Breaking down borders in video games.
Posts tagged intersectionality
Do Game Designers Have A Social Obligation?
Jan 26th
Darren over at Common Sense Gamer asks a curious question – do game designers have a social obligation to consider issues such as race, class, ability, and sexual orientation in their games? We think we’re in a good position to respond to this, since this is the exact reason why The Border House exists.
“Understood that sexuality is a very personal and hot topic that gets everyone’s panties in a knot, but do we really need to represent every single human condition within our games just to make a social point? It’s an interesting topic and ultimately I think the answer has to be “no”. If we insist that game designers start being socially conscious on every human condition, I think we’ll start really hating our gaming sessions. If we go by the theory that “games are art” (…/cringe…), then do we really want to tell the artist how they should create?”
We ask – why does including non-standard types of characters mean that the game is making a “social point”? How do you think an Asian-American woman feels when you tell her that including a Japanese female character in a North American MMO is a “social point”? Do you think the disabled woman in a wheelchair entering a grocery store thinks she’s making a “social point” every time she leaves her house? We have designed our games to be so inherently fit, muscular, white American, that it’s now an exception and a social point to include people outside our comfort zone. We’re also so comfortable in this privilege that most people don’t even recognize the lack of accurate representation as a problem. Something has to change there.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Dec 31st
It’s been about a month since The Border House went live. Since then, a bunch of our awesome contributors have introduced themselves and jumped right into blogging some awesome, insightful posts. The comment section has been buzzing with great discussion from our equally smart readers. We’re all so grateful and excited that the blog has met with this incredible response both from bloggers who’ve eagerly volunteered to air their thoughts and insights, as well as their time, and to readers who’ve welcomed another site into the blogoverse.
We thought it would be a good time to check in with our readers and contributors, and ask for your thoughts. We want to know if we’re on track with this whole inclusive, intersectional, feminist gamer collaboration, and we welcome your feedback.
- What should we keep doing?
- What sorts of posts have you enjoyed the most? Mention specific posts if you like.
- What would you like to see more of?
- Is there anything you haven’t seen that you’d like us to cover?
- Are there any aspects of the blog that you’d like to see improved? This could be anything from technical suggestions to suggestions about how we can make our budding community more inclusive.
We’d love to hear what you think. Please keep the discussion constructive, productive, and on-topic.
If you’re not comfortable posting your feedback in public, you can always reach us individually or as a group via email. Your feedback is always welcome, regardless of this post.
As the year ends, we’d like to thank our readers and contributors for reading so far. We’re looking forward to the new year, and hope you’ll join us. 
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