Video game canons and flesh colored band-aids

I was obviously asleep when the announcement was made that this stab at a video game canon was announced last year:

Mr. Lowood and the four members of his committee — the game designers Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky; Matteo Bittanti, an academic researcher; and Christopher Grant, a game journalist — announced their list of the 10 most important video games of all time:

Okay, I can pick at the list. Anybody can pick out a list. Did they screw up? Sure. Where's KABOOM!? (kidding on that one -- for now)

What concerns me is that these guys are, well, just that. All white guys. Sure, it's a pretty good crosssection of dark haired white guys. There's a short one. One that's not ashamed of his poor vision. Two -- no, on second glance, three -- major facial hair decisions. Still, as humans go, it's a pretty diversity challenged group on its face, har har.

What else unites the Superfriends of Ludological Canonization? That they all decided not to make their rationalizations for picking these ten easily Googleable [by me].

In any event, even if white guys too largely made the games and white guys too largely play/ed the games, is that really a good reason that white guys should pick the games? I imagine these guys would likely find my dimestore critique here uncontroverstial, but then why not branch out before announcing your list at the Game Developers' Conference and posing for the NY Freakin' Register of the US Times?

Insert smilie.

Labels: classic, culture, ethics, hype, marketing, peer pressure, pretension, retro

--ruffin at 11:46

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Words You Are Not Allowed To Use In Your Game

Including all cognates, and especially if it's a fantasy of science fiction game. No exceptions except as given.

Corruption

Tainted

Chaos (RPGs may use "chaotic" to refer to alignment only)

Darkness

Genetic

Evolution

Memory

Absolution

In the title, all pretentious musical terminology, for example:
Rondo

And last, but most especially:
Sephiroth

Labels: cliche, curmudgeoning, pretension, writing

--JohnH at 10:35

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