines the powerful aspects of storytelling, role-playing, and survival-horror, Lucah tells the story of the Marked Child, cursed to have their personal demons manifest as real demons wherever they go. Lucah must face…
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How to Fix Polly Bendleson’s Representation in HuniePop 2
In a recent video HuniePop 2 announced the addition of a character that had been asked for quite a bit. A trans girl named Polly Bendleson and I was excited at first. But over the course of the video they focused heavily on her genitals and how she has a penis. Shame on me for…