Blog: "A topic that deserves to be talked about, and for that reason we should subject morally attractive propositions to more scrutiny, not less."

This post appeared on Shawn Elliott's personal blog:

"My point is not that sexism may or may not play a part in the wage disparities that Game Developer Magazine's data allegedly documents, and it definitely isn't that the industry shouldn't pay matching salaries to male and female employees with the same experience and skill sets. Rather, I'm writing to challenge the uncritical assumptions on which both stories are built, and way that the opportunity to publicly sit on the side of the angels seems to contribute to the error. Because both stories note that Game Developer Magazine's numbers offer no information on the years of experience specific to the men and women surveyed, but then arbitrarily banish any serious consideration of alternative explanations from the realm of possibility in order to prescribe the usual preferential policies." Full article.

Editorial: "The Power Of Silence: Why The SimCity Story Went Away"

Posted on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, "The Power Of Silence: Why The SimCity Story Went Away" was written by John Walker:

"Not reporting the story couldn’t be immediately dismissed as capitulation, being in the pocket of EA, cowardliness, etc. (Not that it excludes it, of course.) What most sites would have done was immediately fire off an email to EA and Maxis asking for them to provide comment. We, of course, had done the same. And here’s where the power of silence played its first part. 

EA and Maxis simply ignored all those emails. Sites may have received a, “We’re waiting for a response,” from their regional PRs, but that was it. And so if you’re running GamePow.com, and you’ve decided you can’t run RPS’s anonymously sourced story without giving EA a response, ta-da – no story on GamePow. And EA knows that." Full article.

e-zine: "Memory Insufficient: The Games History e-Zine, Issue 1"

Edited by Zoya Street, "Memory Insufficient: The Games History e-Zine, Issue 1" focuses on "Women's histories in games," and was made available online April 9, 2013. Contents include:

"Equality and Difference: queer pirates and Assassin’s Creed" by Samantha Allen
"My Mom the Gamer" by Fred McCoy
"Not Just Decoration" by Zoya Street
"Bio: Roberta Williams" by Josh Hocking Full article. 

Feature: "The Economics of Video Games"

Written by Brad Plumer, "The Economics of Video Games" appeared in the Washington Post and was written and posted in 2012 so it will not be considered in the nominations for 2013:

"Eve Online's banks aren't supported by a central bank or lender of last resort. Much like Ron Paul has proposed for the United States, there’s no fractional reserve banking, in which banks need to keep only a portion of their deposits on hand at any time and can lend the rest out freely. 

“That increases the burden on banks to be diligent and efficient,” Guðmundsson says. On the downside, the financial system is sometimes ripe for abuse — one large bank, EBank, collapsed in 2009 when its founder seized its virtual funds and traded them for real-life cash on the black market."

Interview: "Tales of Producer Talks About JRPG Changes Over 15 Years Of Tales"

"Tales of Producer Talks About JRPG Changes Over 15 Years Of Tales," was written by Matt Hawkins appeared on Siliconera:

"Well, on that note, what do you think of the rise in popularity of JRPGs in America? Has that changed the way Tales of games have been produced? 

We will always cater towards the Japanese market first, without even realizing it. Since that’s where we’re based, it can’t be helped! And while we are aware of the increase of interest in the eastern market, and it’s something we do consider when making certain decisions, we will first and foremost be catering towards Japanese players." Full article.

Feature: "Metacritic Matters: How Review Scores Hurt Video Games"

Written by Jason Schreier, "Metacritic Matters: How Review Scores Hurt Video Games" appeared on Kotaku:

"Perhaps it’s in our nature to make numbers out of everything. And it’s hard to deny that Metacritic is a useful tool for measuring how a small group of people felt about a game at one particular point. 

But it’s not a useful tool for much else. There are too many variables, too many people trying to manipulate the system. There’s too much subjectivity in the review process for anyone to treat it like an objective measure of quality. Video games are designed to be personal experiences, and it is disingenuous for publishers to act like review scores are any more than the quantification of those personal experiences. It’s harmful to everyone. Everyone." Full article.

Blog: "BioShock Infinite: Now Is The Best Time"

Written by Leigh Alexander, "BioShock Infinite: Now Is The Best Time" appeared on her blog Sexy Videogameland:

"It's that Infinite's is a sterile, mechanized system that could have been ripped from any other listless hyper-modern game like a bloody spine and grafted messily onto this vision, obscuring it. It doesn't even do it well; I wouldn't even say competently. Its inconvenient clutter obscures the vista, depersonalizes it, without even the grace of providing meaningful cover. Ever. The game's grasp on level design seems limited to Superbowl Sunday arenas and a repeating paradigm of twin staircases looping to some higher platform." Full article.