Misogyny, Sexism, And Why RPS Isn’t Shutting Up
rockpapershotgun.comReasons why I’m writing this? Because I care about it. Because I am a part of it. And because it damned well matters. Reasons that aren’t why I’m writing this? A need to get laid, a desire to be liked by women, because I think women need me to defend them, and to win the approval of others.
Estimated reading time: 17 min
Dishonored Dev Joe Houston On Violence In Games
rockpapershotgun.comA moral code in a game, oftentimes encoded unintentionally by its designers, is unavoidable. And when a game becomes more effective at evoking emotion (due to player choice), it also gains a higher level of social responsibility. It is a double edged sword, and one that must be wielded with care.
Estimated reading time: 7 min
Valve On Steam Greenlight’s Failings, Fixing Them
rockpapershotgun.comWe consciously designed Greenlight to not be a self-reinforcing cycle of the top games getting votes because they’re in the top,” explained Kroll. “There was initially this big confusion over why there’s no top-rated list. Well, for exactly that reason. We don’t want a few people to overly influence the system by being early voters and getting things to the top. We don’t want something getting voted up because everyone’s piling on it.
Estimated reading time: 6 min
Wot I Think: Katawa Shoujo
rockpapershotgun.comThat it exists says so much about games as a medium of cultural expression that it doesn’t even really matter to me if the game is “good”. The internet made, lovingly, a game about romance with disabled girls. That’s so weird; that’s so wonderful.
Estimated reading time: 8 min
Photorealism And The Confusing Myths Of Innovation
rockpapershotgun.comHe’s saying that the technology will open up the emotive space. He’s spectacularly wrong, of course – blinkered like a man whose only exposure to human culture is HD Hollywood movies – because there’s nothing photorealistic about half the animated movies that can readily make you cry, and a long history of highly emotive written words have no “graphics” at all. Fidelity has nothing to do with emotional affect.
Estimated reading time: 5 min
The Kickstarter Successes: Where Are They Now?
rockpapershotgun.comGiving themselves nine months didn’t seem very realistic at the time. A few months back they acknowledged it would be in May or June 2013. I’d be astonished if they met that too, based on the Horace Principle, which states: “Any release date that includes more than one potential month isn’t going to be hit”.
Estimated reading time: 14 min
Dear Videogames, Stop Telling Me Everything
rockpapershotgun.comNow, the gaming industry’s afraid of adding subtle curves to the yarns it spins for fear of alienating the lowest common denominator. But here’s a secret: everyone in the entire world likes feeling smart. Conversely, no one enjoys being treated like they’re stupid. And most people have a pretty good sense of when they’re being talked down to. You fucking lackwit.
Estimated reading time: 6 min
Why Aren’t We Discussing Videogame Violence?
rockpapershotgun.comBut I know why we’re not discussing it. That’s the easy part. It’s because that’s the sort of thing the enemy talks about. “Videogames cause violence,” they hoot and holler, pitchforks aloft atop their dusty dinosaur steeds. “The medium just belches out puerile filth that teaches our children how to kill. All games should be banned forever. Period end.”
Estimated reading time: 5 min
Far Cry 3′s Jeffrey Yohalem On Racism, Torture And Satire
rockpapershotgun.comThe sex scene [at the midpoint] – first Jason is shooting at that gigantic monster. He kills the monster, and it jump-cuts to him orgasming with Citra! He’s firing sperm at this gigantic monster, and then suddenly he’s on this alter with Citra, having sex with her, and then he thinks he’s the leader of the tribe and makes the big speech, and it’s his power fantasy!
Estimated reading time: 32 min
Trendspotting: How Gaming’s Changing In 2012 (Sez I)
rockpapershotgun.comA confusing year. A busy year. A year full of controversies. A year with a whole lot more still to come. Most of all, I think, a year of a hope – big baby steps towards a brighter future for games.
Estimated reading time: 13 min
Beyond Minecraft: Notch On Fame, Pressure, Sequels
rockpapershotgun.comGamers are very good at getting excited about things when there’s not very much to be excited about. I do that. I’m excited about Half-Life 3, which is never going to be released [laughs]. But I’m still excited about it.
Estimated reading time: 10 min
Happy Feat: Steam Linux Progressing Well
rockpapershotgun.comSome mornings I expect to wake up and find proof all over the internet that Valve’s headquarters are a Willy Wonka-esque world of wall-licking wonder or, more believably, that they are relocating to the moon.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Wait, Why’s Pirate Bay Promoting An Indie Game?
rockpapershotgun.comWhen browsing around Reddit one day, I noticed a thread about a Polish dude promoting the torrenting of his own game. So I threw him an email asking if he’d seen our Promo Bay idea and if he’d like to apply. He said hell yeah and that was it.
Estimated reading time: 8 min
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