Video Game Discussion – Persona 5 tackles Misogyny in a Remarkable Way

Image taken from themeraider.com

More than simply a game about youthful rebellion, Persona 5 encourages players to interrogate the social structures keeping abusive people in power, while also challenging their tendency to make fallacious judgments based on ignorance and internalized biases. The game took particular aim at sexism, detailing how societal expectations for women often force them into dangerous circumstances. At the same time, misconceptions about their personality or physical appearance end up enabling their abusers. It was a (sadly) bold statement to make in a male-dominated medium, so I wanted to broadcast my appreciation for its presence in the culture.

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Video Games Discussion – Video Games Cause Violence (2018): Trump’d

Now obviously, video games do not cause the kinds of epidemic level mass shooter violence that you read about in the news, but prominent Republican politicians are dragging that fossil of an argument back out from the dirt, and the President of the United States is listening. The research on this dubious link is both nuanced and far from conclusive, but what has produced results still cannot bridge the gap between Call of Duty fan and spree killer.

Here I was thinking that the center-right, GamerGate crowd would have to reconcile their support for a President more willing to protect the NRA than their hobby, but this is no such reality. Turns out, many gamers have turned their accusatory gaze back toward left-leaning publications. If a website has written an article about how badly women are treated in games, you bet there will be accusations that they are the ones banning video games, and not the actual politicians. Go figure. I offer my thoughts on the whole issue, and try to articulate exactly how little patience I have for these trivial takes.

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Video Game Discussion – Loot Boxes are Terrible

The hottest new method for AAA games to monetize their products is, predictably, a load of nasty garbage. It forces players to make a psychological wager against the amount of fun they have, should they want to pay only the base price for a game. It’s pure greed at the cost of a hassle free gaming experience. Sometimes they are worse than others, but the whole idea is founded on a drive to rob the consumer of all their money without having to substantially earn it. I go into serious detail in this article.

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TV Discussion – What Jason Mamoa’s Comments Confirmed about Game of Thrones

In this critical Game of Thrones article, I suggest that Jason Mamoa might not have made insensitive comments about rape if the show actually took the topic seriously. I am not looking to drag this man’s name through the mud (not that he wouldn’t deserve it), but I want to back up and see how the culture on set would lead him to make a comment like that. After, when it comes to talking about rape, this adult television series gets outpaced by children’s shows like Steven Universe.

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Video Game Discussion – The Superficial Sexuality of 2B

If Nier: Automata is going to be remember for one thing, it’ll probably be 2B. Mostly because the pornographic community has really latched onto her. That made me wonder. With her sexualization being such a resonant part of the game, it was strange that the game had nothing to say about it. For a title that tried so hard to be philosophical and deep, the discussion fell uncharacteristically short with this iconic android.

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Video Game Discussion – Cuphead: Fan Toxicity at the Intersection of Hype, Identity, and Fear

Since there is not going to be a PS4 release of Cuphead any time soon, I’m stuck writing about the crappy fanbase looking to make targets out of everyone refusing to present this game a red carpet with their tongues. And that’s before we get to the implication that such anger is meant to drive women and people of color out of “game journalism.”

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Television Discussion – How to Stay Relevant when you do not watch Game of Thrones

Avoiding Game of Thrones is something of a Sisyphean task in 2017. No matter where you go, friends and media outlets really seem to love this show. For those non-watchers out there, getting a word in edge-wise can be tough. I wrote this guide on how to effectively manage Game of Thrones’ cultural ubiquity.

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Video Game Discussion – Defending *that* IGN review; or, 7.8/10 Too Much Meme

For all of the contentious things I have said in my life, I would not be surprised if this was up there. Almost three years have passed, and gamers still bring this review up either ironically or with serious concerns that “game journalists” are corrupt. I envy the small concerns of small people…

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Double Feature: John Wick review & Stuck Wondering if Far Cry 5 can handle its Subject Material

John Wick review – The movie is lean and so is my description. Slick action movie that should not be missed.

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Stuck Wondering if Far Cry 5 can handle its Subject Material – Good on Ubisoft for trying to be legitimately bold in a way that they have not been in years, but good writing and game design is not like riding a bike. They forgot how to be brilliant; can they bring it back?

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