Sunday, January 29, 2012

Why You Should Help Mattie Brice Get To GDC

There are a lot of excellent writers writing lots of excellent things about videogames. You already know this. Across blogs there is a vastly diverse collection of writers looking at games from all different kinds of angles and making all different kinds of insights.

But when it comes to the bigger, professional sites, everybody is just too agreeable. It's not that people are writing poor articles or saying things that are uninteresting, but, simply, there are just too many of us from similar backgrounds saying similar things while the dissenters, saying equally interesting but perhaps not as agreeable things, are stuck on their blogs.

Slowly but surely this is changing. It has to change if videogame criticism is to advance and mature. We need more writers approaching more videogames from more perspectives. And, more importantly, we need these writers to have exposure and actually be read.

This is why I am super excited that there is a fundraising effort to get Mattie Brice to GDC this year. Mattie appeared out of nowhere in 2010 and is now writing for a range of places. She's all over Popmatters; She writes candidly about sexuality and games on Nightmare Mode; and she's even had the guts to take on Kotaku's cesspit comment sections head on.

I don't always agree with what she writes, and sometimes her forward-gazing optimism just outright frustrates me. But this is exactly why games journalism/criticism/whatever needs her and those writers like her: she is saying interesting things that many of us wouldn't say. She is starting interesting discussions and debates with the mainstrea about topics previously left to lurk on the niche blogs.

GDC is the biggest annual event in the game's industry and is exactly the place any budding game's writer needs to be if they want to Make It as a games journalist. 2010 was the first year I went to GDC and in the eleven months since I have written for Edge, Paste, Ars Technica, and a whole heap of other amazing outlets I could never have imagined writing for a year ago.

If we can help get Mattie there this year, I don't doubt she will have just as many opportunities out of it as I did, if not more. She has already marched confidently onto a stack of mainstream websites with very alternative views, and attending GDC will only help bring her alternative, interesting writing to larger and larger readerships.

So this is why you should chip in a few dollars and help get Mattie to GDC. Do it for games journalism/criticism. Help expand the angles and voices and articles and topics that people are writing and reading about. Games criticism needs more dissenters, and there are few dissenters writing at present with as much potential as Mattie.

(Also, huge thanks are owed to David Carlton who got the whole ball rolling on this.)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to sneek into snapchat account online, know it on how to hack snapchat and also find live tool to hack online snapchat password for free.

best essay writing service said...

GDC is the most reputed event related to game industry. GDC stands for Game Developers Conference. The event takes place in Moscone Convention Center which is a superior center in San Francisco. There will around thirty thousand developers from all over the world. They will exchange their ideas and discuss how the game industry should move on. It is an event of five days. Learning, discussing and networking is the key goal behind this event. They can relax and play innovative games throughout the event. This is the area where new games are developed literally.
There won’t be much number of kids who do not love video games. Not only kids, nowadays adults are the one who play these more than kids. Games are something to which addiction is very much possible. Parents get tired of scolding their children for this reason. As in every case, games also have both good and bad sides. Video games have proved themselves for improving the problem solving skill which is good for kids. Puzzle games are the first category to improve this skill. Even puzzle games come in different style. It is a great feeling when a tough level is completed after giving so much effort. Hand and eye co-ordination is the other area which will be improved. Mental ability to gather information becomes keen by good quality games. But obviously too much will be too much whatever it is! If kids spend their whole time in games, they will become selfish. The chances to lower the contact with outside world are very high. Other important things like family, friends, studies etc should not be affected. There are some violent games in the field which may affect the character of the kid if they get really addicted to it. They will act in a hostile way. Avoid those kinds of games.

Nicole said...

Every professor is demanding that papers be completed and it is hard to know where to start first. I recommend you to buy case brief and free yourself from everyday studying chores.

Cleaning Company Dubai UAE said...

a large number of residents really are both acquainted and willing to do themselves. However, in the case of deep housecleaning, there are really a few advantages that are included with hiring licensed upholstery cleaning services. Many household owners who actually tried to clean out by his or her self. cleaning companies

Dakota Leest said...

What do you think about death penalty? Do you support such sentence? See what I prepared indeath penalty persuasive essay?.

wanamassarealestate said...

This can be just the beginning of the fiscal crack in your fragile overall economy. A crack that may be only receiving wider and soon our total economy arrive crashing down while on an unsuspecting general public. All for the reason that media can be either oblivious on the facts as well as are purposefully steering the population away through the real state of our own economy. wanamassarealestate

Ciana Langham said...

Hello! I know that writing papers are not easy but with the help of the essay writing service you can make the writing process easier and quicker. For instance, there you can find best selling authors of the 21st century

Judy Wilson said...

I think students should unite in the community and help each other, exchange the experience, share tips and advice. Let me be the first to share a valuable source full of writing tips and pre written essays for the students in need of writing assistance.

Tamika baden said...

Hamd Technologies introduces the Online Inventory Management System with advanced applications

Zoho Books And Zoho Inventory Integration