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Showing posts from January, 2023

Why Skyrim's Stormcloaks Are Racist (And Why YouTube Retrospectives Miss the Point)

Lengthy videogame retrospectives are the norm rather than the exception these days. Games like Skyrim now have 20 hour retrospectives that, while generally being of exceedingly high quality and enjoyable to watch, got me thinking about a controversial topic: Race in videogames.  Just how are videogame retrospectives and race are related? To me it has to do with  who  is creating these retrospectives and  how  this impacts their analysis of games. It's not controversial to say that most of the YouTubers creating these retrospectives are white men without degrees in history or related analytical disciplines. Even so, they present their conclusions with the confidence of a scholars speaking from the pulpit of an Ivy League lecture hall.  When it comes to discussing topics like race and racism, I believe they are lacking some nuance in their analysis.  A select few of these retrospective creators are so confident that they've begun weaving critic...