Rise of the videogame zinesters
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                        2015-08-01


Last week I read  Anna  Anthropy's  Rise  of  the  videogame
zinesters [1] and it left a big impression  on  me.   Having
read a lot of books on video games, this  one  is  something
completely different.  No  programmer  semi-gods  this  time
(like in Masters of Doom or Hackers), no tough stories about
manly men working 100 hour weeks in  crunch  mode  (like  in
Jacked).  No: this book is about human beings making  games,
everybody, not just the prototypical hetero cis men who have
dominated gamer culture for so long.

Anthropy paints a bright picture in which games are  created
like ezines.  She makes a very good point about video  games
needing more diverse personal voices and you don't  need  to
be a coder to let yours be heard.  Mentioning  a  couple  of
tools you can use to make games without previous programming
experience (like Twine), and talking about various examples,
she convincingly attempts to liberate the art form from  its
prison in which men shooting men in the face  is  the  norm.

This book appealed to me  in  so  many  ways  it's  hard  to
summarize.  Triple A  games  and  gamer  culture  create  an
ecosystem which is often weird  and  off-putting  for  queer
folk  like   me,   so   Anthropy's   inclusive   stance   is
heartwarming.  Creating a game yourself seems daunting, even
to me, and I am nota bene a coder.  Anthropy emphasizes  the
fact that you should just go and  create,  build  stuff  and
don't worry if it sucks.  The result will always be personal
and that's something worthy and special in it's  own  right!
This is such a beautiful thought I actually read the end  in
tears.

I still love the books on games and game developers  I  have
on my shelves and can never get tired about reading how John
Carmack and Romero did their magic  with  ID  software,  but
this book resonated  with  me  in  a  way  I  never  thought
possible on this subject.  If you want to create games  like
me, or you would like to read how this art form  is  opening
up to a wider range of voices, I really can't  recommend  it
enough!


Hyperlinks:
[1]: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781609803728


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                      Tags: english