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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: diversity
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
Characters in Mario Kart 7
I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS recently, and while I think it’s a great game, the character choice is extremely frustrating. Back in 1992, the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES featured eight … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, Handheld Games
Tagged characters, diversity, gender, mario kart, mario kart 7, Nintendo
21 Comments
The Border House Podcast – Episode 4: Diversity in a Strange Land
The new The Border House podcast is up! Rather timely indeed, as we talked about the recent inclusion of progressive material at Kotaku and used the opportunity to talk about the relationship between writer, community, and indenity. Discussion about … Continue reading
Posted in General Gaming, Podcast, Site News, Social Media
Tagged activism, diversity, identity, Kotaku, Writing
8 Comments
An Open Letter to Kotaku’s Joel Johnson
I just finished reading your article on Kotaku, “The Equal Opportunity Perversion of Kotaku,” a lengthier response than the one you gave me previously. In case you don’t recognize me, we had a conversation on Twitter about Dan Bruno’s recanting … Continue reading
Posted in General Gaming, Social Media, Web
Tagged diversity, Gaming Community, Kotaku, representation, sexuality
32 Comments
The Border House Podcast – Episode 3: Characters Done Right
Sorry for the delay everyone! But this episode, Denis Farr and I have a talk about Characters Done Right, and look further into how to succeed at creating diversity-aware characters. We are still looking for transcribers! If you can … Continue reading
Catherine: Is this mature rated game about more than just sex?
Catherine is a new story driven, puzzle based game from Atlus. It is being advertised as a mature game that discusses adult relationships including the issues surrounding cheating, love, marriage, and commitment. It is told through the eyes of the … Continue reading
FemShep Steps Forward, But for How Long?
On the final day of the San Diego Comic Con, I sat in a hotel lobby completely exhausted, but still unable to stop grinning as I watched two little girls carry on a protracted and energetic pretend battle with a … Continue reading
Posted in Console Games, PC Games
Tagged BioWare, commander shepard, diversity, female characters, femshep, marketing, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, mass effect 3
48 Comments
The Politics of Game Hair
N.B. Many thanks to Latoya Peterson for allowing me to ask her a few questions, and my friend Janathan for reading and giving me feedback. I do not claim to have these experiences, but it is something I rarely see … Continue reading
Posted in General Gaming
Tagged BioWare, character creators, diversity, Dragon Age 2, EA, Mass Effect 2, Maxis, natural hair, race
42 Comments
The Skyhook Society: On Sex and Sociological Incoherence in Games
It is hardly groundbreaking at this point to say that the social worlds painted in many video games and other fantasy environments tend to be based on politically charged ideas about gender, race, and so forth. Despite being wildly fantastic … Continue reading
Posted in General Gaming
Tagged diversity, feminism, racism, sexism, transgender, transphobia, women
18 Comments
Portal 2 developer commentary
Portal 2 is not a perfect game from a diversity and inclusiveness standpoint. There are definitely a few moments where it gets things wrong, but there are also a lot of things that it gets right. Most notably (and like … Continue reading →