DISRUPT: critical conversations on videogames

The mid-2000s to the present has been a period of radical change and development within videogames. Over the past 15 years a host of technological catalysts from smartphones to social media and the rise of broadband have radically impacted not just the way games are designed and played but also the critical conversations we have about the medium.

As part of the exhibition Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, we interviewed a series of leading writers, designers, players and advocates who form part of a new wave of commentators whose work challenges the way we perceive videogames today. Pushing back against the stereotypes that have influenced how we think about and interact with the medium, they confront some of videogames' more controversial aspects with sensitivity and nuance and explore the potential of videogames to engage with pressing social and political issues.

Here we present two short extracts taken from the longer series of interviews that feature in the exhibition.

For those interested in further exploring some of the subjects covered in these videos and the 'Disruptors' section of the exhibition, we have included a handful of links to recommended articles, publications and videos below.

Videogames are a girl thing

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Playing with guns

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Articles

The Monster Within by Liz Ryerson

Videos and talks

Publications

The State of Play: Sixteen Voices on Video Games by Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson

Game Changers: From Minecraft to Misogyny by Dan Golding & Leena Van Deventer

Queer Game Studies by Bonnie Ruberg & Adrienne Shaw