if you are not interrogating more deeply how norms created by the markets that produce these rules, you are just giving the game industry a complete license to define what kind of experience is valid and what isn’t. this has much more serious implications when it comes to the ability for experiences to exist that would never be able to be made by large studios
Liz Ryerson, The California Problem
A long read from Liz that touches on – and discusses – the problems surrounding a vast number of interconnected things plaguing videogames. I wouldn’t even want to do it the injustice of trying to summarize it either.
As ever, Liz does a fantastic job of pinpointing things and cutting through the bullshit that videogames does rather like to indulge in. There’s a few points here and there where I’d say my own stance diverges a tad from Liz’s (and it is just a tad) but that’s for me to mull over, not a slight on this incredibly excellent and thoughtful essay.
It’s an essential, excellent, read. I’ve been super grateful for Liz’s contributions to games over the years and, well, nothing has changed there. Grab a drink and snack and do give this a read and if you have some spare cash, please consider Liz’s patreon.
