Read on Twitter
I started working in games media this year, and despite the disaster that is 2020, it's gone pretty well. I have a few things to wrap up before Christmas, but I think it's time for a highlight reel.
Let's start with baby's first feature: https://www.fanbyte.com/features/how-pokemon-sword-shield-captures-britains-love-of-sport/
Let's start with baby's first feature: https://www.fanbyte.com/features/how-pokemon-sword-shield-captures-britains-love-of-sport/
Next, I feel like I hit the ground running with this for EGM; an interview with Charles Zembillas, designer of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, and Jak & Daxter. Nice and fiery this one, as he feels he never really got the credit he deserved https://egmnow.com/the-artist-who-helped-create-crash-spyro-and-jak-and-daxter-has-a-bone-to-pick/
I wrote a lot for VG24/7 in the first half of this year, including this piece for Positivity Week on the trans narrative I found in Mass Effect's Asari https://www.vg247.com/2020/03/25/mass-effects-asari-made-feel-less-lonely/
For IGN, I looked into the weird afterlife of the Xbox Kinect, where it lives on as a ghostbuster https://uk.ign.com/articles/xbox-kinect-ghost-hunters
A few months back, fans rescued an old Jak & Daxter Flash game thanks to the efforts of a small but passionate subreddit. I covered it for PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/how-archivists-and-fans-saved-a-long-lost-jak-and-daxter-flash-game-from-obscurity/
I've loved everything I've had on Gayming this year, but especially in the wake of Cyberpunk 2077, I'm fond of this one on transing my voice in Saint's Row https://gaymingmag.com/2020/04/transing-my-voice-in-saints-row-4/
For Gamasutra, I spoke to the developers of The Wagadu Chronicles about creating a Black Fantasy game inspired by the myths of Africa https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/360583/How_deeply_personal_RPG_The_Wagadu_Chronicles_explores_new_realms_of_Afrofantasy
This was the most serious topic I'd tackled so far at the time it came out, and it probably still is. For The Washington Post, how the game industry still struggles with pregnancy https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/04/27/being-pregnant-changes-everything-game-industry-awkwardly-grapples-with-maternity/?itid=sf_video-games
I wrote a few times for @IntoTheSpine, and even became an editor there by the end of the year. We publish interesting game critique and help writers find their footing in this industry. It worked for me! https://intothespine.com/2020/05/01/final-fantasy-7-remake-crossdressing/
For GamingBible - another site I've loved working with this year - I interviewed Peter Blomquist, AKA Red Dead Redemption's Micah Bell about what it takes to be a wild west rat https://www.ladbible.com/technology/gaming-red-deads-micah-is-just-misunderstood-says-his-actor-peter-blomquist-20200501
Ahead of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, I spoke to some actual, real life Vikings for VG24/7. Their biggest nemesis? Thistles! https://www.vg247.com/2020/05/20/asassins-creed-valhalla-female-warrior-stealth-real-viking/
I mostly did games crit and news this year, but I branched out a little too, including interviewing StarGirl um, star, Brec Bassinger for SyFy Wire https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/stargirl-brec-bassinger-interview
Over at NME, I mostly did reviews (see more later!), and have been on news there for the past month or so. I did do some features though, including this guide for hosting a music festival in Animal Crossing https://www.nme.com/guides/gaming-guides/how-to-create-music-festival-animal-crossing-new-horizons-2678218
Also on the Animal Crossing beat, I suggested PC players could beat the FOMO by playing Stardew- wait, I suggested Red Dead Redemption 2?! https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/05/25/cant-play-animal-crossing-try-red-dead-redemption-2-instead/
On VG24/7, I pretty much called it back in June when it came to the "trans" character creator https://www.vg247.com/2020/06/04/cyberpunk-transgender-representation/
Back on VG24/7, I wrote about the imperfectly important representation Lev brought in The Last Of Us Part II. A good stepping stone for AAA games when it comes to rep, but not the finished article https://www.vg247.com/2020/06/23/the-last-of-us-part-2-trans-representation-lev/
I think a lot of my crit is quite open and personal, but this piece for Gayming might have been the most personal piece I wrote this year 2020 https://gaymingmag.com/2020/06/the-monster-high-game-knocked-the-cis-outta-me/
Horizon Zero Dawn is in my top five for this gen. Horizon Forbidden West is my most anticipated 2021 title. But the "Indigenous Cosplay" thing it had going on was a big miss. For GamesRadar, I suggest the move to San Francisco could help them address that https://www.gamesradar.com/horizon-forbidden-west-could-have-the-perfect-setting-in-san-francisco-if-guerrilla-can-reckon-with-its-history/
During the fallout of Ellie being a queer protagonist in The Last Of Us Part II, I took a look at the first game with a queer protagonist, Caper In The Castro, for USGamer https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-last-of-us-lgbtq-games-caper-in-the-castro-feature
In another step outside games media, I wrote about the word TERF for The Huffington Post. Please don't just use it as a catch-all for transphobes, call them out by name https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trans-terf_uk_5f241df7c5b6a34284b9d879?guccounter=1
Remember how I said I loved Horizon? Well, I waxed lyrical about why Aloy is such an important part of that love for PC Gamer. Also did a lot of the PC guides for the PC rerelease too! https://www.pcgamer.com/horizon-zero-dawns-aloy-is-one-of-the-best-new-protagonists-in-years/
Also on PC Gamer, I took a look at the Epic V Apple Fortnite war. The verdict? ESH https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-is-right-to-fight-apple-but-drafting-fortnite-fans-into-a-corporate-war-is-tacky/
I had a fantastic six week stint at The Loadout covering esports news while they were short staffed, and got to write a few features too https://www.theloadout.com/iracing-nascar-esports
I loved interviewing the devs, writing the guides, and reviewing each episode of Tell Me Why, my GOTY runner-up. It feel short in a couple of areas, but to see Tyler's transness handled so searingly and realistically on screen was the highlight https://www.gamesradar.com/tyler-ronan-in-tell-me-is-the-new-gold-standard-for-trans-characters-in-video-games/
There’s been a few re(makes/masters) this year, so I spoke to the devs of Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil, and Saint’s Row about how developers actually make them for The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/09/16/what-is-a-video-game-remake/
For Polygon, I looked at the indelible transphobia connected to the Harry Potter franchise, and my fears over how that will translate to the game and its coverage. People were angry! https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/24/21452826/harry-potter-video-game-hogwarts-legacy-warner-bros-jk-rowling-transphobia
For PC Gamer, I ranked every version of Lara Croft, based on how ‘Lara-y’ she was. People were angry there too! Thankfully, it was a sensible, less death-threat-sendy kind of anger https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/tomb-raider-every-version-of-lara-croft-ranked-by-lara-ness/
If you told kid me I’d be working in games, my first Q would have been “so I get paid to pay Crash Bandicoot?” And I was! My review for NME was also retweeted by an account that otherwise only publishes horny Tawna Bandicoot art, so that was something! https://www.nme.com/reviews/game-reviews/crash-bandicoot-4-its-about-time-review-a-perfect-blend-of-past-present-and-future-2772826
For GamesRadar’s Halloween features, I wrote about that time Doki Doki Literature Club got all meta and decided to deadname me https://www.gamesradar.com/deadnamed-by-doki-doki-literature-club-how-a-horror-comedy-made-me-face-my-biggest-fear/
I’ve taken on a few big guides during busy season, but I’m especially proud of this one: Yakuza: Like A Dragon for IGN! https://www.ign.com/wikis/yakuza-like-a-dragon/Walkthrough
In probably my biggest review so far, I took a look at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for TechRadar https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/assassins-creed-valhalla-review
Finally, what will probably be my last big piece of the year (might sneak something else on CP77 through, or that might wait for Jan), I looked at the toxic marketing of CP2077. It was nice to see reviews link to this as a roundup of pre-release issues https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/4/22058784/cyberpunk-2077-marketing-cd-projekt-red-transphobia
