Jeffrey Jaques, writer and illustrator of Questionable Content, as quoted by The Guardian:

Playing with jerks, is no fun. Having a stoned college kid tell me I suck and can’t fucking shoot when I’m just learning an FPS is no fun. Being stuck at level 40 in World of Warcraft when all my friends are level 60 and don’t have time to help me catch up is no fun. Having to play any multiplayer game for 25 hours a week to remain competitive … that’s not fun, that’s an unpaid part-time job.

Likewise, I don’t have 40 spare hours to dedicate to the story of a single game. I grew up awed by Final Fantasy and dreamt of having the time to play a full story. Since seeing FFVII, I’ve completed two: FFX and FFXIII.

I’m coming to find that games with dailies such as Hearthstone or with “three star” achievements such as (famously) Angry Birds or Mario Kart 8 allow for quicker bouts of manageable playtime.

Perri Blake Gorman, co-founder of Unroll.Me:

Personally I love being a woman in tech. There is nothing that has helped me be more memorable than being a woman. Our first piece of press happened when Courtney Boyd Meyers (@CBM), then at The Next Web, reached out to us. She asked to write a piece because she had seen me tweeting about it. As a female founder you get on people’s radars. That press was followed by a post by Lifehacker which generated over 26,000 signups in 24 hours.

A great outlook on the ongoing and magnified diversity problem in the tech (and gaming) industry. Just unsubscribed from 85 newsletters, rolled up 29. My favorite part are the Most Unsubscribed / Most Rolled Up awards.

A half-true game about half-truths.

Danielle Riendeau, Polygon:

No matter how many pride parades I attend, or how much volunteer work I do, or how long I live in the generally accepting city of San Francisco, a part of me will always be that terrified 17-year-old, worried that her family won’t love her any more. Case’ game hit me right there.

Just completed a play-through. In the span of 10 minutes, I felt my blood boil, heart race, and gut wrench. Very brave and inspiring sim. Brought me back to this post.

Well done, Nicky Case.

An interesting piece over at Polygon.

Emily Gera, Polygon:

Chess historically has featured gender-segregated tournaments; This has nothing to do with differences in skill levels between the genders, however, MindSports International development manager and chess coach Eduardo Sajgalik tells us. Rather it’s the best method of helping smaller demographics grow.

Samit Sarkar, Polygon:

I went through a few Skills Trainer exercises during an EA press event in New York yesterday, with Doeberling explaining the setup. We started out with the Cover 2, a key scheme for defending the pass. I thought Courtney’s voice-over, augmented by on-screen visuals, did a terrific job of explaining how to identify the Cover 2 on the field: two deep safeties, with cornerbacks giving your wide receivers five yards of space.

The game then displays the gaps in the Cover 2 — the areas on the field in which you’ll be more likely to find open receivers — and finally, tells you the offensive plays that are best suited to exploiting those spots (Flood, Smash and Verticals). After the tutorial, Skills Trainer moves into drills, and awards medals based on how often you succeed.

Later…

Skills Trainer is now part of the onboarding process for Madden 15; the first time you boot up the game, it’ll encourage you to check out the mode. This is a step in the right direction. It’s not enough to include these tutorials in sports games, because hardcore players will ignore them and newcomers may not be able to find them. And unlike the start of an action title or shooter, it’s tough to make a tutorial out of a default exhibition game in a sports title. What’s even more encouraging is that with Madden 15’s Skills Trainer and Gauntlet, Tiburon may have found a way to make studying fun.

I haven’t played a sports game since NHL 10(?), but I can attest that I’d love to see more effective sports education built in. I have always wanted to join the greater sports conversation but have never found a way to engage with it. My best attempt was stat tracking my brother as he played World Series Baseball for the Sega Genesis; though, I chalked it up as an excuse to play with my dad’s new laptop…

I have a suspicious inkling that this doubles as an attempt to increase viewer and passerby engagement in NFL games. Either way, it’s a nice piggyback on yesterday’s post about alternative (e)sports commentary. File under edTech?