Author: Celia Lewis
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Gone Home: A Four Year Retrospective
I never find myself at home in the horror genre; in fact, I actively stay away from it. Game trailers embroiled with slinky, dark hallways, creepy attics and clues found behind barely open doors are all pointers for me to stay the hell away. So, naturally, I was a bit amiss when I found that…
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Accessibility, Awareness and Streaming: An Interview with DeafGamersTV Founder Chris Robinson
Chris (Phoenix) Robinson, known to many under his Twitch.TV alias, DeafGamersTV, is a deaf gamer from Chicago and a passionate advocate for greater accessibility in games. Currently, he is spending his time streaming games on Twitch, tweeting about deaf awareness, and promoting accessibility within game development and the greater gaming community. Today he joins us…
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Nier: Automata’s Refreshing Take on Gender
Sci-fi and fantasy have long explored topics related to the borders of consciousness, of technological beings that almost breach the threshold of humanity. These genres beg of us to ask: what makes us human? What is the purpose of life? These are the riveting philosophical questions at the heart of Nier: Automata. These aren’t the…
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Regarding GamerGate Victim Brianna Wu’s Congressional Campaign
After seeing the results of the 2016 presidential election, Brianna Wu had a decision to make: how was she going to make sure the culture of misogyny and online bullying saw a societal, cultural, and political defeat? Her answer: run for congress. Brianna Wu is no stranger to a good fight, whether that be a…
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Everyday Life in A Cyberpunk Dystopia
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a drunk, psychedelic dream. It presents a vision of a different era: dark and dazed, equal parts criminal and cozy. VA-11 HALL-A puts you in the shoes of a lowly bartender at the grimiest bar in downtown Glitch City. Despite the circumstances, your bar attracts quite the crowds: big…
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Dropsy: The Game About Kindness That We Need Right Now
Dropsy opens to the scene of a lit cigarette falling on a trail of oil; it catches fire, and a circus burns. The sole survivor, Dropsy the Clown, with his three yellowed teeth and unsettling countenance, is naturally blamed. Bumbling around the town after the incident, Dropsy faces a variety of civilians. Each of them…
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The eSports Glass Ceiling
In the realm of competitive gaming, every woman is the odd one out. Indeed, a female face is a rare sight beyond the audience’s silhouette. While presenters and analysts are getting steadily more diverse, the eSports scene remains at a loss on how to get women on the real playing field, or, in some spaces,…
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Diversity Done Right With Different Games Collective
Emblazoned in a box on their home page, Different Games Collective proudly asserts its message: their goal isn’t to please the grand, monolithic ‘gaming audience’, it’s to “[create] community resources and events to support marginalized voices in DIY and independent games.” Strangely enough, sometimes it really is as simple as that. The Collective’s most recent…
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Could Be Worse I Guess: A Lara Croft Playlist
The Tomb Raider Reboot was not kind to Lara Croft. Scarred both mentally and physically, the adventurous young woman was hardened in a way only people who’ve been trapped with a murderous cult on a virtually inescapable island can understand. I like to think that along with about 3 pairs of pants and a lifetime…
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Danielle Bunten Berry: The Unsung Herald of Multiplayer Games
Finger pressing hard on the D-Pad, your character sprints upwards and towards the finishing line. Below you, money trickles out of your savings as you watch your competitors scurry to outbid you in time. As the clock hits zero, a trumpet plays, and the sale is final. You won the auction. M.U.L.E. was a formative…
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League Of Legends Has A Power Fantasy Problem
If you’ve ever played League of Legends. Scrap that, if you’ve ever even heard of League of Legends, you’ve probably heard the discussion surrounding the objectification of its female characters. Tight shorts, midriff, a complete lack of body armor: these are some of the infamous hallmarks of League’s female cast. This discussion obviously isn’t exclusive…