Keybote by Jesse Schell about Game Caharcter Design at the Unity Unite 10 Conference

This is the world of Bioshock Infinite, a game that was demoed for the press at a pre-E3 event in Los Angeles by Ken Levine, the game's creative director and cofounder of Irrational Games. It's not just that the game looked good—it looked amazing—it's the subtext and commentary the game provides under its exterior that drive the game just as much as the weapons and setting.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Bayonetta. I gave up on it about a month ago, mostly because I found it tedious, incoherent, and punishing (purely from a receptive standpoint), but also because I felt embarrassed playing it. I found myself having to explain the indulgence to my partner, who, while sitting next to me on the couch or passing by the TV, would reel in horror as Bayonetta’s porn star Barbie body fought doll faced angels with stripper like finesse. From an outsider’s perspective, Bayonetta is an encapsulation of all that is wrong with videogames. But I don’t think that is entirely the case, and the shame I felt had more to do with the reception of my partner than what I was actually feeling while playing the game. In fact, quite unexpectedly, Bayonetta exhibits feminist resistances lacking from most other games; however, it is ultimately a failed project because these resistances are not adequately engaged with patriarchal hegemony. Or to put it another way, Bayonetta needs to learn from Lady Gaga.