video games

A Little Sister in BioShock.
No, the Internet, YOU shut up
By Helen Lewis - 11 June 11:37

Anita Sarkeesian's call for more female protagonists in videogames attracted the standard level of vitriol. Here is why that's an important issue.

A still from Bioshock Infinite.
The end of the epic: why the success of Bioshock Infinite is bad for gaming
By Phil Hartup - 21 April 11:54

Phil Hartup hated the critically acclaimed blockbuster. And he thinks you should too.

A still from the beginning of Bioshock: Infinite
The moment you can't ignore in Bioshock Infinite
By Helen Lewis - 21 March 10:36

A videogame that dares to address the banality of racist violence.

The new Lara Croft.
A psycho-killer with puppy dog eyes: why the new Lara Croft doesn't work
By Phil Hartup - 07 March 14:26

What Crystal Dynamics have attempted with the Tomb Raider is about as convincing a character study of a reluctant hero as painting a frowny face on the front of a tank.

Lara Croft in the 1990s.
The five most retrospectively creepy pieces about Lara Croft
By Helen Lewis - 05 March 12:32

Games journalism has come on a lot in a little over a decade.

A screen shot from "September 12".
The McDonalds sim and September 12: what does it mean for a videogame to be political?
By John Brindle - 19 February 11:00

Some games try to be explicitly political, while others tap into contemporary moral debates. But how much of a moral message can pixels carry?

A still from "No Russian" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
What if you feel sorry for the people you're shooting? The ethics of game heroes
By Phil Hartup - 13 February 13:35

Games are not films: if a player is going to invest in a character's actions, they need to have a chance to do the right thing.

A street chess game in Munich, Germany.
Nobody Remembers Their First Kill: the importance of video game violence
By Simon Parkin - 12 February 10:50

Violence isn't unique to cinema or games - they're just the latest recruit to the aftermath blame tradition.

A screen shot from Grand Theft Auto V.
If we deplore racism and sexism in videogames, how can we defend violence?
By Phil Hartup - 07 January 14:43

A culture of violence is something that normalises violence and makes it acceptable. Games don’t do that because they don’t feature real violence or anything that feels like it, argues Phil Hartup.

Dys4ia, the game.
Game Theory: talking videogames at the New York Times
By Helen Lewis - 31 December 13:44

Games as ballet, a playwright on the medium, and (sorry) me talking about ladies, again.

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