ENG 225 Rhetoric and Gaming

Conn, M. (2015). Gaming’s Untapped Queer Potential as Art.  QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking,   2 (2), 1-5. doi:10.14321/qed.2.2.0001 Matt Conn argues that before games can be seen as an art form, developers and players have to be open to the idea of allowing games that discuss gender and sexuality .  Conn describes he came to this conclusion by drawing from past experiences. Being the founder of GaymerX, an LGBTQ event revolving around gaming, Conn was able to hear about so many different stories revolving around games and gender/ sexuality . Conn argues that the prices of developing video games forces developers to play it safe in terms of storytelling and appealing to the masses. Conn has founded a studio that will focus on LGBTQ-centric games to hopefully show that they can be successful. Conn believes this success will allow for developers to open up to the idea of LGBTQ-centic games. Conn credits games like LIM, Portal, and Dys4ia for showcasing a positive ...

Bonnie Ruberg; Queerness and Video Games: Queer Game Studies and New Perspectives through Play. GLQ 1 October 2018; 24 (4): 543–555. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-6957940 Pages:13 Peer Reviewed: Yes Annotation Word Count: 382 Ruberg believes that because of video game’s huge social influence on most of the planet, it is important for queer studies to research and analyze how video games handle queer content. Ruberg believes that play is the most important tool video games can use to explore LGBTQ content. Having players experience LGBTQ content through play allows the player to gain a greater grasp of the experiences someone for the LGBTQ community may go through. Whether those experiences are negative or positive are up to the developers. The purpose of Ruberg’s paper is to explore the importance of queer studies to investigate how video games have and may be able to help the player experience what it is like to be apart of the LGBTQ community. Ruberg recounts the...