Meg Jordan

I am a female. But I spend most of my free time playing a male in a male dominated game. It’s a guilty pleasure, but nothing makes me de-stress like solving puzzles and being engaged in colorful and artful stories. I can lose myself for hours on end and I can blast away all the characters I find annoying (except those damn NPCs- non playable characters) and still be the hero at the end of the game (or villain, depends on the mood/day). Though there is so much to love about games, there is so much that is still a work in progress.

Video games are on the cusp of a revolution – gender, race, sexual orientation (oh yes, it matters) and creed. Unfortunately this revolution is being ignored by the “majority” of gamers but of course that is to their detriment. Those who are not considered the “average gamer” are among the first to realize that video game culture is at a cross roads. For too long, women gamers, gamers of color and LGBTIA gamers have played along with stories that are meant for straight white men. Sometimes women are degraded, religious views are mocked, and bigoted stereotypes are perpetuated. But a demand for new and different types of stories is beginning to emerge.