ok a nice post release write-up from the ‘Red Shirt’ developer Mitu Khandaker:
And to put the cat amongst the pigeons, something about Sex from Cara Ellison in a new series she will be covering at RPS. WARNING: THIS IS ABOUT SEX AND GAMES. Probably not work safe.
I completely understand both my own cultural (british) hang-ups about sex, and more importantly (maybe) a large swathe of americans (Christian) issues with sex, but i still find it completely absurd that hyper-violence is seemingly ok, encouraged even in the industry, but don’t even think about being able to kiss someone in a game you hear me! You want to get your game banned sir? etc. So it will be interesting to see how these articles develop imho.
‘Bleep’ Videogames. (This uses a rude word…a few times). To be read with the voice of stand up Denis Leary (i had to look him up, i had forgotten his name):
Thanks for sharing that. While I agreed with a lot of his points, it also made me realize my own interests have narrowed over the years. I used to get most of my intellectual escapism through books. But at some point it shifted to games, and after reading that I kept trying to map out where and when that shift took place.
But it also made me realize at least one major way in which he short-shifts games. He says scoffingly that games are supposedly better as a medium because of interactivity. But I realize now that it is more than just interactivity. One aspect that I just can’t get in the same way from other media is exploration. Exploring the Star Control 2 universe, for example gave me a sense of discovering the unknown that I’ve never gotten from a book, movie or TV show. About the closest that something has come on other media is TV shows like Star Trek or Stargate, where I got that sense that I had no idea what we would explore in a coming episode. But it still wasn’t the same as actually exploring a world like in Star Control 2, Skyrim, or others.
Yeah, that describes my relationship with games quite well also. Games are interactive, the key difference compared to book or film, but that doesn’t make pac-man more interesting than either of those other mediums. However those games as you mention that allow that pure sense of exploration, and through that a sense of wonder, probably i value more than most books or film? Even if that is not a complete blanket statement of truth ALL of the time, it is pretty much true. Interactivity is an important key in that preference, but it is more what that interactivity allows and the confines the games design hangs around it.
Ars is reporting that Microsoft - through Machinima - is paying their affiliate YouTube folks to speak positively of the Xbox One, show footage of Xbox One games, and they have to keep mum on the arrangement.
The arrangement as described might go against the FTC’s guidelines for the use of endorsements in advertising, which demand full disclosure when there is “a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement.”
IndieStatik’s CEO/founder, Josh Mattingly, started asking a female developer questions on Twitter about her studio’s next project. The problem? Read the tweets:
I want to be perfectly clear, I’m not using my brother as a scapegoat to give me cart blanche or excuse my behavior. I know that women in the industry have to deal with these sorts of things every day and I hate myself for adding to it. What I did was completely wrong and something that I, myself, take responsibility for. I only bring up my own depression and loss to try to find the root of my poor choices.
Generally, when scumbag assholes sexually harass women like this guy was doing, if the woman reacts negatively the situation escalates drastically with the harasser usually going on a tirade calling the woman a bitch and worse. She most likely wanted to avoid conflict and chose to not respond at all to the things being said.
She also said that she didn’t want to piss the guy off because he was a journalist who would be writing reviews and previews of the project she was working on and felt incredibly uncomfortable in the situation.
“Mr Host, Thanks for inviting me on your show, but I did not come along to be subjected to this kind of treatment and it’s not something I need to put up with, nor you should tolerate on your podcast. Goodbye.” /disconnect
I’m not saying that would have been easy, but she was not stuck in a room with them. I agree getting emotional and upset would have ended up in escalation, but she could easily have removed herself from the situation in a non confrontational way, even if it was just via the chat window. Problem is, now the fucktard responsible and the host of the podcast have probably learnt nothing.
