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The Border House is a blog for gamers. It's a blog for those who are feminist, queer, disabled, people of color, transgender, poor, gay, lesbian, and others who belong to marginalized groups, as well as allies. Our goal is to bring thoughtful analysis to gaming with a feminist viewpoint and up-to-date news on games, virtual worlds, and social media.Discussion Policy
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Tag Archives: character design
Dragon’s Crown — Basically ‘Boobs & Butts: The Game’
Sometimes, you see an artistic interpretation of anatomy that just defies all expectations. One that makes you wish that everyone else on the internet could experience it along with you. Today that title is Dragon’s Crown, an upcoming 2D “multiplayer … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, Handheld Games
Tagged atlus, boobs, character design, dragons crown, escher girls, sexism
7 Comments
No Excuses: It’s Time for More Female Protagonists
If the game design of 2009′s Velvet Assassin were half as interesting as its history, I might be able to bring myself to play beyond the first mission. Velvet Assassin is loosely based on the story of Violette Szabo, a … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, General Gaming, PC Games
Tagged assassin's creed, character design, characters, diversity, game industry, gears of war, gender, grand theft auto, Velvet Assassin, women
67 Comments
Presented Without Commentary: Planetside 2 models stand more feminine now
Sony Online Entertainment’s Planetside 2 shooter game just updated their female character models to stand a little ‘more feminine’. For commentary, check out this thread on the GirlGamers subreddit. Do any of our readers play this game? How do you … Continue reading
Posted in MMORPGs, PC Games
Tagged character design, planetside 2, Sony Online Entertainment
25 Comments
League of Legends’ new badass female ranger Quinn
I have talked here before about how I much I am a fan of Sr. Concept Artist for Riot Games, IronStylus. He has shown that he acknowledges the many character design fails in League of Legends, and has a personal … Continue reading
League of Legends to remove pole dancing from Xmas Katarina skin
Riot Games has released their new set of exclusive holiday champion skins on the Public Beta Realm this week, and it included a special Christmas Katarina skin. Katarina is an assassin, one of the more iconic and most-cosplayed champions within … Continue reading
Gaslamp Games and the saga of continuing awesomeness
You all remember Dungeons of Dredmor, right? And you remember how its developer, Gaslamp Games, was pretty awesome? I’m happy to report that they seem to be at it again. In a recent blog post, they talk about their attitude … Continue reading
Posted in General Gaming, Indie Games
Tagged character design, clockwork empires, dungeons of dredmor, gaslamp games
10 Comments
Omega: Writing one of Mass Effect’s wrongs
I’ve written here before criticising Bioware for only featuring male Turians in their Mass Effect series. As a quick reminder, Bioware essentially didn’t include female Turians because they had no idea how to denote female characters other than by adding … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, PC Games
Tagged BioWare, character design, female characters, Mass Effect, omega, turians
17 Comments
Dad of the Year Changes Pronouns in The Wind Waker for his Daughter
Mike Hoye has been playing through The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with his daughter Maya and got tired of making the pronoun translations on the fly while reading the game’s text aloud to her. This was the motivation … Continue reading
Riot Games confronts their problematic female character design
League of Legends is just about everywhere nowadays and the e-sports phenomenon is becoming bigger and more legitimate with every tournament. We’ve been critical of the game in the past, but only because we’ve had some pretty devoted League of … Continue reading
Borderlands 2 and the Surprising Feminism of the Siren Class
The following is a guest post from Kaitlin Tremblay: Kaitlin Tremblay has a Master’s in English and Film, with a specialization in gender and genre, and is currently living the fabulous life of a publishing intern. She spends most of her … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, PC Games
Tagged Borderlands, borderlands 2, character design, maya, siren
29 Comments