Jessica Valenti, The Guardian:

Before the mass murder he allegedly committed, 22-year-old Rodger – also said to have been killed Friday night – made several YouTube videos complaining that he was a virgin and that beautiful women wouldn’t pay attention to him. In one, he calmly outlined how he would “slaughter every single spoiled, stuck-up, blond slut I see”.

According to his family, Rodger was seeking psychiatric treatment. But to dismiss this as a case of a lone “madman” would be a mistake.

It not only stigmatizes the mentally ill – who are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it – but glosses over the role that misogyny and gun culture play (and just how foreseeable violence like this is) in a sexist society. After all, while it is unclear what role Rodger’s reportedly poor mental health played in the alleged crime, the role of misogyny is obvious.

Any mention of video games in this column? No.

Relevant to video game culture? Hugely.

I continually praise and promote Polygon for continuing to cover controversial topics such as gender in gaming (amongst many others); be it the portrayal of female characters, hostility toward female gamers, the privilege of male gamers, or women working in the games industry. However, as these articles are published, many in the community appear irritated by the growth of cultural focus on gaming websites. It is infuriating to see these types of pieces battered down by ignorant rants, chalked-up as “click bait,” or dismissed by a community who just wants to “have fun.” It’s a shame that a community built around “fun” attempts to put such important conversations to bed the instant they are published.

As more and more conversations detailing misogynistic culture are injected into mainstream outlets, the more they should be praised. The next time you read a piece in this vein, offer your gratitude to the author for braving (sadly) the inevitable hostility, broadening the conversation, and challenging our cultural norms.

A very brave and critical piece by Jessica Valenti. My thoughts to those affected by this heinous act.

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UPDATE: Brian Koppelman: “As The Father Of A Daughter”

As the father of a daughter, I feel complicit. I’ve been at poker games, football games, street fairs and business meetings, on message boards and in email chains, where I’ve heard comments about women, tinged with a particular kind of frustrated anger, that I have chosen to ignore. Because it’s easier to ignore them than to be ostracized, thought unmanly, excluded.

As the father of a daughter, I promise, from this moment on, to have zero tolerance, to be vigilant, to remember that all women are someone’s daughter, and to be brave enough to remind others of that, when they need reminding.

UPDATE: Polygon: ‘Where are the women in eSports?’

Michal “Carmac” Blicharz:

We are not focused on expanding our demographic beyond who we currently reach because our core audience is growing every year. Historically all attempts to target non-core eSports demographics have been failures. Various companies have tried simplification, gender segregation, mainstream-friendly rule sets and other similar things but does not work. It is not authentic as it alienates the immensely large core audience in the hope that someone new might pick it up. We don’t see the point.

48% of gamers are female (ESA, 2014). Male physical advantage: ~0. Male mental advantage: ~0.

First comment: AngryChad:

Why is it always about women in gaming lately? You even mention in the article that 21-34 is the targeted demographic, so why aren’t you asking why older people are also being left out?

Ready to pull my hair out.

Toby McCasker writing for IGN:

The only thing keeping people together, curiously, is the church of Yevon. ‘Church’ is a misnomer seeing as Yevon is Spira. Spira is a theocracy, and despite how colourful and carefree its archipelagos and cities might seem, it is also a fascist theocracy. That kind of dualism is intentional, and represents FFX’s broader Buddhist subtext. Hey what? We’ll get to that. In the meantime, if you go against Yevon, you’re gonna have a bad time.

I played Final Fantasy X in high school. I was searching for an identity and was cynical of everything. The game’s opinions on organized religion, technology, and the afterlife had a profound effect on me. Every new motif locked in my attention as if Billy Madison was trying to express how I’m important it was.

Needless to say, FFX was the first video game that showed me the medium had a substantial voice and was about more than just fun.

A terrific read.

Darren Korb, Transistor OST composer, as quoted by Polygon:

I tried to create a genre for myself to work within, which I ended up calling ‘Old-world Electronic Post-rock.’ After a lot of experimentation, I zeroed in on electric guitars, harps, accordions, mandolins, electric piano, and synth pads as some of the primary textures in the game. Each of these instruments tries to express some component of that genre mash-up.

I have been raving about the Transistor OST since its release and have yet to play the game. With every spin I hear different post-hardcore notes, ranging in soaring delay driven guitars to gritty programmed beats in the vein of Thrice, The Dear Hunter, The Sounds of Animals Fighting, Deftones, Radiohead, or O’ Brother. On occasion, the OST takes turns into haunting carnival themes or dark jazz motifs a la Tom Waits. This album is a must own.

Economist Steven Levitt, Freakonomics Radio:

Video games are fun. My son, Nick, who’s 11-years-old, could play video games for eight hours straight. Could Nick work at a job, say at McDonald’s, for eight hours? No. So it seems to me, what you take away from that is if you could make a job as fun as a video game, then you’d have all of the 11-year-old boys in the world, and probably the 15-year-old and 20-year-old and maybe even the 30-year-old boys lining up at your door trying to take that job.

This sentiment is very much echoed in game designer Jane McGonigal’s book Reality is Broken. A worthwhile read on the fulfilling benefits of games and updating the today’s workplace / social constructs to be more game-like.

Levitt continues:

I think fun is so much more important than people realize and I’ve seen it in academics. When I interview young professors and try to decide if we should hire them, I’ve evolved over time to one basic rule: If I think they love economics and it’s fun for them, then I’m in favor of hiring them. No matter how talented they seem otherwise, if it seems like a job or effort or work, then I don’t want to hire them.

In March of 2013, I wrote about the idea of circling back to childhood hobbies when I am feeling lost. Many of those hobbies I am still fond of today. They act as fantastic through-lines that keep me on track when I feel I have strayed too far off course or have lost sight of my path. See also Finding Your Calling published on The Art of Manliness on the idea of pursuing vocation rather than a job or career.

Richard Grisham, host of Press Row Podcast, writes for Polygon:

Modern communication technology has made the hardship of deployment easier both for soldier and family, but the close connection in the field still can create an awkward burden. One night, Fields called back to his family at “kind of an emotional time.

“I heard my son talk in the background and he said ‘Dad, I can’t wait for you to come home and be safe’,” Fields said. “It was his concerned voice that told me he was reaching out to try and make a link.

Fields felt the need to “meet him halfway.” He thought back to Call of Duty, and if he could play it with his son when— or if — he returned home.

“I immediately walked up to the battalion aid station because I knew …there was a young kid, one of those guys that wasn’t that guy who’s gonna be in the gym lifting 300 pounds and chewing tobacco, and a ‘man’s man’; he is a little soft-spoken and a lot of people thought that he was a kinda odd,” Fields said.

Still, this odd kid, Spec. Jameson Lindskog, was well known for his skill at Call of Duty. Fields, a 20-year veteran and command sergeant major, approached him.

“I said ‘Lindskog, your job is to teach me this game,’” Fields remembered.

Connection between two soldiers; connection between father and son. Powerful story. One hell of a read.

Grisham:

The story of Fields and his unit is depicted in the documentary The Hornet’s Nest, which premiered in theaters on Friday.

Operation Supply Drop:

For more on the military and gaming, read/watch Polygon’s feature on Operation Supply Drop; a charity committed to sending video games to troops in the field.