On the Failures Of Black Men Writers In Games Media

I want to preface this by saying I have hope for games writing. I have hope, because I see Evan Narcisse, Zolani Stewart, Sidney Fussell, Austin Walker and the great catalog of work they’ve built over the years. They, among other men of color in games writing, have worked without a shred of the recognition they truly deserve to get on platforms like Kotaku, Boingboing and Giantbomb where their voices grow stronger. There are a number of black writers and specifically black men who write critically about games, but these are my favorites to reference when delving into today’s topic. Honestly, they’re my favorites in general.

So, we kinda suck when it comes to writing about black women.

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2014's "S**t That Was Cool And S**t That Wasn't" Awards

Still looking for that darn cactus.

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Season's Beatings: Velocity -- Oct. 14th - Oct. 16th

Just thought I'd make my obligatory, annual post about the best damn fighting game tournament on Earth. Well, at least in my eyes, and I wear glasses, so that's like four! This weekend in Columbus, Ohio the sixth installment of the Season's Beatings fighting game tournament will be held at MoMo's. I will be holding a MadCatz stick in one hand and a DSLR in the other. If you can weed through the 700 hundred-plus, attendees, say "Hi!" I promise I'll greet in return.

*Disclaimer: I owe a great deal of credit to Godlike Entertainment and the Season's Beatings events, because it made me realize where I wanted to go with my writing. It made me value the fighting game community. So that's why this is especially important to me.

[After the break: Weekend Schedule, Live Stream link, and Photos]

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Thoughts On My Colony Wars Article Reception

These guys are cool, you should check them out. Tell them I sent ya.

[Update: 10-3-11 11:34pm. Mike Anthony of Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops and Lead Programmer of Colony Wars & Colony Wars: Vengeance is now up on Gamasutra. This is probably the last of what I'll write about one of my favorite franchises. Enjoy]

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L.A. Noire Developer Exposed -- Brendon McNamara

Nice work on the neck-fat there John. 

[image courtesy of Hardcoregaming 101]

[I was originally going to post this on 1up.com, but their editor won't save my work. Also, I'm at my day job and I don't want to make it a habit of writing up stuff, while I'm supposed to be doing other work. So, this is just between you and me internet.]

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E3 2011: The Unsurprising Corporate Edition

E3 attendee resting his eyes during the Nintendo's press conference. -- Photo by Janine Dong

Full disclosure: My day job is currently requiring I work longer hours and do heavier lifting. I'm currently writing this after imbibing one hell of a riesling and several cupcakes. Don't judge, but recognize that I may not be at my sharpest.

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Let's Break A Video Game Embargo!

I googled "embargoed leaks" and I got an image of a cat in a ba...oh. Now I get it.

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Sony's Press Conference Live-Tweeted & "Interpreted"

 

For full coverage go here

Proof-positive that Isaiah and a bottle of wine, plus a 1-to-3 A.M. press conference is a recipe for *disaster. Be on the look out for future live tweet of events [I've got E3 in my cross hairs]. I seem to like doing them and people seem to love expressing a certain level of disgust at my un-professionalism. 

So I must be on to something, right?

*or awesome, depending on your sense of humor.

Reading Material: Apologia To Ebert & A Demand For Lifification?

Because reading about video game theory is something Rod Serling would approve of.

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Reading Material: From Lil Jon's Downward Spiral To 'Boning'

Even Lil John's career wasn't safe from nimble, web-active fingers.

One of the main reasons it's hard for me to write [besides the 37 other hobbies I'm currently involved in] is because I'm trying to make a conscious effort to catch up on articles I should have read eons ago. Let's expand this limited vocubulary, right?

Seriously, every time I open up Google Chrome, I have a minimum of 13 tabs staring back at me. Maybe I do need to find that 25th hour in the day? Or, maybe there is this subconscious old-guy laying deep within the recesses of my cortex, begging me to read these amazing articles on a printed piece of paper. Maybe I'm just lazy?

Be that as it may, let this serve to the people who know me via the net as well as in real life [yes, I typed the whole thing, not that dumb ass 'IRL' abbreviation], that whenever I hear people say, "You post so much on Facebook or on Twitter!"

I'm always thinking, "You should see the stuff I don't post."

After the jump is a pool of articles that I've collected probably since last year. You'll probably notice that, though I visit 1up a great deal, I have yet to catch up on an 8th of their awesome, in-depth, cover stories. You'll also notice that I read a lot about human sexuality, because...well...people are f**king weird. But so am I.

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