Game Studies Links:
- Game Studies books available through the NOVANET network, a consortium of academic libraries in Nova Scotia.
- Critical Distance You might need to refresh the browser window once or twice to get there, but this is a weekly curated repository of online writing about games.
- Game Studies at New Books Network. This section of the New Books Network features interviews with authors of game studies publications about their recent books.
- First Person Scholar is an excellent—but currently inactive—online site at the University of Waterloo featuring grad student writing about games.
- CGSA (Canadian Game Studies Association) An excellent national game studies organization! Check out their discord as well!
- Bullet Points Monthly contains amazing writing about games (check out their back issues).
- Excellent list of game studies resources from the University of Michigan.
- Play Story Press open publishing book collection re: games, media, and pop culture.
- MIT Press game studies publications.
- DIGRA: Digital Games Research Association (We're sure you know about this one!)
- IFDB: The Interactive fiction database with a downloadable IF collection.
- EXP blog/zine by Matthew Kumar, an experienced game writer and journalist. EXP features writing on games, movies, and media history.
- ITCH.io is an open marketplace for independent video game creators. There are many free and intriguing game experiments to explore here, and you can use this platform to distribute your own games or host game jams.
Internet archive stuff:
- Internet Arcade: fully playable arcade ROMS in your browser.
- Console games (older generation) emulated in your web browser.
- TOSEC (The Old School Emulation Centre retro game rom collections.
- MS DOS games web playable in your browser.
- Magazines and other print publications focused on video games.
Intro game making software:
- Twine is an accessible, free branching narrative game engine that can be downloaded or used in your browser to make and export html-based games.
- Bitsy describes itslef as a "little engine for little games, worlds, and stories" and is free to use.
- GB Studio is a "quick and easy to use drag and drop retro game creator" that makes games which resemble GameBoy games. It is free to use.
Youtube videos and video essayists:
- Critical Path videos featuring game designers critically reflecting on a variety of game aspects.
- Noah Caldwell-Gervais offers brilliant and thoughtful reflections on games in long form videos that are epic and interesting.
- Feminist Frequency is a legendary video channel helmed by Anita Sarkeesian. Be sure to check out the two seasons of "Tropes vs Women" in video games.
- Jacob Geller offers excellent and thought provoking critical analyses of games. Be sure to check out the video "The Future of Writing about Games."
- Razbuten offers thought provoking game analyses and reflections.
- HeavyEyed is another youtuber who offers insightful video analyses of games and why we play them.
- Whitelight offers reflective critiques of specific game titles.
- The Salt Factory offers more reflective critiques on specific games.
- Joseph Anderson offers in-depth video game reviews and critiques, with a sharp focus on gameplay and narrative.
- NoClip is a channel that produces excellent game-related documentaries.
- AI and Games is a channel that explores the relationship of AI in games (relating to NPC behaviour, etc). Their AI retrospective on Alien Isolation is recommended!
- Eurothug4000 makes thoughful videos on game related topics.
- Gamematics creates movies out of game playthroughs (no commentary)
- GVMERS is a channel that offers documentaries on video game history, focusing on specific games and series.
- Neverknowsbest is an ambitious channel offering sprawling histories of game genres and games in general.
- SulMatul is an eclectic youtuber, but offers some illuminating narrative playthroughs and a brilliant analysis of the Pathologic series of games.
- link The Games Institute is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Waterloo, advancing the study of interactive and immersive technologies and experiences. This channel offers game studies podcasts and videos.