Flattr is a radical new way for people to support the blog writers, YouTube producers and musicians who upload their content to the web. If you are as frustrated as I am by the greed of major media producers (such as their attempts to get SOPA and PIPA passed) then this is a powerful way to send them a message. Check it out:
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Why You Should Be on Twitter: A Visual Guide
Twitter is pretty great. Despite what many think, it is not just another version of the Facebook wall, where people post whatever inane thoughts pop into their head throughout the day. Sure, that's part of it, but there's more to it than that. Much, much more.
Twitter is a rich cornucopia of information for you to browse and enjoy. For example, you may have heard about Kim Kardashian's wedding last year. I did, thanks to Twitter. And I got a pretty unique perspective on it.
Twitter is a rich cornucopia of information for you to browse and enjoy. For example, you may have heard about Kim Kardashian's wedding last year. I did, thanks to Twitter. And I got a pretty unique perspective on it.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
That one time I wanted to be a videogame journalist
It's no secret that I love videogames. I've been playing games regularly since the age of 5, and probably will until I die. Heck, it's a miracle I was able to stop playing long enough just to write this.
I also love writing. And for a long time, writing was how I thought I would eventually make my living. When I got to college, I started writing videogame reviews for the campus newspaper, and actually got paid for it. I thought if I could just do this for the rest of my life, I'll be set.
I also love writing. And for a long time, writing was how I thought I would eventually make my living. When I got to college, I started writing videogame reviews for the campus newspaper, and actually got paid for it. I thought if I could just do this for the rest of my life, I'll be set.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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Back from the dead
Well, after more than a year, I've decided to start blogging again. I decided that I want to start externalizing all the crazy thoughts and desires that are in my head, even if it's for no one's benefit other than my own. And I want it to be in more than 140 characters. Twitter is awesome (follow me, @brubinow) but I want to get back into the habit of writing more long-form pieces.
I'm not going to be concentrating on videogame journalism anymore, mostly because it is no longer where my professional aspirations lie. I'll talk about that more in a future post, but for now, I'd like to talk about what this blog is going to cover from here on out.
My life has gone through a lot of changes in the past couple years. I'm in a new environment (though still in Los Angeles), a new job, and I have new goals for life. I want to write more. A lot more. I want to try my hand at stand-up comedy. I want to get out and experience all that the wonderful city of Los Angeles has to offer. And most of all, I want to not internalize the whole experience, but to capture it in words (and hopefully later, in photographs, audio and video) and share it with everyone I can.
This is all going to start very soon. I hope to post, at the bare minimum, once per week. More than that if I can. I have several topics already in mind and am actively searching for more. Expect my first dispatch tomorrow. Until then, take care. I love you all.
Edit: In solidarity with the various web sites that are going dark in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), this blog will not be updated tomorrow. Expect an update Thursday, January 19.
I'm not going to be concentrating on videogame journalism anymore, mostly because it is no longer where my professional aspirations lie. I'll talk about that more in a future post, but for now, I'd like to talk about what this blog is going to cover from here on out.
My life has gone through a lot of changes in the past couple years. I'm in a new environment (though still in Los Angeles), a new job, and I have new goals for life. I want to write more. A lot more. I want to try my hand at stand-up comedy. I want to get out and experience all that the wonderful city of Los Angeles has to offer. And most of all, I want to not internalize the whole experience, but to capture it in words (and hopefully later, in photographs, audio and video) and share it with everyone I can.
This is all going to start very soon. I hope to post, at the bare minimum, once per week. More than that if I can. I have several topics already in mind and am actively searching for more. Expect my first dispatch tomorrow. Until then, take care. I love you all.
Edit: In solidarity with the various web sites that are going dark in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), this blog will not be updated tomorrow. Expect an update Thursday, January 19.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Bechdel Test
In my last post, I received comments challenging me to quit bitching and actually do something to improve games' shortcomings. While I believe strengthening the craft of games journalism is one of the best (and obviously my preferred) method, I shall have to expound on that topic in the future. For now, consider this blog a note to the game designers of the world, big and small: More of your games need to pass The Bechdel Test.
Like the quote mentioned in my previous post, the Bechdel test was originally constructed as a critique of films, but I think narrative-driven videogames would also benefit from it. Also note that passing the Bechdel test does not make a film good, nor does failing the test make a film bad. 12 Angry Men fails all three criteria and is an all-time classic; on the other hand, The Women passes the test easily and received a paltry 13% on the TomatoMeter.
So why does the Bechdel test matter? Because I think it's important to remember that, as statistics so often remind us, a significant portion of videogame players are women, and they don't like having their intelligence insulted any more than men. Because for every female videogame character who looks like this:
...there are dozens more who look like this:
Videogames, at least most of the big-budget mainstream ones, tend toward what TV Tropes identifies as the Smurfette Principle, i.e. largely male-dominated casts with one woman thrown in for sex appeal or comic relief or to be the "token female." Gears of War and Halo, for example, the two biggest-selling franchises on the Xbox 360, both have a main female character who is mostly just a voice on the radio feeding useful information to the main character. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, one of the biggest games of all time, has exactly zero female characters.
Surely this is an imbalance that can be rectified. I'm not saying every game must pass the Bechdel test, or even should. But seriously, don't you think we'd start seeing better, more intelligent games if more game designers at least acknowledged its existence?
The Bechdel Test, sometimes called the Mo Movie Measure or Bechdel Rule is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. The test was popularized by Alison Bechdel's comic Dykes to Watch Out For, in a 1985 strip called The Rule.
Like the quote mentioned in my previous post, the Bechdel test was originally constructed as a critique of films, but I think narrative-driven videogames would also benefit from it. Also note that passing the Bechdel test does not make a film good, nor does failing the test make a film bad. 12 Angry Men fails all three criteria and is an all-time classic; on the other hand, The Women passes the test easily and received a paltry 13% on the TomatoMeter.
So why does the Bechdel test matter? Because I think it's important to remember that, as statistics so often remind us, a significant portion of videogame players are women, and they don't like having their intelligence insulted any more than men. Because for every female videogame character who looks like this:
...there are dozens more who look like this:
Videogames, at least most of the big-budget mainstream ones, tend toward what TV Tropes identifies as the Smurfette Principle, i.e. largely male-dominated casts with one woman thrown in for sex appeal or comic relief or to be the "token female." Gears of War and Halo, for example, the two biggest-selling franchises on the Xbox 360, both have a main female character who is mostly just a voice on the radio feeding useful information to the main character. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, one of the biggest games of all time, has exactly zero female characters.
Surely this is an imbalance that can be rectified. I'm not saying every game must pass the Bechdel test, or even should. But seriously, don't you think we'd start seeing better, more intelligent games if more game designers at least acknowledged its existence?
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