Image Caption: Shriek (left) looms threateningly over Ku (right) as the two owls gaze at each other. It is night time, with the moon being obscured by clouds, the sky eerie indigo. Ku is standing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. By Patricia Baxter Content Warnings: The following article examines and discusses various … Continue reading Ori & Ableism by @Swirly313
Slaying nature
By Tauriq Moosa Monster Hunter: World (MHW) is a game about killing indigenous creatures and conquering foreign lands, to mine and harvest resources for personal gain and glory. Considering the history of my and other African countries is the history of colonialism, I would’ve recognised such attitudes even as a child. It’s easy to miss … Continue reading Slaying nature
Why Game Dads Matter
By Tauriq Moosa Male power fantasies have long focused on bulking up men, whether physically, or intellectually, and using their powers to defeat their enemies. Whether it’s a Stallone or a McClane, a Sherlock or a Dr House, portrayals of men in media has focused on providing them seeming immunity, due to some extraordinary quality … Continue reading Why Game Dads Matter
The Violent Banality of E3 & the Need for Better – @tauriqmoosa
I rejoiced at many of the announcement of upcoming games at E3 2017. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus provides more opportunity to delve into the unbelievably brilliant world created by MachineGames; a new Assassin’s Creed, where you play a man of colour, in ancient Egypt looks like Ubisoft benefited from a year off the franchise. … Continue reading The Violent Banality of E3 & the Need for Better – @tauriqmoosa
Finding Religion in the Mass Effect’s Companions – Elijah Beahm
Religion is something of a sensitive spot for the games industry. When it first got started, conservative groups swore it would poison their children’s minds with games like Doom with all its hellish imagery and Dungeons & Dragons with it “teaching magic”. The irony that D&D was originally designed by a Christian man was, sadly, … Continue reading Finding Religion in the Mass Effect’s Companions – Elijah Beahm
Why I stopped Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda ~ @tauriqmoosa
Why I Stopped Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda by Tauriq Moosa *spoilers for original Mass Effect trilogy, not Andromeda* Mass Effect is one of the most important fictional franchises for me. It originally tackled major themes of hopelessness against destructive forces infinitely powerful; it focused a great deal on the various meanings of love and friendship … Continue reading Why I stopped Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda ~ @tauriqmoosa
I Am Not an NPC: Gaming While Autistic
By: Patricia C. Baxter As an autistic woman, video games hold significant importance to me as they provide a medium for entertainment, storytelling, and gameplay, as well as way to unwind from the stresses of “real life.” Unfortunately video games, like most media, have very limited representations of people on the autistic spectrum. The characters … Continue reading I Am Not an NPC: Gaming While Autistic
The Normality Problem
By Matt Sayer What is 'normal'? Philosophers have grappled with this question for centuries, seeking to establish a set of archetypal human characteristics that represent the baseline of our species. Despite their best efforts, though, the concept resists codification. Is normal the mean, the average, the mathematical derivative of the grand sum of human life? … Continue reading The Normality Problem
Learning Self Care from The Sims
by W. L. Bolm When I was 19 or 20, I bought The Sims. I was in a bad marriage and hundreds of miles away from any family; the game was a way for me to escape for hours into a digital universe where I could build mansions and lead fictional characters through their lives, … Continue reading Learning Self Care from The Sims
Fallout 4 Review – Caelyn Ellis
by: Caelyn Ellis for I Need Diverse Games November 18, 2015 It's easy to be disappointed by the outrageous heteronormativity of Fallout 4's first hour. The, admittedly excellent, character generation takes the form of a het couple taking turns in front of the bathroom mirror. The man is in the army, the woman a lawyer … Continue reading Fallout 4 Review – Caelyn Ellis
I Need Diverse Games 