Relevant Roundup #3

Cyberpunk 2077 comes under scrutiny

After a poor launch with refunds being offered for digital copies and accusations of transmisia in the game, Cyberpunk 2077 has been one of the biggest disappointments of the year, for anyone who actually believed the hype. Things have gone from bad to worse in recent days, as management were asked how they thought they could make a game on exploitative capitalist practises when they forced their workers to crunch to get the game out by its (third) deadline.

TMNT and Radiophobia

‘Heroes with a Half Life: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and American Repression of Radiophobia after Chernobyl’ by Nicky Falkof is an interesting article on how well the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle TV series tackles the fears of mutations and radiation contamination.

Who owns Commander Shepard?

This 53 minute video (with closed captions) examines just how much freedom the player has to mould Commander Shepard throughout the original trilogy. There is focus on how the narrative and RPG mechanics shift between the games, and what compromises had to be made.

Designing Garrus

In this eight minute video, Derek Watts, the art director for Mass Effect 3, talks about the process of designing Garrus and the struggles the team faced when trying to figure out how to represent female turians.

Final Fantasy VII and just what was going on with those experiments

X-Soldier breaks down just how much attention was paid to detail the incredible creatures of the Final Fantasy VII remake. This essays pays particular attention to the development that has taken place from the original game, and how Shinra may be using experiments on living creatures and people to its benefit.

Relevant Roundup #2

A look at some of the discussions on biopunk and gaming.

TMNT: The Last Ronin

Forrest C. Helvie (at Gamesradar) reviews the first issue of the latest instalment to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

The Last of Us 2 and when the audience outgrows their characters

Maddy Myders reviews The Last of Us 2, and examines how the zombie apocalypse story of the game allows for more growth than the story offers. If violence to survive is all that zombie stories seem to be able to offer, should we move beyond this plot? Or do we need a new take that challenges audiences?

Can gaming help with treating phobias?

Gaming is now being used to treat ADHD in some children in the US, and this piece examines whether the medium could also be used to help people face their phobias.

Making up creatures

This half hour episode of Imaginary Worlds examines how films create their best monsters, how offensive stereotypes can be avoided and why hybrid monsters scare us more than any other.

Influencing evolution

In a twenty minute video, Superbunny Hop looks at the anthropology and creation myths in Ancestors: The Human Odyssey, a game where players take control over a lineage of primates and must control their evolution path. Closed captions available.

Relevant Roundup #1

The ‘Relevant Roundup’ blogs will look at some of the current debates about biopunk stories and gaming.

Transitioning through gaming

Violet Adele Bloch examines how gender options in Neverwinter allow questioning people to explore their gender identity, and how changing our virtual biology can help us make sense of ourselves.

Pandemic gaming beyond Animal Crossing

While Animal Crossing has become one of the most popular products ever due to how many people are stuck at home needing some escapism, others are trying to comprehend what is happening through games. Just like how Contagion found renewed popularity at the start of the pandemic, games that look at plagues and deadly viruses have also become a cathartic process (for some). This review looks at how the Pathologic series handles a story set during a plague.

How well does Mass Effect represent autism?

Game Assist recently released a twenty minute video (with closed captions) examining how autism is treated in the Mass Effect series. While this plots falls more into the cyberpunk territory, it is a worthwhile watch that examines how BioWare represents this particular marginalisation.

Game approved as a treatment for ADHD in children

In the US, a game is now available as a prescription for treating ADHD. EndeavorRX is available for children between the ages of eight to twelve and is likely to be the start of a long process of assessing whether gaming can be used as treatment (at least in part) for certain conditions.

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