September 24th
Games critics are looking closely at messes at the moment – messes that are oddly beautiful, messes in which we get entangled through human relationships, as well as messes that threaten to engulf the...
View ArticleOctober 1st
Sometimes I get nostalgic for the era of “personal writing on games”, “confessional critical essays”, or “gonzo games journalism”. A few years ago, it seemed like the best way to start writing...
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August-September Roundup: Oceans
Ahoy! Don’t tell me you thought we weren’t going to make landfall. Ba ha ha! I’ve been around this sea as many times as I can force these analogies. As you’re no doubt aware, we’ve come upon another...
View ArticleOctober 2017: ‘Hospitality’
Greetings all to the spookiest month of the year. As much as we love horror, costumes, pumpkins and their associated spices, we decided we wanted to be a little more welcoming. This October, we invite...
View ArticleOctober 8th
What kind of futures can we imagine for game design and storytelling? This week, critics take on the contemporary context of games from a number of perspectives, thinking about how games make us feel,...
View ArticleOctober 15th
The big discussion of the week is loot boxes – also known as gacha mechanics – or, in-game microtransactions with randomised contents. A long-controversial aspect of free-to-play games, these items...
View ArticleEpisode 50 – PostMesmeric
http://www.critical-distance.com/podcast/Critical-Distance-Confab-episode-50.mp3 Direct Download This month on the Critical Distance Confab we welcome Alex Carlson from the YouTube channel...
View ArticleOctober 22nd
This week’s roundup is overshadowed by questions about what happens when we die, as well as what kind of work we do during our short time here. Take a moment for some quiet reflection as we look at...
View ArticleOctober 29th
This week we continue a look at industry and cultural practices in videogames while several authors offer critical approaches to their favourite games. Visual Essays Let’s start this week with a pair...
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Minisode 15 – Horror Games Mark II
http://www.critical-distance.com/podcast/Critical-Distance-Confab-minisode-15.mp3 Direct Download I’m not dead, the minisodes are back… back from the dead that is! It’s a spooky Critical Distance...
View ArticleNovember 5th
Resistance, systemic cruelty, and the role of individuals are major themes of writing this week. In addition, we’ve got great stuff on inclusivity and the history of game design, and some engaging...
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October Roundup: ‘Hospitality’
Come in, please, don’t worry about your shoes. Pardon the mess. I’m so glad you could make it. Me? I’ve been well, same old same old really. Well, I have been looking over some of articles for Blogs of...
View ArticleNovember 2017: ‘Collapse’
There is something about the tight nexus of holidays around this time of year that always feels a bit exhausting. Last month, we pondered the nature of Hospitality, a theme that’s also relevant with...
View ArticleNovember 12th
What can the most recent games learn from their own predecessors? And what kind of futures do games point us toward? Questions of past, present, and future pervade this week’s roundup of the most...
View ArticleEpisode 51 – Red Angel
http://www.critical-distance.com/podcast/Critical-Distance-Confab-episode-51.mp3 Direct Download This month on the Critical Distance Confab, Angelina Bonilla — better known as Red Angel — was kind...
View ArticleNovember 19th
This week’s critical writing on games sheds light on the different cultural contexts that influence how games are received – from the problems that arise when showing art games in commercial...
View ArticleNovember 26th
This week’s games criticism offers insights with implications that go far beyond game design, touching on how we imagine ourselves, our models of morality, and how we organize our arguments and...
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Minisode 16 – Milkmaids and Vikings
http://www.critical-distance.com/podcast/Critical-Distance-Confab-minisode-16.mp3 Direct Download This is the last minisode of the year for the Critical Distance Confab! We talk about two indie...
View ArticleDecember 3rd
It’s been a good week for analyses of how gender is portrayed in games, with critics looking closely at stories with female protagonists as well as critiquing toxic masculinity. It’s also been a...
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Now Accepting Submissions for TYIVGB 2017 Edition
Every year since 2010, I have put time aside to look back over the year and compile from the weekly roundups one final roundup: This Year In Video Game Blogging. This is not just a “best of list” list....
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