The Impact Factor

News & Views

12/12/15-12/18/15

Happy Star Wars day everyone! I hope you’re all having a good one. Even more exciting for me is that today starts my self-appointed winter break! Time to decompress from a very busy year with my fiancée, food, friends and games.

Let’s get right into it here. News & Views is back with more great stories and excellent writing from around the world of video games. Check out the links below for a brief history of the intersection of fashion and video games, what it’s like to be a professional fighting game player, and what ‘censorship’ means when to comes to localization.

And of course you can check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Open-world games are changing the way we play

Jake Muncy, Wired

Worth Reading

Dad Immortalized In His Favorite Game By Grieving Son

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

Off the Clock: Homecoming

Austin Walker, Giantbomb

Street Figher producer Yoshinori Ono on his love affair with the games

Chris Kohler, Wired

A Brief History of Fashion's Love Affair With Video Games

Steff Yotka, Vogue

What It's Like to Be a Professional 'Street Fighter IV' Player

Andi Hamilton, VICE

With Comments

Statistics are Making Us Into Assholes: A Modest Proposal to Reform League of Legends

Megan Condis, Unwinnable

I’ve argued for a while that in-game and end-of-match stats for Heroes of the Storm is a bad thing. Looks like that sentiment is shared among people who play other MOBAs, too. The statistics, which are usually a poor reflection of player performance, give ammunition to toxic players to harass their teammates. I always want games to be a more inclusive space, and small changes like the one Condis suggests could go a long way.

The Year of Not Playing Games

Jon Irwin, Kill Screen

Irwin has a fascinating piece on Kill Screen about ‘not playing games’ even though the author has played many in 2015. The article touches on why digital games fade from memory more quickly than those you play off physical media, and games that feel unworthy of GOTY merit because they are either old or obscure. It’s a phenomenon I’ve experienced myself, so it is great to see it put succinctly here.

From Japan, With Changes: The Endless Debate Over Video Game 'Censorship'

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

What an extraordinary and comprehensive piece on a subject that has needed an intellectual foundation for quite some time. Whenever changes are made to Japanese game that’s localized to the states, the internet erupts into widespread decrees of ‘censorship.’ What Klepek found though, is that it comes down to localization ideology. Many times, changes are made so that a game feels exactly the same to different audiences, each with their own cultural and historical baggage in tow. Please do yourself a favor and read this excellent article.

The Best Video Games of 2015

Simon Parkin, The New Yorker

Parkin’s game of the year 2015 list on The New Yorker is an interesting one. He espouses his own personal philosophy before naming his top games. Parkin argues that as the number of released games grows each year, it becomes increasingly important to spotlight innovation in these end of year best lists, even if that means excluding impressive titles that are more iterative than groundbreaking. It’s a cool approach to curating a selection of ‘best games,’ though perhaps not a style that would work for all list makers.