Blog

Fallout 4 is almost everything I want in a game of its nature: an open world, an interesting narrative, and the ability to make meaningful choices as characters who represent real, diverse people. When I first started playing, I spent at least two hours in the character creation screen trying to make the person I wanted to embody during the weeks of my life that I would sink into this world. Sadly, most of that time was spent frustrated that I couldn’t quite create the face I sought.

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Have you thought about how chronic conditions, like pain and mental illness, are represented in games? Portrayals are often one-dimensional and inaccurate. In horror games, these conditions are seen as villainous, while in action games they are seen as weak and are often erased. This negative portrayal adds to societal stigma. Our panel of health professionals, researchers, game writers and budding game developers discuss the changes that need to be made in how chronic conditions are represented.

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One common questions I’m frequently asked—both in interviews and at casual networking events—is, “What is your favourite queer game?”. I have some go-to answers. I mean, it’s difficult to narrow it down to one. There are many games that are valuable for different reasons, that represent different identities well, that break new ground in important ways, or that have had a significant impact on the communities I work with. But despite being good go-to responses, this isn’t how I want to answer the question.

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Most gamers have probably played a character that is not their assigned birth gender quite often. One of the justifications for this, and one I’ve commonly heard, is that “If I’m going to look at someone’s butt all day, I want it be attractive.” It makes sense in a very heteronormative kind of way, but there’s a lot more to rolling a Warcraft character or picking a PUBG survivor that doesn’t match how other people see you day to day.

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